18 Best Ad Networks for Publishers in 2023 | Publift

When digital publishers think about monetizing their websites with ads, Google AdSense is the first name that comes to most peoples’ minds.

There are good reasons for this, given that Google claims that its AdSense network has over 2 million users. 

However, this doesn’t mean that publishers shouldn’t explore other networks on the market.

Partnering with the best ad network means:

1. You don’t need to chase individual sellers to advertise on your content
2. You derive better value for the ads you host. Believe it or not, there are a lot of ad networks out there that pay more than Google AdSense
3. You’re paid on time, and in the payment method of your choice
4. You can choose a wide variety of monetization methods
5. You can choose from among different ad formats, sizes, and styles, depending on the niche and domain you operate in.

The ad networks curated in this list stand out from the plethora of ad networks available today because they offer the highest possible payouts to publishers with the lowest barriers to entry and a wide variety of monetization options.

If you’re looking to change ad networks, or are even looking for your first network, read on to find out more about our best ad networks picks for publishers in 2023.

The 18 Best Ad Networks for Publishers in 2023:

1. Publift

2. Adcash

3. AppLovin

4. Epom Market

5. Clickadu

6. Ad Maven

7. Hilltop Ads

8. PopAds

9. Bidvertiser

10. Liftoff.io

11. Traffic Force

12. Adblade

13. InMobi

14. Undertone

15. EMX

16. Vibrant Media

17. Adsterra

18. RevenueHits

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What is an Ad Network?

An ad network connects publishers with ad inventory to sell with businesses looking to advertise.

This arrangement ends up being a win-win for both sides. By connecting advertisers on the demand side with publishers on the supply side, ad networks facilitate the running of ad campaigns as well as the maximization of advertising revenue.

How Does an Ad Network Work?

Ad networks work on the simple principle of matching demand with supply. When a publisher registers with an ad network, the network analyzes their website for all the available space or inventory available for displaying ads. It also examines the nature of content on the publisher’s website in order to best match its ads.

It then uses algorithms to determine which ad formats, ad sizes, and ad content would be best suited to maximize revenue for the publisher.

On the demand side of things, the ad network then searches its own stock of available advertisements to place on the publisher’s website. Just as publishers register with ad networks, advertisers register with ad networks too with their ads.

Since with modern digital ad networks, the entire process is automated, advertisers and publishers can set parameters for campaign types, budget, ad frequency etc. depending on the ad network.

Why Are Ad Networks Important?

Networking within the advertising ecosystem is an essential monetisation element that makes life easier for both the publisher and the advertiser.

Their relationship allows publishers to quickly sell ad units to advertisers, rather than having to reach out to individuals within the digital marketing space. 

Which Factors Should You Consider When Choosing an Ad Network?

There are many excellent ad networks available to publishers looking to serve ads on their sites. However, there are several factors to consider when deciding which network or networks will work best for your current business model.

Here are some more factors to think about.

Your Customers’ Devices

Everybody knows that we now live in a world dominated by mobile devices.

Hence, it is essential for publishers to consider how and when people are using their mobile devices to decide if, and when, they want to serve mobile ads or desktop ads.

Consider that many people will be using desktops during working hours, while mobile devices are more likely to be used during the evenings and weekends and are, therefore, more likely to be used to make purchases.

For mobile publishers and app publishers, a mobile ad network will be a more suitable choice than a platform specializing in serving ads on desktop sites. Mobile ad networks support advertisers in their efforts to reach individual users on their mobile devices.

Consider your target audience and then choose an ad network accordingly.

Targeting Options

Today’s ad networks offer access to sophisticated targeting options, including geolocation, demographics, device, income, and many other elements.

Some networks also offer retargeting features, enabling advertisers to put ads in front of customers who have visited their website in the past.

While some statistics showing conversion rates on retargeted traffic can be double that of standard advertising, other research has shown that consumers feel “stalked” by retargeting.

Publishers need to assess their target audience to determine which targeting options they want and what other ad networks can offer them.

The Networks’ Publishing Niche

Large ad networks often have multiple advertisers and ad agencies on their books. If you can find out the niche market of the network and match it to your publishing niche, you will be far more likely to target your audience with relevant advertising.

Choosing the right ad network for your business takes careful consideration, not to mention time and money.

Ad networks for publishers are important, and publishers should not be afraid to pivot and select a more appropriate ad space if the one they are using isn’t providing the required results. ‍

Types of Advertising Networks

Advertising networks are often categorized by their strategy, method of traffic delivery, and volume of inventory.

