Ad Suppliers Who Pay You to Publish Advertising: A Big List


You need advertising on your website. You’ll publish the ads if someone will send them to you and pay you. Lots of companies supply them.

I tried to find a good list of suppliers, but, so far, I hadn’t. So, I put a list together. If you want to be a publisher of ads, this list is for you. These suppliers may also be known as “ad exchanges”, “advertising exchanges”, “ad networks”, “advertising networks”, and “programmatic advertising” suppliers.

This isn’t a quality list of the best. These are mostly anyone I found. I looked at roughly two dozen online lists that probably are largely trying to promote those that pay their authors referral fees for business they send to the companies, so they’re biased, but I needed something. I also added the large number of companies that are members of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Doubtless, I’m missing some and some that I’m missing may be excellent. I’ll be happy to add them. I’m not interested in referral fees, my list being skewed enough as it is, although I’ll accept advertising from an ad supplier.

EU/GDPR is a major issue. By far, most suppliers seem to have accepted jurisdiction of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). (I’m not a lawyer.) The EU has reportedly claimed worldwide jurisdiction. However, the EU does not have worldwide jurisdiction except over parties who have enough nexus to bring them under EU jurisdiction. Thus, many firms and people are beyond EU jurisdiction. To my knowledge, there is no way to be under GDPR without being under EU jurisdiction; if you’re under one, you’re under both. If an ad supplier is under that jurisdiction and you accept ads from that supplier, you may gain enough nexus to put you under EU jurisdiction. If you are under the EU anyway, using an EU-governed ad supplier may make no difference to you, but if you’re not under the EU otherwise, you may not want to use the services of an ad supplier that is. So, I have indicated in this list which ad suppliers seem to be under EU jurisdiction.

In this list, if a supplier is marked as “maybe under EU/GDPR”, that includes a supplier that is definitely under EU/GDPR as well as any that, solely because of an address, seems to be under EU/GDPR. Perhaps the address is just a mail drop and does not establish enough of a nexus for jurisdiction, but I wanted to be on the cautious side. In many cases, the use of a banner about cookie policy and soliciting the user’s consent by a click was enough for me to believe that the supplier may be under EU/GDPR jurisdiction. While some people argue that every site that sends a cookie into the EU is under the GDPR, I think that’s a legal overclaim and not true. Some sites are under GDPR. Not all are.

Brexit is relevant to a supplier that is under the EU only because of a nexus with the United Kingdom, but no other EU nation. The U.K. being in the EU may only be temporary and the final outcome of Brexit may end that. I’ve indicated Brexit’s relevance where I think it applies. However, it may apply to many more suppliers than I’ve indicated here.

International dealing is not otherwise addressed in this list. Several suppliers operate in multiple nations, but, other than for the EU, the list doesn’t say which ones. You have, basically, three choices: relate only with suppliers that have addresses only in your nation; learn the foreign law governing the supplier you’re interested in and hire a lawyer in that nation; or don’t pay attention to foreign jurisdiction as long as you don’t hear bad news. Not caring has worked out well enough for lots of people in most relationships, since most people don’t do things that violate the laws where they live (so don’t commit fraud or ship nuclear weapons around the world). If you’re isolationist and you live and work in the United States, you’ll still have a wide choice of suppliers, but in some nations there may be no local suppliers, and others have very few, maybe only one. Studying foreign legal liabilities and hiring attorneys are usually practiced only by very large companies and companies making very large deals. Many suppliers do not disclose in which nations they’re located on their websites, so, if you’re concerned, you should ask before committing, but the person who answers you may be misinformed or not know, so decide what you’ll do if you’re not sure. The locations of parent companies may matter just as much, so you likely need the name of any company that owns the company with which you’re dealing, and the parent’s parent, and so on, so you can check for their EU nexus possibilities.

Parent companies are mentioned if I knew about them. I may have missed some. Parent companies may cause EU/GDPR jurisdiction.

Sex ads are offered by some suppliers, which, hopefully, are omitted here. However, I can’t be sure that I found all such suppliers. You may want to ask any supplier before it serves you ads whether it will let you filter those ads before they get displayed on your site. You probably can’t see all the ads that get displayed on your site, so just looking at your site probably won’t be protective enough.

While embedding ads into audio (like podcasts), video (including TV), virtual reality, apps, games, or emails can finance your projects, I think ads for those media are different than website ads. I left those suppliers out. Perhaps someone else will compile lists of those suppliers.

Affiliate marketing is included. Essentially, they provide ads. Several ways of calculating your earnings are offered, and affiliate marketing offers one of those ways, payment based on sales of advertised products rather than on clicks or impressions.

If a supplier’s website was not mainly in English either on the home page or via an easily-found link or button from the home page, I omitted it. They may be very good suppliers, but if I can’t read the website I can’t even judge its basic relevance.

