Want to know what are the best CPM ad Networks for 2018?
Here in Web SEO Marketers, we like to talk about all different ways to make money online. In other articles, we’ve talked about how to earn money with Google Adsense, which is a CPC advertising network and it’s also one of the most popular ways to make money online.
We also have another article in which we’ve covered everything you need to know about how to make money with a blog, this is a full guide in which I’ll show you all the steps you need to know, from the point in which you start a blog and then start monetizing.
Today we are going to talk about the best CPM Ad Networks, but right before we do that, I think is good for us to go ahead and take care of some important concepts in order to make sure that we fully understand what’s being said here.
Let’s jump right in…
When it comes to placing ads on your blog or website, there are different types of ads that you can choose from. The terms CPM, CPC, and CPA make reference to the most common types of ads that you’ll find out there.
CPC or cost per click
CPC ad networks are entirely based on the number of clicks that you receive on each advertisement unit that you place on your site, and the average cost per click (CPC) can fluctuate depending on the country or the content of your site.
For these particular type of ads, the advertisers pay an amount ranging from a few cents to a few dollars only when the users click on the ads. No clicks, no payment, no money for you.
CPA or cost per action
CPA ads go beyond a simple click, it also requires a certain action to be completed by the user when they arrive at the advertiser’s page, either subscribing to a list, downloading a software, purchasing a product, etc. …
In this particular model, the advertiser only pays when the action takes place and usually CPA networks pay better than just several tens of dollars.
CPA ads are mostly used in affiliate marketing.
CPM or Cost per Mile
CPM advertising networks basically work based on every one thousand impressions of an advertisement. They usually have an average cost per 1000 impressions based on the country, this is known as the eCPM.
For example, if an advertiser pays you $10 per every 1.000 impressions and that ad is displayed on your site 100.000 times, you’ll be earning $1.000.
That’s very easy right?? 🙂 🙂
Now is time to go ahead and talk about the actual reason why you are reading this article. I know you came here because you want to know what are the best CPM ad networks for you to make money from your blog or website.
Here I’m going to show you the best 10 CPM ad networks based on publishers reviews and also some of these programs have been personally tested by me, as I’ve worked with them in the past.
Note: The specific order in which I mention these programs here doesn’t mean anything in particular.
Let’s get right into it…
Best CPM Ad Networks 2018:
1. Propeller Ads
If you like popunder and popup ads as well as mobile ads like interstitial and dialog boxes, this is a great CPM network for you to try out.
Propeller Ads is a very popular CPM ad network among bloggers and website owners. You can get an eCPM from US$1.00 up to US$10.00 depending on where your visitors are coming from, if you have high traffic from the USA then you can expect to earn a lot of money with propeller ads without making a big effort.
The most common types of websites in which I’ve seen propeller ads are download sites, music, and video streaming websites.
They follow the Net30 payment policy, same as AdSense (they take up to 30 days to process your payment). The minimum payment amount is us$100 and you can receive your payments through Payoneer, Paypal and wire transfer.
Pros:
-Easy to join and implement.
-Instant Approval.
-Real-time reporting (which is something that I personally love).
-They offer publishers an 80:20 benefits ratio.
-They have all popular sizes & types for their ad units.
-They also offer an ad blocker.
Cons:
-These ads tend to be a little disturbing since popunder and popups are the ones that work best, although most users actually feel annoyed by any kind of ads. I do encourage to go for it if you want to get some good money from this network.
-Also if you use Facebook ads to drive traffic to your site, using propeller ads might be a little bit dangerous.
Overall, this a great network for publishers and bloggers, you can make a lot of money from it.
2. Chitika
Chitika is also a very popular CPM ad network among publishers, they’ve also been around for a long time. They also offer a good variety high-quality ads that can even be compared with Adsense and they have ads available for niches.
This is one of the ad networks I’ve used myself and I can tell you it works better when you get traffic from search engines, however, it does give you good results with traffic from social networks too. Especially if you have a small site with not so much traffic, this is a premium ad network that can give you some good monetization.
