How to Monetize Your Blog: 14 Top Blog Advertising Networks:

How Does a Blog Advertising Network Work?

In short, a blog advertising network works with popular brands and businesses. They then help you to benefit from the relationship they have fostered with these brands by selling the empty space on your blog or site to advertisers in their network. If the blog advertising network is good, they will do most of the work for you. With regards to getting paid (after all, that is what it is all about), there are a few pricing models that they can use such as CPM, CPC and CPA. With the CPM pricing model (which is generally the most popular), you will get paid based on the number of impressions an advertisement gets (in other words, how many visitors see the ad). If you generate a lot of website traffic, this pricing model will work in your favor. If your audience is smaller but more engaged, the CPC pricing model can deliver better results for you. Instead of receiving income for the number of impressions, the extra income that you earn is based on how many times a visitor clicks on an advertisement.  If you are already familiar with affiliate marketing, you can also consider opting for the CPA (cost per acquisition pricing model). Instead of simply being rewarded for views or clicks, the visitor must actually buy the product or sign up in order for you to generate an income. While this is more challenging, the commission that you can earn is usually higher. 

14 of the Top Blog Advertising Networks to Try in 2021

1. Google AdSense

Google AdSense is probably the most popular and well-known advertising network. As it offers various types of ads for your blog, you can decide how the ads must look and where they should be displayed. Though, it is key that you first check your traffic and size of your blog audience as you need to reach a minimum of $100 each month to receive a payment. All in all, Google AdSense is one of the best choices as it offers more customization and is highly regarded. 

Trusted by big brands like Yahoo!, Huffington Post and Adobe, Skimlinks works with 60,000 publishers helping them to connect to close to 50,000 merchants across the world. It takes a bit of a different approach to many of the other networks discussed in our list. It uses technology that automatically helps you to get a percentage of sales that they generate by means of product links in commerce-related content. It basically turns all your links into affiliate links making them one of the best affiliate marketing networks too. So, if you write a lot of product reviews or want to explore affiliate marketing, do not just skim past Skimlinks.  

Infolinks is a great choice for newer blogs that still have a smaller audience as the minimum payout is half of Google AdSense at $50. Also, when using Infolinks you can also receive payments by means of direct bank transfers in addition to PayPal andPayoneer. It is quick to sign up and easy to use. Though, the advertising partners can take a few days to assess your blog.   While the dashboard is not that modern, it is still easy to keep an eye on your earnings. All things considered, they offer a wide range of ad types (including in-text ads) which you can customize.

4. RevenueHits

RevenueHits uses a CPA pricing model. So, instead of paying you using impressions and clicks as a metric, your ad must lead to a sign-up or sale to earn a payout. The con of this model is that you will not necessarily receive any payment if your blog visitors just saw the ad. That being said, the income potential is more promising. Some of their success stories claim to have made more than $14,000 in fewer than three weeks. Similarly to Infolinks, they also offer wire transfer, PayPal, and Payoneer as withdrawal options with a minimum payout of $50. 

5. Monumetric

Founded in 2012, Monumetric used to be called The Blogger Network. After realizing that they want to market to publishers as well instead of limiting their target audience to bloggers, they changed their name to Monumetric.  As they use the CPM model, you will receive a payment for every impression. To qualify for the CPM model your blog’s minimum traffic should be at least 10,000 monthly views. Plus, at least half of your traffic should come from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. If you meet these requirements, you still need to pay a one-time fee of $99 to join the Propel program.  According to Mikke from Blogging Explorer, he managed to increase his blog ad revenue by 1,000% after switching from Google AdSense to Monumetric. So, if you are searching for an alternative to Google AdSense, it might be worthwhile to check out Monumetric. 

6. PropellerAds

Founded in 2011, PropellerAds boasts 70,000 ad campaigns per month and is trusted by 150,000 publishers. It uses a self-service platform which means that you remain in control and can refine the settings to optimize the campaigns.  From banners to push notifications, PropellerAds offers various types of adverts. Unlike Monumetric, PropellerAds is more geared to blogs with less traffic. The biggest advantage is probably that the minimum withdrawal amount is only $5. Moreover, the payouts are weekly via a wide range of payment options including wire transfer. 

