To MOG or not to MOG?
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Been approached by the MOG Network, don't know much about them. Are they worth getting on board with?
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I use them for ads.. better return than Adsense.
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When I had a problem, they set up an over the phone meeting to fix my problem. Abigail, is nice and personable, I would give it a try.
But I'm with Jess, I get the sense it's only used for the advertisements.
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Thought I'd rehash this thread on MOG...Have people been agreeing to MOG's new terms?They state that...(3)(a)(ii) Implement MMN badge and headline widget (as part of MOG Network Branding) as provided(3)(a)(viii) ...Affiliate agrees not to re-publish the Affiliate Websites’ content on any other weblog/website that might be considered a duplication of the Affiliate WebsitesSo, a couple of things then...1 - I have never and do not not plan to add the MOG headline widget to my site. The headlines are not relevant to most of the content I post, it's big and ugly, and I am not paid for the clicks to other sites.2 - The copyright of the content on my blog is mine to do with how I see fit. If I want to aggregate it as part of a blog network then that is up to me, I don't think MOG should have any say in my syndication options.I know most people don't read these agreements, so I thought I'd raise the questions and see what others thought
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I had some issues with them, and ultimately we agreed that I would not have any MOG branding on my website, as SPIN wasn't happy with that (understandably). To be frank, neither was I. The lesson I learned? That they're ultimately pretty flexible. Just get it in writing :-)
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I got a very friendly response back from them about the two points I raised.In response to the headline widget"The headline widget is now required as we are planning new features for our blogs using the space that it takes up. By taking the steps now to ensure that we have space to operate on our publishers' sites, we can a little more ambitious with some features we are working on. The widget doesn't need to be above the fold, however, and you can put it any where you'd like on your page."-That's fine, but I still have no desire to use MOG as a blog network because of the sheer volume of blogs and a bit of a lack of quality control in there. I'm fine using them for ads, and I'm happy to promote blogs I like and find genuinely useful, but I'm loathed to add headlines from the whole MMN network of sites as most have little relevancy to our readers.On the second point, I'm waiting on a clarification from their legal team, but it seems to be something just protecting brand sponsored editorial which is fine by me.
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I had a pretty good experience with MOG at first. Nice people and very helpful but it turns out they couldn't serve adverts on my site. Don't know if this was a legitimate excuse as I have seen plenty of wordpress sites supported by MOG
'I unfortunately have some bad news as well: Unfortunately we will not be
able to serve ads on your site. We have been investigating issues with
tags implementing incorrectly on sites and it turns out the Wordpress
framework doesn't work with the new ad tags put out by our ad server
CoxDS.'
Anyone else had this problem?
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I have had their ads on my site since 2008 & honestly, they've been as nice as they can be. BUT ... there are lots of catches, so it seems.However, I don't know if Abigail is still there -- I've been dealing with someone named Nick lately. The switch to Cox Digital Solutions has thrown me for a loop.They don't run only MOG ads on the site -- they also run Google AdSense in the background, so they're diversifying what kinds of ads they run.They recently started a program which required me to sign up for Commission Junction to promote & sell the MOG "listen to as much music as you can for $10/mo" thing with a banner ad on my page, I don't really know how I feel about it, but I've done it to see if anyone clicks. I've seen little or no benefit from it at this point.Much like TheBlueWalrus, the size constraints of their MNM Headlines badge were something I didn't want on my site. I've discontinued running their MNM Headlines until they offered a size that worked for me.My major concern: over the last three years, they have changed the way in which they pay out several times. You have to accrue $50 in ad revenue for payouts & after you hit that $50, they're supposed to pay in 60 days. That number has been moved around several times -- sometimes to as long as 120 days. I also feel like the eCPM/eCPC question is unclear to me -- how to determine what I should be earning.Not as a means of boasting, but the other day my blog had 12K unique visits -- something which hasn't happened in a long while. Out of that 12K in visits, I'm only seeing in the neighborhood of 5.00 total in ad revenue from that day. I'm certainly not complaining about an extra 5.00, but that seems insanely low to me.Lastly, I feel like because of the way this ad network operates, it may be unintentionally underreporting my traffic to me and over-reporting it to the people whom they advertise with. That means that MOG makes all the money, ultimately, and pays out whatever they feel proper to those in their ad network.I have no problem with the model of MOG or the people who run it or anything else; I simply wonder if it's a situation where people aren't actually paying that much for ad space any longer or if "affiliates" are getting minuscule amounts due to the cost of overhead. I just don't know enough about it or understand it well enough.I have only been paid out twice since joining them. I certainly have no problem with that because, in 2009, I was in and out of hospital most of the year. What I wonder is that people whose traffic is enormous (like IndieShuffle): were they paying out consistently and timely? What alternatives are there to MOG? Could we create and run our own ad network?
