My last post on my top 7 money making programs generated some questions about AdBrite.
Some people wanted to know if it’s legal to use with AdSense. Others were curious if it pays well.
First of all, yes, it’s OK to use AdBrite in conjunction with AdSense. It does not violate Google’s Terms of Service if you want to use both programs on your site or blog.
As far as earning potential goes, you’ll get the same answer as you would for any contextual advertising system. A lot will depend on your traffic, niche, and ad targeting.
A Few Kinks
Unlike Google, AdBrite has got lots of work to do in the targeting department.
In fact, the network ads were so unrelated I had to turn off the “auto approve” feature because I had ads for cars and jewelry showing up on my site about web development. Yikes!
I guess AdBrite must realize this is a problem because they give you the option to approve the ads before they show up on your site.
This can be a pain because it requires you to login to your account and manually review each new ad. However, if showing targeted ads on your site is a priority (and it should be), then this step is a must.
As I mentioned in my last post, I didn’t join AdBrite for their CPC (cost per click) program. I personally think AdSense is the best program for that.
I use AdBrite to sell ad space to 3rd parties. So the only time the network (CPC) ads appear on my pages is when I have not sold all my flat rate ad spaces.
Their 3rd party ad management is pretty good. You have complete control over how your customer’s ads will appear. You can change the font style, text size, etc. and choose either a horizontal or vertical layout.
Is AdBrite Worth It?
That’s one of those things you’ll have to test for yourself. I certainly like them better than programs like Kontera where they underline your text and display the ad when the person hovers over the hyperlink.
I don’t know why, but I find those kinds of ads to be terribly annoying and distracting. Yet, others may say the same thing about AdSense, AdBrite and the likes. So, to each their own, right? 
Even though AdBrite’s targeting needs work, they’ve certainly gotten better over the past six months. And the good thing is, it’s not going to cost you a thing to try them out.
For me, they are worth it because I like having a 3rd party manage my flat-rate ads. So if you’re looking to sell ad space from your site, you may want to look into AdBrite.
And if you’re searching for a new monetization option or perhaps you’ve been booted from AdSense and you’re looking for other CPC programs — give AdBrite a try to see how it works with your site or blog.
In my opinion, it doesn’t hold a candle to AdSense in terms of earnings for CPC, but depending on your niche, you may find that certain ads perform very well on your site.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Lisa, thank you! I am going to give it a try on a new site/blog I have recently started.
I don’t care for Kontera either. It seems like it would be too confusing for my readers.
How is your “Share This” button working for you? I just added it to my blog and a few website pages.
Hi Carletta,
Yes, Kontera can be confusing to people.
Regarding “Share This”, I’ve had a few people share some articles, but overall it hasn’t had too much activity, which I sort of expected. But I like having that one link on my site rather than 5,000 icons spread across the page that some blogs have. Most people don’t use (or haven’t even heard of) half those sites so no need in them taking up space. I like that “Share This” takes up minimal space.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the information on using AdBrite.
I do have another question about however. Can you just opt in to sell ad space for flat rate ads without the other AdBrite ads showing up? In case this isn’t clear – I’m talking about when you haven’t sold all your space for flat rate ads will they automatically present their contextual ads?
I am only interested in selling space for flat rate ads.
Thanks.
Good question, Chris. There’s two ways to do this:
1) You can turn off the “auto approve” network ad option in your account. That way no network ads will show when you don’t have any flat-rate advertisers (unless you approve them).
2) Or, while you’re waiting for flat-rate advertisers to buy your ad space, you can remove the network ad code and only promote the link that allows advertisers to sign up to buy an ad.
For example, the link to buy ads from my left navigation ad zone for my site is http://www.adbrite.com/mb/commerce/purchase_form.php?opid=265478&afsid=1 So you would just promote your sign up link.
Just make sure that if you choose option #2, you only allow one ad per ad zone because if you have 2 or more ads and only one ad spot has been purchased, then network ads will show up in the other vacant spots until you sell that space.
In other words, if you want to have 3 advertising spots in your header, for example, make sure you create 3 different ad zones with 1 ad instead of one ad zone with 3 spots.
If you look at my site 2createawebsite.com, those 2 ads in my left nav underneath the navigation is one ad zone with 2 ads. So to prevent network ads from showing, you should create 2 ad zones with 1 ad instead of the way I did it.
Make sense? (Don’t worry. The ad zone creation part will make much more sense once you sign up.) I’ve probably made it sound more complicated than it is. LOL
So while the program is really setup to display network ads when you don’t have any flat rate advertisers, you can still work around showing the network ads by doing either of the options above.
Follow on Twitter: @coreymonroe
Thanks for posting this! I’ve been wondering about Adbrite myself for a long time. You rock, Lisa. =)
I use Adbrite for my site too, but I still find Adsense is more attractive than the Adbrite ads although sometimes you may get higher pay per click from Adbrite than Adsense. I also join Bidvertiser, but it takes longer time to make money from it.
Everytime I see Adbrite, that old Nightlight commercial pops into my head.;) Don’t ask. lol
good stuff, thanks!
so, does adbrite actually locate and make deals to provide flat rate advertisers ( sponsors ) for my website ?
Hi Lynn,
No, you have to recruit the flat rate advertisers yourself. For example, I recruit my advertisers through an “Advertise” link on my site and I link to the AdBrite sign-up page. Also when you display the network ads there is an “Your ad here” link that appears below them to help recruit as well.
So I would definitely recommend having a good source of traffic before trying to recruit flat rate advertisers.
I tried it before but i think for CPC Bidvertizer is better than Adbrite.
I have checked out http://www.vibrantmedia.com what do you think of using them at all. Adbrite seems better for more traffic related sites where there is advertizing interest. I have several affilate marketing websites and I strictly use adsense for my ppc ads. Are there any other ppc ads you would use? Most of my sites get between 5-25 unique visitors per day. is there any other option for this low traffic
Brent, I personally don’t like intext ads like VibrantMedia. They seem to intrusive because they underline your text and if a visitor’s mouse just happens to land over one of the ads accidentally those ads can be disruptive in my opinion. If you don’t mind these kinds of programs, you might want to check out Kontera. They are decent for lower trafficked sites.
I did try out adbrite and the advertisement is bad. Irrelevant ads are showing up on pages on my site.
But the good thing with adbrite is the $10.00 cash-out.
Can you please mention that how much maximum bucks are for one click using adbrite and also what is the minimum click rate in adbrite ? as i am using adsense and i know clearly about it but i have adbrite account but yet not using because i don’t know if it is giving equal on adsense some time or it is 10 times less than adsense
Hi Jesi
I don’t know. I don’t use AdBrite for CPC. I only use Google AdSense. As I mentioned in the article, I use them to manage my flat-rate ads for people who want to place ads on my site. And since all my slots are full I don’t display any of their network ads anymore.
Follow on Twitter: @manmeetsingh123
Nice stuff Lisa,gave a good picture regarding my doubts!!
thanks again!!
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If you were banned in Adsense you may find Adbrite the best alternative CPC program. I’ve tried it once and it really works fine. The only problem, however, is that it doesn’t have a good targeting. You may find adult ads appearing on your family friendly site and its really annoying.
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