Are you looking for some effective AdSense alternatives for monetizing your blog?
AdSense has a good potential for earning if your traffic is from the western countries or has a good number of visitors.
However, you might want to have some other sources of income that can earn you a good amount other than AdSense on your blog.
If your AdSense is banned or you are in a niche that doesn’t get approval by AdSense, this article will help you with similar and even better-earning streams.
Why Should You Look for AdSense Alternatives?
If you’re wondering why you should look for AdSense alternatives in the first place here are some reasons that might help you:
Your AdSense account is banned, or possibly you were never approved for AdSense program because of your niche.
You are looking for a monetization means that has more ROI than AdSense: There are literally endless ways to monetize your blog that can bring you better revenue than AdSense. I’ll show you why in a minute.
Your traffic is not responsive to AdSense: Sometimes you are in a niche that doesn’t perform well in terms of AdSense revenue like the blogging niche itself. Most bloggers are aware of AdSense as an ad network and hence do not click on them.
Increasing use of Ad blockers: With the rise of Ad Blockers around the world (both for Desktop and mobile users) ad revenue from programs like AdSense is decreasing like never before.
Please Note: This post is not about disapproving AdSense as a blog monetization technique. Our aim is to show you better alternatives for earning from your blog which can have higher return on investment than AdSense.
In case you want to continue with your AdSense, you could, of course, use AdSense along with these ad programs in order to supplement your revenue.
Ready for the best AdSense alternatives?
Here we go!
Top 10 Google AdSense Alternatives That You Can Try Today!
For your convenience, I’ll divide this section into two parts:
1. AdSense Alternative Ad Platforms (contextual ads)
Media.net
Infolinks
Bidvertiser
RevenueHits
2. Affiliate Marketing
(It can be very profitable)
Grammarly
StudioPress
WPEngine
Instamojo
GetResponse
Amazon Associates
Adsense Alternative Ad Platforms:
In this section, we’ll discuss about making money with AdSense alternatives that work on the same format of monetization as AdSense (displaying ads).
The programs discussed here require little or no involvement from your side apart from initial ad optimization.
The payout of these ad platforms is more or less similar to AdSense and has no scope for scaling in terms of revenue.
It is best if you’re just starting out and have no option to try other monetization methods.
If you’re looking for AdSense alternatives that can boost your income manifold, be sure to check out the second section.
Media.net is probably the best paying AdSense alternative that gives you a more or less similar revenue as Adsense would.
Media.net is a contextual and display ad network owned by the Yahoo! & Bing network.
Media.net allows various ad formats that blend perfectly with your site’s content thereby increasing the click-through rates and revenue.
Used by publishers like Forbes, Cosmopolitan, etc. media.net offers contextual ads based on your traffic source (organic search traffic, referral/direct traffic, etc.) which increases CTR.
PROS
One of the top AdSense alternatives with a similar ad inventory
Different ad formats for direct traffic, search traffic, and mobile traffic.
Has the maximum return if your audience is from western countries.
The keyword block ad format clearly blends with the content and has maximum CTR.
CONS
Very strict approval policy
Requires separate approval for each site to display ads.
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Infolinks is another high converting alternative to Google AdSense.
Being the 6th largest ad network in the world, Infolinks provides you with a variety of ad formats, the most famous being the in-text ad format.
Infolinks doesn’t require an ad space on your blog and converts your text blocks (usually 2-3 word phrases) into link like looking advertisements.
When your readers click or hover on them, they get served with relevant ads, and you earn.
Other ad programs include, in tag ads (that appear as keywords block similar to Google AdSense’s link ads), in frame ads (that appear on the empty space in the sidebar) and in search ads (which are targeted for search traffic).
If your blog isn’t getting a huge traffic and you are looking for ways to earn money without AdSense, Infolinks is your thing.
No ad space needed.
Easy approval.
High CTR for in-text ads.
CONS
The in-text ad format makes your blog look clumsy and cheap
Infolinks doesn’t pay good for 3rd world traffic like from Asian countries (but this is the case with every ad network).
