Which CPM ad Network to Use for a Relatively New Blog

Categories: Blog Setup, Make Money

One of my readers asked me the following question regarding CPM ad network and I thought I would write an article on it:

“What CPM ad network would you suggest for a relatively new Blog that doesn’t have a lot of traffic?”

Before I answer the question and reveal what I use myself, I would like to cover a few other related topics in this article that I think will add value to a lot of other readers.

The following topics have been covered in this article:

What is CPM ad?
Why use CPM ad?
List of the popular CPM ad networks that I know of
Which CPM ad network do I use and why?
A simple trick when using ADSDAQ CPM ad network

What is CPM ad?

According to Wikipedia – “CPM is frequently used in advertising to represent cost per thousand (where M is the roman numeral of 1000). When used in online advertising it relates to the cost per thousand page impressions.”

An impression is a single instance of an ad appearing on a Web site. A blog generating 20,000 page views monthly displaying an advertising banner with a $2 CPM, will earn $40 monthly from that banner ad unit.

Why use CPM ad?

CPM ad gives you another means to make some money from your blog using ads. CPM ads are really good for blogs that have high page views but low click through rates. This is the scenario for most tech blogs as the tech savvy folks don’t usually click on ads.

You can use CPM ads as an alternative to your Google Adsense Units. Google Adsense is really good but if your site doesn’t get a lot of ad clicks or the payout per click is really low then replacing the Adsense units with CPM ads could result in an increased monthly ad revenue. Let me give you a simple example to illustrate this point.

A site’s total daily page impressions = 2000
Google Adsense Page CTR (Click Through Rate) = 0.11%
Total clicks = 2
Earnings = $0.50
So, on an average running this ad unit will result in a total of ($0.50 * 30) = $15 per month (roughly)

Now, if you replace that PPC(pay per click) ad unit with a CPM ad that pays $2 per thousand impressions then your average daily earning becomes $2 * 2 = $4.
This results in a total of $4*30 = $120 per month (roughly).

I am sure you can clearly see the difference it makes when you choose the right ad unit depending on your blog traffic. In case you are wondering how realistic these numbers are… I have used one of my own blog’s ad revenue figures in the example.

List of the popular CPM ad networks

Below is a list of the popular and bigger CPM ad networks that I know of:

It’s reasonably hard to get into these ad networks when your blog is new and you do not have a lot of monthly page views as most of them require a high number of minimum monthly page views as an entry requirement.

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Which CPM ad network do I use and why?

I use ADSDAQ ad network. ADSDAQ is a reasonably decent CPM ad network and it’s entry requirements are achievable by a new blog. The other great thing about ADSDAQ is that it lets you set you own CPM rate. A while back when my blog was new and I didn’t have thousands of page views, I signed up with them and found their service to be good so I stayed with them ever since.

The main drawback of ADSDAQ is that it has a low fill rate for the ad units. So, most likely 30% – 60% of your total impressions will be filled by ADSDAQ but the good thing is that ADSDAQ allows you to use other ad programs in conjunction with its own without breaking any rules. So for example you can use Google Adsense as your backup ad for the impressions that do not get filled by ADSDAQ ad.

So using the data from the previous example:
A site’s total daily page impressions = 2000
ADSDAQ fills 50% of the total impressions at $2 CPM = 2000@50% = 1000 = $2
Use Adsense ad for the remaining 50% impressions @0.11% CTR = 1 click = $0.25
Total daily earnings = $2 + $0.25 = $2.25 (roughly)
Total monthly earnings from that Ad unit = $2.25 * 30 = $67.5 (roughly)!!

As you can see the total earnings from that Ad unit is 4 times more than if you were only using PPC ad (eg. Google Adsense). This may not be true for all blogs though as it higly depends on the type of traffic you get on your blog.

I would recommend getting an account with them even if you don’t use it right away as their entry requirements may get harder later. I remember a few years ago when “Text Link Ads” first came out, it was so easy to get accepted but then in the later years it got higly populated and was extremely hard to get into. The scenerio may have changed since Google now penalizes any site using Text Link Ads though.

Here is the golden advise that you have probably heard a million times already and I am going to tell you again… write quality content, offer value to your readers and build up your blog before you go chasing for the ad money. Also, when you do get approved, it’s a good idea not to plaster the ads everywhere on your blog. Read the how many ads should be use per page on a website to learn more.

