People create websites and blogs to eventually earn money from them. They do it to get traffic and monetize it.

And there are a lot of ways to do that.

Things like affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, selling online courses, etc.

However, the most popular one – especially for online publishers – is advertising. Simple ads of any kind displayed on sites can bring them some money and eventually help them to quit their 9-5 jobs and become really FREE.

Since my site is all about creating and publishing content for blogs I’d like to show you 5 best premium ad networks (ad management companies) for online publishers.

Keep reading!

Why Should We Use Display Ad Networks In The First Place?

There are two parties that use advertising platforms: publishers and advertisers.

What is in it for them?

Well, thanks to the networks publishers don’t have to search for the advertisers or sign contracts themselves. The networks provide all of that.

All they need is decent content and a piece of code from the advertiser on their site. As soon as it’s there you can start earning as the ads will display automatically.

Another advantage is access to reports that tell us whether the ads are optimized and whether they do well or something should be changed.

So, the publishers can save lots of time by joining such networks instead of searching and negotiating deals with potential partners.

The case looks similar when it comes to advertisers. They don’t need to look for quality sites and opportunities to place their ads either. Joining ad network gives them access to thousands of sites where they could place their ads.

You just join once and that’s it. No need to sign contracts each time a new publisher gets to show your ads. Nothing.

What else?

Well, just like the other party the advertisers have access to some analytics, too. They can also see how their ads are doing and act accordingly.

Great! Now you know why ad networks are good for both parties.

Before we talk about specifics let’s check how do the publishers earn their money and what determines how much they earn.

Let’s check that below!

Display Ads Earnings

To display ads on websites all you need is a piece of code from the network.

Depending on where we put it we can run it inside content, inside the side banners, at the bottom or at the top of the page. There are lots of possibilities.

This, however, doesn’t directly determine the money from the ad.

The money we’ll earn from ads depends on these things below:

• the country the traffic is coming from
• ads responsiveness
• the time spent on a website
• ads category (ex. iPhones vs plastic kid toys)

The things the publishers have more control of when it comes to displaying ads (that influence earnings):

• they can block ads that pay little money
• the number of visitors coming to their site
• intelligent ad placement
• constant A/B ad testing

Ok, that stuff is clear now, isn’t it?

The next question is: do publishers earn money only by displaying ads on the site?

Well, the answer is: no. They also earn when a visitor clicks on an ad and when he performs some kind of action on the advertiser’s website.

Now that I’ve written that I have to explain that there are at least three types of earnings from ads:

• CPM – cost per mile which is a cost per thousand impressions,
• CPC – cost per click which is a cost per click on an ad
• CPA – cost per acquisition which is a cost per some action taken by the visitor on the advertiser’s website (it can be answering a few questions, joining the newsletter or submitting a form)

Obviously, the earnings from the CPC and CPA earnings are way higher than these from CPM.

We now know a little bit about earning money from display ads so we’re ready to move onto the next part of the post.

Let’s check the best ad networks for online content creators.

Top Display Ad Networks For Publishers, Bloggers, And Websites Owners

1. Google AdSense

The first network I should mention is obviously Adsense which is a Google product. This is probably the most popular advertising network out there and it’s a great one for beginners as there are no limitations for joining.

About GoogleAdSense:

• How much does Google AdSense pay the publishers?
• It pays 68% and keeps 32% for themselves.

• What is the average CPM at AdSense?
• The CPM is between $0,30 and $3

• What is the minimum payout?
• It’s $100.

• How many people use AdSense?
• Two million people.

• What is the minimum traffic requirement?
• There’s no traffic requirement.

• What are the payment terms?
• NET-21 terms which means you’ll get your money 21 days after the start of the following month.

How To Join Google AdSense?

Even though there are no limitations to join this network there are still some things you have to do in order to be a part of it.

AdSense program policies state that you can’t do any of these:

• encourage clicks and views
• artificially increase clicks and impressions
• publish thin content or have a very poor site design

To start with AdSense go here.

If you’d like to see a proper guide use this one here.

So, I should sum it up now, right?

Well, I will. Let’s take a look at the pros and the cons of Google AdSense.

Pros of Google AdSense

• there’s no traffic limitation; you can join even if you haven’t had a single visitor
• Google is a highly reputable company
• they provide access to great stats and reporting
• you’re allowed to manually test the ads and choose the best ones for you
• they work with a lot of partners in a lot of niches
• setting it up is super easy

Cons of Google AdSense

• they can display some low-quality ads that may lead to poor user experience
• the CPM is reasonably low
• the support isn’t that good
• limited ad layout options

Well, that’s Google AdSense. If you’d like to try it go here.

Let’s move to another ads program.