The best ad networks for publishers are chosen based on the client’s individual needs, so it’s important to know what sort of digital marketing networks exist in the ecosystem in order to know what the best type is for your goals.

Below are a few examples of the most popular ad network systems:

1. Premium Ad Networks

Premium ad networks offer inventory from popular publishers and create the demand needed to build competition for high-quality ads and their placement.

They also often have higher standards for inventory, which can result in stronger engagement and conversion metrics.

Some examples of these advertising platforms include:

• Google Display Network (GDN)
• Yahoo Gemini
• One by AOL
• AdMob by Google
• AdCash

There are many other ad networks in the ecosystem, but each of these is an example of a popular ad network that prides itself on having premium ad inventories.

2. Vertical Ad Networks

Vertical ad networks are topic-specific and represent publications that fall within a particular portfolio. They can include a technology ad network, a business ad network, a fashion ad network, and an automotive ad network, among others. They’re also dedicated to delivering advertising to a specific audience.

This type of ad network gives an advertiser full transparency about where their ads will run and are most frequently used by brand marketers to promote high-quality traffic.

Volume is usually lower, but the quality of the traffic tends to be higher due to more precise targeting that reaches a specific audience rather than a broad audience.

When it comes to vertical ad networks, advertisers typically have the option of site-wide advertising or on specific sections such as finance or fashion.

3. Horizontal Ad Networks

Horizontal ad networks are higher volume networks that offer a wider base of inventory for advertisers to tap into. Targeting is more generalized which means the quality of the traffic could be lower, but horizontal ad networks offer the ability to potentially serve billions of ad impressions per day.

While horizontal ad networks offer reach, scale, and some targeting capabilities, they’re often referred to as “blind networks” because advertisers don’t always know where exactly the impressions will serve.

This means that while the scale of reach could be higher than a vertical ad network, the value of impressions delivered will likely be lower.

4. Specialized or Inventory-Specific Ad Networks

Specialized networks focus on a certain type of inventory and could be device-specific—for example, a mobile ad network or video ad network.

Mobile ad networks are marketplaces where publishers can sell ad units to advertisers on apps. Developers will use a mobile ad network to monetize their app with ads and advertisers use mobile marketing to reach their audience through a different medium.

As more people spend more time on their mobiles than ever before, the mobile advertising ecosystem has become increasingly valuable with mobile advertisers piling in to reach their audience in this medium.

Although there are multiple ad formats, video ad networks are another example of one of the best ad networks for publishers.

They offer marketers the opportunity to advertise to their audience exclusively with a video ad unit. These ad slots are especially valuable for advertisers whose audiences spend a lot of time consuming video content, such as millennials or Gen-Z.

5. Performance and Affiliate Ad Networks

Performance and affiliate networks connect publishers, like influencers or blog owners, with companies seeking the promotion of their services or products. These networks often use the ad revenue share, CPA, or CPC pricing model.

Typically, these networks will provide training, reporting tools, and additional resources that empower marketers to be more successful.

Amazon is an example of an affiliate ad network in action, since they allow influencers and publishers to connect with sellers and earn commission on every purchase that their followers or readers make through one of their affiliate links.

The 18 Best Ad Networks for Publishers in 2023

1. Publift

Publift works to help digital publishers and website developers access premium ad partners that may be have been beyond their reach otherwise.

The Australian company is an award-winning, Google-certified specialist in ad optimization, consolidated reporting, brand safety and much more.

Furthermore, the Publift crew is in the top 10 of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and won the best sell side technology category in The Drum’s Digital Advertising Awards APAC 2019.

It represents one of the best ad networks, having been acknowledged by The Australian Financial Review and Statista as one of Australia’s Fast Starters in 2020.

Publift’s niche is catering to small and medium-sized publishers who may not always have the resources to navigate the complex world of digital advertising. It does this through its award winning programmatic advertising solution—Fuse—which integrates easily with a publisher’s website. All it takes is replacing the existing ad tag with a single line of code and publishers are ready to optimize their website for maximum revenue.

Model: CPM

Minimum Traffic: NA (Publishers should be earning at least $2,000 USD per month in order to be eligible for approval)

2. Adcash

Adcash is a global ad network that connects advertisers and publishers and currently runs more than 1,000 campaigns worldwide.

It offers a range of different ad formats, including pop-unders, native ads, push notifications, banners, and interstitial ads.