If a supplier’s website is apparently under construction, I omitted it. An example would be a site with a home page with a graphic or animation but no text, link, or button.

If a supplier merged into another, I omitted the former and listed the latter.

If a supplier is closed or out of business, I omitted it.

If a supplier is unreachable on at least two nonconsecutive days, I omitted it. Unreachability means that it either couldn’t be reached through the World Wide Web or my Firefox browser alerted me to a website security problem so serious that it wouldn’t connect to it. If a supplier is offering an automated service but doesn’t know it has a basic problem with its own website, it probably has doubtful competence.

If a supplier did not let me know even a little information about its offering unless I first created a login, I omitted that supplier. I’d have accepted that I can collect a bazillion dollars by publishing their ads and nothing more, but at least that would have told me that I can publish ads they supply. If they don’t even say that and I have to log in to find out, I left it off the list.

Some other notes are included for some suppliers. If a similar note does not appear for another supplier, I may not have known enough to include it. For example, while, for some suppliers, I discuss legal terms, for most others I didn’t read the terms at all, so I wouldn’t know if the terms are similar or different.

This list is more or less alphabetical, with numbers first.

152 Media:

http://www.152media.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Ebsco

Ebsco: see 152 Media

33Across:

http://33across.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

50 on Red: https://50onred.com

Acast:

https://www.acast.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

AdBidCentral: http://www.adbidcentral.com/user/login

Adblade:

https://www.adblade.com

part of Congoo including Adiant

adbuff:

https://adbuff.com

traffic should mainly be from U.S., U.K., Canada, & Australia

no ecommerce or shopping cart

Adcash:

https://adcash.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

AdColony:

https://www.adcolony.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

AddApptr:

https://www.addapptr.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Adelphic: https://www.adelphic.com

Adform:

https://www.adform.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Adiant:

Adiant: see Adblade

Adiant: see IndustryBrains

AdKernel:

https://adkernel.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

probably an ad supplier

AdLandmark:

http://adlandmark.com

specialty is websites about computers

adMarketplace:

https://www.admarketplace.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Ad Maven:

https://ad-maven.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Admiral: https://getadmiral.com

ad pepper media: https://adpepper.com/en

AdPushup:

https://www.adpushup.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

AdRecover: https://www.adrecover.com

AdRizer:

http://www.adrizer.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Adslot:

https://www.adslot.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

AdSpirit:

https://www.adspirit.de

maybe under EU/GDPR

Adsterra:

https://adsterra.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Adtelligent:

https://adtelligent.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

terms restrict linking to this supplier’s website (this could be valid if contractual)

AdThrive:

http://www.adthrive.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

apparently wants your login credentials for other sites (this may be illegal, depending on the terms of use of the other sites)

terms require closing a browser window after each use (possibly burdensome)

prefers most traffic to be from U.S.

Adversal Media:

https://www.adversal.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Advertica: see ylliX

Adyoulike:

https://www.adyoulike.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

AerServ:

https://www.aerserv.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

see also InMobi

Affinio:

https://www.affinio.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Amobee:

https://www.amobee.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

AppNexus:

https://www.appnexus.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Xandr

Appodeal:

https://www.appodeal.com/home

maybe under EU/GDPR

Audience Network: see Facebook’s Audience Network

Awin: see ShareASale

Bannerconnect:

https://www.bannerconnect.net

maybe under EU/GDPR

Bidease:

https://www.bidease.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Bidswitch or BidSwitch:

https://www.bidswitch.com

requires opt-in from end users

BidVertiser: https://www.bidvertiser.com

BidVertiser:

https://www.bidvertiser.com

jurisdiction in Israel for court or arbitration, per terms

Bigabid or BigaBid: http://www.bigabid.com

Blis:

http://www.blis.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Blogads:

https://www.blogads.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

BookBub: http://bookbub.com

BounceX:

https://www.bouncex.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

bRealTime: see EMX

Burt Corp.:

http://www.burtcorp.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

BuySellAds:

https://www.buysellads.com

third-party ad server apparently required

see also CarbonAds

CarbonAds:

https://carbonads.net

forbids competition on a page because of limit of one ad per page

part of BuySellAds

Casale Media Online Advertising Exchange: see Index Exchange (IX)

Chitika:

https://chitika.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Chocolate:

https://chocolateplatform.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

cignal.io:

https://www.cignal.io

maybe under EU/GDPR

probably an ad supplier

CJ: see Commission Junction

Clickadu:

https://www.clickadu.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Clickbooth:

https://www.clickbooth.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Clicksor:

http://www.clicksor.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Clipcentric:

https://clipcentric.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

maybe an ad supplier

Commission Factory: https://www.commissionfactory.com

Commission Junction (CJ):

https://www.cj.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

affiliate marketing

Congoo:

see Adblade

see IndustryBrains

consumable:

http://consumable.com

probably an ad supplier

Conversant:

https://www.conversantmedia.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

possibly related to conversant-media.com or epsilonconversant.com

see also Epsilon

Core Audience:

http://www.coreaudience.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Hearst

