Ask HN: Alternatives to Adsense

The Usual Recommended Suspects for alternative ad networks:

- Media.net . Good customer service. They just teamed up with Yahoo to offer contextual ads - this one could be very interesting.

- Lijit. Run by the people behind Federated Media, they're, again, friendly and reasonably easy to work with.

- Skimlinks / Infolinks. Inserts contextual links into your pages. Many people hate this idea, but it does monetise reasonably well.

Of all of these, Media.net is the only one I've heard of equalling Adsense's payouts.

Other options that are a bit more work, but can generate substantially more than Adsense on some sites (advertising and copywriting know-how is kinda vital, though):

- Clickbank: affiliate sales of ebooks. Often sleazy-feeling, but can generate good revenue.

- ShareASale: Affiliate programs for physical products. There are some good, well-respected names running affiliate programs with these guys.

- CPA networks: now we're getting hardcore. Generate cash by feeding leads to MMORPGs, colleges, dating sites, and so on. Well outside the scope of a short comment - mail me if you're interested in this stuff and I can point you to some good resources.

Another alternative is to have an agency sell spots for you.

You tell them how much you need for a spot, and they'll do their darnest to get the listing out.

If you contact me (email in profile), I'll put you in touch with a few people I know.

Ofcourse, you'll need to (a) have a site operation and (b) have at least more than 5000 visitors per day.

Selling your stuff(books, videos, seminars etc) beats any kind of advertising hands down. Selling your advertisement spots yourself is the second best, if you can pull it. Affiliate programs seem to do well for some bloggers.

If you are after an ad network, there's no one that can beat Adsense, I am afraid.

Hey, had an awesome experience working with Media.net guys. Would definitely recommend giving a try. I had worked earlier with several other, but had the best experience with them.