25 Best Ad Networks For Publishers (Updated for 2017

someone talks about monetization, invariably, the first thing that pops up into the mind is Google AdSense. And while there’s nothing particularly wrong with that—it is, after all, the world’s largest ad network, but to sit on an assumption that AdSense can’t be outdone by anyone isn’t wise.

The ad tech industry is highly disruptive and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Google has competitors who give them a good run for their money. It may take a lot of hit and trial to figure out which ad network, or even combination of ad networks, generate the highest revenue for you, but when you finally do figure it out—it would’ve been well worth the effort.

Here are a few networks that you must check out in 2017.

1. Adsterra Network

Adsterra is a premium advertising network serving over 10 billion geo-targeted ad impression per month. They support publishers from all verticals and guarantee 100% monetization of their ad inventory.

Adsterra offers a vast variety of effective ad formats in all popular sizes for both web and mobile including: Pushup, interstitial, display banners, popunders, sliders, and direct links. Publishers can enjoy on-time payments made bi-weekly via major payment systems, as well as a personal account manager and real-time statistics. They also offer a 5% referral program.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA
Minimum traffic: 50,000

2. Media.net

Note: If you sign up for media.net using our partner link, Media.net will pay you 10% over your base revenue for the first three months.)

Media.net serves ads from the Yahoo! Bing contextual ad network, which comprises of a large pool of national and local advertisers, ensuring a 100% fill rate across all verticals and ad formats.

Some of Media.net’s publishers include Forbes, Elle, Reuters, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and more. The network supports standard IAB sizes and has access to high quality ads from all major DSPs. In addition to display units, Media.net also supports desktop interstitial, in-content native, and mobile docked ads.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA
Minimum traffic: None

Bonus Network: AdRecover

AdRecover is an ad network which exclusively works on recovering your ad blocked inventory, which most publishers are currently not monetizing. Hence this opens a new avenue for publishers to increase their ad revenue by 10-35% by monetizing their ad blocked traffic, which most existing networks (including other networks in this list) cannot monetize since they are blocked by ad blockers.

Through AdRecover, you can measure as well as monetize your ad blocked traffic. Since Ad block users are a sensitive audience, AdRecover maintains a very fine balance between user experience and Monetization, by showing user-friendly ads (that is no rich media, popups, auto-play video, flash ads, etc) and controlling the ad coverage on every page. They also provide website visitors an option to provide feedback about the ads and control their ad experience.

Great solution for publishers who are not generating any revenue from ad blocked traffic at the moment. Click here to know more about AdRecover.

3. Ad Maven

In the past year Ad Maven has positioned itself as one of the top alternatives to Google Adsense. Offering their publishers a wide range of monetization methods such as Banners, Popunder, Lightbox, Interstitial, Slider ads and more – they serve over 500 million full page ad impressions per day.

Once you register you will be immediately approved and receive access to Ad Maven’s user friendly platform. Ad Maven identifies your website type and presents to your users ads that are most likely to convert, thereby increasing your revenues for all GEO’s.

Ad Maven also supplies a unique Adblock bypass solution allowing you to present ads to 100% of your users, increasing your revenues by up to 50%.

4. Adbuff

Adbuff is the ultimate AdSense Alternative ad network due to their ability to outperform AdSense for many publishers. Because Adbuff is a Real Time Bidding (RTB) platform, AdSense is competing directly with other advertisers to monetize your site through Adbuff. As a result publishers earn some of the highest page RPMs available in the industry. Their ads are also fully compliant to run along-side AdSense, so you can even double your page RPM by running AdSense and Adbuff together.

Adbuff is an AdSense Alternative ad network that has strict approval guidelines for publishers and advertisers. They are currently accepting publishers who have English sites with a majority of the traffic coming from USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. Publisher sites require at least 2,000 unique visitors per day. Approval times can take between 5 – 7 days and every approved site will receive a $25 welcome bonus for signing up.

For premium publishers who are looking for the best AdSense Alternative ad network, Adbuff is the first ad network you should look at.

5. Infolinks

Traditional banner ads have one big problem that results in big revenue losses: many users either consciously or subconsciously ignore them because ads are usually viewed as an intrusion.

Infolinks is a great ad network that gets around this problem by offering an innovative set of free to use and profitable ad units: InFold (overlay ads), InText (text links ads), InTag (tag cloud ads), InFrame (banner ads in margins and frames) and InScreen (smart interstitial ads). That result in better SEO, less intrusion to your users, increased relevance and better space utilization.

Infolinks generate high monthly revenue for over 200,000 publishers in more than 130 countries today, and they work with the biggest advertisers in the world such as Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Ebay. Their platform is very simple to integrate into your site and is open to any publisher, with no setup fees and no minimum requirements for page views or visitors.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV, CPI, Auction
Minimum traffic: None

6. Revenue Hits

Revenue Hits uses contextual and geo-targeted ad serving technology to deliver better revenue for their publishers across different types of properties such as websites, mobile sites, add-ons, widgets, toolbar, and many more.

