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Best Ad Networks for Bloggers
Ad networks for bloggers are a great way to monetize your blog.
After you have started a blog and are getting some traffic, it’s time to start thinking about how to monetize your blog. Display ads are a great place to start.
For bloggers, ads can be an excellent source of passive income.
Every day, you earn money just from people reading your blog content. For this reasons ads are one of my favorite ways to make money blogging.
But what are the best ad networks for bloggers?
There are quite a few options out there, so I have rounded up the best ad networks for bloggers below, along with important information for each one.
How Do Display Ads Work?
You’ve probably seen display ads countless times when you are reading blogs or other online publications on your computer, tablet, or phone.
They are the advertisements that show up between paragraphs and occasionally pop up in the corner of the screen or at the top of the page.
As a blogger or online publisher, you can work with an ad network to get these ads on your own website, and earn money from them.
Most ads are PPV (pay per view) meaning you earn a certain amount based on how many people see your ads. How much you earn is your RPM (revenue per 1,000 views.) RPM is not a fixed number, and it can vary based on a ton of factors.
Some of the factors impacting RPM include what niche your blog is in, the type of content you write, your ad network, and the time of year.
So let’s say your blog gets 50,000 pageviews in a month, and your average RPM for that month is $20. That means you would earn $1,000 from ads.
With display ads, it’s a numbers game, because the more traffic your blog gets, the more money you will make from your ad network.
Related: How Many Pageviews Do You Need to Make Money Blogging?
When to Apply for an Ad Network
You might be wondering when to apply for an ad network.
Many ad networks have traffic requirements that you must meet before you can apply, so it can take some time to get enough traffic to qualify.
However, there are some ad networks for new bloggers that have low minimum traffic requirements, or no traffic requirements at all.
Personally, I recommend waiting until your blog has at least some consistent traffic (at least 1,000 pageviews per month) before applying to any ad network. Without this level of traffic, the tiny amount of money you might make from ads isn’t going to be worth the hassle or impact on user experience.
Because let’s face it, ads aren’t pretty to look at! Instead, I would focus your effort on publishing more high-quality content and increasing your traffic.
Here are the best ad networks for bloggers:
1. Mediavine
Mediavine is one of the best ad networks for bloggers.
I have had several blogs with Mediavine, and have found them to be great in terms of earnings and the great community and customer service they offer.
Mediavine really cares about their publishers and does everything they can to help you maximize your ad earnings with them, which I appreciate.
In order to apply for Mediavine, you will need at least 50,000 sessions per month.
Mediavine has also introduced a new platform called Journey which allows smaller sites with 10,000 sessions per month to monetize with ads.
Related: New Mediavine Requirements & How to Apply
2. Raptive
Another great ad network for bloggers is Raptive.
While I have not worked with them myself, I have heard from other bloggers that their earnings are comparable to (or even higher than) Mediavine.
Raptive is another premium ad network with a high traffic requirement. In order to apply, you will need at least 100,000 pageviews per month.
This is a good option for high-traffic blogs, but with its high traffic threshold, Raptive is not going to be an option for beginner bloggers.
3. Monumetric
Monumetric is one of the best ad networks for new bloggers, because they have a much lower minimum traffic requirement than Mediavine or AdThrive.
For Monumetric, you only need 10,000 pageviews per month to apply.
I have had three blogs with Monumetric, and I found my earnings with them to be competitive although still lower than with Mediavine.
The one thing to note about Monumetric is they charge a $99 setup fee for blogs with under 80,000 pageviews. However, you can easily earn this back in your first month. (And full disclosure, they never even ended up charging me this fee for the sites I had with them, so your experience may vary.)
4. Ezoic
Are you a new blogger? Ezoic is another one of the best networks for new bloggers, because they do not have any minimum traffic requirements.
The only drawback to Ezoic is that if you do not have much traffic, you will have to set up all your ads yourself. Unlike the previous three ad networks I have discussed who offer full-service ad management and handle everything for you.
Ezoic provides plenty of training for how to do this though.
I have had one site with Ezoic, but I ended up moving it over to Journey by Mediavine. With Journey, I get a slightly higher RPM and have fewer ads on my site. With Ezoic, my site was bogged down by ads and pretty slow.
5. Google AdSense
Google AdSense is popular with new bloggers because it doesn’t have any minimum traffic requirements, but it’s not worth it in my opinion.
While it’s pretty easy to set up, the earnings are really low compared to other ad networks. In my opinion, you would be better off going with Ezoic instead.
I had Google AdSense when I was a brand new blogger, and I turned it off as soon as I could. This took some time, because their minimum payout threshold is $100. This can take quite a while to reach if you’re only earning $5 to $10 a month.
However, if you’re looking for easy setup, this is an option.
Other Ad Networks for Bloggers
The five ad networks for bloggers that I have discussed above are the ones that I have personally worked with or know the most about from other bloggers.
For this reason, these ad networks are my top recommendations for bloggers who are looking to monetize their blog with display ads.
However, there are quite a few other options out there.
If you’re interested in investigating other ad networks for bloggers, here are a few other well-known options to check out:
Some of these ad networks offer traditional in-content ads, while others offer options like contextual advertising or content suggestions.
How to Choose an Ad Network
Now that you know the best ad networks for bloggers, you might be wondering how to choose the right ad network for your blog.
First of all, consider how much traffic you get.
If you have enough traffic to apply for Mediavine or AdThrive, those would be my top choices for all bloggers because they offer the best RPMs.
As a new blogger, working up to 10,000 sessions or pageviews per month and applying to Journey or Monumetric would be my top suggestion.
However, if you want to monetize sooner, you can consider Ezoic or Google AdSense since they have no minimum traffic requirements. (But keep in mind these ad networks are harder to use and/or pay less.)
And finally, you might want to consider whether you want to monetize your blog with display ads at all, or stick to other monetization methods.
For example, I don’t use display ads on Blogging Her Way.
This is because I prefer to sell my own digital products and promote other products through affiliate marketing on my blog.
Display ads would distract from this, and for me, it’s not worth the potential few hundred dollars a month I could earn by having them on my website.
Best Ad Networks for Bloggers
These are the best ad networks for bloggers to use to monetize their blog content.
Display ads are a great way to make money blogging, and although I don’t use them on Blogging Her Way, I have used them on many other blogs!
It’s a good source of passive income for bloggers and it allows you to earn money just from having people find your blog and read your content.
For more ways to make money blogging, you may be interested in: