LinkBourse

Five ways to buy the same placement

Emailing the publisher costs nothing in fees and everything in hours, and leaves one of you paying before the other performs. A network hides its margin. An agency charges a retainer that only pays back at scale. Programmatic is the cheapest impression and the weakest endorsement. A marketplace removes the first-transaction risk for a stated commission — and is the wrong answer whenever you already trust the publisher, because then you are paying to remove a risk that is not there.

Email the publisher yourself

Find the site, find the contact, ask for a rate card, agree terms over email, pay by invoice or transfer.

What it costs
No platform fee at all. The cost is your hours: sourcing, chasing replies, negotiating, then repeating it for every publisher. Reply rates on cold sponsorship enquiries are low enough that most of the work produces nothing.
What can go wrong
You pay first or they publish first, and there is no third option. If the ad does not run, or runs late, or is deleted after a week, your recourse is a chargeback and an argument.
Best for
One large placement with a publisher you already know, where the relationship is worth more than the process.
Wrong for
Anything at volume, and any first transaction with a stranger for meaningful money.

An ad network

One contract with a network that represents many publishers; you brief once and they place across their roster.

What it costs
A margin taken between what you pay and what the publisher receives, usually undisclosed. Networks also set minimum spends that put them out of reach below a few thousand a month.
What can go wrong
Low operational risk, low transparency. You often cannot see which properties ran your ad or what each was paid, which makes it hard to learn anything reusable from a campaign.
Best for
Large budgets that need one invoice and one point of contact.
Wrong for
Small budgets, and anyone who wants to know which specific publication produced the results.

Programmatic

Buy impressions through a demand-side platform bidding into exchanges in real time.

What it costs
The cheapest impressions available anywhere, and the longest fee chain: DSP, exchange, SSP and often more, each taking a cut before the publisher is paid. Independent studies of the chain have repeatedly found a large share of the budget absorbed before it reaches a site.
What can go wrong
Brand safety and invalid traffic are ongoing costs rather than one-off checks, and the endorsement value is zero — your ad appeared beside content nobody chose to put it beside.
Best for
Reach at scale, retargeting, and campaigns judged on cost per action.
Wrong for
Anything where being chosen by the publisher is part of what you are buying — which is most creator and newsletter advertising.

A media agency

Hire people to plan, buy, traffic and report on the campaign for you.

What it costs
A retainer or a percentage of spend, plus a minimum engagement that rarely makes sense below serious budget. In exchange you get relationships and judgment you do not have to build.
What can go wrong
Lowest personal effort, highest fixed cost, and an incentive question worth asking directly: whether the agency is paid more when you spend more.
Best for
Sustained multi-channel spend where planning and negotiation are full-time work.
Wrong for
A first campaign, or a budget where the retainer is a large share of it.

A marketplace like this one

Browse listings with published prices and availability, book a date, funds are held in escrow until the placement is confirmed delivered.

What it costs
A stated commission on both sides, shown before you pay. More than going direct, less than a network margin you cannot see.
What can go wrong
The specific risk it removes is the first-transaction one: neither side has to go first, and delivery is checked rather than reported. What it cannot do is conjure inventory — a marketplace is only as useful as the publishers on it.
Best for
Buying from publishers you have never worked with, at a budget too small for an agency and too varied for one network.
Wrong for
A publisher you already have a relationship and an invoice history with. Going direct is cheaper and there is no risk left for the escrow to remove.

Questions people ask first

Is it cheaper to contact publishers directly?
In fees, yes — there are none. In total cost, usually not for a first transaction: sourcing and negotiating take hours that are worth something, and neither side has protection if the other does not perform. Going direct gets cheaper the more you have already worked with the publisher.
What is the difference between an ad network and a marketplace?
A network buys inventory and resells it, so its margin sits between what you pay and what the publisher gets, and is typically not disclosed. A marketplace connects the two directly and charges a stated commission, so both sides can see the price the other agreed to.
When should I not use a marketplace?
When you already have the relationship. If you have worked with a publisher before and have an invoice history with them, escrow is protecting against a risk that is no longer there, and going direct is simply cheaper.
Why is programmatic so much cheaper per impression?
Because it is a different product. A programmatic impression is inventory an exchange happened to fill; a direct placement is an audience the publisher chose to show you to. The second carries endorsement, and endorsement is what most creator advertising is actually sold on.

Our commission, with worked examples, is on pricing. What the escrow actually releases against is on how escrow works.