It serves over two billion ad impressions each day with a promise of 100% fill rate across all geographic regions.

Other than display ads, Revenue Hits also lets publishers monetize their website using text ads, pop ups, apps, widgets, XML feeds, and other custom formats.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV, Auction
Minimum traffic: None

7. Revcontent

Revcontent is one of the biggest content recommendation platforms on the internet, currently serving 100 billion content recommendations a month across the globe with a growth rate of 900% last year.

Revcontent is notoriously difficult to join as it rejects almost 98% of websites that apply – focusing more on the quality of its publisher network rather than the quantity. This strategy has helped Revcontent generate higher revenues, better engagement rates, and loyal audiences for their partners.

As part of product improvement efforts, they’ve just launched Revcontent v2, which features an intuitive user interface that enables transparent reporting and easier customization of widgets.

Model: CPC
Minimum traffic: N/A

8. AdBlade

AdBlade is a premium, brand-safe ad network with a focus on quality over quantity. Fox News, Hearst Corporation, Yahoo!, and ABC are among the 1,000 or so publishers that comprise the network. AdBlade supports standard IAB units, as well as proprietary NewsBullets® units that claim to deliver up to 3x better performance.

Model: CPM, CPC
Minimum traffic: 500,000 monthly impressions

9. Undertone

Undertone specializes in providing several high-impact ad formats in addition to standard IAB—including IAB rising stars, several video formats, and its own range of flagship display formats designed for higher user engagement.

This coupled with the fact that many of Undertone’s proprietary ad units use your ad inventory in non-traditional ways, ensuring there’s no cannibalization of existing ad products, means that Undertone can offer CPMs 100%-1500% higher than traditional display ads.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV
Minimum traffic: 500,000

10. BidVertiser

Though your mileage may vary, Bidvertiser is an ad network with an interesting monetization model: In addition to earning money for each ad that is clicked, the publisher also earns additional revenue when the click leads to a conversion (i.e. sale) for the advertiser.

ALSO READ:  18 Pro Bloggers Share Their Monetization Strategy

BidVertiser supports multiple ad formats including banners, skyscrapers, rectangles, and mobile. You can use the provided point-and-click tool to customize the layout of these units to match your website’s look.

A bidding system ensures that publishers always get the highest possible revenue from each unit. Using the reporting interface, you can easily monitor your ads performance, clicks, click-through rate, and the total amount you’ve earned.

Model: CPM, CPC
Minimum traffic: None

11. Vibrant Media

Vibrant Media is another ad network that offers specialty ad formats such as in-text, in-image, lightbox, storyboard, mosaic, and brand canvas in addition to the standard IAB display ad units.

Depending on your needs, you can choose to use Vibrant Media as your primary display ad network or you can employ their native ad solutions to increase revenue without changing your existing ad configuration

Ads are responsive so they can be delivered across multiple platforms seamlessly.

Model: CPM, CPC
Minimum traffic: None

12. Clicksor

Clicksor serves over 900 million ad impressions on over 100,000 specialized websites that comprise its publisher network. In addition to regular banner ads, Clicksor also offers in-text ads, rich media, interstitials, and pop-unders as alternative ad formats.

Under the hood, Clicksor scans the text on your website and serves ads using the latest contextual technology, resulting in a higher click-through rate.

Installation is a breeze with Clicksor’s plugin for Blogger, WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla that you just need to download and activate to get going.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPV, CPI
Minimum traffic: None

13. Advertising.com

Advertising.com, is the technology, data and insights arm of AOL Advertising. It has relationships with 70+ of comScore’s Top 100 ad-supported sites, with a publisher network spanning 30+ content verticals and monetizes nearly 2 billion ad impressions per day on average.

If you’re looking for a specific set of advertisers, Advertising.com offers ad blocks by advertiser, industry, media, and category to ensure the best fit for your site.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA
Minimum traffic: 300,000 monthly impressions

14. Creafi Online Media

Creafi Online Media serves over 300 million ad impressions daily and hinges its USP on advanced audience targeting methodologies such as behavioral targeting, retargeting, and semantic targeting.

When advertisers can customize who sees their ads based on behavior and context using these tools, ad performance shoots up and it’s a win-win for both them and the publishers. To publishers, Creafi offers multiple ad formats and revenue streams and a greater degree of control over ad inventory.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPV
Minimum traffic: 1,000,000

15. Epom Market

Epom Market is a cross-platform ad network associated with leading advertisers and publishers in over 40 countries across 15 verticals. The network serves 13 billion ad impressions reaches an audience of 320 million unique monthly visitors per month.

