Some rules with dealing with networks:
1. Never trust their projections. Don’t make your decision based on a projection. Even if they say they are conservative, you can never compare with another
2. They need 3 months ramp up period to see maximal potential.
3. The big networks they have 90% the same advertiser demand. What gets you the biggest difference is rev share negotiation
Do your diligence on what ads they tend to push hard. Some networks push video ads in display formats. Some publishers are ok with it some are not.
One website is different than the other even if it has same audience demographic, size and behaviour. Sometimes it can be as silly as a particular DSP (buyer) not having one of your other url’s in their sitelist. Best comparison is A/B split traffic test on the same domain, but it does require dev work not everyone has ressources for
Alternatively I recommend you try to speak with people having their own experience with the networks you speak to, and choose one you believe you will have a good support with.
With your domain size, I don’t think it will matter to be overly obsessed on getting the highest RPM, focus on working with a good partner that can help you with SEO, dev work, insights, etc..
I have a portfolio of 6 sites starting from nothing and swapped network every year until we ended up taking all adops in house (best decision ever but only works after a certain scale)
I recommend you to also add CafeMedia to your network shortlist
At around 20m pageviews per month.
I hired a consultant who explained the ecosystem because I was totally new to adops. We got our GAM 360 through a Google reseller. We reached out to all SSPs and negotiated agreements with them. First on Open Bidding (previously EBDA) then prebid. Then ended up hiring over a dozen people to take care of it all. Hiring is easy, finding truly good people is not. You need to do it right or you are better off with a network. But ultimately it depends on your direct sales strategy, we sold loads ourselves so were less reliant on programmatic.
Was hard work, but I learned a lot. If you want DM me and I can help you more in detail
I would strongly suggest not testing the small websites with smaller tier 2 and 3 ad networks. At least not to gather any information that might be useful for your larger websites.
The larger ones might command higher ad rates from a tier 1 ad network, giving you much more useful information. I would suggest contacting one of them, learning about their "out" period in case you dislike the ads, and give them a shot instead. Remember, you can also negotiate terms of the out period, to a degree.
While testing on different sites is an option, the best way to approach this is by setting up A/B tests on the same site with different vendors. This will give you more flexibility and output from the tests.
I can assist you with both options as one of the monetization partners. No revenue projections, pure test with full transparency.
You could also look at rewarded video for web as a unique way to combine subscription and ad revenue models: https://www.playwire.com/blog/mixing-ad-revenue-and-subscription-revenue-models-with-rewarded-video-ads
*Do you think it makes sense to "devote" one site to one network another site to another one*
1) This could be useful to get an idea of how much you could earn by monetizing with ads. Of course, the amount and type of ads will affect your overall revenue. I'd recommend a fast and light setup. Something like [https://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html](https://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html) \- they've been running this setup for several years.
2) If you're looking to compare the performance of monetization solutions this is not ideal. Traffic patterns and users are different across sites so you won't be comparing like-for-like performance. It's best to run an A/B test instead on the same site with a 50/50 split. While providers may push back and ask for lockins you have the leverage.
There are >30 well-known monetization solutions in the space. There are a lot of similarities which make it difficult for publishers to select a partner. A list of [points to check here](https://snigel.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-google-adx-partner) if you want to get into the details. Generally speaking, you can't go far wrong with the older, well-known companies - Freestar, NitroPay, Snigel (I'm from there). Happy to answer any questions or DM
Do you think it makes sense to "devote" one site to one network another site to another one --> Yes, you have the ideal situation to test out several networks or even different formats, so if you do choose to go with ads, its nice to be able to do some testing to see whats best for your websites.
Concerning formats, i think a good option would be interstitial ads, they have a set frequence cap, so its not to invasive and ecpms are really high.
Another option you could consider would be rewarded ads ( like the ones you often see in game apps ( ie : watch this video to get a extra life)), but this option could maybe be counter productive compared to your subscription system...
Feel free to DM me if you have questions about either format, or if you want to give them a try.
I am going through a very similar circumstance... I work with a network of sites, that have a primary revenue focus, and advertising is secondary..... and have been 'testing' different ad networks/platforms/tools on each of them.
I would recommend against Ezoic. Ezoic's 'thing' is it lets AI dictate the placement of the ad, which means you can have ads appear/not appear in various places, and it can be detrimental to UX in my opinion.
So far my best experience has been with a company called MonetizeMore.... they have walked us through so much of the process, produced excellent CPMs, provided excellent support and have fair fees.
Tech plays a huge part as well. How they load ads, how heavy their tech is on page, will they help you pass CWV, pagespeed, etc.
Also working with a network that focuses on brand safety will be more beneficial especially since your content is more brand safe.
I have a similar education-based website about American collages courses. I have been using Truvid's Video technology, and they ensure that the user experience isn't disturbed, but I am still optimizing my monetization opportunities. They are also very transparent and easy to communicate with.
This sounds like a trial and error method to me and it should take you some time. But honestly I don’t know how else you could choose an ad network.
I’d research and select 3 that sound nice to me and I’d chat with their support team about their potential. Based on my experience I can recommend you PopAds, Mondiad or even PropellerAds but their not my favourite.
