Kontera vs. Vibrant: In-Text Ads
April 25th, 2007 by Matthew Berman
In-text advertising is basically ads that are targeted to the keywords on your web page. Each ad company highlights specific words on your web site in their own way and when a user hovers over the word, an ad appears. You can see examples of this on my website.
I had been using Vibrant Media for months, and it was doing well for a while. Then one day I had no revenue for about two weeks straight. This was very discouraging. I then noticed that many sites were using a new in-text advertiser called Kontera. At first glance I didn’t think that Kontera’s ads looked as good as Vibrant’s, but they were popping up everywhere so I decided to give them a try.
Comparison
The first difference I noticed was that you can have many more highlighted words on each web page. I think I had something like 15 ads on a page with Kontera and the limit for Vibrant is 7. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. Users might think you are being too spammy with the ads, and there is a fine line between quality content and just writing for advertisements. Some other differences obviously include the color of the underlined word, and the look of the ad. Personally I think Vibrant Media’s ads look much better than Kontera’s. Both companies I must admit have excellent customer service. They both receive my highest approval for their customer service.
Vibrant Media Ad:
Kontera Ad:
Revenue
So now the most important difference, revenue! When I started using Kontera, I was only getting a couple cents per click. I was getting many more clicks than I was with Vibrant, but they just weren’t paying as much. Let’s take a random sample of days as an example. One day I had over 30 clicks with Kontera, which made me about .40 cents. Yesterday with Vibrant I had 5 clicks, which made me over $2.50.
Winner: Vibrant Media
The obvious winner for a smaller blog such as my own is Vibrant. Kontera may be able to optimize for a bigger site much better, but I was not able to get the numbers I was looking for from Kontera. I have permanently switched back to Vibrant Media.
This info can be useful. Thanks.
Hey there, thanks a ton. I came across your site after debating whether or not I should use Kontera or Vibrant. I really appreciate the info!
no problem ben, glad you got the info you need. if you have a small blog, i would definitely say go with vibrant.
thanks for the comment!
matt
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking… however, I just got accepted into Kontera’s program, so I think that I’ll try them. Thanks!
thanks for all the comments ben, but go easy on the URL dropping in posts. you already get one in your name, and top commentators
(which you are #1 now im sure)
matt
Alright, sorry about that Matt, I wasn’t trying to be a bother
! Thanks for the help, I just applied to Vibrant Media!
no no, no bother.
good, you will very much enjoy using them. they are very helpful as well. let me know if you need any help setting it up.
matt
I just signed up for Vibrant Media (or applied) I hope i get in. I have the views hope i meet other requirements.
I wish I saw this info earlier (I gues it’s not too late however as I can see I can always switch).
But thanks for sharing your experience Matt.
I just wanted to let you know that you are appreciated…
thanks martso, i always like to hear that people are reading/learning from my posts.
keep comin back!
matt
[...] wrote a post comparing Vibrant to Kontera (in-text ads) about a year ago, and decided Vibrant was the clear winner at that time. Since then, [...]