Bidding on Advertiser Auctions

Top Questions:

The Basics

1. How do I sell advertising space at an Advertiser Auction with MediaBids?
2. Will I be selling ad space at a discount?
3. How is my publication paid if I sell an ad through MediaBids?

Finding Advertiser Auctions

4. How do I find Advertiser Auctions?
5. Can you explain the criteria I select from to find auctions?
6. Which search method should I use if I only want to find a specific type of advertiser?
7. Should I look for businesses in my area or outside my area?
8. How do I read/use the results?
9. Why is there a California business in my Maine search results?
10. Will I receive notifications of Advertiser Auctions to my e-mail account?

Auction Details

11. How do I know what type of business the person holding the auction has?
12. Can I get any indication about the type of ad content they might be placing?
13. Why is the name of the business anonymous?
14. Is it worthwhile to bid on auctions that I have not been invited to?
15. Should I bid if my publication does not meet the listed Publication Preferences?
16. Should I bid even though I can't meet the auction specifications?

Bidding

17. Can I see the detailed bid information from other publications?
18. Should I list the ad space in column inches or square inches?
19. How much space should I put up for bid?
20. What is the street price?
21. What does ad circulation mean?
22. If an advertiser requests production, does my bid have to include it?
23. What sort of incentives should I offer?
24. Why does my ad run date have to be after the date determined by MediaBids?
25. What happens if the advertiser fails to meet the deadline for the ad space to be reserved?
26. Am I obligated to stick with a bid I have placed?
27. Will there be a chance to review my entire bid before I submit it?
28. How and when will I be notified if another publication has bid?

Winning an Advertiser Auction

29. Will I be notified if I win or lose an auction?
30. How does an advertiser select a winner?
31. When do I receive the contact information?
32. When does the advertiser pay my publication?

Answers:

The Basics

1. How do I sell advertising space at an Advertiser Auction with MediaBids?
   For an Advertiser Auction you will bid on the money that the advertiser wants to spend. You'll offer space in your publication based on ad details posted by the advertiser, such as run date and insertions. The advertiser picks the best bid at the auction's close.
Back to Top
2. Will I be selling ad space at a discount?
   You'll need to decide whether you want to discount an ad. Just remember, you're always in control of the ad space you offer. If there's heavy competition, it may be worthwhile to offer a discount. If you think it's an advertiser who doesn't normally advertise in your publication, you may want to offer a discount. Or, instead of offering a discount, you may want to provide other incentives such as color or premier placement.
Back to Top
3. How is my publication paid if I sell an ad through MediaBids?
   Advertisers will use MediaBids online payment process to pay for an ad. After their payment clears, MediaBids will forward a check, minus our commission, to your publication. We anticipate that payment will be made publications within 30 days of the completion of an ad sale.
Back to Top

Finding Advertiser Auctions

4. How do I find Advertiser Auctions?
   You'll find a row of links at the top of the MediaBids website which you may use to find available Ad Space, Publications, or Advertising Auctions - click "View Auctions" to begin. You can apply multiple filters (a keyword, or criteria from categories) to find what you're looking for. If you're looking for specific auctions, you can narrow your search by selecting features that apply to the auction, such as Business Type, target Circulation Area or Editorial Focus. Your results will include only auctions that meet the criteria you selected, and will update as you add/remove more selections. If you already know the number of the auction you are looking for, type that number in the Auction Locator box on your home page.
Back to Top
5. Can you explain the criteria I select from to find auctions?
   If you narrow your search by Circulation Area, you may look for advertisers who want to advertise in a specific location (for instance, an advertiser may be located in Hawaii, but wants the ad to reach people in Washington and California, so those would be the states the auction would be listed under). If you narrow your search by Business Type, you will search for specific types of businesses that have started auctions. If you select certain Editorial Focus niches, then you will find ad auctions started by advertisers who want to advertise in a specific niche publication or newspaper section (for instance, an advertiser may want to advertise in a real estate guide, so if you're affiliated with a newspaper that has a real estate section, you would want to select real estate as an Editorial Focus when searching).
Back to Top
6. Which search method should I use if I only want to find a specific type of advertiser?
   If you'd like to see more limited results, then selecting a Business Type is your best bet.
Back to Top
7. Should I look for businesses in my area or outside my area?
   The breadth of your search will be based on the reach of your print outlet. Searching for advertisers in your area is a way to find businesses that would be interested in your publication because of its locale and to offer them ad space. Finding auctions outside your normal circulation area may be a way to find new advertising sources.
Back to Top
8. How do I read/use the results?
   After reviewing the list of Advertiser Auctions you're interested in, you can click on a result's Business Type to view their auction details and place a bid.
Back to Top
9. Why is there a California business in my Maine search results?
   The business may be located in California, but wants to target its ad campaign in the Maine region. If your publication circulates in Maine, you'll want to take a look at this auction.
Back to Top
10. Will I receive notifications of Advertiser Auctions to my e-mail account?
    You will receive invitations to Advertiser Auctions only when an advertiser requests that you be notified. However, you may want to conduct your own searches for ad auctions so you don't miss out on any potential advertisers. If you would like to limit the number of emails you receive, you can change this preference in the My Account section.
Back to Top