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Bidvertiser is a PPC ad network that pays you a bonus for every conversion your lead makes in addition to the ad click revenue.
If you’re looking for an AdSense alternative that pays you better than it, Bidvertiser is a must try.
With Bidvertiser, you have text ads, banner ads, and even mobile responsive ad formats, so you have ad inventory for all sources of your traffic.
And Since it has multiple levels of monetizing clicks, it is one of the best AdSense alternatives for low traffic sites.
PROS
Bidvertiser works on bidding system which means you automatically display ads of the highest bidder for your site.
Bidvertiser is a high paying AdSense alternative because you get paid extra for every conversion (whatever the ads require your reader to do, like signup, purchase, video view, etc.) you make.
CONS
The bidding system naturally has some cons like no one opting for your site if it has poor metrics.
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RevenueHits is a very popular AdSense alternative that works on a CPA model rather than CPM model.
With the CPA format, you get a high commission rate than normal AdSense impressions.
If your AdSense is banned or you want to try something more robust in terms of ad management, RevenueHits is a must try.
RevenueHits is said to pay around $30 per CPM which is why it is a better AdSense alternatives to earn for high traffic sites.
Be sure to read my RevenueHits review which gives you additional information on how to make more from this ad network.
PROS
Geo-targeted ads which increase relevancy and hence more clicks.
No prerequisites for sites applying, which means it is the best AdSense substitute for smaller sites or newly launched sites.
Contextual ads do not hamper the user experience of your blog.
CONS
Please note RevenueHits is a CPA network and you do not get paid if your reader doesn’t take action on an ad.
RevenueHits is very strict with pages that have zero content. You are not allowed to place ads on such pages.
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I can go on and on with other CPM alternatives for AdSense replacements, but these are the ones that have proven to be a good replacement for Google’s AdSense Ad program.
Now, let’s head on to some better monetization methods other than AdSense.
Better Monetization Methods Than Google AdSense
In this section, we will discuss the AdSense alternatives that have huge opportunities for growth rather than the display ads that we discussed above.
Affiliate marketing is the process of referring your readers/followers to a product/service you think would benefit them and earn a commission from the former without having your readers pay a dime extra.
Here is a detailed guide on how to get started and become successful in affiliate marketing.
Benefits of Affiliate Marketing:
You don’t have to bug your user experience with ads.
You get paid to refer your readers to things you use and love.
Readers feel gifted to know about tools/services that help them to grow their business.
The commission you get paid is much more than AdSense or any of its alternatives.
Affiliate marketing works on autopilot with just a bit of optimization here and there.
The beauty is, you can even use them in addition to AdSense and other.
Please Note: Affiliate marketing isn’t a set and forget process like AdSense, but they pay a huge income that AdSense can never have. So it's worth a try.
Let’s head over some of the best affiliate programs you can join and promote to make more money than AdSense.
Grammarly is a very popular grammar and punctuation checker tool that helps users write better English.
It checks for over 250 different punctuation errors among other things.
Moreover, it is available as a browser add-on and works automatically whenever you write (email, social media updates, blog, etc.).
The best part of promoting Grammarly is, it is a free tool (which means your readers will not hesitate to use it) and it helps in better English writing (which means it is a hot selling tool that has users no matter what your niche is).
Benefits of promoting Grammarly:
Hot offer that has a customer base in every niche.
The free plan itself is so useful which gives you $0.20 per lead.
Grammarly gives you an upfront $25 as soon as you join their affiliate program.
Gets you a hefty $20 for every sign up that buys their premium plan.
Grammarly has a referral program which enables you a 10% lifetime earning of every sale of anyone who becomes an affiliate using your link.
Minimum payout is $50, so you get paid faster than AdSense.
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If your audience is in the blogging or marketing niche you can earn huge commissions of up to $75 per sale by promoting themes by StudioPress.
StudioPress themes are the world’s #1 selling WordPress themes that have good SEO value, are clean and feature-rich.
