IDG Finds Success With Media, Ad Network Model

TechNetwork had more than 120 million monthly page views and 40 million monthly unique visitors since March debut

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
Wednesday, December 17, 2008

IDG TechNetwork, the company’s media and ad network focused on technology, has had more than 120 million page views per month and 40 million monthly unique visitors since its debut nine months ago and is just starting to hit its stride, according to Peter Longo, CEO, IDG Syndication and Networks.

“Because we’re backed by IDG, we have a high quality audience and we’re 100 percent focused and reflective of their positions as tech enthusiasts,” Longo told The Circulator. “We have a long heritage and reputation with these topics and the sites in our network gives ad buyers a lot of confidence.”

Longo says the network, which is comprised of almost 200 sites serving tech enterprise, enthusiast and gamer/entertainment audiences, is growing at a rapid, but comfortable pace and could increase by 20 percent in 2009. But the company’s not in any rush to grow. “We are only going to grow if we feel that there are quality sites out there,” he says.

The latest company to join the IDG TechNetwrk is GigaOm, which was founded by Om Malik and features news, analysis and opinions on topics from Web 2.0 and online games to broadband. “They are one of the most highly respected [companies] out there,” Longo says, “and they were a company we always hoped we’d get the chance to work with. It was a pretty quick fit.”

While IDG is currently not tracking consumer behavior across the sites in the network, Longo says the company has learned a lot about its audience. “It’s been an eye opening experience,” he says. “We’ve always been focused on how people purchase technology, and, through the network, we found that our users are looking for very specific vertical information when they’re making a purchase. And that’s gratifying for us because that's how our sites are organized.”

IDG also divided the sites in the network into 30 different product channels so that everything is organized before an advertiser signs on. “We tried to view the sites the way a technical advertiser would with very specific vertical segments,” Longo says. “We are speaking in a language that makes it easy for them to buy.”

Longo predicts that the growing trend of creating media and ad networks will continue. “More companies, such as Martha Stewart and Forbes, are moving into that space,” he says. “[These networks] give publishers the opportunity to extend their reach through high quality Web sites. And as long as the focus stays on creating good content and leveraging relationships, the trend will keep going.”