Ad Management Scripts/Software

Ad Management Scripts/Software

Pop-ups and other kinds of advertisements are a constant irritation for many Internet users. But, like all things media (such as television and radio), the web can't continue to exist without them.

Whether webmasters like it or not, advertising helps pay their bills to keep their sites running. Therefore, it's always a good idea to know how to make them work for you.

One way you can do this is to use ad management scripts or software. The sheer number available, online or otherwise, guarantees that you'll be able to find one that will fit your needs and budget.

Below is a list of some of the more popular ones available as of April 29, 2004 (latest versions), categorized according to the scripting language used:

* ASP
o SmartASPAd v1.18 (for MS Access) and v.1.68 (for MS SQL) - a web based ad management shareware software from SmartASP.net that supports SSL; enables you to create infinite campaigns, groups and categories; allows checking for 24-hour, daily and monthly stats for all campaigns Price: Free Trial / $150 per site Platform(s): Windows 95/98/ME/XP/NT/2000
o DUbanner 3.1 - a banner ad management software from DUware; allows image upload, click counts, multi sizing and web-based addition, edit and deletion of ads Price: Free Platform(s): Windows
* ASP.NET
o AdMentor.NET3.02 - authored by Stefan Holmberg; allows weighting and zoning of banners; supports multiple banner sizes/ad positions; an HTML ad code generator is inserted into your ASP/ASP.NET/HTML pages; has either an Access or SQL Server database in the backend; with administration scripts and statistics pages Price: Free Platform(s): Windows 2000
* C & C++
o BannerPlus Gold 1.0 - a banner exchange software authored by Drummond Miles; multi-lingual interface, easy setup, free support ; statistical reporting, targeted banners, custom interface, variable display ratio and optional uploading of banners with banner size checks; ideal for commercial banner exchanges Price: $250 Platform(s): Unix
* CFML
o vgBanners (Cold Fusion 5) - authored by V;adimir Geshanov; displays list of all banners with their status, number of displays and hits; allows you to add, edit or delete banners Price: 149.95 Platform(s): Cold Fusion 5
* CGI and Perl
o Plasma Banner Advertiser Pro 2.0 - a banner rotation system authored by Serge Rudy; advanced system for placing all banner types (Flash, Image, Script, HTML, Text) on your site; detailed statistics of fees, buying and support of leading paying systems; available payment methods: Cost-Per-Click, Cost-Per-Impression and Cost-Per-Day Price: $56.95 (PBA for All v1.4 is available for free (lighter version of Pro)) Platform(s): Unix, Win NT, 2k, XP
o Stuffed Tracker 1.5 - from Stuffed Guys; used to track Return on Investment (ROI) for online advertising campaigns in real time; ideal for small and medium-sized web sites that use online advertising to attract visitors Price: Free evaluation/ EUR 24.95 Platform(s): Unix, Windows
o Ad Carousel 2.3 - ad banner script written in Perl. v2.3 by Brian E Shold; logs number of times each banner is shown, number of clicks on each banner, weighting of banners; can use with SSI or javascript; allows you to use ready-to-paste HTML code supplied by affiliates, or image locations and link URLs Price: Free trial / $9 Platform(s): Unix
o EasyBanners 2.24 - banner rotation script by Jose Reffoios; easy installation; with admin page to edit all the ads and their properties, keeps track of all clicks and impressions for each; supports banners weighting, multiple banners per campaign, any banner sizes, banner expiration by clicks or impressions; provides a stats page for each of your advertisers; works with or without SSI Price: $29.97 Platform(s): Unix, Win32
* JSP / Servlets
o BannerServlet 1.8 - a servlet from Coldjava that allows you to display rotated banners; can set this using an image tag attribute in your html-file; relies on a configuration text file for its settings. Price: Free
* Javascript
o Adsense Script to Track Clicks (CTR) for ASP / PHP - script from Adsense Monitor that tracks adsense ad activity; rcords their IP address and more; a must if using Google Adsense. Price: GPL Platform(s): All
* PHP
o TrafficStuff Lite 1.08 - a PHP code snip from EPIConsultation that you can add to your page; it fools the search engine into thinking you have millions of pages to increase your site's chances in showing up in the top pages of the search result; just edit the keyword list and let the search engine do its job Price: GPL Platform(s): Unix, Win 98/2000/XP, Macintosh
o phpAdsNew 2.0 - an open-source ad server from the phpAdsNew developers; integrated banner management interface and tracking system for gathering statistics, easily rotating paid banners with in-house advertisements, integrate banners from third party advertising companies; can handle tracking of Flash banners which aren't specially prepared Price: Free (GPL) Platform(s): PHP4, MySQL

And if you don't want to use scripts or software, you may also opt to use a third party ad management service providers like the following:

* ad-rotator.com - offers site-owners the tools to: manage ad inventory online anytime anywhere, rotate & deliver ads on your websites, track real-time ad performance and monitor detailed visitor information; no programming knowledge required, detailed reports on ad performance & visitors, graphical tools to manage/serve ads, unlimited access 24/7, no software to download Price: 10-day free trial; plans range from 9.95/mo to199.95/mo
* WebAds360 - banner rotation service; allows webmasters to track the click-through rates of their advertisements; with advanced advertisement management and reporting features; also offers additional amenities to paying customers via its WebAds Premium Package Price: Free

You can find more choices at HotScripts.com.