Alternatives to Google Adsense

Google AdSense is the current leader in content-sensitive web-based marketing. Webmasters can place Google AdSense JavaScript code on their web pages in order to allow Google's servers to show context sensitive advertisements (Google Adwords).

Google's terms and conditions are very strict such that many web publishers cannot use adsense adverts on their sites and a number of people are also finding their Adsense accounts are being disabled for reasons that are completely beyond their control. The problem is that most of the alternatives to Google's Adsense are pretty useless. For this reason I have compiled my list of alternatives to Google's Adsense that are ideal for the small time publisher (or bloggers).

Has your adsense account been disabled? Then try these top 10 alternatives.
Note: The descriptions are based on personal experience and do not represent any form of endorsement.

1. Adbrite.com
This is currently one of the best alternatives there is to Google's adsense. They offer inline page links with have some great click through ratios as well as interstitial full page ads which offer an excellent way to monetize all traffic to your site not just traffic that clicks on your ads. Their payouts are also very competitive. They have more relaxed terms and conditions than Google Adsense and are much more accepting of smaller publishers including bloggers.

If you're a publisher, use AdBrite to set your own ad rates, and approve or reject every ad that's purchased for your site or just have AdBrite auto accept ever ad. AdBrite enables you to instantly sell ads to your visitors via a "Your Ad Here" link, in addition to selling through AdBrite's marketplace and sales team.
Note: It can take a day or so from when you signup with AdBrite and put their code on your website to actually start seeing relevant ads showing up. So if you see the message "Advertize on this site" just be patient and give it a day or so and you should start seeing relevant ads showing up.

AdBrite also accepts Blogs and Bloggers as sites so if you are fed up with other programs turning you down because their terms and conditions restrict Blogs try AdBrite.

2. Clicksor.com

Clicksor is one of the current leaders of the small publisher Adsense competition. They have payouts upto a market leading 85% and unlike a number of alternatives the cost per click bid values are high enough that you can earn a decent income. They are also, in my experience, much more tollerant than Google. Their terms and conditions suggest that you should only place one copy of their code on a page but as long as you only place a single pop-up or DHTML code on a page they seem happy to let you place many context sensitive ad blocks on a single site.

Clicksor also has a big advantage over a number of the lower ranked alternatives on this site in that their ads are truly context sensitive. Thus while you can provide keywords they have technology that will also show ads targeted to the content of your site. This means your visitors are exposed to ads of the same subject as they were searching for when they reached your site and thus vastly increases the click thru ratio and thus your sites earning potential. The context sensitive nature also saves you the hassle of having to specify keywords for all of your sites and decide in advance what people might be looking for.

The payment schedule with Clicksor is also much better geared to the small site owner. In any pay period in which your earnings exceed $50.00 ($20.00 with PayPal), payments are made either by check or instantly through PayPal ($20.00 minimum for PayPal). Revenue totaling less that $50 (PP $20) will rolled into the following period. The pay period is based on a 15 day schedule so you can get paid much more frequently.
Multiple formats available including text, image and animated ads.
• Text Links
• Image Ads
• Flash Ads
• Animation Ads
• Banners
• Pop unders
• Interstitial Ads (NEW)
• Dynamic (DHTML) highlighting

3. Bidvertiser.com

This is another useful alternative to Google and offer some intriguing ad formats including what they refer to as free design. This lets you specify the look and dimensions of your text ads. While a useful feature I have not investigated how well it works but imagine that while it sounds good on paper it could result in lower priced ads being displayed. I.e. most advertisers will probably want to keep control of the layout of their ads and so turn off support for Free design ads.

Bidvertizer pays you either in $25.00 increments by check or $10.00 increments by PayPal.

Customize the layout of your ads: BidVertiser gives you a simple point-and-click tool to help you customize the layout of the ads to fit your site's look and feel, in order to retain the high quality of your website. Bidvertizer also offers the opportunity to block unwanted ads.

