Introduction to MGID:

MGID
offers native advertising solutions. This network provides solutions
for both advertisers and publishers, and this review will be focused on
the platform for publishers. With MGID, publishers are given two
options: to either monetize traffic (through displaying advertisements)
or by “recirculating” visitors.

Most webmasters will be familiar with the first option, but the concept of recirculating
refers to sending traffic to other websites, who in turn will send
traffic back to yours. MGID accomplishes this with a “promoted content”
widget which can appear at the end of your posts. The network bills this
as “relevant content seamlessly integrated into user’s natural activity
stream,” which is marketing-speak for “the user’s experience on your
site won’t include being blasted with advertisements.”
You’ll be able to choose which kinds of content you “promote” with
this widget, meaning that the content displayed can be within the same
niche as your site—for example, a men’s entertainment style website
won’t be forced to promote content about knitting. The widget can be
customized so that it matches up with the currently existing design of
your website, and a full-disclosure policy ensures that users will be
aware of the fact that they aren’t reading content that you wrote or
endorsed. The widget works with both desktop and mobile devices and,
yes, can be easily integrated with WordPress.

MGID states that visitor recirculation can increase user engagement
and bring you new visitors from other publishers with websites about
topics which are relevant to your own. There isn’t an upper limit on the
recirculation/return ratio, and the network claims that this can reach
150% or more.

For publishers interested in displaying advertisements rather than recirculating traffic, MGID reports an average RPM of $1-3 with no cap.
Advertisements have a 100% worldwide fill rate and can be shown on all
devices and locations. Publishers who are familiar with Google AdSense
or other display ad networks will likely find familiar territory in
MGID’s offerings, with similar functionality and options available.

Advertisements can be displayed in a number of ways, which are left
to the publisher’s discretion. Users can choose to display desktop
advertisements as exit pops, header widgets, widgets underneath an
article or blog post, and as a sidebar widget. Mobile display options
include a header and under-content widget. Advertisements will be fully
disclosed as such to website visitors, and will only be relevant to the
category or niche that your website is in.

MGID makes it easy for publishers who have never dipped their toes
into the pool of recirculating traffic—or running display ads for that
matter. This network has a decade plus history and, compared to some of
the newer networks on the market, this gives them the advantage of time
and experience to have worked out some of the kinks which plague younger
players in this field.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

What We like: Multiple traffic and monetization
options on the same platform, easily integrated widgets, no cap on RPM
or recirculation figures, low minimum payment, good customer support.
What We Don’t Like: Can increase bounce rate, relatively low payments

Publisher Requirements

• Publisher Terms: http://mgid.com/tos
• Traffic Minimum: None
• Publisher Language Requirement: Primarily English, however other languages are allowed
• Prohibited Publisher Content: Publisher will not
  deploy the advertising on any properties that display adult, obscene,
  pornographic, defamatory, libelous, infringing, abusive, or illegal
  content, that promotes hate or discrimination, facilitates the sale of
  firearms or illegal drugs, or that participates or encourages
  participation in, illegal activities. MGID reserves the right in its
  sole discretion to disable the it’s services on any property at any
  time. Full content guidelines: http://mgid.com/content-guidelines

Advertisers & Offers

• Advertising Types: Recommendation Widgets, ads or paid content links are delivered via widgets
• Offer Types: CPC, Widget-based traffic exchange
• Verticals: Most (see http://mgid.com/content-guidelines for details)

Tech Implementation

MGID Tech Implementation Rating: 5 out of 5
Integrating advertisement widgets or a “promoted content” widget for
traffic recirculation is a fairly straightforward procedure with MGID.
Publishers will be given a number of options to place and customize
widgets.

Display Ad Unit Sizes Available: Widgets available for headers, under article, and sidebar. Exit pop widget available as well. Mobile and desktop.
Implementation Technology: HTML, Javascript
MGID
is compatible with Google AdSense and other display ads, as long as the
design and style of the advertisements or recirculation widgets aren’t
in violation of their TOS.

MGID Publisher Reporting & Admin Control Panel

MGID Publisher Reporting & Admin Control Panel Rating: 4 out of 5.

• Control Panel: The MGID administrative control
  panel might seem a little daunting at first to new users, but with the
  assistance of your account manager and a little tinkering it should
  become relatively straightforward after the creation of your first
  widget. Users can create, customize, and save widgets. This means that
  even if you decide not to use a widget that you’ve made now, you can
  save it with a custom name for later use. You’ll have access to traffic
  statistics, click through rates, and more helpful data, as well as an
  instantly updated earnings report.
• Reporting: Reporting on MGID is quickly updated and
  accurate. Whether you’re looking for advertisement data or traffic
  exchange data, these figures are easy to view and sort. You can see
  information based on time (date, month, time), channel, and widget type.
  You’ll have the option to save or export these reports at your
  convenience.