The platform also offers advertising technology that fights against digital ad fraud and is designed to bypass ad blockers.

Adcash is also known for its high level of technical support from experienced and multilingual account managers.The platform does not have preference for publishers of any particular size or scale—its solutions are designed to be customized to large, small, or medium-sized publishers alike.

All publishers need to do to integrate Adcash into their websites is register on the Adcash portal, integrate its tag into their website’s HTML code and they’re good to go. Adcash then works by optimizing their website for advertisement, finding the right ad content, size, and format and placing it on the publishers’ website, and even deploying anti-adblock technology for greater ad viewability.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA Target

Minimum Traffic: None

3. AppLovin

Founded in 2012, AppLovin is one of the best ad networks for both mobile advertisers and mobile app publishers.

It is designed for media apps of all sizes—from indie publishers to established developers—and aims to help them connect with their ideal customers.

AppLovin offers six solutions for publishers:

1. Max: Designed to maximize an app’s revenue potential
2. SparkLabs: A marketing focused solution that helps create brand awareness and generate traffic
3. AppDiscovery: A solution focused on user-acquisition that helps app publishers get more downloads/subscribers
4. Adjust: A performance measurement solution that helps publishers monitor the performance of their apps using powerful analytics
5. ALX: ALX or AppLovin exchange allows DSPs to gain access to the most lucrative ad exchanges
6. Array: Array allows publishers to explore new ways to monetize their content from the app ecosystem

Model: CPA, CPV

Minimum Traffic: None

4. Epom Market

Connecting advertisers and publishers operating across 15 verticals in more than 40 countries, Epom Market is a cross-platform ad network that serves over 13 billion ad impressions per month.

It works with publishers of all sizes, and helps monetize both website content and apps. 

Epom Market supports a range of ad formats, including standard banner ads, in-text ads, video ads, and mobile-specific ad units, using category-targeting for higher eCPM rates.

Epom Market offers a 30-day trial through which customers can receive up to 1 billion free impressions.

Integrating Epom market with your content is a simple three-step process:

• Set up a publisher’s account by registering on the Epom Market portal
• Insert the Epom ad tag into your website’s HTML code
• Get ready to monetize your content.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, Auction

Minimum Traffic: 500,000 monthly impressions

5. Clickadu

Clickadu is a digital advertising network for web and mobile channels, serving a range of innovative ad formats, including video pre-roll, skim, and pop-under ads. It offers both fully managed and self-service campaigns with advanced targeting options, including geo, site, and device type, to maximize ad revenue.

Integrating Clickadu with your website is a simple four-step process:

• Sign up with the Clickadu platform
• Wait for Clickadu to approve your website. The platform will need to vet your content to make sure it meets their criteria
• Insert the Clickadu ad tag on your website
• Start earning money from your content.

Model: CPM

Minimum Traffic: None

6. Ad Maven

While it is regarded as the best pop-under network for advertisers, Ad Maven actually supports multiple ad formats, including mainstream display ads banner, lightbox, interstitial ads, and slider ads.

Serving hundreds of millions of ads in around 200 countries, it offers advertisers the opportunity to leverage geolocation-based targeting in their online advertising campaigns.

Admaven works with publishers of all sizes, whether large, medium, or small.

Integrating Admaven on your website is as simple as registering, inserting a code in your website, and starting earning. Once integrated, Admaven’s platform also allows for easy access to analytics and viewing of reports from its dashboard.

Model: CPA, CPI, CPL, CPC, CPM

Minimum Traffic: None

7. Hilltop Ads

Recommended for publishers with medium to high-traffic websites, HillTop Ads’ anti-ad blocker technology is very popular. The tech saves publishers and advertisers revenue that is often lost due to ad blocking software.

It offers a modern, simple-to-use interface that allows publishers to monetize several websites through one account.

Hilltop works with publishers located across the globe and publishing both mainstream and non-mainstream content.

To integrate Hilltop Ads on your website, follow these steps:

1. You need to first sign up on their portal. Once approved, add your site in the Manager Sites and Zones tab.
2. Next, you will be given a unique verification code which needs to be added to your website.
3. Once your website has been verified, click the Add Zone button and select the kind of advertisement you want to display. You will be given a code which needs to be placed at the appropriate place on your website.
4. And that’s it. You are now ready to monetize your website with Hilltop Ads.

Model: CPA, CPM, CPC

Minimum Traffic: None

8. PopAds

PopAds is a pop-under ad network that advertises itself as the highest and fastest paying ad network in the pop-under arena.