4. Chitika.com

Chitika helps web publishers generate revenue using innovative publisher-side advertising and merchandising solutions and services.

Chitika doesn't really stand alone as a single advertising solution but instead provides you with a way to compliment your existing advertising / publishing program with some additional Ad Units which are altogether different from the standard ad boxes, pop-unders etc that everybody else provides. Instead of displaying these 'industry standard' advert boxes with text and image ads that all look the same they instead provide active boxes that show targeted products from different manufacturers. If you run a blog for example and discuss a product you may find the chitika box showing links for this product and competitor’s products. If people purchase these products you get a paid a commission. This is referred to as impulse marketing in the form of Premium Ad Units (eMinimalls). Feel free to give it a try although I think the ideal use of this service would be as a compliment to another advertizer’s service. E.g. you could show Clicksor context sensitive ads on your site and then compliment these with Chitika's eMinimalls.

Chitika allows you to display targeted products based on what people searched for to get to your page and you get paid for clicks. It provides a robust comparative shopping experience for your visitors. Visitors will love the interactive search code -- and it makes you money

5. Adtoll.com

AdToll pays on a CPC basis. Their user interface is great and navigating through the user panel is both easy and pleasant. Payments are available via Cheque, Paypal, ePassporte and Wire/Bank Transfer. It is also possible to use the revenue you earn as a publisher to advertise your website further. Such integration is something that is entirely missing from Google's adsense-adwords.

The newest technology by AdToll is a Peel Away Ad technology that shows a peel on the top right hand side of a web site. When the mouse moves over the peel it opens smoothly to reveal the advert within. This new ad format allows you to make use of the lesser used, yet highly visible top corners of web sites. It is very non intrusive to the site visitor. Since it uses a small amount of space, it is efficient use of web site real estate. An additional plus is that such a new advertising format always draws curious clicks for visitors.

6. Exitjunction.com

They offer a unique approach to advertising that is compatible with all the other Ad Networks included Google Adsense. The key to Exit junction is that they focus on showing ads to users as they leave your site rather than as they arrive or as they browse. This approach offers you an additional way to monetize your traffic and also capture ad revenue from those that stumble upon your site from a search engine and then immediately leave.

By adding a small piece of Exit Junction code to the header section of your site users are shown an advert as they hit the back button. For example, if a user came to your site from a Google search and then immediately hit the back button to return to that search they would be shown an Exit Junction Ad in between your page and the Google search and you get paid for this impression. The ad is directly targeted to the search term that brought the visitor to your site in the first place. Hence Exit Junction is an ideal way of complimenting your existing ad services and so increasing your sites revenue without having to switch from your current ad provider.

Exit junction also covers all countries. You get paid for all traffic exiting you site regardless of its origin.

They offer fee free payout via Check or PayPal with earnings of as little as $25 on a monthly basis.

7. Yahoo Publisher Network
This may be an excellent alternative to Google Adsense but in reality is likely to be a simple copy with the same restrictive terms and conditions as Google, including $100 minimums on payouts. The system seems to have been in beta test for several years now, perhaps explaining why Yahoo as a company is suffering. Unfortunately while you can visit their site and sign up to register for an account doesn’t expect to actually hear back from them. They are either extremely selective or are simply not accepting new publishers and advertisers, either way they won't even bother to get back to you to let you know this and most applicants won't even receive a reply saying their application has been rejected. Thus until it goes live and it becomes clear what type of website owners Yahoo will be targeting I cannot place it any higher in this list.

Advert with Yahoo Publisher Network will feature:
• Display ads related to the content on your site. You'll earn revenue from qualified clicks.
• Integrate other Yahoo! services into your web site, including Add to My Yahoo! (RSS), Y!Q and much more to come...
• This beta program is just the beginning. Our mission is to deliver products and services based on the needs of the publishing community.
Do you need other tips on how to make money online and offline, view my other posts… check the archives on this page.