Marchex Adhere for Publishers is a white-label ad platform that publishers use to run their own performance-based advertising marketplaces.

The expanded roster gives advertisers a method to target a specific audience, said Sloan Seymour, VP of Seattle-based Marchex. Demonstrating performance has always been the key to unlocking bigger budgets, but now more than ever, media buyers want control of online ad placement and to see proof that their ads really work. Publishers want the ability to upsell and cross-sell ads. They set the minimum price for ad space, determine the look of the advertising unit, gain greater control on the brands that advertise on their sites, and receive reports to analyze the placements that work.

Seymour views Marchex as an "anti-network" because it gives "publishers control of the pricing" and bids. Minimum bids for site ads are provided by publishers, which get a list of advertisers and the price paid for clicks. This gives publishers an opportunity to upgrade and upsell the ad space on their sites.

Media buyers get access to Marchex reps who work through ad placement and results on returns, which in turn helps establish optimal bids to only pay for the clicks. Seymour said traditional ad networks group brands with others, which can deteriorate the pricing for ad space. "You tend to hear publishers say 'wow--my yield for network advertising is low compared with what my sales force can generate,'" he said. "Publishers typically have no control of the advertisers that end up showing up on the site."

Indeed, more publishers rely on ad networks to fill space on sites. The Interactive Advertising Bureau and Bain & Co. in August released a benchmark study suggesting that online publishers are increasingly turning to ad networks to sell off excess inventories. The use of "ad networks" surged from 5% of total ad impressions sold in 2006 to 30% in 2007, according to the "Digital Pricing Benchmarking Study."

Perhaps it's to combat slowing sales. A recent report from RBC Capital suggests that online display advertising will fall by as much as 10% next year.

Marchex also now supports publishers such as 1105 Government Information Group, Advantage Business Media and Inc.com. These join Business Week, Kiplinger, Motley Fool, Smart Money, Computer World, CIO, among others in the business finance, IT, lifestyle, electronics, real estate and human resources categories.

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