What Is It?

According to the OpenX site, this free, open source ad server software is used by more than 30,000 publishers in more than 100 countries. OpenX is a powerful ad serving solution that puts control over online advertising back in the hands of publishers. OpenX 2.4 represents the next generation release of OpenX ad server, released in February 2008.

Who Is it For?

Designed by Web publishers for Web publishers, this tool is free to download and use. It provides everything a publisher or Webmaster needs to know about managing online advertising. Users who are unfamiliar with this product can view a demo on the OpenX site.

Features

Webmasters can take control of delivery and targeting for their advertising by controlling which viewers see specific ads. They can deliver ads from multiple advertisers and ad networks and grant priority to higher value ad campaigns. This tool is designed to help the Webmaster save time by limiting the work required to manage an ad space.

As a result, Webmasters can make better trafficking decisions based upon comparisons of an ad campaign’s performance. They also can improve customer relations by generating campaign-specific performance reports. Webmasters can serve ads from direct advertisers alongside ads from ad networks, set ad campaign goals such as start and finish dates, and more. In addition, OpenX provides conversion tracking and is efficient and scalable.

The demo ad server data and configuration is reset every 3 hrs so feel free to experiment and make any changes. Through this demo, potential users can view ad campaign performance displayed in the OpenX forum over the previous week, set ad campaign delivery targets like schedules, goals, priorities and frequency, and define delivery limitations to control who sees which ad.

Compatibility

OpenX is tested with an Apache Web server in a Linux environment. OpenX will work with other Web servers that support PHP, but these have not been tested and are not supported by OpenX. OpenX is fully compatible with PHP 4.3.11 and higher, including when the register_globals setting is turned on. Lastly, OpenX requires a MySQL database to store inventory information and statistics. Information about how to set up the software is fully explained at the OpenX Web site.

For new users with a modest publishing requirement, the easiest solution is to run a Web site and OpenX on the same web server. If the site carries high volume traffic, publishers can run OpenX on a dedicated server to speed performance. Finally, if the site was intended to serve millions of ads, the publisher can run multiple copies of OpenX to spread delivery loads.

Web Hosts that Offer OpenX