If you are frustrated with your Adsense revenue, or if your Adsense account has been banned, this isn't the end of the world. Adsense might be the Mercedes of ad networks but from the thousands of ad networks out there there must be many other alternatives to monetize your site. Indeed, there are and in some cases they will work much better for you. Of course, the result depends on many factors, such as your niche, how much traffic you have and where it comes from, etc. but all equal any of these Adsense alternatives can bring you real money. Here are 10 Google Adsense alternatives to consider:
1 Media.net
Probably of all the ad networks on the list, this is the
least known but it is also the best. They offer very innovative solutions, such
as content ads, search targeting, web bar, and mobile ads. Media.net is
especially good for huge sites with lots of US, UK, and Canada traffic. One of
the downsides of Media.net is that the payment is at $100 but for a huge site
this should be pocket money.
2 Chitika
Chitika doesn't offer that many types of ads but its main
advantage is that the ads it offers are very targeted. The CTR is great because
the ads are displayed only when a user comes from a search engine. Its low $10
payout is also good because even if your site is small, or you use only one ad
block, most likely you will be getting payments monthly instead of having to
wait for them for months.
3 Bidvertiser
Bidvertiser is another (mainly) PPC network, though they
started offering a conversion bonus. Its payout is also at $10, which means for
a small site it is also an option.
4 Infolinks
Infolinks offers in-text advertising. In-text ads are very
unobtrusive compared to the rest and they don't eat space because they are
displayed as popups when the user hovers over the hyperlink in the text they
are anchored to. In-text ads from Infolinks work surprisingly well, though it
varies depending on the niche. However, its payout of $50 isn't very nice, if
your site(s) are small because you might have to wait for months to reach it.
5 adBrite
Many webmasters consider adBrite to be the best Google
Adsense alternative but since my experience with them isn't as good as my
experience with Chitika or Infolinks, it comes as Number 5. adBrite is
essentially an ad marketplace, where buyers and sellers can communicate to
negotiate the price. This is what makes it different from the rest. However,
you need to have a very popular site with a very lucrative demographics in
order to make it there because the competition is really huge.
6 Clickbank
If you do not insist on using CPC ads as a Google Adsense
alternative but are open to suggestions, then you should try affiliate sales
(known also as CPA – Cost Per Action). Clickbank is the Mecca of CPA offers and
it should be your first stop. Clickbank offers probably millions of products
and choosing what to promote could be the hardest task. However, the rewards
you get could be times what you are making with Adsense on a good day.
7 Amazon
Amazon is another CPA ad network that works well for many
publishers. It is especially good if you have a tech site because there are
lots of cool gadgets there but since they have offers in almost any niche, it
is also an option. Their ads are context sensitive and because of this are
almost always relevant. However, their terms are very complicated and it will
take you a lot of time to get familiar with what commissions you will be
getting for your sales.
8 Kontera
Kontera is another in-text network you can consider an
alternative to Google Adsense. It is comparable in performance with Infolinks
but again, this varies a lot depending on the niche. However, if you are to
choose between Kontera and Infolinks, I will definitely pick Infolinks.
9 eBay
If Clickbank, Amazon, and a few other of the top CPA
networks don't work for you, you could give eBay a try. Again, your success (or
the lack of it) with it varies depending on the niche but you can make some
money with it. I wouldn't put eBay ads as my primary source of income because
this will waste space I can use for better ads. However, as a secondary or even
tertiary advertiser, if you have some free space left, eBay could be given a
try.
10 LinkShare
You might be surprised to find LinkShare – a relatively
unknown company - on the list of Top Adsense alternatives but it is an
alternative for real. It has a huge choice of offers and they pay at $1. Maybe
it is even better than the rest on this list because if your site isn't huge,
you won't have to wait for months (or even years) till you get the paycheck.
Linkshare has offers in almost any niche and there you will find many of the
best advertisers from all over the world.