AdNow Review for Publishers

AdNow has been in operation since 2014. So much has changed in the last two years and the initial wave of reviews of the company. This is an updated review of the network as of September 2016.

Native: The biggest trend in monetization

Introduction to AdNow

AdNow provides widget-based native ads that publishers can use to monetize their sites. It is an advertising network with over 150,000 publishers at the moment. It is the network to work with when you want high RPM rates especially for those wishing to monetize their sites through native ads.

The advertising network was established in 2014 through a collaboration of digital marketers experienced in RTB and Big Data.

Their goal was to create a hybrid ad format. This unique format combines ads and other engaging website content to enhance user engagement. The network makes it possible to combine native ads and media banners in one campaign, which is quite useful for clients and brands engaged in promotional activities.

The basic idea behind AdNow was the result of its founder’s decades-long experience in RTB, Big Data, PPC, and mobile advertising.

In two years, the network has emerged as one of the most efficient native ad tools serving over 4 billion impressions per month in 107 countries.

How AdNow Works

As a content recommendation network, AdNow provides related posts widgets that publishers can place on their site. The widgets display sponsored content that earns the publisher money when visitors click and view the related content.

The service has over time attracted millions of webmasters who are currently earning good money from the widgets. AdNow is basically a safe content driven platform to monetize your website. The network’s moderators manually check each content before it is released to publishers to ensure it is clean, safe, and relevant. They even provide JS tags that don’t conflict with other ad serving networks, making it quite safe to use AdNow in combination with Adsense and other networks.

The network has several advantages for publishers including weekly payments, easy customization of widgets, prompt multilingual support system, and many more.

Publishers with good sites get approved instantly. However, as a publisher, you have to post at least one informative article every day where AdNow can place their ads.

AdNow is a great place for publishers who may have failed to get approved by other similar networks such as Taboola, OutBrain, and RevContent.

It provides a unique way of monetizing website traffic through relevant and engaging user content that visitors are highly likely to click and view. If you have good traffic for your website, then this is one of the best networks you can use to earn a good profit from your website.

Tracking is a breeze in AdNow as they have an efficient real-time reporting system. Their rates are quite competitive and they even have a good referral program too.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

What we like about AdNow: They allow non-English websites to join, have weekly payments, competitive rates, works with other ad networks safely including Adsense, Propeller Ads, and Adtomatik, they have a real-time reporting system, and if your website is rejected you can always apply again after fixing the recommended issues.

What we don’t like about AdNow: It is not possible to filter irrelevant or inappropriate ads directly. You have to contact support every time you are served irrelevant or inappropriate ads.

Publisher Requirements

Publisher terms: http://adnow.com/terms

Minimum traffic: None but you must have content.

Language requirements: English and other languages accepted

Prohibited content: Publishers are prohibited from deploying the network’s ads on content that contains pornographic, defamatory and libelous connotations or content that incites violence or demean people based on their age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation.

AdNow reserves the right to disable its service on any website that contravenes its guidelines. Read more at http://adnow.com/terms

AdNow Company Stats

Homepage: http://adnow.com/

Network founded: 2014

Employee count: 51-200 employees as of September 2016

Ownership: Private. Partnership No. OC 390789.

Profiles: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

AdNow Support and Contact Information

Address: Adnow LLP, Las Suite, 5 Percy Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 1 Dg,, UK

Tel: (For publishers) +44 20 380 714 60

Support email: support@adnow.com

Advertisers and offers

Network type: CPM, CPC

Ad formats: Related post widgets, Content Recommendation

Verticals: Most (Check: http://adnow.com/publishers for details).

Tech Implementation

AdNow widgets are completely customizable. Publishers are advised to create separate widgets for desktop and mobile traffic. You have the option of customizing different aspects such as image size, rows, columns, fonts, and much more straight from the widget settings.

After you have done all the tweaks and changes you deem necessary, you can then get the widget code. The network has two types of codes. The first one is for widget placement, which shows you where the widget will appear and the second one is the ad loading javascript.

Publishers can combine both codes and place them exactly where they want the widget to appear.

If you are looking for a better alternative to Adsense, then AdNow is a good option, especially for new bloggers who are intent on giving native ads a try.

Unlike other major players in the native ads arena, such as Taboola and Outbrain, AdNow is quite flexible and does not require a massive amount of traffic to be accepted. To get the best out of this network, you can start with two or three widgets. As stated before, the widgets are customizable and you will start seeing the ads as soon as you install the code in your website. There are different formats of widget placement including:

Sidebar widgets which are ideal for desktop traffic
Widgets placed within the content which work great with mobile traffic
Standard widgets placed at the end of the content

Based on the theme, niche, or content you have, expect a CTR of around 2 to 3% with the abovementioned settings.

