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If you’ve been blogging for quite some time now and have amassed a significant following, you might be considering ways to monetize your blog.
Or, if you just started a blog you might be wondering how you can still monetize your blog without a lot of traffic.
Google AdSense is a popular pay-per-click program that offers bloggers a simple and easy way to make money with their content.
With the right strategy, your blog could potentially be a lucrative income source and advertising programs like this one can help you.
Google AdSense is a little easier to be approved for than some ad companies out there, so if your blog does not yet have a lot of traffic it may be the right choice.
All that said, Google AdSense doesn’t come without its fair share of disadvantages. And, you may be wondering what the best alternatives to AdSense are for blogs and websites.
Below are seven of the best Google Adsense alternatives for bloggers you may want to consider. We also talk a little about what Google AdSense is, how it works, as well as its pros and cons.
What Is Google AdSense?
As mentioned earlier, Google AdSense allows content creators and bloggers to earn money from what they share online.
It uses a clever algorithm to match your content with appropriate ads that are then posted on your website pages.
Each ad is carefully curated by the advertisers that are promoting their products. Since each provider pays a different price for services, the money you earn will also vary depending on the advertisements you post.
They do have some eligibility requirements you must meet to get signed up though like other programs.
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Is Google AdSense the Best Ad Network?
You might be wondering if Google AdSense is the best ad network out there. Well, it depends.
If you are new and need an easy program to get into, it is the best ad network for you possibly.
But, if you are an established blog with a lot of traffic, you may want to opt for a higher paying ad network like Media Vine.
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Pros and Cons of Google AdSense
While Google AdSense might sound like a stable way to generate income for bloggers, it’s not without its flaws. Here are a few of its pros and cons for your reference:
Pro: It’s Free
One of the great things about Google AdSense is that joining it is completely free.
Granted, you have to meet the program’s terms and conditions to get started. But, apart from that, you only need a website and a google account to get started.
Access the Google AdSense website, fill out the signup sheet, and wait for their confirmation email to arrive in your Gmail app.
Another advantage is that is a lot easier to get signed up with Google AdSense than some of the other advertising programs out there that require a minimum amount of traffic per month.
Pro: One Account for Multiple Websites
Most affiliate programs won’t allow you to use your account on multiple platforms.
Google AdSense is different because it lets you use one account for multiple websites at a time. No need to worry about the clutter of maintaining several affiliate accounts for different websites.
Pro: Easier Acceptance
Another advantage to Google AdSense is that the requirements to be accepted into the program are not as difficult as many other programs out there.
So, if you are a new blog with out a lot of established traffic, you can still get accepted for Google AdSense and get started with monetizing your blog.
Con: There’s a Minimum Payout
Google AdSense has a minimum payout of $100. This is the amount you need to have in your account before you can make a withdrawal.
It might not seem like a lot of money, but considering the amount of traffic you need to earn on AdSense, it can take a while for you to reach the minimum and actually get paid.
If your current following is not as significant as larger websites, it might be wiser to use programs that have a much smaller payout minimum.
Cons: Unexpected Deactivations
Google AdSense can automatically deactivate your account without prior notice due to any of the following reasons:
- Click frauds
- Inactivity
- Click buying
- Ad stuffing
If you have money left in your account after Google AdSense deactivates it, you won’t be able to retrieve it anymore. So, you have to be extra careful when you’re using their program.
Best Google Adsense Alternatives for Bloggers
Luckily, you don’t have to settle for Google AdSense if you don’t think the program is working for you.
There are over a dozen similar advertising program alternatives to AdSense for bloggers you can use to monetize your website. Try one of the following AdSense alternatives:
1. MediaNet
MediaNet is an excellent AdSense alternative for small websites or for when your blog is new and doesn’t have established traffic yet.
Signing up for the program is very easy. They will route text ads to your blog and you can make money as these get served up on your site. They do have a $75 minimum threshold for payout.
You can make money with their contextual ads or the programmatic platform. They claim to have one of the largest pools of advertisers in the world. MediaNet is leveraged by a lot of top-level sites to make money.
2. Infolinks
Infolinks is one of the best AdSense alternatives. It is easy to get setup and have ads running on your blog in no time.
According to their website, their publishing partners have earned over $100 Million dollars from advertising placements.
Their ad units are highly customizable. Each advertiser sets their own price per view, so what you can make will vary by ad.
3. Monumetric
Monumetric is great for mid-sized websites that generate a respectable amount of traffic.
It’s different from Google AdSense in that they pay you on a cost-per-view basis instead of cost-per-click; plus, they have a payout minimum of $10.
Keep in mind that Monumetric is not a free program. You have to pay a $99 fee to get yourself set up.
They have 4 different programs to choose from when you apply for their ad platform.
4. ylliX
This next AdSense alternative is best-suited for new bloggers or publishers. They don’t require their users to have a specific number of visitors.
Plus, they have a low payout minimum of $1 — something that isn’t easily found with most providers these days.
You can earn your commission using various ways such as ad impressions, actions, and clicks. And they offer many ad types such as sliders, banners, anchor, pop-up and more.
They also offer a generous referral program that rewards you with $100 for every successful referral to their program.
5. Sovrn //Commerce
The great thing about Sovrn //Commerce is that it allows you to track how your ads are performing on every page.
This helps you weed out the ads that don’t garner income from the ones that do. You can also choose to get paid based on cost-per-impression or cost-per-click.
The minimum payout is $10 if you choose to get it via PayPal. If you want to receive it via direct deposit, you’ll need to wait until you have at least $50 in your account.
Best of all, they have a Chrome extension that allows you to get instant affiliate links from products online.
6. SHE Media
For blogs and other platforms that create content aimed at female audiences, SHE Media is an AdSense alternative that offers a great way for you to monetize your website.
However, it does have a 20,000 monthly viewership requirement and a payout minimum of $20.
Plus, your audience needs to be 80% US-based to qualify for their program, with at least 70% of the population being female. So this may not be one of the best AdSense alternatives for your website or blog if you are not that niche specific.
They offer standard media, high impact, native, video, and emerging formats.
7. Mediavine
If your blog focuses more on lifestyle topics and has a related niche to that, you should consider signing up for Mediavine as an alternative to AdSense.
However, they do require you have 50,000 sessions in the last 30 days in your analytics to be accepted. So your blog will have to already be generating a lot of traffic.
This is a steeper requirement than many of these other Google AdSense alternatives. You will have to have a well-established blog with a lot of traffic to make it in.
But, you can make good money with Mediavine! And, the payout minimum is just $25.
Since Mediavine partners with mostly lifestyle advertisers, its ad content is geared toward lifestyle bloggers.
Final Thoughts on AdSense Alternatives
There are countless ways for you to start monetizing your website or blog.
Google AdSense is just one of the myriad avenues you can take to earn a living from creating content.
Don’t limit yourself to what the majority know; branch out and see which of the alternative advertising programs will work best for you and your audiences.
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