2. Ezoic

The next network is also using Google’s base of partners to display ads but you can earn much more with them.

Why is that?

Because they use artificial intelligence to test and constantly improve yours and their earnings by checking new placements, ad formats, etc.

Let’s find more about them.

About Ezoic:

• Does Ezoic offer more than one plan?
• Yes, there are two plans: FREE and Professional (it’s a plan that deletes ads at the bottom of your page); on the latter one they’re charging you 5% of your revenue, it’s an optional plan and you don’t need to join it.

• What is the minimum traffic requirement?
• This is actually a higher-level ad platform and the minimum required traffic is 10,000 monthly visitors (you’ll need to share your analytics stuff with them to help them verify it)

• What is the average CPM at Ezoic?
• This guy here was able to earn between $15 and 27$ but it obviously depends on a niche you’re in.

• How many publishers/site owners/bloggers do they work with?
• Well, I wasn’t able to find an exact number but their FAQ says that it’s „thousands” and only last year 3000 new users joined them.

• What is the minimum payout?
• It’s $20.

• What are the payment terms?
• It’s NET-30.

How to join Ezoic?

Well, it’s quite simple, to be honest.

Firstly you need to get to that 10k visitors, then the policies you have to obey are the same as AdSense’s and the last thing is basically that you need to have a site that is informational content-based.

To start with Ezoic go here.

If you need a thorough guide on how to join the network go and watch this video here.

Now we have to look at the pros and the cons of Ezoic.

Pros of Ezoic

• high CPM
• good analytics
• sticky ads allowed
• split testing possibilities
• easy to set up
• they’ll optimize the ads for you
• you have full control and final say on everything

Cons of Ezoic

• your site might slow down a little when using Ezoic (recently they’ve found a way to fix it and developed a new plugin; I haven’t tested it yet but the reviews are positive)
• entry level of 10k visitors
• not all niches will get accepted by the platform
• full optimization and getting to a really decent CPM can take some time

Well, we definitely know a lot about Ezoic Ads Network now.

Let’s take a look at another program.

3. Monumetric

So, the next network is called Monumetric and it’s similar to Ezoic because to join it you also need 10,000 visitors. It was founded in 2012 (it was called The Blogger Network before) and unlike the other two, you could read about before it has nothing to do with Google.

Let’s find out more about this program.

About Monumetric:

• Does Monumetric offer more than one plan?
• Yes, there are four plans for different amounts of traffic. Check here.

• What is the minimum traffic requirement?
• They require you to have 10,000 monthly visitors but there’s one problem. If you’re not yet at 80,000 monthly visitors then you’ll have to pay a one-time setup fee of $99.

• What is the average CPM at Ezoic?
• This blogger earned about $10 per thousand visitors using Monumetric but I’ve seen some better results, too. It’s very much niche-dependent.

• How many publishers/site owners/bloggers do they work with?
• They worked with more than 2000 website owners since they started.

• What are the payment terms?
• It’s NET-60.

• What is the revenue share?
• Monumetric keeps from 15%-30% of the revenue. The rest goes to the publisher.

How to join Monumetric?

As I previously mentioned you need to be at 10,000 monthly visitors. If you’re not you won’t be able to join.

The other thing is if you’re not yet reaching 80,000 visitors a month you’ll need to pay a $99 setup fee.

The main takeaway from their policy:

• only sites with original content,
• you need a 300px wide sidebar
• you need to have at least 6 ad slots on both desktop and mobile
• only WordPress or Blogger sites allowed

To join Monumetric go here.

To join them going step-by-step go here.

Let’s finally take a look at the pros and the cons of Monumetric.

Pros of Monumetric

• great support
• decent selection of ads
• you can earn more than with AdSense
• a referral program that lets you earn 2% of the referrers traffic
• the ads load very fast and don’t slow your website that much
• they can optimize your ads for you
• they’re not connected to AdSense so if you got banned there you can still join Monumetric (that wouldn’t be able to do with Ezoic)

Cons of Monumetric

• 10,000 visitors required
• $99 setup fee if you’re not yet at 80,000/month
• it takes some time to be approved
• NET-60 payment terms are quite a long period
• reporting delay (1-2 days delay)

Well, I think it’s time to leave those small premium networks and check some bigger ones now.

Let’s do that!

4. Mediavine

Our next one really is a premium one. They’re working with online publishers and advertisers since 2004. They provide ads that are really well optimized for the user experience.

They work in a lot of niches but unfortunately, they’re available for websites that have at least 25,000 sessions a month.

However, it’s definitely a network you’d want to be a part with as some folks had some real success with it. They’re also a Google Certified Publishing Partner.

Let’s find out more about it.

About Mediavine:

• Does Mediavine offer more than one plan?
• No, there’s one plan only.