7. Media.net

Media.net is one of the biggest contextual ad networks and is trusted by websites and brands like WebMD, CNN, Good Housekeeping, Forbes and CBS Interactive. In fact, according to their website, they are the second biggest contextual advertising business across the globe based on revenue. What’s more, they are run by Bing and Yahoo!.  While it is easy to get started with Media.net, just like with Infolinks it might take a few days for them to assess your blog and give you the green light. Also, just like Google AdSense, they also have a minimum payout of $100.  That being said, one of the main advantages is that they do not have a minimum traffic requirement. This makes them a good alternative for smaller or newer blogs. 

8. AdThrive

If you are a lifestyle writer with a huge audience, be sure to check out AdThrive. Blogs that focus on parenting, food, travel, and DIY tend to do much better, but any type of blog is welcome to use AdThrive. One of the major benefits is the financial security that they offer. Even if they do not get paid by advertisers, they will still pay you. In addition, according to the statistics on their website, blogs that use them have enjoyed a 67% average revenue increase versus other major ad providers. In fact (that’s now also according to their website), 100% of sites earn more with the same number or fewer ads.  As we mentioned, AdThrive is only a viable option if your blog gets a lot of traffic as the minimum traffic requirement is 100,000 (with the majority of the traffic coming from the United States). Also, even if you do meet these minimum traffic requirements, they are quite selective.

9. BuySellAds

Trusted by more than 1,200 publishers, BuySellAds is another alternative for blogs that attract at least 100,000 monthly page views. It works a little bit differently from some of the other blog advertising networks mentioned in our list. In short, with BuySellAds, advertisers can buy ad space on your blog directly via the BuySellAds marketplace. According to their website, more than 4,500 advertisers use BuySellAds to scale their businesses. So, you do have a decent selection of advertisers that you can target. If you plan on using email newsletter advertising to generate an extra passive income, BuySellAds is also one of the better newsletter advertising platforms to try. Considering that the email subscriber list of a blog is often its most valuable asset, it can make sense to explore this opportunity too. 

10. Mediavine

If you are in the lifestyle niche but do not get enough website traffic to meet the requirements of AdThrive, you can also check out Mediavine. With Mediavine, your website only needs to get at least 50,000 monthly visits.  As they were founded by content creators, they know how to offer your visitors the ultimate user experience (and they understand what you need to focus on creating high-quality content and grow your brand).

11. Ezoic

Ezoic is another good solution for smaller brands as you need only 10,000 monthly sessions and their minimum payout is only $20 (though, payouts are made only every 30 days). Moreover, unlike some of the other advertising networks, your website traffic does not have to come primarily from the United States.  Another benefit is that they are a Google Certified Publishing Partner (like AdThrive). This means that you can rest assured knowing that their ad optimization, ad layouts, and practices have been approved by Google. In fact, they are a Google award-winning platform for publishers. 

12. Sovrn

Formerly called VigLink (the jury is still out on which name we like better), Sovrn can be used for inserting affiliate links or contextual advertising links. It offers advertising tools, services and technologies to thousands of content creators. 

13. BlogHer

As the name suggests, BlogHer is a good choice to use if your visitors are mostly just female. According to their website, they reach more than 10 million female business owners who want to monetize their brands and businesses. Moreover, SHE Media (of which BlogHer is a flagship site) contributes to more than $15 million in funding per year to help independent female content creators grow their businesses. 

14. BidVertiser

BidVertiser has been in the business for almost two decades. During this time, they have served more than 80,000 publishers and advertisers across the globe. In addition to helping bloggers to monetize their traffic, BidVertiser also has their own referral program that you can use to generate extra money. By placing a referral link on your website, you can receive money for every user that becomes a publisher or an active advertiser. From push notifications to display banners, they offer a variety of formats for mobile and desktop. All in all, it is a good option for smaller websites as the minimum payment is only $10. 

Wrapping Things Up

At the end of the day, making more money should not come at the cost of lowering your user experience. So, bear in mind that you will probably have to try out a few of these networks and experiment with different types of ads to find the right balance between keeping your loyal fan base happy and generating a decent stream of income. Your niche and audience size will also play determining factors. If you still attract a relatively small crowd, some of these networks will not even be interested in working with you. So, keep that in mind as well when deciding which network to try first.