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Can I sell direct ad space if a brand reaches out to me?
Can I sell direct ad space if a brand reaches out to me?

Yes! Check out our Mediavine Direct Platform

Amber Bracegirdle avatar
Written by Amber Bracegirdle
Updated over a week ago

Mediavine Direct is our custom platform that is exclusive to Mediavine that allows you to sell ad space to any potential advertiser. 

Currently, this product is in beta - meaning testing phase. If you run into any issues while using it, please let us know by emailing publishers@mediavine.com.

Ever been approached by a brand that wants to directly buy advertising on your site? Some of you may have done this when you first launched your blog, and it may have been your first experience with display advertising. 

It has good points and bad. Handling the sale of an ad from start to finish isn’t really the best use of a blogger’s time. You should be creating content, not collecting invoices, providing impression reports or negotiating rates. 

Mediavine Direct takes the heavy lifting off your shoulders. We work with the brand to provide a hybrid direct-sale transaction that benefits both the brand and you.

How does it work?

Typically, programmatic advertising pays much more than that flat fee when you break it down to CPM. But many bloggers are approached by brands they want to work with for a direct-ad buy, or for including ad space as part of a sponsored post campaign. 

Instead of selling yourself short with a direct sold campaign that would earn less than your programmatic advertising, Mediavine Direct allows the brand to buy into your site inventory, but still participate in your ad auction.

That way, they get the impressions they need, but only when they win them. You’ll never sell yourself short if a programmatic advertiser would pay more. But the brand will still get seen by the audience they need to, with improved viewability because you’re not simply adding another ad spot onto your site. 

What’s the minimum buy-in?

Advertisers can set up campaigns for as little as $100, meaning even a tiny brand that wants to work with you should be able to afford to advertise on your site. 

Pricing is currently automatically set for your individual site based on your site's performance. This is to make sure the ads are priced competitively enough to make sure they "deliver in full." To see the CPMs set for your site, go through the initial part of the checkout. Choosing more expensive creatives will apply a "multiplier" to that base rate.

What does it cost me?

The revenue share will be the same as your programmatic ads. We will be doing all the technical work to make sure the brand is getting exactly what they ask for in terms of audience, fill and viewability, as well as providing them with reporting. 

Plus, you’ll automatically be earning more money because you’re not selling yourself short with a flat fee, or hurting the viewability of your other ad units by adding in another ad position. 

Mediavine will take on all credit card fees, as well as the risk of collecting payment so that you never have to take on the liability.

How do I get paid?

As previously stated, Mediavine will collect payment for you, so you don’t have to worry about it. You’ll be paid NET-65, just like your programmatic ads. 

Doesn’t direct selling break my contract with Mediavine?

Using Mediavine Direct means that selling ads directly to a brand no longer violates your contract. Just send them your custom Mediavine Direct URL and call it a day. However, this does mean that you can no longer run a direct-sold ad without it running through Mediavine.  

We have created this process to preserve your site’s viewability scores and make sure that the ad tech affecting your site is something we can fix, should things go wrong. Integrity of your auction and ad quality is of the utmost importance to us to make sure you’re getting top dollar. Mediavine Direct is the solution to keep everything running smoothly.

How do I know what ads have been sold through?

For now, if you’re curious what part of your earnings are made up of Mediavine Direct, please email publishers@mediavine.com and we’ll get you a report.

What about ad quality?

We will be manually reviewing every sale to make sure it fits our rigorous requirements for ad quality. Ad quality remains of the utmost importance here.

What does the brand need to do?

Just send them your vanity URL. From there, they’ll be able to pick all the details of the campaign they want to create, such as the length of the campaign, the target audience and their budget. They’ll enter a credit card, and we’ll collect payment. If they have any questions, they can also check out this article or email us at publishers@mediavine.com

This is awesome! What’s my URL?!

Ready to send your buying URL to brands? It’s all ready for you, and sooooo pretty! Your URL includes your unique Mediavine Site ID, like this:

You can find it in your dashboard Settings > Ad Setup > Mediavine Direct:

This is great, but I don't like the logo that's displayed, or there is no logo displayed!

This is an easy fix! Just head over to your dashboard, go to Settings in the left-hand sidebar, and then click on the Profile tab. You can change the logo that appears by uploading a new file here. While you're there, make sure your profile is up to date in all ways, and fill out your Influencer Survey too. This is how we find you for sponsored work.

Please let us know if you have any other issues or questions as well by emailing publishers@mediavine.com!

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