• What is the minimum traffic requirement?
• You’ll need at least 25,000 sessions a month in order to join Mediavine. They’ll ask for Google Analytics access in to confirm you’re there already.

• What is the average CPM at Mediavine?
• I’ve seen a CPM of $15+ to be pretty common but there are also some case studies of overachievers that earn between $20-$30.

• How many publishers/site owners/bloggers do they work with?
• Their FAQ says they work with 5000+ publishers right now.

• What is the minimum payout?
• It’s $25.

• What are the payment terms?
• It’s NET-65.

• What is the revenue share?
• Mediavine gives 75% of the revenue to the publisher.

How to join Mediavine?

The first thing is obviously the 25k session barrier but there are some other restrictions as well.

Original content is a must, access to desktop and mobile ad inventory, good standing with AdSense, website design that accommodates their ad placements. All of this is necessary to be accepted.

What else matters?

• a primarily English-speaking audience
• sidebar on your website
• site is running on WordPress

To join Mediavine go here or follow this step-by-step guide here.

Great, let’s take a look at the pros and cons now.

Pros of Mediavine

• it’s a reputable company – number 21 on ComScore rankings
• user-friendly dashboard and transparent reporting
• simple to setup
• they maintain a good relationship with the bloggers and offer great support
• their ads don’t ruin the speed of the website
• SEO-friendly ads
• high CPM (thanks to header bidding)
• loyalty bonus that increases every year

Cons of Mediavine

• you need to have at least 25k sessions/month
• they show a lot of ads on your site and it might disturb your reader
• their ads work poorly with posts that are less than 500 words.
• the payment term is NET-65 which is really long

This one was decent, wasn’t it?

We’ve got one more to cover.

Let’s check it out!

5. AdThrive

So, the last one is here and it’s a good one. It’s called AdThrive and it was created in 2013. This one is also a Google Certified Publishing Partner and just like Mediavine, it’s way better when it comes to earnings than the smaller networks.

About AdThrive:

• Does AdThrive offer more than one plan?
• No, there’s only one plan.

• What is the minimum traffic requirement?
• You’ll need at least 100,000 pageviews a month in order to join AdThrive.

• What is the average CPM at AdThrive?
• Well, it depends. Some say that it’s the highest in food niches but I’ve seen it work quite well in other niches, too. What I know for sure is that you can learn the same amount or even more (this blogger says you can expect to 1.2x-1.5x your Mediavine earnings) than Mediavine with fewer ads.

• How many publishers/site owners/bloggers do they work with?
• 1000+ publishers.

• What is the minimum payout?
• It’s $25.

• What are the payment terms?
• It’s NET-45.

• What is the revenue share?
• AdThrive gives 75% of the revenue to the publisher.

How to join AdThrive?

Besides the significant number of page views (they’ll require GA access to check it), you’ll need to make sure that most of the traffic comes from the US, you have no dark history with other advertisers (especially AdSense) and you produce only original, engaging and informative content.

Even if you pass the test on the AdThrive side there are still their advertisers that have to approve you in order to join the network.

To join AdThrive go here.

Pros of AdThrive

• huge ad inventory
• decent reporting
• lots of ad types available (video, image, text, etc.)
• short review time (24 hours)
• awesome support
• high-quality ads
• high CPM (fewer ads needed to achieve it than Mediavine)
• they’ll help with the optimization

Cons of AdThrive

• it might take some time to optimize everything
• NET-45 payment terms (not the worst but still it’s quite long)
• best results achieved in food niches

Well, we’ve covered everything. Let’s move to the conclusion right now.

Which Is The Best Ad Platform For me? Which One Pays The Highest?

Well, choosing the best one is difficult because it very much depends on the traffic you’re receiving right now.

When your traffic is less than 10k/month you have no choice but to choose AdSense. It means that AdSense is the best if you’re still building your traffic, right?

When you get to 10,000 and go beyond you can start testing which one works better, has lower entry fees, better payment terms, etc.

At this point, Ezoic seems to be a bit better (machine learning that optimizes the ads and no setup fee like at Monumetric).

The next reasonable step would take place at 25k sessions/month when you could join Mediavine and earn significantly more than at Ezoic.

However, it’s not always the case. Some niches and optimization made by Ezoic may get you a decent CPM that could compete with Mediavine.

You just got to check it out.

Finally, the next question to answer is whether to join AdThrive or stick with Mediavine?

Again: it depends.

If you’re earning well at Mediavine you won’t be eager to switch, right?

So, to sum it up.

It always depends. The fact that a particular network or ad management company has the biggest potential doesn’t mean you’ll actually earn more.

You have to remember that, analyze the data and act accordingly when you’re thinking about switching platforms.

Thanks for reading!

Take care!

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