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With regard to my issue about syndication, that seems not to be an issue at all"...this clause is to protect us from workarounds to avoid our adspaces. For example, if you made an exact copy of your website and content on another URL but did not include the MOG tags. Our publishers still maintain complete control over the syndication of their material."Seems fair enough then even if it is very broadly worded in the terms. Still unsure about the headline widget though...@MusicForMorons The MOG ad tags work fine with wordpress(.org) - no idea what they're on about there. You can't use MOG on wordpress.com - but that is as much a licensing issue with that service as an issue of getting the ad Javascript into the theme file somehow.@loudersoft Our traffic is a good bit less than yours, but I have been paid on time by MOG once I reached the $50 payment threshold. I didn't know the NET-day payment fluctuated so much though (any money from TBW is a bonus as it is just a hobby). Standard terms for the ad networks I've worked with on other sites with good traffic tend to be around NET-20 to NET-45, anything over NET-60 is ridiculous to be honest. They are just sitting on the money and earning interest on it. I'm pretty sure I was paid NET-60 by MOG, but as I said I don't follow too closely.The problem with ad rates are that they are always so variable - there is the constant issue on the internet of supply of ad space outstripping the number of advertisers which pushes rates down. If you're site is just a hobby then that isn't an issue, but that can be a problem for the more successful who try to turn it into a business. Generally ad networks take about a 50% cut from the ads sold, but I have no idea what's MOG's percentage is here (Google doesn't note their take either of course).Am I right in thinking Loudersoft is running 3 MOG ads per page? If that's the case then the $0.14 eCPM you're seeing on your ad spots is awful - I would raise that issue with them. If most your traffic is US/CA/UK/EURO then you should really be making twice that as an absolute minimum.As to whether we could start an ad networks - well yes in theory, but it is a hard graft to sell the ad space. Grouping some of the most high profile music blogs together would increase appeal to advertisers and hopefully prices, but you still need people selling the ads. If you're getting ~10K uniques a day then maybe look into IndieClick or even something like Federated Media.
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Crumbs, ok. Not sure all the hassle is really worth it, or am I being put off to easily?
Currently already have adsense and mokono, and not hit the £50 threshold with either yet. My traffic is considerably lower at present than some of you chaps so committing so much space to sometimes pig-ugly advertising doesn't seem appealing.
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@SGTMT -- I'd hold off on advertising until you're doing at least 60k pageviews a month. Then MOG might be very useful in terms of getting the hang of how vertical ad networks function, so that as you grow you can expand to new networks
@Loudersoft -- That's a really nice spike you had! Have you considered applying to IndieClick? Their CPM is usually $6, so with 12k visits and 3 ads, you could have pulled in a little over $100 for that day.
For that matter, anyone with more than 75k pageviews a month (in either Sitemeter or Google Analytics -- none of that Wordpress plugin/host tracking stuff) should consider applying for IndieClick. There's a reason I give them priority over MOG advertising :-)
And I'm actually not sure on the MOG payment -- I only joined a couple months ago after they approached me, and I've received one payment. But there appears to be a few hundred sitting in the account awaiting payment...I had been under the impression that they paid every 30 days, but it appears that I may have been wrong.
@All -- I've adapted my MOG settings to exclude anything below $0.50 CPM. I figure it's just a waste at that point.
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@jasonindieshuffle I applied to IndieClick but they've never gotten back to me. I guess that's a dis?
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@loudersoft - that makes two of us!
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60k a month? Currently nearer 10k... Better start posting some Lady Gaga...
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@jason@indieshuffle Just applied to IndieClick. Based on what you said, I am hoping my 88,000 page views a month is enough to be accepted. Wish me luck!
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Hey guys,
I have just recently been getting emails from MOG saying "A post from your feed has been published to mog.com"
What does this even mean? Do people even see these posts on the MOG website?
Ian
www.SkeetBeatz.com
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We have the right to set our eCPM and eCPC at MOG. They "recommend you leave it at 0.00 to be open to more kinds of ads", but I'm wondering if that's not just lip service. I'm curious: what should you set your eCPM/eCPC's at?
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I have gone back to MOG 3 times but never again. Their rates are always initially high then as you move into the second month they mysteriously nosedive to the incredulity of their support staff - wishy washy explanations to why it happens. Not a good option.
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I'm not sure about the "MOG music network" but on the advertising front, I decided to take the plunge. There is an EIGHT step process now (...to uglify your site/uglify mine even further) involving splashing MOG stuff onto your site, which is annoying. So you might have to ponder if it's really worth it. I'm tending towards no considering the modest eCPM I'm receiving at the moment.
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Just got this email from them:The new terms reiterate our requirements for serving MOG ads, including...
- At least one ad tag "above the fold" (on first visible page)
- The MMN Badge somewhere on home page
- A Link from CJ.com to the MOG Trial (Sign up at http://bit.ly/gmylQv)
- The MOG Headline widget somewhere on site (can be only on article pages)
- "Ads Provided by http://www.mog.com" on your About/Advertising pageIsn't that a little much to ask for?
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