Gay.com Launches Gay Advertising Network

Gay and lesbian portal Gay.com on Thursday said it had stitched together an advertising network of many of the top gay and lesbian Web sites.

Sites that have joined the network include Gay.com, Advocate.com, GAYBC Radio, Gaywire.net, Gaywork.com, Girlfriends Magazine, HERO Magazine, Outontheweb.com, Q-Net.com and the Rainbow Query search engine.

“Advertisers can now focus their efforts with a single ad buy and we will manage the distribution to the widest number of lesbian and gay online consumers,” says Lou Fabrizio, vice president sales.

“Our network approach coupled with our direct marketing capabilities makes Gay.com an extremely efficient advertising tool to reach this vast and influential marketplace.”

Gay men and lesbians have been touted as an upscale market niche, because they, as a group, are thought to be more affluent, more well-educated, and have more disposable income, partially because they are less likely to be weighed down by the expense of children.

So far, American Airlines, Avis, General Motors, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Macy’s, Merck, Neiman Marcus and Virgin Megastore have signed on to advertise on the network.

Gay.com will sell targeted advertising placements by Web site, content channel, gender, geographic location and other member demographics.

Although major advertising networks offer advertisers opportunities to buy affinity categories, none has yet targeted the gay and lesbian market.