Benefits of Promoting StudioPress Themes:
They are the most selling WordPress themes hence you can sell them easily.
They have a huge payment option of 33% commission's which is massive since some of their themes are over $100 each (don’t worry people pay $100 easily for a StudioPress theme).
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This one is a massive commission affiliate product that you can promote as an AdSense alternative.
WPEngine is a great hosting with a huge fan following, and it is definitely one that users like to buy.
WPEngine pays you $200 per sale which in itself is a rare feat.
Even if you make only 5 sales a month, you are good to go about $1000 just from this.
Moreover, WPEngine is a 2-tier affiliate program that pays you a part of the income your referrers make as an affiliate.
Benefits of Promoting WPEngine Hosting:
It has various models of referrals like free tools, ebooks that you can get your readers to use/download. After That, your job is done. WPEngine guys will do their best to convert your free lead into a sale and still attribute $200 as commission for the referral.
It sells the best if you have (or rather write one) a guide on how to start a blog where you show your readers a step-by-step tutorial on how to install WordPress on WPEngine.
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AdSense alternative for Indian publishers!
Not having an audience interested in blogging?
Here is another potential AdSense alternative that can give you a good income stream.
Instamojo is an Indian payment platform that helps you sell goods, receive payments for them and all this without setting up a shop or store on your blog.
Instamojo pays you a clean 500 INR for every successful referral which is much more than any successful AdSense CPC.
Benefits of Promoting Instamojo:
Instamojo is focused on Indian market, so it is one of the best AdSense alternatives for Indian bloggers.
Payment is fast and quick.
Niche-independent.
Anyone who has something to sell (books, goods, tickets, you name it) can become your valuable potential referral.
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GetResponse is my favorite email marketing service provider amongst all.
It is affordable, feature-rich and does a great job as an autoresponder for blog newsletters.
GetResponse sells like hotcakes, and if you have an audience that is interested in email marketing, you can make a great income from it.
Read my GetResponse review for more details.
Benefits of Promoting GetResponse:
It has a generous 33% commission's rate which means you get a whopping $54 if you successfully refer a customer to their highest plan (about $165).
They have a cookie tracking period of 6 months which gives you a good time to convert your leads to sales.
GetResponse does have so many festive promotional campaigns which can help you boost your signup rates.
GetResponse also has a referral plan that you can use to refer to your friends/readers post which you both get a $30 to use on the platform. I use this referral system to make my entire email marketing free of cost.
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If you think your blog is in a layman niche and affiliate marketing isn’t your thing, think again.
Amazon affiliates is a great alternative to AdSense which often converts better than the latter.
With amazon affiliates you get access to millions of product Amazon sells and can promote then based on your blog target audience.
Below is a screenshot that I came across from one of the leading news portal Business Insider which shows how you can use Amazon affiliates no matter what your audience is.
See how the page points to Fitbit and will earn a commission on every successful referral.
Since there are a lot of items to promote you can choose the relevant and best-selling ones based on your niche.
Like technology items like smartphones, laptops, PC games, clothes, etc.Other products range from books to office supplements, kitchen to gardening products and lifestyle to jewelry products.
Benefits of Promoting Amazon Affiliates:
You don’t need to worry about your niche. Amazon fits into any niche you are working on.
Commission's rates vary based on products so you can select the best ones in terms of ROI.
If done properly, you can easily earn $1000 or more with Amazon affiliates.
Here is a ready-made blueprint for you to earn more than $1000 alone from Amazon affiliates.
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Over to you..
If you’re looking for a good AdSense alternative that can earn you more than your AdSense revenue, the above products can help you.
For those wondering what to do after AdSense ban, I’d like to say that this is where the real game begins.
Use any of the above contextual ads alternative to AdSense (like media.net) or start affiliate marketing that makes a huge profit with the traffic that you have.
If you’ve any doubts or issues with getting started with these better monetization strategies than AdSense, do let me know in the comments below.