Cox Automotive:

https://www.dealer.com

for car dealers

Cox Enterprises: see Cox Media Group

Criteo:

http://www.criteo.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

DAX (Digital Audio Exchange):

https://thisisdax.com

probably an ad supplier

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

DeepIntent:

https://www.deepintent.com/

limited to health care

dianomi:

https://www.dianomi.com/cms

maybe under EU/GDPR

Digital Audio Exchange: see DAX

Digital Remedy:

http://www.digitalremedy.com

terms are unusually restrictive against use

district m:

http://www.districtm.ca

maybe under EU/GDPR

eClickZ: http://www.eclickz.com

Ebsco: see 152 Media

Emodo:

https://www.emodoinc.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Ericsson

EMX (including bRealTime):

https://emxdigital.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

Epom Market:

https://market.epom.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Epsilon or Conversant (uses both names):

https://www.epsilonconversant.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

perhaps an ad supplier

possibly related to conversantmedia.com or conversant-media.com

Ericsson: see Emodo

Evolve Media: see Gorilla Nation

ExoClick:

https://www.exoclick.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Exponential Interactive:

http://exponential.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Eyereturn Marketing:

https://eyereturnmarketing.com

in Canada & U.S.

eZanga:

https://www.ezanga.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Facebook:

see Instagram

see Facebook’s Audience Network

Facebook’s Audience Network:

https://www.facebook.com/audiencenetwork

maybe under EU/GDPR

FameBit:

https://famebit.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Google

Feature Forward: https://www.featureforward.com

FusionSeven: http://www.fusionseven.com

Goodway Group:

https://goodwaygroup.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Google:

Google: see Google AdSense

Google: see also Google Marketing Platform

Google: see also FameBit

Google AdSense:

https://www.google.com/adsense/

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Google

Google Marketing Platform:

https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/enterprise/

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Google

Gorilla Nation:

http://www.gorillanation.com/home

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

part of Evolve Media

GumGum:

https://gumgum.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

gyro:

https://www.gyro.com

probably an ad supplier

maybe under EU/GDPR

Headway:

http://www.headwaydigital.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Hearst: see Core Audience

Heroku:

http://www.actionx.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Hilltop Ads:

https://hilltopads.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

HIRO Media:

http://www.hiro-media.com

in US & Israel (maybe elsewhere, too)

Index Exchange: see Casale Media Online Advertising Exchange

Index Exchange (IX):

https://www.indexexchange.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Casale Media Online Advertising Exchange

IndustryBrains:

https://www.industrybrains.com

part of Congoo including Adiant

Influential: https://influential.co (sic)

Infolinks:

https://www.infolinks.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

InMobi:

http://www.inmobi.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of AerServ

Inform:

http://inform.com

Innity:

https://www.innity.com

prefers 200,000 visits per month or 40,000 unique visitors per month

content updates daily required

Innovid: https://www.innovid.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Facebook

Instart:

https://www.instartlogic.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

in U.S., U.K., & India

Iponweb:

https://www.iponweb.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

IX: see Index Exchange

Kargo: https://www.kargo.com

Kontextua:

https://www.kontextua.com

in Argentina & U.S.

asserts itself under law of Uruguay

agreement in unclear English and includes “penalty of an amount never less than 10,000 dollars (USD)” (agreement as accessed )

Liquidus Marketing:

https://liquidus.net

maybe under EU/GDPR

Lo70s: https://lo70s.com

Lotame Solutions:

https://www.lotame.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Mad Ads Media:

http://www.madadsmedia.com

apparently must agree to Publisher Guidelines but can’t read them before agreeing to them

Marin Software:

http://www.marinsoftware.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Matomy Media Group:

https://matomy.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

MaxBounty: https://www.maxbounty.com

MediaAlpha: https://mediaalpha.com

MediaMath:

http://www.mediamath.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Media.net:

https://www.media.net

maybe under EU/GDPR

Mediaocean:

https://www.mediaocean.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Mediavine:

https://www.mediavine.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

“good standing with Google AdSense” required

advertising exclusivity required

MGID:

https://www.mgid.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

MiQ: http://wearemiq.com

Miva:

https://www.miva.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Mobvista:

https://www.mobvista.com/en/

maybe under EU/GDPR

MoPub:

https://www.mopub.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Twitter

MultiView: https://www.multiview.com

my6sense:

https://my6sense.com

in Israel & US

maybe under EU/GDPR

Native Ads: https://nativeads.com

Nativo:

https://www.nativo.net

maybe under EU/GDPR

Nudge: https://giveitanudge.com

NYIAX: https://www.nyiax.com

Oath:

https://www.oath.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Ooyala:

http://www.ooyala.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

OpenX:

https://www.openx.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Outbrain:

http://www.outbrain.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

PageScience:

http://pagescience.com

office address one of two possibilities depending on what is viewed on website (e.g., contact acknowledgment)

