FAQs - Questions frequently asked by advertisers

We hope to have treated most relevant questions regarding advertising on the afrol.com website in the pages linked under the advertising front page (link here). Many additional issues, such as traffic on the afrol.com site, are treated on the Key data about afrol.com page. Still, there are some repeating questions, to which you may find an answer here:

Q: I want to place and ad in the print edition of your newspaper.
Q: Where is your newspaper sold?
Q: Could you send me an advertising rate card for afrol News?
Q: Can you provide me with your web statistics?
Q: How many readers do you have in South Africa?
Q: Why do you only admit CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) campaigns?
Q: How can you guarantee me that my ad in fact has had 5,000 impressions?
Q: How much would it cost to run a time limited campaign, say 1 month?
Q: Can I run a CPC (cost per click) campaign?
Q: Can I run a CPA (cost per action) campaign?
Q: Can I place an ad on your front page only?
Q: Can I place an ad in the afrol Congo pages?
Q: Can I place an ad in the afrol Economy pages?
Q: Can I place an ad in your article about South African red wine?
Q: Can you publish our press release as part of our banner ad campaign?
Q: Can you link to us in your article about South African red wine?
Q: Can you publish an advertisement article about us?
Q: Can I target only readers in Germany?
Q: Can I target only Spanish speaking readers?
Q: Can I run my campaign at a special time of day?
Q: I have a JavaScript for my ad. Do you accept that?
Q: Can I have a text included under my banner?
Q: Can I place a text ad with you?
Q: Are there products you will not let us run ad campaigns for?
Q: We are an organisation. Do we get a discount?
Q: We are a marketing agency. Do we get a discount?
Q: We are planning a larger campaign at afrol.com. Can we get a discount?
Q: I am not sure afrol.com is the right place to market my product.

Questions and answers

Q: I want to place and ad in the print edition of your newspaper.

A: Sorry, afrol News does not have any print/paper edition. afrol News is only published on the web, at afrol.com.

Q: Where is your newspaper sold?

A: Sorry, afrol News does not have any print/paper edition. afrol News is only published on the web, at afrol.com.

Q: Could you send me an advertising rate card for afrol News?

A: Have in mind that afrol News is not a print media, only being published online. Most questions you expect to be answered on a rate card are actually answered right here, on our website. Nevertheless, we have something similar to a rate card, which can be obtained digitally (pdf-format). Write an e-mail to marketing@afrol.com, with a short presentation of your company/agency and request our pdf-rate card.

Q: Can you provide me with your web statistics?

A: Very coarse web statistics are described in the Key data about afrol.com page. We do of course have very specific and good web statistics for our media, but we have found this of little value for our advertisers. There are two reasons for this. First, we generally only do CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) ad campaigns, meaning you in any case get what you pay for. Second, the nature of afrol News is being a "foreign news" media, not having a domestic media audience. Therefore, totally depending on news events in Africa, statistics vary extremely from month to month, with several hundred percent. Giving you the exact statistics for last month will therefore say very little about traffic next month. On the link above, however, you can get the coarse picture of afrol.com's web statistics.

Q: How many readers do you have in South Africa?

A: Having in mind the answer to the general statistics question above, providing more detailed statistics would confuse more than it will enlighten. Variations are too big from month to month when it comes to how many readers there are in one country, or how many readers follow events in for example Congo. As an example, it can be noted that, before and during the revolution in Egypt, statistics on readers in Egypt and on readers following Egypt stories varied by several thousand percent. However, if you want a Egypt-related campaign, or a campaign targeting readers in Kenya, write to marketing@afrol.com, and we will try to give you an assessment on volume and statistics.

Q: Why do you only admit CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) campaigns?

A: Do to the above mentioned limits to web statistics (ie, the large monthly variations), we believe CPM are the fairest option for both advertisers and our media in providing a high quality service that guarantees advertisers get what they pay for.

Q: How can you guarantee me that my ad in fact has had 5,000 impressions?

A: We use the market standard technology of the OpenX ad server. This ad server is programmed to record ad impressions and stop campaigns when they have reached their agreed limit.

Q: How much would it cost to run a time limited campaign, say 1 month?

A: Our standard campaigns are charged on a CPM basis (see above). If you want a time limited campaign with a fixed price for, say, one month, you run the risk of running your campaign in a month with low visit rates (see note on strong traffic variations above). If for some reason you still prefer this type of campaign, we will try to meet with your expectations. Contact us at marketing@afrol.com.

