Automattic’s website ad tool could give Instagram and Facebook ads a run for its money
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Automattic has expanded the availability of an advertising tool for WordPress websites through Jetpack (opens in new tab) and WordPress.com (opens in new tab).
First introduced in April 2022 by Tumblr, the Blaze advertising tool now empowers users to reach a wider audience, with an estimated 13.5 billion impressions per month across hundreds of millions of WordPress.com sites and Tumblr pages.
The tool is now available and allows anyone with a WordPress blog to advertise on the WordPress.com website builder (opens in new tab) and Tumblr via Blaze.
Website advertising upgrade
The tool allows users to turn existing content into ads that can run across Automattic’s network portfolio, which includes millions of blogs.
“At WordPress.com, we’re always looking for ways to make building and running your website easier, more effective, and more fun,” Automattic said in a written blog.
“One of the biggest challenges for any site owner is finding your readers, fans, customers or subscribers. Until now, promoting your WordPress.com website required multiple tools, online accounts, professional design and marketing skills, and – yes – a lot of money.”
Like Instagram and Facebook ads, websites hosted on WordPress.com can use the tool through the ads section of the dashboard, where a list of recent posts and pages is available for users to promote.
Another feature of the tool similar to Instagram and Facebook ads is the ability to adjust the settings to select a specific audience (geographical and industry specific) for the paid ads.
For WordPress sites not hosted on WordPress.com, users can use the Blaze advertising tool through the Jetpack plugin.
In addition, the ad campaigns are billed weekly based on how often users want their ads to appear. Currently, the feature is only available for sites with “English” as their primary language, but Automattic says it’s working on introducing other languages in the future.