Its ad servers are also considered to be faster and more secure than those of its competitors.

PopAds offers real-time consumer data to its clients, which can be leveraged to assist in ad layout optimization for more significant user acquisition.

PopAds works with websites of all sizes, and any website that does not break US or Costa Rica is eligible to partner with PopAds. However, the rates it offers depend on the quality of the content and the niche the publisher operates in. Websites with higher quality content, and operating in lucrative niches such as loans and insurance tend to get better rates.

To integrate PopAds on your platform, register with PopAds and insert their ad tag into your website’s code.

Model: CPV, CPM

Minimum Traffic: None

9. Bidvertiser

Bidvertiser is an ad network that supports publishers across all formats, allowing them to monetize everything from websites to mobile apps to toolbars and even extensions. All ads placed on publisher inventory are scanned by Bidvertiser internally, as well as by third-party apps for compliance, safety, and appropriateness. 

Bidvertiser allows minimum payouts as low as $10, allowing even small publishers to take advantage of the platform. Payment methods include wire transfer, Paypal, Wise, and even Bitcoin. In allowing payments via cryptocurrency, Bidvertiser stands among all the entries on our list.

To start using Bidvertiser, all publishers need to do is sign up on their portal and integrate their ad tag on their web page.

Model: CPM, CPC

Minimum Traffic: None

10. Liftoff.io

Liftoff is one of the top mobile advertising networks for app developers and publishers looking to monetize their applications with mobile marketing and app ads.

Liftoff is known to attract High LTV users with rich media and video ad campaigns created by its in-house display advertising team.

It offers ad placements that allow publishers to be flexible with formatting, along with data algorithms that will enable advertisers to A/B-test ads in real-time for more efficient targeting and increased ad revenue.

Model: CPC

Minimum Traffic: None

11. Traffic Force

Traffic Force is a supply-side platform (SSP) that connects publishers with over 100 demand-side partners. This ad network sells targeted web and mobile web traffic on an impression basis.

Traffic Force offers a range of ad formats for publishers to implement, including display banners, pop-unders, IM floaters, and in-stream video ads. It employs OpenRTB technology to deal with traffic.

It also offers a high level of online security by utilizing advanced software to scan all ads that go live on its network. This ensures there is no malicious advertising. It also offers SSL secure ads.

Traffic Force works with publishers of all sizes and working in almost every niche.

To use Traffic Force, you need to create a publisher account by signing up here.

Once your account has been approved, you will need to insert the Traffic Force ad tag on your page and you are good to go.

Model: CPM

Minimum Traffic: None

12. Adblade

Targeted at premium publishers and media agencies, Adblade counts FoxNews, Hearst Corporation, Yahoo!, and ABC among the 1,000 publishers that make up its ad network.

Adblade supports standard IAB ad units, as well as headlineNewsBullets® units, which it claims have three to five times the engagement rate of banner ads.

To join Adblade, you need to register as a publisher on their portal.

Adblade have three categories for publishers based on the traffic they receive on their website:

• 1-499,999 unique monthly page views
• 5,00,000-49,99,999 unique monthly page views
• 50,00,000+ unique monthly page views

Adblade has unique services tailored to each segment.

Once you’ve entered your page traffic, you will be asked to fill up your contact information and payment details. Once approved, you can insert Adbalde’s ad tag on your page and start monetizing your content.

Model: CPM, CPC, Real-time bidding

Minimum Traffic: 500,000 monthly impressions

13. InMobi

InMobi is one of the fastest-growing mobile ad networks, as demonstrated by its inclusion in the 2018 and 2019 CNBC Disruptor 50 lists and as one of Fast Company’s 2018 World’s Most Innovative Companies.

It assists publishers in cross-selling, re-targeting and re-activating users with HD video content and rich media ads.

Publishers can also maximize their yield with dynamic pricing and campaign optimization options. 

InMobi not only allows monetization of mobile websites and apps, it also provides identity management solutions through its UnifID platform. UnifID captures user data while remaining privacy regulation compliant.

Model: CPA, CPC, CPI, CPM

Minimum Traffic: N/A

14. Undertone

Undertone partners with top brands and publishers across several verticals, and pride themselves on their quality video marketing creative and flexible integrations.

They specialize in serving high-quality mobile ads, in-app ads, and web ads on a range of devices.

