Cost-per-click(CPC), or pay-per-click(PPC), ad networks have become more and more popular over recent years, particularly with publishers with a high volume of web traffic looking to maximize their ad revenue.
CPC ad networks are also very appealing to advertisers, who are able to leverage these ad networks to set a fixed budget for their ad campaigns and tweak them along the way as necessary.
CPC campaigns are also known for their ability to deliver quick results for everyone involved.
This article looks at the ins and outs of CPC/PPC ads and covers a variety of CPC ad platforms available so that publishers can pick the best PPC ad network for them.
Top 12 CPC/PPC Ad Networks (2024 Update):
1. AdCash
2. Bidvertiser
3. ClickAdilla
4. Facebook Audience Network
5. Google AdSense
6. Infolinks
7. InMobi
8. LinkedIn Ads
9. Microsoft Advertising
10. Revcontent
11. Twitter Ads
12. Zoomd
What is CPC?
Cost per click (CPC) is a digital advertising model. The CPC model involves advertisers paying a publisher for every instance their ad is clicked inside the publisher’s inventory- i.e. their app or website. The amount paid per click is determined via the following formula: Divide the total cost of the clicks by the total number of clicks.
Best CPC Ad Networks for Publishers in 2024
As no two advertising networks are the same, publishers should carefully consider several factors before deciding where to invest their advertising dollar.
Here are some things to think about:
- The ad platform user base
- The ad network’s volume for ad serving
- Creative and technical options
- Advertiser budget
Here are some of the best CPC ad networks in 2024.
1. AdCash
Known for its ability to serve ads that target customers via their interests, AdCash is an advertising network that delivers ads top 200M unique users every day through 10,000+ active campaigns.
In-house technology allows publishers to filter invalid traffic and forecast inventory performance of various ad formats, including pop-ups, interstitial ads, and native ads.
They offer publishers fast coverage, anti-ad-block technology, and a high fill rate.
The ad exchange offers a user-friendly interface; publishers can sign up, set their ad tags, and get started serving ads almost immediately.
Payment is made to publishers via their choice of Bank Transfer, PayPal, Bitcoin, Payoneer, Skrill, or Web Money with a minimum payout threshold of just $25.
2. Bidvertiser
Perfect for small to medium publisher sites, Bidvertiser offers a quick and easy sign-up process without a minimum traffic requirement. However, there are some specific conditions to sign up, such as not working with adult content sites or the sale of illegal goods. Furthermore, a publisher's site must not be under construction or contain too much advertising to begin with.
They pride themselves on their traffic segmentation and targeting options, making it easy for advertisers to optimize their ads based on the publishing niche.
The sign-up process is quick and easy, with no minimum traffic or language requirements.
Installation of ads is easy, with a simple HTML code placed onto the publisher’s website; changing the appearance of ads is also a relatively simple process.
While Bidvertiser offers a lower cost-per-click than some other advertising networks, they also provide a payout for conversions as well as clicks.
Some drawbacks of this platform include limited targeting options, particularly if the site sits in a niche content area, and less detailed reporting and metrics than other top-tier ad networks.
3. ClickAdilla
A self-serve ad network for publishers, ClickAdilla supports various ad formats such as PopUnder, banner, pre-roll, web-push, and native. The ClickAdilla SSP allows publishers to connect with a range of demand partners and select real-time bidding via various service providers.
ClickAdilla offers flexible payment terms via PayPal, Paxum, Bitcoin, Web Money, or ePayment.
4. Facebook Audience Network
The top ad network for social media platforms, Facebook Audience Network(FAN), was initially developed to serve ads to Facebook users.
FAN allows page owners to create a range of ad formats, including Facebook ads offers, mobile ads, and text ads.
With 1.62 billion users every day, Facebook ads is an extremely popular option for SMEs, particularly when it comes to mobile marketing.
There are several ways that publishers can configure Facebook’s CPC model; however, the most popular way is via cost per thousand impressions (CPM).
5. Google AdSense
Even in the face of increasing competition Google AdSense is still the leader of the ad network pack when it comes to digital ad spend. It is perhaps the simplest and most effective PPC ad network in the digital ecosphere. In fact, Google has a phenomenal 78% market share of the global PPC ad market. Offering access to literally millions of advertisers through the Google Display Network, Google Ads provides the ability to deliver quality, relevant ads with high click-through rates.
Google Ads allows publishers to choose the types of ads that appear on their sites, using demographic targeting to serve ads that suit the interests of the page users. Advertisers then participate in real-time bidding auctions, with the highest paying, most relevant ad appearing in the available ad space.
While there is no doubt Google Ads is one of the best PPC ad networks available, not everyone is eligible to join the Google Ads network.
Publishers need to be approved before they can join the network, which means complying with a range of policies and requirements. These include but are not limited to the type of content, ad placement and ad quality, and how the site garners clicks and impressions, amongst others.
