Ad Network Launched by Marchex

Online marketers can now bid for the placement of ads directly on Marchex’s 200,000-plus websites, many of which are direct navigation sites. The Marchex Network of sites attracts more than 25 million unique visitors each month, according to a statement.

by Kristina Knight

According to Marchex, their monthly share of unique Internet visitors tops 17%. What does this mean for advertisers? According to the company it means more revenue.

Because most users on the Marchex Network navigate directly to the different websites, their conversion rates are higher than users navigating from search engine results pages or other portals. According to a WebSideStory study, direct navigators (those who type a domain or keyword directly into a browser) convert at about 4.23%. Search engine navigators convert at 2.3% according to the study

The Marchex bid system works by allowing advertisers to bid directly across the network of sites - like debts.com, floral.com and travel sites like californiadining.com or napavalleywine.com - based on keywords and categories. Some categories include beauty, autos, education, finance, lifestyle and travel.

Once the keywords or categories are selected, ads will appear on various sites based on those keywords. For example, if diploma is a keyword selected, the ad would appear on education sites like ged.com or technicalschools.com.