Undertone provides three integration options:

• Client-side header bidding via pre-bid or Index exchange
• Service-side header bidding via Amazon’s TAM
• Direct-tag via GAM

By implementing inventory in non-traditional ways, Undertone ensures zero cannibalization of existing ad products, along with 100%-1,500% higher CPMs than standard display ads.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV

Minimum Traffic: 500,000 monthly impressions

15. EMX

EMX, created via the merger of bRealTime and Clearstream, caters to both publishers and advertisers by offering fixed CPM ad units.

EMX offers three services for publishers:

• BIddR360: A header bidding wrapper that helps publishers optimize their header bidding stacks
• BiddrConnect: Helps publishers connect to the EMX marketplace
• Private Cloud for Publishers: Helps publishers leverage their own PMP deals with advertisers

EMX specializes in monetizing websites across all geographies, particularly those located outside Tier 1 locations such as the US, UK, and Canada.

Model: CPM

Minimum traffic: 30,000 unique users per month

16. Vibrant Media

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Vibrant Media’s USP is deploying natural language processing (NLP) and computational linguistics to detect not just the context, but also the emotional content of the page. This in turn allows it to match publisher inventory with ads that best suit the content, resulting in greater user engagement. 

Even with content that changes frequently and dynamically, such as news, Vibrant’s Contextual Technology ensures that the ads displayed stay relevant and compliant with ad safety norms.

Vibrant offers two products for publishers:

• Inarticle: Allows ads to be seamlessly embedded within editorial content
• Inimage: Allows display ads to non-intrusively overlay editorial images to capture user attention

To partner with Vibrant, publishers need to share their details by filling up this contact form. If found eligible, the Vibrant sales team would get in touch with publishers.

Model: CPM, CPC

Minimum traffic: None

17. Adsterra

Adsterra is one of the most respected networks available to publishers in 2023. Publishers can monetize any traffic with Adsterra, from desktop/mobile website traffic to social/mobile app traffic via almost every available ad format, including pop-unders, in-page push notifications, native ads, banner ads, and VAST ads.

Here’s how publishers can integrate Adsterra with their website:

• To begin with Adsterra, publishers need to fill up an online registration form. 
• Once an Adsterra account has been created,  publishers can open their account and add their website by entering its URL.
• Next, publishers can select the ad unit they would like to display on each page.
• Once the website has been approved, publishers are sent code snippets which they need to add to their website to start monetizing it.

Website approval is usually quick with Adsterra. 

With over 12,000 advertisers on board, the network boasts a 100% fill rate.

Models: CPC, CPM, CPI, CPA, CPL

Minimum traffic: None

18. RevenueHits

RevenueHits allows publishers to monetize websites, mobile sites, add-ons, widgets, toolbar, and more. 

Its use of contextual and geo-targeted ad-serving technology makes it a great choice for publishers working in the EU who need to be careful of GDPR Compliance.

RvenueHits has a simple four-step integration process:

• Sign up for the platform and enter your business name and the website URL.
• Next specify the device details and the placement of ads on your page.
• Once you receive the tag code, copy and paste it into the backend of your website.
• You can now view and track traffic and monetization analytics for your website using RevnueHits’ easy-to-use dashboard.

RevenueHits takes care of billing, charging advertisers on your behalf, and transferring the amount into your account once you’ve crossed the required threshold.

Model: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV, Auction

Minimum traffic: None

Conclusion

Ad revenue models are a crucial component of many digital publishers marketing strategies and finding the right ad network is key to making that happen.

When it comes to choosing the right ad network, there are many things for publishers to consider.

You need to not only weigh up your target audience but also their device usage, your publishing niche, as well as the business model that best suits you and your team. 

Once you’ve done that the real work of narrowing down the most appropriate networks can begin. You’ll need to consider such facets as how easily you can gain access to premium ad partners, your budget, as well as your preferred pricing model.

Publift helps digital publishers get the most out of the ads on their websites. Publift has helped its clients realize an average 55% uplift in ad revenue since 2015, through the use of cutting-edge programmatic advertising technology paired with impartial and ethical guidance.

Contact us today to learn more about how Publift can help boost your ad revenue and grow your business!

Best Ad Networks—FAQs

Is Google an Ad Network?

Google is not an ad network, but Google AdSense is.

What Is Ad Network Integration?

Ad network integration is allowing an ad network’s technology to dynamically place ads on your website or app. This is done by inserting a small line of code known as an ad tag in your web page or on your app.

What Is the Role of an Ad Network?

An ad network acts as an intermediary between an publisher and an advertiser by matching the ad space available on a publisher’s website or app with the right ads.

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