Google AdSense, a widely recognized advertising platform, isn’t the only avenue for monetizing your website. This blog post will discuss some of the top alternatives to Google AdSense, each providing distinct monetization opportunities and potential revenue streams. As a publisher, the rise of push monetization demands particular attention. If you’re in the market for Google AdSense alternatives, read on!

Why Consider AdSense Alternatives?

Despite the popularity of Google’s platform, it might not be the best fit for every website. Here are a few reasons you might prefer a different ad network:

  1. Admission Requirements:
    Some networks, AdSense included, require websites to reach certain metrics before affiliation. If Google denies your AdSense account, consider networks with more lenient approval requirements.
  2. Revenue Share:
    While AdSense offers a competitive rate of 68% revenue share, some alternatives offer even higher percentages. You’ll need heavy, regular traffic to qualify, but the payoff can be substantial.
  3. Ad Personalization:
    Many ad networks allow you to customize your ads to match your website’s theme, fostering a seamless integration with your original content. The degree of customization differs across services.
  4. Minimum Payout:
    Google AdSense’s minimum payout sits at $100. If your site is smaller or less established, achieving this payout might take longer than desirable. Networks with lower minimum payouts might be a more favorable option.

Top Google AdSense Alternatives

More than two million websites worldwide use AdSense to generate income. But many are also exploring AdSense alternatives, each boasting unique features. We will discuss three of the most popular AdSense alternatives: Ezoic, Media.net, and AdThrive.

Ezoic

Ezoic is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform for creating and deploying online ads to monetize your website. It collects data about visitor habits and traffic to maximize clicks and drive sales. Ezoic offers tools to optimize site navigation and profitability, including performance analysis and testing tools. Its AdTester tool, powered by AI, customizes your ad mix to meet individual user expectations. By using machine learning to understand your website’s performance, Ezoic provides valuable insights to optimize your site as much as possible. The Ezoic’s Big Data Analytics Suite provides comprehensive reporting, making it an indispensable tool for website optimization.

Media.net

Operated by Bing and Yahoo, Media.net is a leader in contextual advertising and a preferred AdSense alternative. It provides various types of display and native ads for desktop and mobile, promising earnings comparable to those from AdSense. Acceptance terms include high-quality content, a professional design, and majority traffic from the US, UK, and Canada. Media.net rivals AdSense in terms of features, quality, and payout rate. Its minimum payout is $100 through PayPal, with payments made monthly.

AdThrive

AdThrive is a reliable ad network for web entrepreneurs, working closely with publishers and advertisers to ensure quality ads appear on your site. The team will assist you with monetization strategies to optimally position your ads. A standout feature of AdThrive is its 75% publisher payment guarantee and direct payments. AdThrive pays publishers in full and on time, even if advertisers are late with payments. AdThrive requires at least 100,000 monthly page views, mostly from the US, making it suitable for established websites. The minimum payout for PayPal and direct deposits is $25.

Monumetric

Monumetric, previously known as The Blogger Network, is an ad network focused on content creators, guaranteeing quality and relevance in the ads served on your site. Unlike many other networks, Monumetric utilizes a Cost Per Mille (CPM) model instead of a Cost Per Click (CPC) model, which means you get paid for ad impressions rather than clicks. Although the revenue from impressions might be lower than clicks, Monumetric balances this with targeted advertising.

Monumetric offers four tiers of monetization programs, structured around monthly page views. This gives increasing levels of support as your website traffic grows. To be eligible, you need a minimum of 10,000 monthly page views, a lower threshold than many other networks, making it an achievable target for medium-sized blogs. Note that sites with less than 80,000 page views per month will incur a $99 setup fee. The minimum withdrawal amount is $10 for PayPal or direct deposits.

Mediavine

Mediavine gives 75% of ad revenue to publishers and offers highly customized ad placements, comparable to AdThrive. However, Mediavine only requires 50,000 monthly page views, making it more accessible. Created by bloggers, Mediavine values ad loading speed, quality, and transparency. The minimum payout for Mediavine is $25 for PayPal and direct deposits, and $200 for international direct deposits.

Revcontent

Revcontent is a native advertising platform that blends ads seamlessly into your website’s content. Besides native ads, Revcontent also offers display, mobile, and video ad formats. It is known for its premium clients on both publisher and advertiser sides, focusing on high-traffic publishers and advertisers who are willing to pay higher fees. Your website needs to have at least 50,000 visitors per month and consistently produce high-quality content to qualify. In return, Revcontent promises a higher engagement rate. Publishers receive payment monthly with a minimum payment of $50.

SHE Media

SHE Media is a digital media company creating content for women, by women. Famous for its blogs such as SheKnows, Blogher, and StyleCaster, SHE Media also operates an affiliate network that links niche advertisers with bloggers and content creators. If your blog primarily caters to women, SHE Media could be an ideal monetization partner.

To qualify, your website must generate at least 20,000 visits per month, with at least 80% of the traffic from US residents and a minimum of 70% female audience. SHE Media Partner Network pays its bloggers monthly via PayPal.

