As a for (gadget) profit entity, we’re often on the lookout for new methods of delivering relevant yet minimally intrusive advertising. And, one effective tool has been Amazon Associates. As Amazon sells just about everything, we can hopefully maintain a certain level of editorial neutrality by spiking the occasional post or tweet with an affiliate link to whatever product we happen to be discussing (and only endorse products worthy of endorsement).
Well, beyond Amazon sales, select Associates have been granted early access to a whole new program of banner advertising – beyond Amazon inventory and paid per impression, versus a sales commission.
Amazon CPM Ads feature display ads from Amazon and other high-quality advertisers. Ads are tailored to the user using Amazon’s personalization technology. You will be paid for each ad impression you serve, and you can specify a target CPM minimum. If we can’t meet your CPM target, your ad request will be “passed back” to your specified ad network.
If we can’t meet your CPM target, your ad request will be “passed back” to your specified ad network. You get:
- A guaranteed amount for every ad impression
- Attractive ads from Amazon and other brand-name advertisers
- Easy set-up and management
- Ads matched to your users based on Amazon’s personalization technology
- A program designed to work with your existing ad network or ad server
Ad units are offered in four sizes (728×90, 300×250, 300×600, 160×600) and I took the 728×90 leaderboard for a spin yesterday. In a couple hours of testing, Amazon didn’t appear to honor my target CPM ($2) and I had a few periodic rendering issues where my logo didn’t show or ad font settings were inherited by other areas of a page, like our Comments section. I assume these issues will eventually be sorted. But implementation and accessibility is dead simple. And, unlike Google Adsense which is primarily pay-per-click, Amazon CPM Ads are impression-based – an approach that hasn’t always been readily available to smaller sites.