If you have difficulties setting up widgets, you can always ask for assistance from your account manager or simply open a ticket stating what the problem is and the support team will respond to you immediately.

A fast and better way of connecting with a publisher support representative is via skype. You can add one of their helpful representatives on Skype using the username raves_adnow.

Publisher reporting

One of the greatest advantages of working with AdNow is the fact that publishers get detailed statistics reports of their performance in real time. The network has an efficient reporting system that shows you the following on a daily basis:

Number of clicks
Number of views
Sources of clicks
Income earned
CTR
eCPM

You can even generate reports from different time zones using stats from network’s reporting system and the number of widgets you have on your site. The system provides hourly stats.

Payment Structure

AdNow Payment Rating: 4 out of 5

Payment Methods Available: PayPal, Bank Wire Transfer

Payment terms: Net 7 (Weekly)

Minimum Payout Threshold: $20

AdNow calculates your earnings on the basis of impressions. You get paid on a weekly or Net 7 basis.

Referral program

AdNow provides publishers with an extra revenue generating option through referrals. You can earn income simply by referring others to join the network through your unique link. The network will then evaluate your referrals’ websites and if they are accepted you start earning 5% of their total revenue each week for a period of 12 months. The revenue you earn from referrals is usually added to your normal billing.

Editor’s AdNow Review for Publishers

AdNow is a large network that has significantly grown in just two years. It currently boasts of over 150,000 webmasters using their platform and making significant amounts of profits from the ad network.

It is easier to monetize content with AdNow because a large percent of the sponsored content the network displays on your site is relevant, safe, clean, and easily clicked or viewed by your visitors. You can rely on the safety of the content they publish on your site because the network has moderators who manually evaluate each piece of sponsored content before it is made available to publishers.

The ad network also provides simple easy to use Javascript tags that do not conflict with other ad servers such as Adsense. You can use AdNow ads together with Adsense on your site without fear of getting banned. The network does not serve adult or other offensive ads, which makes it even safer to use in your site with other ad networks.

The sign up and approval process for an AdNow account is quite easy and hassle-free. Unlike other networks providing similar services such as Taboola and Outbrain, AdNow does not ask for a specific traffic requirement from publishers wishing to join their network. However, your website needs to have high quality content and be receiving some traffic before you can be approved. Every applicant’s site is manually reviewed before approval.

All you need to do to sign up is fill a short form and submit. You’ll get an email verification request after which you can log in to your account and submit your website for approval. The approval process will also require you to verify that you are the owner of the website.

This is a simple process in which you are provided with a small file to upload to your website’s root directory. You can also use a HTML code pasted above the closing head tag for your site for verification.

Once your website is reviewed and approved, you can then place their widgets on your site and start seeing sponsored content on your site immediately. You’ll earn money when visitors click or view the sponsored content. Their approval process is quite fast. On a good day you can even get a response within 3 hours after submission.

One point to note though is that AdNow does not accept content that contains pornographic, defamatory and libelous connotations or content that incites violence or demean people based on their age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation. If you are looking for a way to monetize a website with adult content, then AdNow is not for you. There are other networks that allow adult content if you that’s your niche.

Ad Formats

AdNow is a content recommendation network so it only provides related content widgets that contain sponsored content which publishers can use to monetize their websites.

Stats and Reports

One of the great advantages of AdNow over other networks is their detailed and efficient stats reporting system. Their system shows you the number of clicks, views, clicks from other resources, income, eCPM, and CTR on a daily basis. You even get a chart showing you your daily clicks.

You can use this stats reporting system to generate reports of different time zones as well as other filtering options including widgets, websites, impressions, clicks, and income. The system provides you with real-time stats and reports.

AdNow Pros

The network accepts non-English websites too
Allows you to monetize worldwide traffic
Can safely be used together with other ad networks such as Adsense and Propeller Ads
Weekly payments that are paid on time
Has a real-time reporting system
Has a rewarding referral system

AdNow Cons

Publishers cannot filter ads that they feel are irrelevant or inappropriate for their websites
The widgets sometimes post irrelevant content

Conclusion

As a content recommendation service, AdNow is one of the best options publishers can use to monetize their website traffic. The ad network provides you with related posts widgets that show sponsored content to your visitors. You get paid every time visitors click or view the sponsored content.

There are many benefits publishers get from AdNow such as weekly payments, low minimum payout, multilingual support, varied payment methods, clean and safe ads, and easy customization of widgets just to mention a few. If you have sufficient traffic, this is one of the best native advertising networks to work with.