The Two Models of Online Advertising & How to Deal with Potential Advertisers

You can apply one of only two models when it comes to dealing with online advertisers.

1. Establish a high set of standards and eliminate anyone who does not fall in that set.
2. Keep your standards lax and let pretty much anyone advertise with you.

MODEL 1: Keep High Standards
Those people who use the first set of guidelines usually do so because they want to be perceived as a site that people can trust. If you are someone who uses these guidelines to deal with potential advertisers, this may create a moral dilemma at times. When you operate a website that becomes successful, more and more people will want to advertise with you. The problem is that people want to throw money at you, and if you have standards, you will have to reject more people then you accept. That can potentially be a LOT of money!

Over the past month, I’ve personally rejected hundreds of dollars in potential ad revenues through various ad networks I participate in and from direct ad sales. I don’t know about you, but that creates a real quandry:

Do I take the money (we all really love money!) offered by advertisers, or do I uphold my standards and not let just anyone advertise?

MODEL 2: Allow Anyone to Advertise on Site
By allowing just anyone to advertise, your site can quickly become a marketplace for schlock. At first you will definitely make your money, but I think there are long term implications for doing so. Larger, more reputable advertisers will not want to be represented on a site overloaded with non-targeted garbage sites. The longer you allow these advertisers on your site, the more you dilute your perceived quality and eventually the actual quality of your site.

High standards are what made Starbucks, WalMart, McDonalds, etc. into the successful companies they are today.

What do you think?