Q: Can I run a CPC (cost per click) campaign?

A: We generally reject this payment model. Exceptions can be made for CPC campaigns where a monthly ground price is guaranteed, independent from clicks.

Q: Can I run a CPA (cost per action) campaign?

A: We generally reject this payment model. Exceptions can be made for CPC campaigns where a monthly ground price is guaranteed, independent from clicks or actions.

Q: Can I place an ad on your front page only?

A: Yes, you can run a campaign that is only seen on the front page and the news page of afrol.com. This however only includes the 300-345 pixels (width) format and is shown in the right hand sidebar. Conditions and rates are the same as for any other "general campaign". You can find rates and formats on this link.

Q: Can I place an ad in the afrol Congo pages?

A: Yes, you can place an ad in pages relevant to any country, including the front pages of, say, Congo, and articles regarding events in Congo. Large, medium and small banners are admitted. See more about booking a country-specific ad campaign on this link.

Q: Can I place an ad in the afrol Economy pages?

A: Yes, you can place an ad in pages relevant to any section or topic, including the front pages of, say, Economy, and articles related to that section. Large, medium and small banners are admitted. See more about booking a section-specific ad campaign on this link.

Q: Can I place an ad in your article about South African red wine?

A: Sorry. Our ad server does not allow us to target one specific article. But, using the example from the question, you could limit your campaign to run only in articles tied to both country = "South Africa" and section = "Leisure". For campaigns being so specific, please contact us on marketing@afrol.com. Prices are the same as for similar campaigns (see above).

Q: Can you publish our press release as part of our banner ad campaign?

A: No. Norwegian press ethics strictly forbid any mingling of editorial content and advertisement. There however exists an option of "Sponsored features" - see below.

Q: Can you link to us in your article about South African red wine?

A: No. Norwegian press ethics strictly forbid any mingling of editorial content and advertisement.

Q: Can you publish an advertisement article about us?

A: In one particular way, yes we can. Norwegian press ethics strictly limits the mixing of editorial content and advertisement, but we are happy to offer you a premium product called "Sponsored features". These will be marked as such but otherwise lending the strong credibility of afrol News to your advertisement product. Read more about sponsored features here.

Q: Can I target only readers in Germany?

A: Yes you can: find out more on this page. We have many readers in countries like the US, UK, Spain or South Africa. In other countries, such as Germany, readership is more fluctuating, but enough to offer you a campaign. In some few countries, readers are too sparse for a campaign to have an impact. You are welcome to ask us about the country you have in mind.

Q: Can I target only Spanish speaking readers?

A: Yes you can; find out more on this page. Most of our readers are users of either English or Spanish language, but there are quite a few readers with French, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, Arabic and Scandinavian as their primary language. With most other languages, readers are too sparse for a campaign to have an impact. You are welcome to ask us about the language you have in mind.

Q: Can I run my campaign at a special time of day?

A: Sorry, we are not able to differentiate this yet.

Q: I have a JavaScript for my ad. Do you accept that?

A: No problem - in almost all cases. We expect a short explanation of what your Java does, however, and may in a very few cases deem it harmful to our readers or website.

Q: Can I have a text included under my banner?

A: No problem.

Q: Can I place a text ad with you?

A: No problem.

Q: Are there products you will not let us run ad campaigns for?

A: afrol News is governed by Norwegian law. We will therefore not accept ads for arms, gambling, criminal activity, prostitution, alcohol and tobacco. For our own account, we will not accept ads for groups or organisations deemed to be violent, racist or homophobic. Regarding pornography, we are somewhat more liberal than US media, but insist on formats and placement that will not scare off fragile readers or mainstream advertisers.

Q: We are an organisation. Do we get a discount?

A: For larger orders, extra discounts can be made for non-governmental organisations.

Q: We are a marketing agency. Do we get a discount?

A: For larger orders, extra discounts will be made for marketing agencies.

Q: We are planning a larger campaign at afrol.com. Can we get a discount?

A: Of course!

Q: I am not sure afrol.com is the right place to market my product.

A: We are open about our limitations and opportunities. Indeed, we have compiled a small guide called "Who should advertise on afrol.com?" (follow this link). There, you will get a good hint whether your product would profit from being present on afrol.com or not. It also gives some ideas on which format you may want to choose.