Becoming part of an online advertising network is a pretty powerful and cost effective way to drive traffic to your website. Internet marketing publications or discussions rarely mention an online advertising network as a means of marketing for the purpose of driving traffic to websites.

It is an internet marketing method that is frequently overlooked, but the concept of an online advertising network is certainly something worth exploring if you want to make the most of your marketing budget while adding a touch of efficiency to your marketing campaign. As with any type of internet marketing, there are advantages and disadvantages of marketing your website through an online advertising network.

An online advertising network is a company or group of people who sells advertising, such as banner ads and pop-under ads, for a great number of websites. An online advertising network may be for a specific category or type of websites, or it may network with a variety of different types of websites where, as an advertiser through the online advertising network, your ads will be seen. For instance, FastClick.com (now owned by ValueClick, Inc.) is an online advertising network that has the potential of reaching a great number of internet users with advertisements.

The sites at which FastClick advertisements appear are not specific in regard to categories or types of websites. HispanoClick.com is an example of a category-specific online advertising network because it is an online advertising network that is focused on serving publishers from the United States, Spain and Latin America who use the Spanish language in their advertising or on their websites.

With an online advertising network, you generally buy advertising in bulk, either with thousands or even millions of impressions each month which provides your advertisements with maximum exposure for a relatively low cost which is a definite advantage of advertising through an online advertising network.

A disadvantage of advertising through an online advertising network is that the impressions you pay for may not necessarily be appearing for the benefit of a targeted market, so placing advertisements through an online advertising network may not be as effective as more targeted methods of advertising.

This is because in most cases an online advertising network is not specialized or geared to a narrow target market. However, some category specific online advertising networks may be.

Thus, choosing the right online advertising network for your business becomes a crucial factor in whether or not your business will benefit from participation in an online advertising network. If your products or services are pretty general and appealing to wide target market than advertising through a non-category specific online advertising network may be for you.

However, if your products or services are appealing primarily to a niche market, advertising through an online advertising network may be a waste of your time and money unless you find an online advertising network that actually targets your niche market. Such online advertising networks are actually pretty rare.

If you choose to advertise through an online advertising network, find out where your ads will be appearing and determine whether or not the reach of the online advertising network will actually be beneficial to your company. Some online advertising networks are hesitant to release information about the sites on which your advertisements will run because of confidentiality agreements with the websites that are members in their network.

As an advertiser, you may have a problem with that. I know I do. I am not comfortable spending big bucks on advertising through an online advertising network if I cannot know exactly where my ads are appearing and view them to ensure that the program offered by an online advertising network isn't a scam.

There are legitimate online advertising networks so you need to exercise due process to ensure that the online advertising network you choose actually produces results.