I am sure that some of you might think this review is negative. I strongly feel that some ad networks work for us and some don’t. You should try to check these facts for yourselves.

I applied for ZEDO network a year back. ZEDO is a CPM based ad network. The first thing I see is the lack of automation. I had to fill up an agreement form and fax it back to them. Then came the tags. The advert tag was sent by the email. One positive aspect is that their customer support is very strong. At the same time, I had to CC the messages to 2 more email addresses in their company. You can take it anyway, either they have a strong reporting system or lack of trust between each other. At least, the customer should not be asked to cc to 2 other people. But, I guess the lack of automation might be the cause of that.

Next thing I notice is that they have a very confusing dashboard. I still cannot figure out what I have earned from them. I have not bothered to ask, the reason is listed below. They do not pay unless a total of 200$ is accumulated.

They don’t seem to have major clients except some gambling network. Good thing is that they ask your permission before showing it. I refused it flatly. Another issue is that ZEDO cookies are not readily available on all computers worldwide. Hence ZEDO ads won’t show up even if there is inventory.

Fri, May 29, 2009, I got a mail from Senior Product Manager, ZEDO Inc – Customer-Fit Ad Serving Worldwide. He mentions that ZEDO employs “cleverest technologies.” But, let me quote you what was my concern in the email text:

“At present we are facing extra ordinary times in the US and the world. The current recession is making advertisers unwilling to pay the prices they used to. You have probably seen CPMs that you earn from most ad networks falling dramatically. Despite all our technologies and development and behavioral targeting we are not able to get enough of the high paying advertisers to buy today. Therefore we have to lower prices to advertisers and lower min payouts to you. This is a temporary measure. We are analyzing your site to determine the highest min we can offer you – and it will be higher than most if not all other networks. We are looking at a floor price of $0.35 upto $1.10 CPM depending on the type of site and Advertisers we are bringing on board. We are sorry that the current market has compelled us to sell at a lower price, but we promise you that we will continue to do everything possible to get you more revenue from Internet Advertising. The new payout rate will be reflected from June 1, 2009.”

I guess the temporary measure’s are still in place. The combination is bad: no advertisers + low floor price.

I still have ZEDO because the tags are harmless. If ZEDO ads are not showing, Google adsense or Chitika shows up. I have not left up hope with this ad network as it is capable of pulling a coup anytime in terms of acquiring advertisers and improving e-cpms.