The best Google AdSense al­tern­at­ives

Google is top dog on the internet and has an un­dis­puted market share over 90% in the UK. This is es­pe­cially good news for pub­lish­ers because even in the CPC (cost per click) sector, Google is way ahead by offering AdSense. It’s the most well-known and popular platform that helps you to monetise the free space on your website. There are some al­tern­at­ives to Google AdSense, which es­pe­cially come in useful since Google’s strict policies mean that many website operators suddenly find them­selves blocked. It therefore makes sense to have an al­tern­at­ive source of income and luckily there are some good al­tern­at­ives on the market.

In principle, each website operator can offer their website as a platform for others to advertise on. The space needs to be digitally meas­ur­able so that the website owner can be properly com­pensated for it. CPC (cost per click) is used as the standard invoice model, es­pe­cially since tracking clicks on websites is really easy to set up. The publisher (i.e. the website operator) receives a com­mis­sion from the ad­vert­iser every time their advert is clicked on.

The cost of a click varies greatly since it depends on many variables. Ad­vert­isers take into account the quality of the website and its reach. The type of ad is also crucial as is its placement on the website. In addition to the quality and reach of their own website, pub­lish­ers also attach a lot of im­port­ance to the CTR (click-through rate) when de­term­in­ing the com­mis­sion. The relevance of the ad­vert­iser’s own content is also important when deciding which ad­vert­ise­ments to allow, or put on offer. The cost of a CPC is therefore the decision of both the publisher and ad­vert­iser.

Unlike tra­di­tion­al affiliate marketing, the CPC model means that revenue is generated when the ad is clicked on, even if the visitor doesn’t make a purchase in the end. Some providers also account for TCPs (thousand contact price), which is all about ad im­pres­sions. Large pro­grammes are in­creas­ingly changing from one click or TCP com­mis­sion to the per­cent­age com­mis­sion if an actual purchase takes place. The publisher is therefore paid if the ad­vert­iser makes a sale through the ad e.g. the publisher might receive 10% of the entire shopping basket total.

Website operators sign up to Google AdSense when they want to earn money with ad­vert­ising banners or links. Billing is carried out according to the CPC principle described above i.e. com­mis­sion-based depending on how many clicks are made on certain ads. The embedded ads are usually con­tex­tu­al.

Google AdSense is the largest and most popular option in the CPC sector. It’s often referred to as a sup­ple­ment­ary programme to Google AdWords. AdWords is best suited to online shops and service providers, and AdSense more to website and blog operators. With AdWords, ad­vert­isers invest money for online ad­vert­ising. As a Google AdSense partner, you receive a portion of the money that the AdWords customer pays Google for their online ad­vert­ising.

The most-used ad­vert­ising forms are classic text ads and ad­vert­ising banners. AdSense inserts are also available for apps and mobile sites. The option of having in­ter­act­ive media ads has been available for quite a while with games and videos. AdSense makes it possible to adjust colours and graphics as well as giving you the option to choose which pages the ad­vert­ise­ment should be displayed on. A maximum of three banners and three link blocks can be placed on content pages.

An important aspect of Google AdSense is the quality guidelines. Google first checks before allowing access to the AdSense programme. In total, there are 13 content and technical factors that are relevant. It is es­pe­cially important that the sites aren’t allowed to show any por­no­graph­ic or violence-promoting content or anything that can endanger minors. The sale of tobacco, alcohol, and weapons is also a reason for the site to be rejected. Other common reason for the site being blocked include copyright in­fringe­ments and supposed click fraud. Google regularly checks the par­ti­cipants, which means that sites can be excluded from the programme at any time.

As the largest ad network in the world, Google AdSense reaches around 80% of all internet users. This is why it’s the first choice for many pub­lish­ers. But the downside is that your account can be blocked at any time. There are many Google AdSense al­tern­at­ives available and we will introduce you to a few.

Affiliate pro­grammes or ad­vert­ising networks like eBay and Amazon provide special solutions, since ads come from the platforms them­selves and not from external ad­vert­isers. In addition, the large platforms are in­creas­ingly based on tra­di­tion­al affiliate measures with invoice on a per­cent­age com­mis­sion basis. The two affiliate pro­grammes are not classic CPC options, but do provide a secure source of income for pub­lish­ers and are therefore good al­tern­at­ives to Google AdSense.

Until a few years ago, the online auction platform eBay offered 'rel­ev­ance ads' in its own ad­vert­ising network. The different-sized banners adjusted to the content of the page and the publisher was paid according to the CPC model. The partner programme uses a different pay structure: pub­lish­ers receive a per­cent­age share, which is common in the affiliate sector.