Auction Details

11. How do I know what type of business the person holding the auction has?
    The search results will specify the type of business. The auction detail will also indicate the type of business conducting the auction.
Back to Top
12. Can I get any indication about the type of ad content they might be placing?
    The auction detail will only indicate whether the ad contains material that might be objectionable to certain publications. But you can refuse any ad that you find has objectionable content.
Back to Top
13. Why is the name of the business anonymous?
    To ensure a fair bidding process, the business name will remain anonymous until the auction ends.
Back to Top
14. Is it worthwhile to bid on auctions that I have not been invited to?
    Yes, because even if you haven't been invited to bid, an advertiser can choose your bid.
Back to Top
15. Should I bid if my publication does not meet the listed Publication Preferences?
    You may want to submit a bid even if your publication does not meet all the advertiser's preferences. But you have the best chance of being chosen if your publication meets at least some of the preferences.
Back to Top
16. Should I bid even though I can't meet the auction specifications?
    If you can't meet the specifications, you still may want to bid. You may be able to offer other incentives that will encourage the advertiser to accept your bid.
Back to Top

Bidding

17. Can I see the detailed bid information from other publications?
    You can view bids other publications have placed under "View Bids" in the Auction Detail section. For more details about a specific bid, click "View Bid" next to that bid.
Back to Top
18. Should I list the ad space in column inches or square inches?
    Your ad space offer will be listed in inches. In an effort to standardize all the bids and to make them understandable for all advertisers, MediaBids requires publications to submit bids in inches.
Back to Top
19. How much space should I put up for bid?
    Each publication will need to determine the space amount that it can offer for the amount of money the advertiser wants to spend. If you're eager for the ad or want to beat out a competitor you may want to offer a larger ad space as an incentive.
Back to Top
20. What is the street price?
    That's the rate-card price of the ad. It will give the advertiser a good idea of whether the space is offered at a discount or not.
Back to Top
21. What does ad circulation mean?
    You should enter the total number of copies of the publication where the ad will appear. If the ad will appear in a special supplement, your publication may print more copies than usual and you can indicate that in this field.
Back to Top
22. If an advertiser requests production, does my bid have to include it?
    Unless you're not going to produce the ad, then you should include production as part of your bid, if requested by the advertiser.
Back to Top
23. What sort of incentives should I offer?
    You know the best incentives your publication offers to capture an advertiser. Some examples of incentives are page placement, color or free posting on your publication's web site.
Back to Top
24. Why does my ad run date have to be after the date determined by MediaBids?
    Most publications have deadlines when ad space must be reserved. In order to meet those deadlines and to allow advertisers enough time to select an auction winner, MediaBids has left a window of time before the ad space will be reserved.
Back to Top
25. What happens if the advertiser fails to meet the deadline for the ad space to be reserved?
    Then your offer expires and the advertiser cannot select your publication as the auction winner.
Back to Top
26. Am I obligated to stick with a bid I have placed?
    Once you submit a bid, you cannot retract it. However, an advertiser may choose to reject any bid and is not obligated to select a winner of an auction.
Back to Top
27. Will there be a chance to review my entire bid before I submit it?
    You will have an opportunity to view your bid and edit it before you submit it.
Back to Top
28. How and when will I be notified if another publication has bid?
    You will be notified by e-mail if another publication places a bid. You can view bidding progress by clicking on "Bids Placed" on your home page.
Back to Top

Winning an Advertiser Auction

29. Will I be notified if I win or lose an auction?
    You will be notified when an auction closes. Once the advertiser chooses a winner, the winner will be notified by e-mail.
Back to Top
30. How does an advertiser select a winner?
    At the auction's close, the advertiser reviews the bids and selects the one that will suit his or her advertising campaign the best.
Back to Top
31. When do I receive the contact information?
    As soon as an advertiser pays MediaBids, their contact information will be forwarded to you.
Back to Top
32. When does the advertiser pay my publication?
    The advertiser pays for the advertising space through MediaBids online payment process. After the payment has cleared it will be forwarded to your publication by MediaBids, minus MediaBids' commission.
Back to Top