Payments

MGID Payment Rating: 3 out of 5

• Payment Methods Available: PayPal, bank wire transfer
• Payment Terms: Net 30
• Minimum Payout Threshold: $100 USD

Account Help

MGID Account Help Rating: 4 out of 5

• Knowledge Base URL: N/A
• Personal Account Manager: Yes
• Easy to Contact Support: Can be reached via phone
  or email. + 1 424 322 8059 for US users, + 1 800 351 4940 for European
  users. Support email: support@mgid.com

In addition these standard support channels, users are assigned a
personal account manager who can assist them with issues, questions, or
concerns. MGID isn’t a small company, but compared to some of the larger
players in the advertising network arena, they offer comparatively more
rapid and helpful support.

Editor’s MGID Review for Publishers

One of the biggest challenges MGID
has faced is assuring potential users that their widgets are compatible
with other display ad networks, primarily Google AdSense. At the time
of this writing the network is compliant with AdSense, but it’s in a
publisher’s best interest to always review the TOS for whichever
advertisement platforms that are going to be mingling on his or her
site. When unsure, double check, and fire off an email or instant
message to your account manager.
Which is the next notable point about MGID. The inclusion of a
personal account manager is a nice touch, and adds an element of
reliability to the already decent support options this network offers
publishers as well as advertisers. Phone calls are returned relatively
quickly and emails will be answered—depending on what you ask you may
get boiler plate responses, but the inclusion of an account manager
means that you have a real person who you can discuss the intricacies of
your account and website with. This is rare for big ad networks.

Integration is simple with MGID, and the option to customize widgets
means that they won’t stick out like a sore thumb on your currently
existing website design. Creating and managing widgets is easy, and if
one placement doesn’t work out, exporting settings to another widget
(e.g., going from the sidebar to an under-article widget) can be done in
minutes.
The option to play with both traffic exchange and display ad options
on the same platform is an interesting setup, and publishers may wish to
experiment to find out which option provides the most benefit. However,
publishers without large amounts of traffic or traffic that’s hungry to
click through probably won’t be retiring from their MGID earnings.
MGID is worth a test. Whether or not it’s a keeper will likely depend
a great deal on your niche, traffic statistics, and personal goals.

Pros of Using MGID for Publishers

MGID has a lot going for it—over a decade of experience doesn’t hurt either.

• Good customer service: Available through phone or
  email, MGID responds to inquiries relatively rapidly, and most likely
  faster than some of the other advertisement networks you may have worked
  with. Traffic exchange networks are a dime a dozen, but MGID is a great
  example of what customer service should look like—for other traffic
  recirculating setups, it’s often nonexistent.
• Personal account manager: Standard customer service
  with MGID is good, but the availability of a personal account
  manager—which many major networks do not offer unless you’re a big
  spender or major publisher—is a godsend to individuals who need a little
  extra help or need detailed, website-specific questions answered.
• Ease of integration: MGID’s widgets are simple to create, customize, and integrate into your currently existing website design.
• Low minimum payment: This network offers a comparatively low minimum payout of $50 USD with PayPal and wire transfer .
• Surprisingly good administration panel:
  “Surprisingly” because there’s a lot of options with MGID, with
  publishers having the option to recirculate traffic or to display ads.
  However, the network has managed to put all of these features into a
  single, easy to learn administration panel.

Cons of Using MGID for Publishers

MGID isn’t a bad option for publishers looking to get involved in
display ads or traffic exchanges. However, there are a few caveats one
should keep in mind:

• Increased bounce rate possible: The nature of
  traffic exchange services like the one MGID provides for publishers
  inherently means that you’ll be sending traffic away from your
  site—while yes, it will be returned in the recirculation process, you’ll
  have to perform your own analysis as to how effective this is for your
  overall traffic strategy. Would it be better to retain your current
  users, or is your content good enough to hook new ones as well?
• Ad relevance could be fine tuned: Ad and traffic
  exchange displays could be slightly better in terms of relevance. MGID
  displays “top internet stories” which, while attractive to many
  audiences, could be slightly better if you had more fine-tuning options
  to make the content as relevant to your audience’s interests as
  possible.
• Low earning potential: An RPM of $1-3 isn’t
  terrible, but most publishers should expect earnings to be on the lower
  end of that spectrum. Display ads through MGID and similar networks are
  ideal for publishers with large traffic numbers or an audience willing
  to engage and place clicks.
• Few payment options: It would be nice to have
  payment options outside of bank wires and PayPal, but to be fair these
  are likely the payment methods which most publishers will prefer.

Final Thoughts

MGID is a great network to test—as mentioned previously, whether or
not you’ll decide to stick with their widget-based approach to
advertisements and traffic exchange will be largely dependent upon your
unique situation and typical goal scenario. The good news is that
finding out if MGID is for you won’t be a complicated process—the
above-average customer service, easy to use interface, and intuitive
widget management and customization all make the features of this
network a breeze to set up and integrate.