Infolinks

Infolinks offers a unique alternative to traditional display ads by specializing in in-text ad placements. It scans your site’s content for keywords, and then automatically matches ads to these relevant text snippets. This works particularly well for blogs since the more words you have on a page, the more opportunities there are for suitable ads.

Infolinks can monetize any site, regardless of its age or popularity, with no setup fees or minimum page views. Once installed, you can swiftly set up in-text ads (and targeted ads if you wish) and track your performance via the dashboard. Payments are made every 45 days via PayPal (with a minimum payout of $50), Western Union, and Payoneer.

Bidvertiser

Bidvertiser operates on an auction-based campaign system. Instead of placing ads automatically, Bidvertiser sells ad space on your site to the advertiser who offers the highest payment.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this system. If your site receives enough traffic, advertisers will compete to outbid each other for space, potentially allowing you to earn more through auctions than with AdSense. However, if advertisers are unaware of your site, you may not receive any offers.

Before trying Bidvertiser, consider the category your site falls into. If the auction model is suitable for you, you’ll benefit from Bidvertiser’s ad personalization tool, lack of approval restrictions, and the option to pay for clicks and conversions. Bidvertiser users are paid monthly, with a minimum payout of $10 via PayPal.

ADCASH

Adcash serves over 200 million active users and facilitates 850,000 app installs every month. It supports various ad formats, including standard display ads, premium units like pop-unders, and streaming video ads. Placing and customizing any ad unit is easy, and you can access real-time reports on your ad performance through the admin panel. Adcash also follows a pay-per-action model and offers payments through PayPal, Payoneer, Skrill, and WebMoney. Additionally, the minimum payout of $25 is relatively low.

Other Monetization Methods

When considering website monetization, advertisements often come to mind. It’s easy to assume that blogs generate substantial income from the advertising space they offer to advertisers, given that content sites are often filled with ads.

However, this assumption needs to be nuanced. There are several reasons why relying solely on AdSense banner ads may not be ideal.

Firstly, around 36% of French Internet users employ ad blockers, which means they cannot be monetized through this method. Secondly, CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) tend to be very low. Let’s explore other available options.

Native Advertising

Native advertising refers to ads that seamlessly integrate with a site’s content. Generally, it provides greater visibility and captures more attention than display ads. If you want to sell ad space on your site, this format is likely to generate higher returns than display ads. However, it faces similar challenges as AdSense banners: the ad-blocking audience doesn’t see the advertisements, and CPMs remain relatively low.

Donations

This method leverages your skills and creative content. Some readers are willing to contribute monetarily to support their favorite influencers.

If your content holds value and you require support to grow your website, you can politely ask for donations. Not all readers will donate, but with sufficient traffic, you might gather enough funds to sustain your website. Set up donation buttons on your site, allowing readers to contribute directly. Link these buttons to payment processors like PayPal or Stripe.

Subscriptions

Create subscriptions that provide exclusive content to members. This approach will require you to produce more content, potentially hiring additional support or freelancers. Carefully calculate your budget to ensure a positive return on investment.

Sponsored Content

Sponsored content involves collaboration between you as a publisher and partnering brands. Companies pay you to create content for them and publish it on your site. The content can take the form of product announcements, special offers, infographics, or reviews. It can be written by you or the sponsoring brand. You can charge a higher rate if you write the article and publish it on your website. Sponsored content is a viable way to generate revenue for your website. Remember to maintain transparency with your readers and proceed wisely.

Affiliate Marketing

In recent years, affiliate marketing has gained momentum. Many brands pay influencers to promote their products and services.

If you excel at reviews or product promotion, consider affiliate marketing as a method to monetize your website. Through affiliate links, you can earn commissions when readers purchase products or services from businesses you’re affiliated with. Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to generate passive income. Amazon hosts the largest affiliate program, but numerous smaller ones exist as well.

Create an Online Store

If your publisher site has a substantial number of subscribers, these individuals might be interested in donating, purchasing your training materials, or subscribing to exclusive content. They would likely be willing to buy your products online. Setting up a shop can be highly effective, but be cautious. Account for various factors, such as inventory management, logistics, delivery, and online store creation and management. You may need to hire employees for support and guidance, so calculate your return on investment carefully.

Sell Your Expertise

Leverage your reputation and expertise to offer paid training to your readers. This approach is widely used, although its reputation has suffered due to some individuals selling hollow courses at exorbitant prices. However, it remains a successful formula. Despite the substantial workload associated with such a project, you can generate an additional source of income. Moreover, once the training is complete, it becomes a source of passive income—a valuable investment. Keep in mind that you need to have significant influence and preserve some trade secrets to avoid revealing everything for free. This ensures the training provides genuine added value.

Email Marketing

Email marketing remains one of the most widely used customer acquisition strategies.

You can build an email database that you can share with advertisers. However, it’s essential to obtain explicit consent from visitors when requesting their email addresses to comply with GDPR regulations.

There are various ways to collect email addresses, including:

  • Newsletter subscriptions
  • Contests
  • Account creation

You can mix these solutions to maximize the number of email addresses collected. Once you’ve built a contact database, you can offer it to advertisers for financial contributions. This approach allows you to monetize your site while staying connected with your subscribers.