Many former Google AdSense members have reported being unfairly suspended due to what Google deemed to be click fraud. Unfortunately, once this occurs, there is little recourse. So while Google Ads is undoubtedly one the best ad networks for a PPC ad campaign, there is definitely room for publishers to benefit from other ad networks.
6. Infolinks
Infolinks is a global ad network that works with over 100,000 publishers worldwide. This content-style ad platform prides itself on ad layout optimization that avoids banner blindness- their ads are designed to blend seamlessly into the surrounding web page.
Infolinks is an excellent choice of ad network for publishers for several reasons.
Firstly Infolinks is completely AdSense compatible, and publishers have the option to pair with other ad networks if they so choose.
Secondly, Infolinks’ contextual targeting uses website niche to find advertisers, bypassing the need for publishers to use third-party data. This is particularly useful in light of the fact that third-party cookies will be phased out by 2023.
Infolinks also offers a quick sign-up process, with a standard 48 hour turnaround time. There is also no minimum traffic requirement, making this a great CPC ad network for small publishers and blog owners who are just starting out.
7. InMobi
The largest independent mobile advertising network, InMobi specializes in mobile ads for mobile apps and mobile sites on Android and iOS.
Working with publishers across the UK, Europe, US, South Africa, and India, InMobi offers advertisers the ability to reach 1.5 billion mobile users globally.
InMobi offers CPC campaigns in a variety of ad formats, including banner ads, video ads, native ads, interstitial ads, and in-game ads.
8. LinkedIn Ads
The leading social media platform for professionals, LinkedIn is one of the top PPC ad networks for advertisers looking to reach C-suite executives and business decision-makers.
With 575 million registered users worldwide and 260 million of those active monthly, LinkedIn ads is an excellent choice for those running B2B ad campaigns.
They offer a range of ad formats, including sponsored posts (the bread and butter of social media advertising platforms), along with in-mail, text ads, and dynamic ads.
9. Microsoft Advertising
Formerly known as Bing Ads, Microsoft Ads is one of the best PPC ad networks, with 12.2 billion PC searches monthly.
While Bing Ads does not have as broad a reach as the Google Display Network, they still have a third of the market share. Research shows that their audience are educated, high earners, making them more likely to turn their clicks into conversions.
In light of this, they offer demographic targeting, including LinkedIn profile targeting.
According to Microsoft:
“Outside of LinkedIn itself, Microsoft Advertising is the only digital advertising platform to offer LinkedIn Profile Targeting.”
Microsoft Ads also offers search ads results on search engines such as Yahoo!, AOL and MSN.
The CPC on this ad network is around $2.20, slightly cheaper than Google Ads. However, approximately 20 percent of these have been shown to be ad fraud, something for publishers and advertisers to think about.
10. Revcontent
A native ad platform, or content discovery platform, Revcontent is known for the excellent CPC, and PPC deals offered to publishers who want to serve native content ads.
Native ads are paid ads that match the form, function, and feel of the content in which they appear. In the case of native advertising, the medium really is the message.
Native advertising is proven to have high engagement and low intrusion and, when paired with interest-based targeting, have been shown to significantly increase CTR for advertisers.
Revcontent pairs advertisers with premium publishers who have a minimum of 50,000 visitors per month. They offer a real-time dashboard so publishers can track their ad performance as it happens.
Payment is made every 30 calendar days via PayPal.
11. Twitter Ads
Still one of the most popular social media platforms in the ecosphere to date, Twitter and its CPC ad network, Twitter Ads, is an effective advertising platform for brands looking to gain traction in the social arena.
A very respectable 1-3% click-through rate (CTR), paired with a trending hashtag can make for highly successful ad campaigns. While Twitter may not have the reach of Facebook Ads, they have a slightly younger demographic, making Twitter Ads a good choice for brands with a target audience in the 18-35 bracket.
They offer a range of ad formats, including native posts, sponsored hashtags, promoted accounts, and Twitter moments.
12. Zoomd
Designed to help advertisers and publishers meet their KPIs using their patented performance-based platform, Zoomd unifies 600 media sources, including Google, TikTok, and Samsung.
Integrating all these third-party measurement tools saves time and is cost-effective for any ad ops team looking to streamline their processes.
One of the most popular CPC ad networks, Zoomd also offers CPI, CPO, CPE, and CPA business models along with in-built fraud detection for added security. They serve advertisements of high ad quality in a range of ad formats, including banners, in-App, interstitial, native, offer wall, popunder, rich media, text, and video ads.
For publishers looking for the best PPC ad networks, there are, as always, several factors to consider. At Publift, we work with a range of ad exchanges and ad platforms to deliver programmatic advertising solutions to clients in a range of verticals.
If you’re making more than $2,000 in monthly ad revenue, contact us today to learn more about how Publift can help increase your ad revenue and best optimize the ad space available on your website or app.
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