Frightened by strict terms and conditions, some publishers hesitate to venture into Google AdSense. Others worry they lack sufficient traffic to monetize their inventory on this platform.
As one of the most renowned tools for inventory monetization, Google AdSense has been a market leader since 2003. It is the largest contextual ad network, attracting publishers with the highest rates for serving ads on their websites or apps. Despite a relatively low threshold for joining, some conditions and service specifics may prompt publishers to seek viable alternatives that better suit their monetization needs. What are those specifics, and what alternatives appear most attractive to publishers? Let’s explore.
AdSense and its importance for small publishers
Google AdSense is an advertising platform; more precisely, it is the largest contextual advertising network managed by Google since 2003. As one of the most popular monetization options, it is a number-one choice for numerous content creators who have their own inventory and strive to monetize it through ad serving.
Every ad impression or click on their ad inventory generates revenue, and that’s how publishers earn yields. The platform also offers many tools and functionalities to help manage inventory and performance. In particular:
- Customization Tools: Tools to customize the appearance of ad units so that they match the design of the site and analytics to track the performance of ads.
- Variety of Ad Units: There are different types of ad units to choose from. The publisher can select which ad formats to prioritize and individually adjust the parameters of ads to best match the site’s design.
- Performance Reports: Reports on the performance of ad units and pages on the site.
- Ad Blocking: Blocking certain categories of ads or specific advertisers if they do not match the values of the webmaster or the content of the site.
- Optimization Tools: Tools that help enhance the monetization process and achieve potentially higher yields.
Still, despite all this, publishers also use AdSense alternatives to diversify their opportunities with other platforms that offer similar functionality or have slightly different inventory requirements.
As of June 2024, around 87,835,186 websites used AdSense as their primary vendor. This option is significant for small publishers as it has no minimal traffic requirements. So, what drives publishers to look for alternatives?
Why do publishers search for alternative platforms?
Like every other ad platform, AdSense has specifics and peculiarities that distinguish it from other options. These peculiarities might pose advantages or disadvantages, and they need to be considered.
- Strict terms and conditions. Even if your site meets Google AdSense requirements, the search engine may refuse a partnership due to minor discrepancies or violations of its terms.
- Experience needed. You need to have at least basic experience operating self-serve platforms; otherwise, you’ll most likely need additional support to set up your monetization.
- Forbidden traffic types. Google does not like the publishers to get traffic to their sites from social sites like Facebook.
- It’s hard to make changes. Your country can’t be changed once your inventory is approved by Google. Also, you can’t change the actual AdSense code.
- Getting into ban. Only one AdSense account per individual or business entity is allowed. If you are caught with more, you will be banned. Plus, you cannot place your images next to ads, which could mislead or confuse visitors or block the visibility of the AdSense ads with pop-ups, for example.
- Payout specifics. To be able to withdraw the money, the owner must earn a total of $100 until the 21st of each month.
Criteria for choosing AdSense alternatives
Aside from the abovementioned nuances, every publisher should prioritize their own criteria for choosing the right option among myriads of platforms offered on the market. These are the most important:
- Platform rules. Almost any type of website is suitable for AdSense, but only if it complies with Google AdSense’s rules. Check if the rules meet your expectations and objectives before registering. Compare several platforms before choosing — for this, you can generate the most complete comparison of platforms on G2.
- Niche. There are several types of websites that usually have a good chance of successful monetization through Google AdSense. These are information and news sites, sites with ads, gaming sites, online stores, forums and blogs, and sports or travel online resources. If your niche is prohibited on Google AdSense according to their rules, you might find your luck on independent advertising platforms, particularly programmatic ones.
- Your team size and experience. Google AdSense will suit you if you have a small team of people responsible for managing ads and need an easy-to-implement and automated tool. At the same time, you need to have at least minimal experience with self-serve platforms. Otherwise, choose an alternative platform to assist you with all technical nuances and configurations.
Top 10 AdSense alternatives for small publishers in 2024
- Media.net. As a direct competitor of AdSense, Media.net offers publishers the opportunity to monetize content with exclusive access to search queries from the Yahoo! Bing network. Media.net was the first to develop a fully managed server-side header bidding platform, allowing publishers to make the most of programmatic displays with minimal effort.
