Monetization Update: Adsense & Newor Media


In 2016, I wrote a post describing my journey building traffic for this site and monetizing it with Google Adsense. Since then, traffic has increased (to roughly 6,500 visitors a day) and I've partnered with an additional ad management company: Newor Media. Now I run a combination of Adsense (for Vignette ads) and Newor Media (for all other ads).

Below are some details of my partnership with Newor and the rationale behind it.

Newor Media ad network logo

The Setting: Some Data & Challenges

Here's my traffic from November 2021.

A chart of Englishcurrent's traffic in November, 2021

A chart of Englishcurrent.com's traffic in November 2021

Getting roughly 6,500 visitors per day is an accomplishment for a one-man website (in my opinion). Nevertheless, the breakdown of my visitors by country presents a problem.

National origin of Englishcurrent traffic.

The national origin of EnglishCurrent traffic.

As per above, much of the traffic comes from developing/emerging countries, which presents a challenge because 1) traffic from such countries monetizes at a lower rate, and 2) ad networks have less demand for such countries. Premium ad networks focus on monetizing traffic from countries such as the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

For this reason, I had been solely using Adsense since EnglishCurrent was founded in 2011.

Testing with Newor Media

I was contacted by Newor in 2020 (by the Operations Director, in fact). Though I generally ignore such messages (I've probably blocked the entire Ezoic recruitment team), I was looking to improve my monetization, so I engaged.

Newor promised to beat my Adsense earnings, and after some testing, they did—the eCPM (earnings per a thousand impressions) was 27 percent higher. So, I made the switch. My earnings continue to be superior.

Some Pros (and Cons) of Using Newor Media

  • Higher Revenues (compared with Adsense)
  • Responsive Support: You will be paired with a publisher rep. who can help you with your needs. (Mine responds within 24-hours.)
  • More Willingness to work with traffic from other countries:  Though Newor requires a bulk of the traffic to be from the United States, they may have more flexibility (like in my case) compared to other premium ad networks.
  • Lower Page Speed: Like other premium ad networks, Newor Media uses header-bidding to put ads on your pages. Essentially, a quick auction occurs while your page loads in order to fill the adslots with the most suitable content. This results in longer load times. The good news is that this has not affected the performance of my pages. Newor Media is an authorized Google partner. It is my understanding that Google does not penalize sites that use their services (and fully comply with Google's Terms of Services).
  • No AutoAds: With Adsense, you can enable AutoAds and then let Google place ads on your pages automatically. Newor requires that you insert tags for each ad on your pages. The good news is that a free plug-in (Adinserter if you are using WordPress) can easily automate ad insertion across all your pages/posts.
  • Can Use with Adsense:  No exclusivity is required with Adsense (as it is non-header biding), so you can test Newor on a few pages (to get the eCPM rate) or use some Adsense features concurrently.

For the above reason, I still use Adsense for its Vignette interstitial ad (an ad that displays between pages) as it generates higher earnings for me.

Newor Media Site Qualifications (as of 2021)

  • 30,000 monthly visitors for at least three months
  • A majority of traffic must come from the United States.
  • The site must be mainly in English.

If you are interested in applying, visit Newor Media's site. There is an earnings calculator as well that can be helpful. If you have any questions about my experiences with monetization, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Best of luck!

-- Matthew Barton / Creator of Englishcurrent.com

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