Disclaimer: My main blog income does not come from Ad revenue (Only less than 20% of my total blog earnings come from ads). If you pay attention you will see I do not use many ad units on my site as it slows down the responseness of the site. I know a lot of people make a lot of money from Adsense and CPM ad but I beleive that to make good money quickly from a new blog you need to sell your own unique products or services and I follow that model. So take my advice on which CPM ad network to use lightly.

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#1 by Nick on January 24, 2012 - 4:24 pm

Great post and breakdown of CPM for new bloggers. Just wanted to put out there that some networks, like the one I work for (Blogads) sell by sponsorship method, which is by period of time rather than CPM. We also allow bloggers to name their own price to stay competitive with other blogs.

#2 by Chris on November 30, 2011 - 11:10 am

Try Adprudence. They pay very good CPM.It works on Real time bidding basis so you earn high CPM. I am very happy with it after trying tons of other networks. Join adprudence.com

#3 by LaTisha on November 21, 2011 - 3:25 pm

This is great information. I am currently using Adsense and looking for some good alternatives.

#4 by Tim [adbalance] on October 19, 2011 - 5:36 am

Some useful comments, although I feel you should also point out that often publishers can make more money using CPA/CPL affiliate offers – although that is notably more work and risk.

CPM is a great way to be able to just stick some ad tags on your website and start earning money without having to think that much more about it (as is CPC but to a lesser extent as CTR becomes more important).

#5 by mike on August 19, 2011 - 11:51 am

excellent information…really like the way you broke it down,. making it all easier to understand…thx!

#6 by Raptorak on August 12, 2011 - 5:12 pm

This is a very good and informative post. Thanks a lot for it — you’ve helped clear up a lot of things in the process as well. I’m new to the monetization/marketing so I’m slowly learning!

#7 by danny on August 9, 2011 - 3:47 pm

Great information to someone such as myself beginning out in the blog game.

#8 by Akshay on August 5, 2011 - 12:12 pm

Thanks I will try these ads networks

#9 by Satbir on June 29, 2011 - 9:25 am

Very good post for me specially. Good work. I will try ADSDAQ

#10 by Kevin Hauff on June 12, 2011 - 5:01 pm

Good stuff here. I am glad I came across your Blog. I will certainly be returning for more valuable content in the near future.

Thanks

#11 by Robert Skiba on June 6, 2011 - 8:36 am

Thanks for another great post.

#12 by toto on June 3, 2011 - 9:00 pm

very good information. I am very confused about CPM, but Now i can understand about CPM. Thank you very much

#13 by Tutorail Photoshop on May 29, 2011 - 7:05 am

thx 4 ur share

#14 by Rob on April 4, 2011 - 6:19 pm

I tried adsdaq, but first of all it makes your site slow and the filling is getting worse each year. Currently I am happy with adsense. Also you mentioned the CPM rates of $2. Can you please guide me as who is giving that hig of a rate, as of not the highest I am seeing in market s 35-40c/cpm.

#15 by Jagdbekleidung on April 1, 2011 - 7:22 am

Nice, I’m currently searching for an idea how to monetize my site and a friend recommend me to us CPM ads. Since I was not sure which one to use, I’m will test out ADSDAQ and see how it works. Thanks for tip.

#16 by Sonnenbrillen Onlineshop on March 22, 2011 - 12:56 pm

Thanks guys! This will help us a lot – very nice input.

Greetings

#17 by Malediven on March 18, 2011 - 8:47 am

My experience is that CPM is profitably for sites which are about none money keywords. In this case Adsense Ads are not relevant enough so CTR is low and CPC as well.

#18 by Rob on January 12, 2011 - 2:49 pm

That is some very helpful information. Many people try to explain things like this and fail miserably. They don’t tie the correct information together and just simply confuse others. Keep up the great work and thanks for the material and links.

#19 by John Gamings on January 3, 2011 - 11:28 am

Nice list. I’ve heard Tribal Fusion is incredibly popular. Unfortunately they seem very hard to get accepted into, as many people, including myself, have been rejected from them

#20 by Kenny on December 14, 2010 - 3:58 pm

Thanks so much for the helpful info! I have great luck in monetizing my inventory with Altitude Digital Partners. They do all the work for me and I can focus on my content. pretty great stuff.

#21 by Webdesign München on December 2, 2010 - 6:07 pm

Great Blog! Good Design … well done. Two big thumbs up!

Best regards
Markus
.-= Webdesign München´s last blog ..Wieviel würden Sie in eine professionelle Firmenwebseite investieren =-.

