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Last Updated: March 20, 2025
If you own a blog or website in 2025, one of the best ways to earn money from your content is through ads. Adsense is usually a blogger’s first port of call, but their payout is very low compared to alternative ad networks.
It’s notoriously hard to get on Mediavine when you’re just starting out due to their requirements, which is why we started looking for good, UK based ad network alternatives, and how we came across Ezoic.
Which is the best AdSense alternative?
Without a doubt, Ezoic for those with under 50k sessions! You get free hosting, a free CDN, an incredible free site speed tool that enables you to pass Google core web vitals and you will earn much more money than Google Ads!
For those who have 50k sessions (or more), Mediavine is the best option.
1 – Ezoic
If you have a website that gets 1 – 49,999 sessions per month, you can apply for Ezoic.
What is Ezoic?
Ezoic is a Google-certified partner and boasts that it can improve your ad revenue earnings by 50-250% by systematically testing lots of different website layouts, ad types, and ad positions.
In a nutshell, Ezoic will help you to make as much money with ads, as well as, figure out how best to improve your site’s user experience.
Ezoic Requirements
The great thing about Ezoic compared to Mediavine is that you don’t need 25000 views per month, Ezoic only requires a good quality website with potential.
Your content should be original, and you need a track record of identifiable traffic via analytics.
Lastly, If you possess an existing Google AdSense or Ad Manager account, it must be in good standing with Google.
That’s it! As long as you meet those requirements, you’re good to go.
Ezoic Pros
Free WordPress Hosting – This is probably one of the better perks of being with Ezoic, particularly for smaller sites that don’t want to spend out on their site.
More Money – From my own experience, and other blogger friends, as well as extensive research, there’s no one that has tried Ezoic that hasn’t doubled their income – with some lucky dabbers even earning 4x as much.
Free CDN – Ezoic has its own CDN which is free to use, it’s also compatible with Cloudfare if you have that and wish to continue.
LEAP – Ezoic has an amazing site speed tool, which is completely FREE and absolutely awesome. You can delete every cache and speed plugin you have because leap does it all. It can take some tweaking but I manage to get my site speeds to the high 70s on mobile and high 90s on desktop. LEAP also sorts out your core web vitals.
User Friendly – Ezoic is super easy to use once you get the hang of it, and if you can’t, your account manager will do it for you!
More ads – Ezoic is a certified partner of Google so they are able to put more ads on your site than you can with AdSense.
Great Support – Adsense support is non-existent, but with Ezoic you have a dedicated account manager and access to support tickets.
More Networks – Ezoic uses dozens of different ad networks as well as AdSense, such as Criteo and Media.Net. So there are more advertisers to choose from, some of which are higher-quality and higher-paying ads
Premium ads – Ezoic offers a paid-for premium ad service that guarantees your earnings will be higher.
Ezoic Cons
Initial Start-Up Support Slow – My account manager usually takes around 24 hours to answer an email (due to the US/UK time difference), which now isn’t a problem as it’s non-urgent enquiries anyway, but when I was trying to set up, it was quite annoying because I am super impatient – so bear this in mind.
More Ads – This might not necessarily be a problem for you, but the more ads you have, the more you earn. I was focused on user enjoyment when I first started blogging, but since switching to Ezoic, I have got the taste for the income, so I have added a few more placements.
Ezoics Share – If you don’t want to pay the 10% fee you can, put a small ad on the bottom of your website so that Ezoic can earn some revenue. I have opted for the 10% option simply because I feel fewer ads mean a better experience for my users.
USD – A mild annoyance but everything is in USD, I’d personally prefer to see my earnings in GBP.
Our Findings
In short, we switched from Google AdSense to Ezoic and doubled our sitespeed and ad revenue in the first month.
We started on the 1st of the month so we could get a true representation, and luckily we had around the same amount of views for the month we started (September) to the previous month (August) with AdSense.
Google Adsense Earnings
Pageviews – 180,199
Average EPMV – £2.52
Adsense Revenue – £453.98
Ezoic Earnings September 2020
Pageviews – 197,700
Average EPMV – £6.81
Ezoic Revenue – £1151.09
Now that is one hell of a difference in one month! Especially as the first month is testing and tweaking, so your EPMV is naturally lower.
You have to take off the 10% fee of £115.19 if you’re not opting for the free version, and also there is a 0.15% fee (£1.55) to get your payment via payoneer, which leaves a grand total of £1048.98.
2 – Mediavine
If your website recieves over 50,00 sessions per month (30 days) you can apply to mediavine.
What is Mediavine?
Mediavine is one of the most popular display ad networks for bloggers who want to earn passive income through placing ad units on their websites.
In a nutshell, Mediavine helps established sites make as much money with ads.
Mediavine Requirements
To be considered for Mediavine ad management, your website needs…
- At least 50,000 sessions (per Google Analytics) in the previous 30 days
- To be in good standing with Google AdSense.
- Have original and engaging long-form content.
That’s it! As long as you meet those requirements, you’re good to go.
Mediavine Pros
Higher RPMs – More money! Mediavine is known for potentially offering higher revenue per 1,000 impressions (RPM) compared to other ad networks.
Great Support – Mediavine has a reputation for providing good customer support and an exclusive facebook community for publishers.
Loyalty Incentives – Mediavine offers incentives for growth and loyalty, including a loyalty bonus of 1% for publishers who stay for a year, capped at five years.
Lightweight Technology – Mediavine prioritizes website speed while maintaining ad quality and uses lightweight ad technology.
Easy Dashboard – Mediavine provides a user-friendly dashboard that shows all important metrics.
Intelligent Ad Placements – Mediavine uses intelligent ad placements to optimize ad viewabilit
Mediavine Cons
Lengthy Approval Process – Mediavine has a high bar for entry, requiring a minimum of 50,000 monthly page views and good standing with Google
Revenue Sharing Model – Mediavine uses a revenue-sharing model, where publishers receive 75% of the ad revenue, with Mediavine taking 25% as a management fee.
Our Findings
Since switching to Mediavine, we have had (on average) and uptake of 35% on earnings, which is why we now have made the switch from Ezoic.
If you’re interested in ways to monetise your blog or website check out how to make money blogging
If you need any more information or know of any other good ad networks to rival Ezoic and Mediavine, please let us know in the comments below…
