Gay.com in San Francisco, which describesitself as the largest gay and lesbian online community, and Rivendell Marketing , a gay and lesbianmedia placement firm, said they have formed the first online gay advertisingnetwork.
Gay.com in San Francisco, which describes itself as the largest gay and lesbian online community, and Rivendell Marketing, a gay and lesbian media placement firm, said they have formed the first online gay advertising network.
The gay.com network offers a suite of online advertising options designed to reach gay and lesbian consumers, the companies said. In January, the gay.com network claimed more than 1.34 million visitors, 811,000 chat hours and 50 million advertising impressions.
Ad options on the gay.com network include traditional banner ads, 60 and 120 second commercials in the chat rooms, and chat room logo placements for product and corporate branding.
By playing Java banner ads, sponsors can create interactive commercials and collect real-time information from site visitors. Pay per impression, pay per click, pay per lead, and pay per sale programs are available. Sponsors are provided access to online daily reports to track the results of their marketing programs at gay.com.
“We see a significant opportunity for companies to quickly and cost effectively reach a massive gay and lesbian consumer base on the gay.com network,” said Todd Evans, president of Rivendell Marketing. “Since users stay connected an average of 36 minutes per visit and the ads are rotated every minute or two, chat room advertising at gay.com is like broadcasting an international television commercial.”
The targetable gay market consists largely of young, urban, single males/females with a higher than average education level, a higher than average income level, and usually no dependents, the companies said. Consequently, the level of discretionary income in the gay community is very high. Over 73% of gay.com’s online community members have a college degree and 38% report an average household income of over $60,000.
Gay.com is run by PrideCom Productions and provides content distribution and community services. Partners include WhoWhere?, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), STOP AIDS Project, Fitsource, Rainbow Query Search Engines, and Ferrari International Travel Guides. Chat services are offered in six languages to over 750 network affiliates.