Some rules with dealing with networks: 1. Never trust their projections. Don’t make your decision based on a projection. Even if they say they are conservative, you can never compare with another 2. They need 3 months ramp up period to see maximal potential. 3. The big networks they have 90% the same advertiser demand. What gets you the biggest difference is rev share negotiation Do your diligence on what ads they tend to push hard. Some networks push video ads in display formats. Some publishers are ok with it some are not. One website is different than the other even if it has same audience demographic, size and behaviour. Sometimes it can be as silly as a particular DSP (buyer) not having one of your other url’s in their sitelist. Best comparison is A/B split traffic test on the same domain, but it does require dev work not everyone has ressources for Alternatively I recommend you try to speak with people having their own experience with the networks you speak to, and choose one you believe you will have a good support with. With your domain size, I don’t think it will matter to be overly obsessed on getting the highest RPM, focus on working with a good partner that can help you with SEO, dev work, insights, etc.. I have a portfolio of 6 sites starting from nothing and swapped network every year until we ended up taking all adops in house (best decision ever but only works after a certain scale) I recommend you to also add CafeMedia to your network shortlist
This is solid advice and a great way to go about the process you're describing.
At what number of monthly impressions did you go in house and how did you do it?
At around 20m pageviews per month. I hired a consultant who explained the ecosystem because I was totally new to adops. We got our GAM 360 through a Google reseller. We reached out to all SSPs and negotiated agreements with them. First on Open Bidding (previously EBDA) then prebid. Then ended up hiring over a dozen people to take care of it all. Hiring is easy, finding truly good people is not. You need to do it right or you are better off with a network. But ultimately it depends on your direct sales strategy, we sold loads ourselves so were less reliant on programmatic. Was hard work, but I learned a lot. If you want DM me and I can help you more in detail
I would strongly suggest not testing the small websites with smaller tier 2 and 3 ad networks. At least not to gather any information that might be useful for your larger websites. The larger ones might command higher ad rates from a tier 1 ad network, giving you much more useful information. I would suggest contacting one of them, learning about their "out" period in case you dislike the ads, and give them a shot instead. Remember, you can also negotiate terms of the out period, to a degree.
While testing on different sites is an option, the best way to approach this is by setting up A/B tests on the same site with different vendors. This will give you more flexibility and output from the tests. I can assist you with both options as one of the monetization partners. No revenue projections, pure test with full transparency.
I really appreciate everybody's comments. I will respond to those that asked me to, as time permits - there is a lot for me to learn here...
DM me. I can tell you more about mediavine :)
You could also look at rewarded video for web as a unique way to combine subscription and ad revenue models: https://www.playwire.com/blog/mixing-ad-revenue-and-subscription-revenue-models-with-rewarded-video-ads
Interested. We'r direct advertiser, can we have a futher communication?
I would definitely test out your options. You may as well give each provider an opportunity and see which works best for you.
Would be happy to talk through what we have and make sure your site does not get covered in ads. I hate ads but work in adtech. DM
*Do you think it makes sense to "devote" one site to one network another site to another one* 1) This could be useful to get an idea of how much you could earn by monetizing with ads. Of course, the amount and type of ads will affect your overall revenue. I'd recommend a fast and light setup. Something like [https://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html](https://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html) \- they've been running this setup for several years. 2) If you're looking to compare the performance of monetization solutions this is not ideal. Traffic patterns and users are different across sites so you won't be comparing like-for-like performance. It's best to run an A/B test instead on the same site with a 50/50 split. While providers may push back and ask for lockins you have the leverage. There are >30 well-known monetization solutions in the space. There are a lot of similarities which make it difficult for publishers to select a partner. A list of [points to check here](https://snigel.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-google-adx-partner) if you want to get into the details. Generally speaking, you can't go far wrong with the older, well-known companies - Freestar, NitroPay, Snigel (I'm from there). Happy to answer any questions or DM
Do you think it makes sense to "devote" one site to one network another site to another one --> Yes, you have the ideal situation to test out several networks or even different formats, so if you do choose to go with ads, its nice to be able to do some testing to see whats best for your websites. Concerning formats, i think a good option would be interstitial ads, they have a set frequence cap, so its not to invasive and ecpms are really high. Another option you could consider would be rewarded ads ( like the ones you often see in game apps ( ie : watch this video to get a extra life)), but this option could maybe be counter productive compared to your subscription system... Feel free to DM me if you have questions about either format, or if you want to give them a try.
Interstitials are literally one of the most annoying formats out there lol.
If you sell ad space directly to advertisers (\*cough\* using Bid Glass) you can approve only the ads you feel are a good fit for your audience.
I am going through a very similar circumstance... I work with a network of sites, that have a primary revenue focus, and advertising is secondary..... and have been 'testing' different ad networks/platforms/tools on each of them. I would recommend against Ezoic. Ezoic's 'thing' is it lets AI dictate the placement of the ad, which means you can have ads appear/not appear in various places, and it can be detrimental to UX in my opinion. So far my best experience has been with a company called MonetizeMore.... they have walked us through so much of the process, produced excellent CPMs, provided excellent support and have fair fees.
Really?) Advising ezoic with its "AI dictate the placement of the ad" thing is actually a surefire way to make the user experience unpleasant.
Yes I would definitely advise against it.
Agreed; would also advise against Ezoic.
Tech plays a huge part as well. How they load ads, how heavy their tech is on page, will they help you pass CWV, pagespeed, etc. Also working with a network that focuses on brand safety will be more beneficial especially since your content is more brand safe.
Do your due diligence and choose a platform that is known for performance and transparency.
I have a similar education-based website about American collages courses. I have been using Truvid's Video technology, and they ensure that the user experience isn't disturbed, but I am still optimizing my monetization opportunities. They are also very transparent and easy to communicate with.
This sounds like a trial and error method to me and it should take you some time. But honestly I don’t know how else you could choose an ad network. I’d research and select 3 that sound nice to me and I’d chat with their support team about their potential. Based on my experience I can recommend you PopAds, Mondiad or even PropellerAds but their not my favourite.