It offers category-targeted, mobile, and local ads to ensure better user targeting, which lead to higher eCPM rates. In addition to standard banner ads, Epom also supports footer, in-text, and mobile-specific ad units.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, Auction
Minimum traffic: 500,000

16. Media Nexus

Media Nexus is an ad network that works with fortune 500 and global brands, with some being exclusive to their network.

This means that ads served by the network are usually of high quality and add to a user’s experience (instead of taking away from it).

The network serves six distinct verticals and offers publishers monthly payments, a dedicated account manager, high eCPMs, and 100% fill rates.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPV
Minimum traffic: 5,000,000

17. Haxhax

Haxhax is a premium, brand-safe private marketplace with over 100 handpicked premium publishers serving video, rich media, mobile and traditional display. Haxhax provides comprehensive reporting, multi-screen ad servicing, and an auto-invoicing system to get your payouts on time.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPV, Auction
Minimum traffic: 500,000

18. PropellerAds

PropellerAds support banner ads in all standard sizes such as 728×90, 300×250, 160×600, 120×600, and more apart from onclick and in-banner video ad formats. If the ads are positioned strategically, you can expect CPMs as much as 1-2$ for US and UK inventory.

They have 3,000 active campaigns worldwide and perform manual checks to remove all unsafe and suspicious advertisers—ensuring high ad quality.

Publishers get the benefit of a 100% monetized inventory, in-time payouts, a personal account manager, and detailed real-time reporting.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA
Minimum traffic: None

19. BlogAds

An ad network that specifically caters to bloggers, BlogAds represents thousands of premier blogs such as PerezHilton, DailyKos, Wonkette and Cute Overload. Set up is easy and you can manage multiple sites from one account.

BlogAds offers a high level of control over your advertising by letting you determine which ad sizes to offer, set your own prices, customize the appearance of ads, and accept or reject ads.

There are no monthly fees; instead, BlogAds keep 14% of sales made to your readers. Most common IAB ad sizes are supported. It’s worth a try if you’re a blogger who wants to try an alternative to AdSense.

Model: CPC, CPA
Minimum traffic: None

20. PulsePoint

PulsePoint is an ad network that processes 110 billion ad transactions each month across its platform. They’re big on data-driven ad optimization—crunching about 20TB of it every day.

Their proprietary contextual ensures better ad targeting and increase relevance, giving publishers the opportunity to monetize impressions buyers would normally overlook. There are no sign up fees or hidden costs.

Model: CPM
Minimum traffic: None

21. Conversant (ValueClick Media)

Conversant runs campaigns for 5,000+ brands every month, increasing the chances of finding an ideal fit for all content verticals. A real-time publisher interface offers fully transparent campaign reporting along with activity and revenue data.

Their cross-platform advertising solutions ensure that publishers are able to maximize their revenue from mobile devices.

In addition to standard display, they offer ads in multiple other formats such as in-text rollovers, static, rich media, banners, over the page and more.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA
Minimum traffic: None

22. AdCash

AdCash is one of the foremost advertising networks and provides high-quality ads from leading brands and exclusive pricing models designed to effectively monetize their online content and increase revenue.

AdCash supports all industry standard as well as exclusive display formats such as site under, footer, interstitial, slide-in, background, and more. It has over 1,000 ad campaigns running on its platform—the big inventory means better ad targeting.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA
Minimum traffic: N/A

23. Chitika

A popular alternative to AdSense, Chitika has over 350,000 publishers on its network and serves over four billion ads per month, making it one of the largest ad networks in the world if you were to go by those metrics.

Its proprietary targeting and optimization technology uses programmatic buying to serve precisely the right ad, at the right time. The approval process for new publishers is usually pretty straightforward and takes little time.

Model: CPC
Minimum traffic: None

24. Tribal Fusion (acquired by Exponential)

The CPM rates of Tribal Fusion is amongst the highest in the industry and they offer reliable payments, dedicated account manager, real-time reporting, and free ad-serving technology.

You can control the content of ads by blocking ad categories (i.e. gambling, religious, political, alcohol, flashing, warning, etc.) or by specific advertiser domain names.

Based on content of the website, Tribal Fusion’s server finds the best advertiser-audience fit in real-time, benefitting both the advertiser and the publisher.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV
Minimum traffic: 500,000

25. WWW Promoter

WWW Promoter offers publishers high fill rates, competitive CPMs, advanced targeting, and efficient ad serving using its proprietary ad serving technology.

They focus on building a network that comprises of trusted brands and advertisers, eliminating the possibility of low-quality ads being served. The inhouse ad platform has a reporting tool that helps publishers track their CPMs in real-time.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV
Minimum traffic: 1,000,000

Let us know if we missed something in the comments below