- Eligibility for joining: ~10,000 page views per month
- Niche: all common site niches except for restricted website content
- Customer support: yes
- Payment: Net 30
- Setupad. Setupad is Google’s Certified Publishing Partner and offers extensive monetization opportunities for publishers. The platform features its own ad server and header-bidding unified auction. In addition, it has connections to more than 31 SSP partners, which helps this vendor serve around 4+ billion impressions globally.
- Eligibility for joining: ~10,000 page views per month
- Niche: all common site niches. Plus, your website needs to comply with content quality policies
- Customer support: extended customer care
- Payment: Net 60
- Monumetric. Previously, Monumetric was a blogger network. Now, it is a full-service advertising revenue partner, enabling publishers to increase their revenues while maintaining the best user experience for visitors. They use CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) instead of CPC (Cost Per Click), so publishers get paid for every impression.
- Eligibility for joining: ~10,000 page views per month
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: yes
- Payment: Net 60
- Ezoic. Ezoic’s peculiarity is that it enhances the performance of ad placements with the help of AI. More so, what is very important for some publishers is that this option also features access to the best networks, including Google AdX. Additionally, they implemented their own technologies to analyze inventory performance and potential issues that prevent correct ad serving.
- Eligibility for joining: ~10,000 page views per month
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: extended customer service plans based on website size
- Payment: Net 30, Net 60, and Net 90
- Adreact. Adreact offers opportunities to monetize different kinds of inventory and various ad formats for seamless user experiences. The platform has been operating for over six years now and, during this time, gained the trust of media sellers for its enhanced functionality (AI enhancement for placements, convenient inventory management CMS, advanced video players, and more).
- Eligibility for joining: ~10,000 page views per month
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: basic (no live support provided)
- Payment: Net 30
- AdHouse Pro. This platform has extended opportunities for those media sellers who strive to benefit from the unified header-bidding auctions. Via a convenient panel, media sellers can manage demand partners and, thus, optimize impressions to achieve higher yields. It also has handy reporting capabilities and custom optimization settings that increase impression effectiveness.
- Eligibility for joining: ~500,000 page views per month
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: yes
- Payment: Net 30
- Snigel. Founded by former Google executives, this platform is driven by experts. What sets Snigel apart is its particular focus on customer service, which prioritizes customer experience and ensures that pages with ads don’t overload publishers’ inventory. For this, they implemented adaptive ad sizes and formats and added AI bidder optimization.
- Eligibility for joining: ~100,000 page views per month (20% from top-tier countries)
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: yes
- Payment: Net 30
- YieldBird. YieldBird is an exceptional choice for media sellers who strive to sell ads effectively and optimize placements for optimal user experience. Powered by programmatic, this platform connects to unique proprietary sources of demand and provides publishers with essential tools for inventory management and analysis. It also offers tools against bid shading, a dashboard for competitor analytics, and access to unified auctions.
- Eligibility for joining: ~100,000 page views per month (20% from top-tier countries)
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: yes
- Payment: Net 30, Net 65
- MonetizeMore. MonetizeMore features many options for enhancing ad placement and gaining effective yield. Account management offers personalized assistance for those who need help or advice in platform configuration. This platform’s unique strengths include ad quality control, ad refresh technology, AI bidding enhancements, and more.
- Eligibility for joining: no minimum traffic requirements
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: extended
- Payment: Net 30, Net 65
- Pubgalaxy. This option is particularly notable because it provides GAM management, which ensures smooth ad trafficking. It also has smart bid adjustment and dynamic floor processes that guarantee optimal prices for ad inventory and prevent remnants. Access to RTB and PMP deals guarantees that the publisher receives a true value for their inventory.
- Eligibility for joining: ~ 7,000,000 page views per month
- Niche: all common site niches
- Customer support: extended
- Payment: Net 35, Net 65
To wrap it up
Earning with Google AdSense has become an effective solution for many publishers and media sellers. So, is it worth considering AdSense as your monetization vendor? If the platform conditions suit you, then definitely, yes. At the same time, it’s worth considering alternative solutions offering unique perks. Evaluate your goals and compare them to what platforms can offer to make the most optimal choices that will work specifically for you.
