Nectar Ads online ad network for art blogs is a family affair

Three year old online ad network Nectar Ads has a team of two that may grow to three very soon.

Williamsburg-based Nectar is interesting because it’s an ad network focused on artists and art publishers. In fact, its founders launched their own art publishing concern, Hyperallergic, the blogozine which we highlighted recently.

The company, which uses Adzerk to serve its ads, offers multiple formats of your typical online ad, including leaderboards and banners. It also offers opportunities for branded emails within its network or sponsored posts. One of its publishers was recently named a Top 5 art blog in Japan. With that growth, the team is planning to add its first employee in next year.

We sent cofounder Veken Gueyikian a set of questions, and he gave us his insights on a company that also turns out to be a family affair.

What’s your connection to the art world and/or the business of art world?
In 2009, Hrag Vartanian, who is a writer and art critic, and I were both looking for new projects to excite us, so we decided to start an art blog to see if it could somehow open up new opportunities for us.  He was looking for places to experiment with art criticism and online writing, and I was looking for a showcase to potentially attract new marketing clients or use as a case study. Within just a few months, things started to take off, and we decided we’d go for it and make it a business. The rest, as they say, is history.

We also wanted to take things even further and set out to rethink what art advertising should be on the web because that’s where we live, play, think and share ideas about art. What I discovered was that the art world was open and hungry for change. Young art entrepreneurs and artists know that the art world today is not the same one that existed two decades ago, so they have to adapt and we’re helping them do that.

Right now Nectar Ads, which includes 11 art publishers, reaches over 3 million unique readers a month with roughly 8 million page views. By being part of a visual art ad network, publishers can benefit from efficiencies of scale, while still maintaining their focus on highly targeted and relevant art advertising.

Did you have any cofounders? Have you had any investors?
My husband and I cofounded it and we’ve had no investors as the company has been self-funded through savings and previous jobs. We’re bootstrapped, and proudly so.