10 Best Ad Networks of 2015

There are countless ad networks available and even the most experienced publisher would still be looking for the best of the best. Direct selling to advertisers could be impractical and close to impossible for most publishers so opting to partner with an ad network to fill your inventory could be your best alternative to monetize your site. Here are our Top 10 picks for 2015:

1) Doubleclick Ad Exchange

The premium version of AdSense that has deep integrations with every ad network, agency, DSP, and millions of advertisers, plus exclusive access to big brand advertisers. It is fully integrated with Google’s ad server, Doubleclick for Publishers where it can be setup via dynamic allocation to ensure highest price for every impression.

Other advantages when using Doubleclick Ad Exchange:

Extensive category blocking
Powerful malware and spam blocking
Multiple transparency control
Forecast revenue
Google Publisher Toolbar – a Chrome extension that allows publishers to block ads and get instant reports without leaving one’s website, specifically designed for Google AdX publishers.

Payment Terms: NET 30
Payment threshold: $100
Offer type: CPM, CPC
Publisher requirements: At least 30 million monthly impressions, compliance to Google ToS

2) Tribal Fusion

One of the biggest ad networks in the industry that pays premium rates for every ad impression. We must emphasize though that this is not for small publishers, beginners, hobbyists as they require a large volume of traffic to be approved.

Payment Terms: NET 45
Payment threshold: $50
Offer type: CPM, CPE
Publisher requirements: At least 500,000 unique visitors/month, professional web design, active user base, regularly updated & highly targeted content, privacy policy

3) OpenX

Committed to providing buyers and sellers with a safe, transparent, and fair marketplace, OpenX has its own set of standards before you can be approved. The representatives are responsive and easy to work with. The interface is intuitive which allows publishers to setup CPM floors with passback, and create as many ad units as necessary. As per their terms of service, no more than 3-4 ads are appropriate. The fill rate is not always satisfactory, so ensure passbacks are in place prior to ad serving and adjust CPM floors accordingly. OpenX is also best used as 1st or 2nd point in the passback chain.

Payment Terms: NET 90
Payment threshold: $100
Offer type: CPM
Publisher requirements: Sites must contain substantive, original content and demonstrate signs of user engagement; Ads must appear within standard web pages or mobile apps. Ads may not appear in other downloadable applications or within pop-ups, pop-unders, or emails; The publisher must either own all sites OR have a direct relationship with the owner of all sites on which they place ads

4) Sharethrough

Sharethrough takes advertising to a whole new level by displaying articles, videos, photos on a native ad platform. The ad units are designed in a way that it adapts the look and feel of the website it is placed on. On mobile, it mimics the Facebook mobile News Feed for some of the native ads. Their ad platform crawls the website source code to determine style, font, color, lightboxes, etc. Sharethrough takes pride in claiming that their ads are highly effective because it works in a ‘scroll-centric’ environment and is optimized for smaller screens. Sharethrough gets high engagement from users due to their integrated creative and interesting content. This is how they generate great performance for publishers.

Trafficking is also easy — you can create custom sized DFP ad units that only run Sharethrough or you can create additional flex sizes on your in-content ad placements. It’s best to implement within the 728×90 placements that would have room for additional ad height.

Rate: $3 CPM (US, UK, AUS, CA)
Payment Terms: NET 30
Offer type: Visible CPM (50% of the ad needs to be visibly above the fold to the user)
Publisher requirements: The representative will ask for your traffic profile and will determine fit.

5) Komoona

Komoona is one of the top performing ad networks with decent fill rate. They work best on Tier 1 geos but may also fill requests from the rest of the world. The interface offers self-service options such as setting up CPM floors, implementing passbacks, updating payment information. Ad tags however, are provided by the account manager. In short, if you need more tags, you will have to request it every time. Komoona is known to perform well on shopping and news verticals and requires a week or more to fully optimize. It is important that publishers give it enough time and decent amount of traffic to maximize its potential. Komoona also makes a good option to be part of the passback chain.

Payment Terms: NET 60
Payment threshold: payments of under $1,500 will be made via PayPal, payment of over $1,500 will be made via bank wire
Offer type: CPM
Publisher requirements: Traffic requirements not specified

6) Google AdSense

For small publishers, Google AdSense offers the best ad performance for international traffic at close to 100% fill. A lot of publishers may have shared their own horror stories from using AdSense but continued service from this stringent ad network is contingent upon compliance to their terms and conditions. Be very meticulous about following Google terms and conditions. If followed properly, publishers can enjoy the benefits of a well performing ad network, but if violated, the punishments are some of the worst in the industry.

Payment Terms: NET 30
Payment threshold: $100
Offer type: CPM, CPC
Publisher requirements: No traffic requirement, Google TOS compliance

7) Sekindo

Sekindo monetizes 300×250 desktop ad units at 100% fill particularly on Tier 1 geos (US, UK, CA, AU) and CPMs are potentially good if given enough volume to optimize. The interface is very intuitive and offers granular reporting — in fact, an hourly report is even available. The account managers are very proactive and responsive. Every tag is geo targeted, which means there is a separate ad tag for every geo which is pretty easy to traffick via DFP.

Payment Terms: NET 30
Payment threshold: $50
Offer type: CPM, CPC
Publisher requirements: Traffic requirements not specified. Every site will undergo approval by a representative.

8) Yellow Hammer

Yellow Hammer is a 100% fill ad network that uses Appnexus reporting interface and offers a wide variety of campaign types. Aside from their own campaigns and advertisers, they introduce demand from Google Ad Exchange as well which results to increased performance. The representative will only ask you to fill out a registration form to get started and sign an insertion order. Publishers can reach out to Yellow Hammer’s Ad Quality Engineer with any blacklists, restrictions or guidelines you have for your site and he will implement them. You can request as many ad tags as necessary, segmented according to your reporting needs, and they respond without delay.

Payment Terms: NET 60
Payment threshold: Not specified
Offer type: CPM
Publisher requirements: No specific traffic requirement but every site undergoes an approval process.

9) PixFuture

PixFuture runs successful campaigns in 25 languages worldwide. Their RTB based platform technology allows analysis of individual site activity and serve the most relevant campaigns. CPMs are very good but keep an eye on the fill rate. Their interface allows publishers to set up passbacks.

Payment Terms: NET 30
Payment threshold: $50 USD for PayPal payments, $100USD for Webmoney payments and $500USD Wire transfers
Offer type: CPM
Publisher requirements: No specific traffic requirement

10) Trion

Trion believes that small screens demand a new approach to capturing the user’s eye. Their edge is serving direct campaigns on anchor/adhesive units for both mobile and tablet, although they also have banners, interstitials and preroll units. You will have a dedicated Account Manager who will ping you whenever there’s a new revenue opportunity available. They are known to perform really well particularly in the US. You may also negotiate for flat CPM deals.

Trion’s test page (view on a mobile device): http://goo.gl/6yhoYB