Frequently Asked Questions

Q - What is an impression?

A - An impression is when your advert is seen on a user's PC screen. The impression lasts as long as the user stays on that page. Once the user hits refresh, or moves on to another page within the site, then the second impression kicks in. A user can therefore clock up numerous impressions on the website, and see the ad as many times, depending on how long they stay in the site, and how many pages they view.

Q - How are impressions sold?

A - Impressions are sold in groups of one thousand, this is how we charge, using a CPM rate (cost per thousand).

Q - How many impressions would I need?

A - The number of impressions needed depends on the campaign, if it's light, medium or heavy. A typical two-week campaign, with ads placed on the major areas of the site, would require around 200,000 impressions, double that for a month. No two campaigns are the same, however. Our sales team will be able to help you gauge the level of your campaign.

Q - What's the difference between a "hit" and an impression?

A - A hit is a single call for information from a page on the internet. Generally a few hits are registered to create a single page. One fully downloaded page is known as an impression. In the case of an ad impression, this is the single viewing of an online advertisement.

Q - Who will see my ad, and how many times will they see it?

A - Ads can be targeted to specific countries, so if your target market is Ireland, then you're ad will only be seen in Ireland. Alternatively you could target your ad to America, if that's where your target market is. In terms of the number of times a user will see the ad, this depends on how many impressions there are, and how much time the user spends on the site. We have found in the past that on average a user will see an ad seven times per visit.

Q - What's the difference between a banner and a skyscraper?

A - A banner is the long rectangular advert that sits on the top of each page. The skyscraper can be found running vertically down the right hand side of most pages. There are other ad formats accepted on irishtimes.com. One of our sales team will be able to go through these with you.

Q - I am unable to view my ad on the site, why is this?

A - There are a number of reasons why this may occur. Firstly, your ad may only be targeted to a specific area of the site, Business for example, in which case the ad will only be viewable there. Another reason is the level of advertising activity onsite at any one time. If there are a number of other ads running in the same area as yours, then your ad will be in rotation with these other ads, by hitting the refresh button, your ad should appear.

Q - What will my banner or skyscraper ad look like?

A - You can be as creative as you wish with your ad, although there are a small number of technical limitations. For these please see our technical specifications info sheet.

Q - How can I monitor the progress of my ad?

A - There are two options for monitoring the progress of your ad campaign. We can monitor it for you, by sending you daily, weekly or monthly reports; alternatively we can issue you with a password for our ad serving network, which would enable you to personally monitor your campaign.