#22 by webdesign berlin on October 3, 2010 - 3:59 pm

@Ivy – Thank you, your information helps me. I shared your website, because i wrote many articles and i think you make a very good job in writing articles.

#23 by Ivy on September 13, 2010 - 10:41 pm

Hi, Any of the above listed will work for what you are looking to do. The only thing is it’s hard to get them with a new blog. Adsdaq is one of the few that allows new blogs to sign up. =)

#24 by BLOG404 on September 13, 2010 - 5:50 am

Hi , thanks for great tips
I have used adsdaq andi love it , its good for any new blog but its only when you get traffic from USA . Can you suggest alternative for adsdaq for new blogs and in which you get paid from worldwide and not simply USA ?
Thanks
.-= BLOG404´s last blog ..Lastfm -Music networking to find new music and friends =-.

#25 by A J on August 29, 2010 - 12:17 pm

Thank you
it was helpful
.-= A J´s last blog ..Free download SiN Episodes- Emergence PC-Eng =-.

#26 by Muzammill Ashraf on August 27, 2010 - 6:10 am

I have a blog but with a relatively low traffic. which cpm ad network will accept the low traffic.

#27 by Friseur München on August 18, 2010 - 3:19 pm

Great input. Thank you a lot!

#28 by admin on July 4, 2010 - 4:10 am

It depends on the Terms and Conditions of the particular CPM ad network that you are after but Google has no problem with you placing CPM ads on the same page with Adsense.

#29 by SEO München on July 3, 2010 - 8:19 am

Can we have CPM and Adsense on our blog at the same time? I have a low CTR but high in traffic which makes me want to consider adding CPM to my blog.

#30 by cpm advertising networks on May 30, 2010 - 9:41 am

Theres new ppv cpm ad network which shows popunders – it’s poponclick.com , I’m using it since last week and it seems to be profitable.

#31 by techpagenipon on May 15, 2010 - 7:35 am

google ads are the best.I never think for other ad network.
.-= techpagenipon´s last blog ..Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware-remove viruses from your computer =-.

#32 by samir on March 22, 2010 - 6:23 am

I found adbrite to be very effective in my early months. Now I have been thinking of switching over to a custom domain and hosting for other premium cpm ad networks. This list is very helpful. Thanks a lot!

#33 by Tu sais que on March 12, 2010 - 2:48 pm

Adsdaq is good, but unfortunetelly they don’t support other languages than English

I still can’t seem to find a good CPM ad network.
.-= Tu sais que´s last blog ..Tu sais que tu parlais dans le vide pendant 2 ans =-.

#34 by shoxee on February 22, 2010 - 6:21 pm

Very nice article..LOVE IT.. u rock..
.-= shoxee´s last blog ..Science fiction vs science fact a documentary – video =-.

#35 by Cell phone blockers on December 2, 2009 - 10:43 am

Nice article you got here. It would be great to read something more concerning that topic.

#36 by satrap on November 1, 2009 - 6:54 am

thanks for the great tips. i neer even thought of combining two cpm networks at the same time, but your post make si very clear that it will benefit you . thanks again.
.-= satrap´s last blog ..Powerful Traffic Secrets For Achieving More Traffic And Sales! =-.

#37 by admin on October 1, 2009 - 9:34 pm

You put this script where ever you want the ad to appear. If you want to put it on the sidebar then you can just add a Text Widget from the widgets menu and pasted it in there. To add it in a post or page you can paste it in the HTML view of that post and it will work fine.

An easier way to do this would be to use my Google Adsense insertion plugin and paste the ad code in there and then use the corresponding trigger text or function call werever you want to embed this ad block.

#38 by Brynjolfur on October 1, 2009 - 10:12 am

Hi,
I have signed up for a ADSDAQ CPM account and got some script in email, where shall I put this script so it will work?
.-= Brynjolfur´s last blog ..Hello =-.

#39 by Madhana on August 30, 2009 - 4:14 pm

After reading this blog makes me want to start my own

#40 by admin on May 25, 2009 - 9:17 pm

When you use CPM ads they are not going to be that relevant to your content because they are paying you to just show the ad not for clicks. What I find is with ADSDAQ is that you can set your own asking price… so I set a high asking price which brings in the good ads only but the fill rate drops as you would expect. So I use Other ad network(eg. Google Adsense) as the backup ad so there is always an Ad on that spot (when it’s showing the CPM ad it will show a good ad or when it shows Adsense it will show relevant ad)

#41 by Asswass on May 25, 2009 - 12:20 pm