People Interactive outsources ad sales to AdMagnet

The group owns various websites such as Shaadi.com, Makaan.com, Fropper.com, Astrolife.com and Shaaditimes.com

AdMagnet Select, a part of DGTL Media, will handle the ad sales function of the various websites owned by People Interactive -- Shaadi.com, a matrimonial portal; Makaan.com, a real-estate portal; Fropper.com, a social networking portal; an astrology website named Astrolife.com and Shaaditimes.com, a wedding related site.

DGTL Media runs an ad network named AdMagnet, which ties up with advertisers and publishers. It also has a separate arm named AdMagnet Select, which handles the ad sales function of various websites on an exclusive basis.

According to the deal, the ad sales team of AdMagnet Select will exclusively represent the People Interactive group and approach advertisers directly to sell ad space on the sites at premium rates.

Previously, the group used to sell advertising inventory on its various sites through its own ad sales team, present across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

People Interactive earns the majority of its revenue through the subscription and listing model, while 8-10 per cent of its revenue comes from ads on the websites. In an e-mail response, Anupam Mittal, chairman and managing director, People Group tells afaqs!, “We are targeting to earn 15 per cent of revenues from advertising on our sites over the next two years.”

“More than 200 million ad impressions across all the sites will be available for advertising,” Ratish Nair, co-founder, DGTL Media tells afaqs!

He adds, “In case the ad sales team is not able to fetch or fill the total number of ad impressions on premium rates, it may use the ads gathered from its own ad network to fill the remaining inventory.” Banner ads, ranging from static to rich media, will be offered to advertisers.

Nair disclosed that the company is also talking to six or seven websites to exclusively handle their ad sales function.

People Interactive will share a part of the revenue earned through advertising with AdMagnet. Although Nair declined to talk about the revenue sharing part of the deal, industry observers point out that usually, ad networks keep about 40 per cent of the advertising revenue earned through ad sales.