Many publishers consider Chitika as one of the highest paying advertisement programs, as they display targeted advertisements like Google Adsense. You can expect to have good earnings using Chitika, they use the Net30 payment system and you can get paid through Payoneer, Paypal or Check.
Pros:
-Low requirements for approval. No need for high traffic.
-Minimum payout of US$10 via Paypal and US$50 by check.
-Can be used along with AdSense.
-Different ads types including mobile ads.
Cons:
-Doesn’t have a real-time dashboard report.
-Display ads mostly on search engine traffic
In general, Chitika is a very reliable CPM ad network and I’ve seen myself making us$1,000/mo with viral sites and its ads, so I encourage you to give it a shot and see if you like it.
3. Media.net
Media.net is a contextual Advertising Network which runs the Yahoo! and Bing contextual ad platform and guarantees high quality and also high paying ads for publishers. So it’s well known as one of the best alternatives to Google Adsense.
Since contextual ads perform better than any other types of ads (direct ads), you can expect to have high revenue from this advertising network. Media.net is mainly targeted to small and large Bloggers who produce quality content, so even if you have a small blog with low traffic, as long as you have quality content you won’t have any problem getting approved.
Some of the requirements to be approved for Media.net are the following:
-Content must be in English.
-Content must be unique, original.
-The website must not have excessive advertising.
-Not to have any adults content.
Pros:
-Contextual advertisements.
-High performance and revenue.
-Multiple ads size available.
-An assigned account manager who helps you optimize your ads.
-Clean and easy to use reporting system.
Cons:
-Only accepts websites in English.
-Does not accept websites that contain forums, discussion boards, chat rooms, etc.
Payments from this ad network are made on a Net30 basis with a minimum threshold of US$100. Payment methods available are wire transfer or PayPal.
4. Adsterra
Adsterra is a pretty new CPM ad network, they’ve just been established in 2013. They have been able to quickly grow in popularity thanks to their unique approach in terms of ad formats and how they make sure to deliver quality service. Adsterra has quickly become one of the fastest growing and expanding ad networks.
This network was initially launched in Scotland and is now expanding all around the globe. Adsterra is currently serving more than 10 billion unique impressions every month.
Adsterra specializes in displaying unique and innovative advertising units and combine those with smart ways to monetize for both, desktop and mobile devices.
The main types of ad units they currently offer are CPA, CPC, and CPM but the ones that actually perform better are the pop-under ads.
This is one of the few CPM ad networks that I recommend myself, because of the results I’ve gotten with them in the past. I’ve been able to see eCPM as low as US$0.55 and as high as US$15, again this will depend on what countries your visitors are coming from.
Pros:
-No need to have high traffic volume to be approved.
-Approval is done within 48 hours.
-High CPM rates even for commonly low countries.
-Assigned Account Manager.
-Great support via email or Skype.
-Real-time reporting system.
-Payments are processed every 15 days.
-5% commissions for publishers that you’ve referred.
Cons:
-Some ads might look spammy.
-Some countries might have a very low CPM rate.
The minimum payment threshold is US$100 and the payments can be received via Paypal, Wire Transfer, Paiza, and Paxum. Payment is submitted every 15 days, which is something that I really like because you can get paid twice per month.
Overall, Adsterra is a very solid CPM ad network, I still use their ads in some of my Spanish health sites and also fashion sites because is just very easy to work with them. The support offered to publishers is very good.
5. Conversant Media
Conversant Media, formerly known as ValueClick Media, is a large advertising network that has been around for a while, so they’re pretty much known by everybody. They are very close to Google AdSense and Media.net in terms of quality.
Besides being a display ad network, Conversant Media also owns CJ Affiliate (formerly known as Commission Junction), which is also one of the most popular affiliate marketplaces among online marketers. So that tells you how reputed and legit this brand is.