Parrable: https://www.parrable.com

Parsec: http://www.parsec.media

Pepperjam:

https://www.pepperjam.com

pays through PayPal only

unclear if will do business with potential customer outside of U.S. or EU or if agreement applicable outside those jurisdictions

Platform:

https://platform.io

in U.S. & Belarus

customers (including in U.S.) subject to law in Belarus

Playbuzz:

https://www.playbuzz.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Polymorph: https://getpolymorph.com

PopAds:

https://www.popads.net

in U.S. & Costa Rica

disputes resolved under Costa Rican law

PopCash:

http://popcash.net

maybe under EU/GDPR

PowerInbox: https://powerinbox.com

PowerLinks:

https://www.powerlinks.com

in U.K. & U.S.

maybe under EU/GDPR

PropellerAds:

https://propellerads.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Propel Media:

https://www.propelmedia.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

PubMatic:

https://pubmatic.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

PubNative:

https://pubnative.net

in Germany & People's Republic of China

maybe under EU/GDPR

Pub Ocean:

http://pubocean.com

in U.S., U.K., & Poland

maybe under EU/GDPR

PulsePoint:

https://www.pulsepoint.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

limited to health websites

was or includes https://www.contextweb.com

PushSpring:

http://www.pushspring.com

in U.S.

maybe under EU/GDPR

Quantcast:

https://www.quantcast.com

in U.S., EU, Singapore, Australia, & Canada

maybe under EU/GDPR

Rakuten Marketing:

https://rakutenmarketing.com

in Japan

RealVu:

https://www.realvu.com

in U.S.

Redirect:

http://redirect.com

publish only on domains without content

ResponsiveAds:

https://responsiveads.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Revcontent:

https://www.revcontent.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

RevenueHits:

https://www.revenuehits.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

rewardStyle:

https://www.rewardstyle.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

focus on lifestyle websites

RhythmOne:

https://www.rhythmone.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Rubicon Project:

https://rubiconproject.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

was or includes http://www.chango.com

Run:

http://www.runads.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

Samba TV:

https://samba.tv

maybe under EU/GDPR

see also Screen6

Say Media:

https://www.saymedia.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

Screen6:

https://s6.io

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Samba TV

Semcasting:

https://www.semcasting.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

ShareASale:

http://shareasale.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Awin

Sharethrough:

http://www.sharethrough.com

in U.S., U.K., & Canada

maybe under EU/GDPR

SimpleReach:

https://simplereach.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Sizmek:

https://www.sizmek.com/

maybe under EU/GDPR

Skimlinks:

https://skimlinks.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Smaato:

https://www.smaato.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Smart:

https://smartadserver.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

SmartyAds:

https://smartyads.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Sonobi:

https://sonobi.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Sourcepoint:

https://www.sourcepoint.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Sovrn:

https://www.sovrn.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

see also VigLink

Sponsortag: http://sponsortag.com

SpotX:

https://www.spotx.tv

maybe under EU/GDPR

SRAX:

https://srax.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

SuperAwesome:

https://www.superawesome.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Taboola:

http://www.taboola.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Tapgerine:

https://tapgerine.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

https://www.teads.tv

maybe under EU/GDPR

Tonic:

https://tonic.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

TripleLift:

http://triplelift.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

terms of use forbid commercial use of website, which is absurd but potentially a legal minefield

true[X] (including brackets): https://www.truex.com

Twitter: see MoPub

UberMedia: https://ubermedia.com

Undertone: https://www.undertone.com

Unlockd: https://unlockd.com

Unruly:

https://unruly.co (sic)

maybe under EU/GDPR

Vertoz:

https://www.vertoz.com

maybe under EU/GDPR pending Brexit

Verve:

https://www.verve.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Vibrant Media:

https://www.vibrantmedia.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Viewbix:

http://corp.viewbix.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

VigLink:

http://www.viglink.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Sovrn

Visto:

https://www.vistohub.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

Vrtcal: https://vrtcal.com

Watchwith: http://www.watchwith.com

WebSpectator:

https://www.webspectator.com

in U.S., Brazil, & Portugal

maybe under EU/GDPR

Xandr:

https://xandr.com

related to AppNexus

related to AT&T

maybe under EU/GDPR

ylliX:

https://yllix.com/en/

maybe under EU/GDPR

part of Advertica

Zedo: http://www.zedo.com

ZergNet:

https://www.zergnet.com

maybe under EU/GDPR

In conclusion: You have choices. Choose carefully.