Jamsi has a nice interview with the chief of Text Link Ads (aff), Patrick Gavin. In it Patrick answers some FAQs about TLA and hints at a new product launch in the coming weeks (keep an eye on ProBlogger for more details on that one).
A few of the highlights of the interview:
On why people get rejected from TLA – “it is a combination of: traffic (derived from Alexa data), back links (from Yahoo’s site explorer), and the theme of your website.”
Is Page Rank a factor in TLA prices? – “No. The days of pricing by PR are long gone in my opinion. Buyers pay premiums for quality placement on niche sites. Theme plays the biggest factor with many of the finance, travel, real estate, and law sites drawing the highest prices. Link popularity is a factor but it is not taken from PR.”
On the difference between having 6 and 10 ads – “This is not exact but it would change about 15% up if you dropped to 6 so in many cases it is best for the publisher to use the maximum 10 link spots for sale.”
Read the full interview.
I must say, I was surprised that PageRank wasn’t even in the books..
nice.
I always thought they set the prices according to PG, traffic and niche.
I do a lot of business with TLA, and I’m not sure if I entirely believe the whole “PR doesn’t matter” line. Don’t get me wrong; I think Text Link Ads is great. I just think this interview may very well be tailored for public consumption. After all, they list PR along with all of their advertising spots. Granted, it’s not the only thing involved; I’ve seen a PR 5 site sell for as low as $10 and as high as $55. Still, it seems like they probably give it more consideration than they let on.
Stephen: it is possibly a selling argument for buyers, but it might not influence the price all that much. Just a thought.
I’m also surprised PageRank doesn’t matter
I’ve seen lower PR sites make decent money btw. And get more ads than my higher pr ones. It’s all about the niche.
Disclaimer:
I make money from TLA’s.
Good interview over there. Well worth the read. I may have to take a closer look at TLA’s.
Why is a so unreliable source like Alexa used in such a great program? questions in my head might start popping up, like “is that why my site-links sell for cheap?”….
And i do make money with TLA, i think it’s the greatest program since Google Adsense.
A.H
Yeah, that whole Alexa thing blows my mind. If you use Windows, run IE, and install the toolbar, your ranking will shoot up. Why anyone would such an unreliable metric to govern ad pricing is beyond me.