Although Conversant specializes in monetization of mobile traffic and mobile apps, they offer pretty much all kinds of solutions available in terms of ad units. They offer PPC and CPM ads for publishers and they don’t have very high requirements as long as you have a high-quality site.
Pros:
-No need to have high traffic (3000 monthly visitors is the minimum required).
-They have advertisements from some big brands.
-Very competitive performance.
-Minimum payment threshold of US$25
Cons:
-Only accept websites in English.
-They might display some low quality, or spammy-looking, ads.
They offer payments by Check, Direct Deposit and PayPal using the Net60 payment system, but payments are usually made within 25 days.
Overall, Conversant Media is a solid CMP ad network that offers monetization options for websites or blogs of any size. Their ads perform well, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a primary ad network unless you’ve been banned from Google Adsense or Media.net which can definitely offer more revenue. They work very well to complement Adsense or Media.net.
6. RevenueHits
RevenueHits is an advertising company based in Israel, they established their business in 2008 with a whole team of financial experts, online marketers and other experienced professionals in different fields.
They serve more than two billion impressions daily on publishers sites using a technology that scans millions of online ads and analyzes publisher performance. Their algorithm promises to optimize your earnings by always finding the best offers to be displayed on your site.
Note: I’ve personally worked with this CPM ad network and it has worked very well for me and other colleagues, that’s why I also consider it to be a very good alternative to Google Adsense.
I’ve seen eCPM as high as US$50 with this network and as low as US$0.50, but that will depend on where your traffic comes from and also the type of ads you’re using, they do have a large variety.
Pros:
-There’s no minimum traffic required.
-Supports all languages.
-Minimum payment of US$20.
-All types of ad units and sizes available.
-Assigned Personal Account Manager.
-Responsive support via email.
Cons:
-Some ads might look a little intrusive or spammy.
As mentioned before, the minimum payment threshold for this network is US$20 and it can be received through Paypal and Payoneer.
Overall, RevenueHits is a very competitive ad network and is one of the few competitors to AdSense. If you have a blog or website and you’re looking for a new way to increase your revenue, I do recommend to try this network.
7. AdCash
Adcash is another great CPM ad network that has been around for a while ( they’ve been in the business since 2007) and they’ve also been working on improving their algorithms for several years.
This is a company based in Estonia, working with publishers and advertisers around the world, they are very focused towards entertainment and gaming content.
Adcash makes use of a dynamic CPM optimization system to keep a relevant ad inventory to your likely traffic, but they also offer the option of manually controlling the ads that are being served on your site. This choice is a departure for some in the realm monetizing content through ads and can help give the publisher more control for better chances of conversion.
They have display ads with offers for CPM, CPC, CPA monetization programs with many ad sizes available.
Pros:
-Fast approval.
-No minimum traffic required.
-Supports different languages.
-Personal Account Manager.
-Easy to Contact Support.
-Allows manually control your ads.
-Multiple payment methods available.
Cons:
-High minimum payment threshold.
Payments are processed on a Net30 basis and the available payment methods are PayPal, Skrill, Web money, Payoneer, Wire Transfer. The minimum payment threshold is EU$100.00, it seems like they process all payments in this currency.
Although I haven’t had the chance to work with this network myself, I’ve already seen very positive reviews on other respected sites. This is also a solid ad network that you can try in 2018 if you are trying to increase your blog’s revenue.
8. Exponential
Formerly known as Tribal Fusion, Exponential is one of the oldest CPM ad networks out there. A great thing about this ad network is the high quality of the CPM ads, they are indeed one of the best networks in the advertising industry.
They offer high impact ads such as Rising Star ad formats and pre-roll ads with 55% of revenue going to their publishers. The downside with this ad network is the fact that they require a minimum of 500,000 unique visitors per month.
Some of the requirements to join this network are:
-A minimum of 500,000 unique users per month.
-Highly targeted, relevant and regularly updated content.
-A professional and attractive site design
I can tell that this is a great network to work with if you meet their requirement which I consider a little too strict.
Pros:
-Excellent Performance.
-High-quality ads.
-Low minimum payment threshold.
-Great reporting system.
Cons:
-Very strict requirements to be accepted.
Other than what I already mentioned, Exponential processes their payments using the Net45 payment program, the minimum threshold of just $50. Available payment options are Paypal and check.
9. Criteo
Criteo is a digital advertising and retargeting company founded in 2005. The business initially began as a start-up by a group of smart people in French, who was able to take it to a level that it now competes with giants like Google as they operate over 30 markets worldwide.
This brand relies on advanced technology and intelligent algorithms to market products and re-target them. This means that if a user has seen the advertiser’s website once, this person will also see ads from the same website in future. This is a unique technique of re-targeting that only they use.
They offer publishers the option to monetize using CPA, CPM, and PPC with very competitive eCPM rates. The best part of it is that you can set a CPM floor so that you’re guaranteed a certain CPM per each ad impression.
In order to be approved as a publisher by Criteo, you need to have a quality website with at least 2000 visitors per day, so their requirements are not so difficult.
Pros:
-Very competitive CPM rates (even 2 to 3 times more than Adsense).
-Low requirements to be approved.
-Very easy to implement once approved.
-They allow you to set a CPM floor.
-Offers support via email.
Cons:
-Only fill out 10% to 20% of your traffic (still performs really well).
-They use AdSense as a fallback.
-Minimum payment is a little high ($150).
-Don’t use most popular payment methods.
As mentioned before, the minimum threshold for publishers payments is US$150, which in my opinion is very high. Payments are processed on a NET30 basis, and the available payments methods are only checks and wire transfers.
Overall, this is a solid ad network to be used as a secondary monetization program, I don’t recommend it to be the primary monetization program for your blog, although their CPM rates are usually very good, they only fill out around 10% to 15% of your traffic.
I would then suggest using Criteo ads combined with networks like Google Adsense or Media.net which also pay very well and are more stable.
10. Revcontent
Revcontent is a content recommendation network that was founded in 2013, they’ve quickly grown enough to be even considered the fastest growing content recommendation network in the world.
No surprise, the network powers more than 250 billion content recommendations per month. Considered by many as the largest and best-performing native ad network globally.
Revcontent currently works with some of the top content marketers in the world including Forbes, CBS, and NBC News among others.
They only accept high-quality websites receiving at least 50,000 monthly visitors. I’ve also heard that they only accept about 6% of all applications submitted, which means that they are rejecting nearly 94% of applicants.
I tried to join Revcontent once in the past with one of my viral websites and they rejected my website without giving me a lot of details of why. The only thing they said, was that my website didn’t qualify at the moment.
Early this year, around February or March, I was then approached by one of their account managers who wanted to offer some business to me. Being honest I wasn’t very happy about the fact that they rejected my application and all of the sudden now they wanted to work with me, but I gave it a chance and I can gladly say that they are one of the best CPM advertising networks I’ve ever worked with.
Pros:
-Offer some of the highest CPM rates for all countries.
-Excellent support. I have communication with my account manager even through Whatsapp.
-They serve high-quality content recommendations.
-Minimum payment threshold of US$50.
-Great network for mobile publishers.
-Very accurate, real-time reporting dashboard.
Cons:
-Difficult to join.
-They have many restrictions.
Overall, I see Revcontent as one of the best CPM ad networks out there, but they’re also very difficult to get approval from. I’ recommend using this network along with another high-quality ad network such as Adsense or Media.net in order to maximize revenue and also maintain quality.
They process their payments based on the Net30 payment system with a minimum threshold of US$50, which is very convenient. The only available payment method I know so far is PayPal.
This was actually one of the largest articles I’ve written for this blog. I hope you really like it and also find here the best network to monetize or compliment the earnings you already have.
Keep in mind that the order in which I’ve mentioned each ad network in this article does not have anything to do in regards to which one is the best. Indeed all of them are very good monetization options for any blogger.
