About Bustimes.org‍

Bustimes.org is a UK based site that displays bus services, routes, and live vehicle locations in the UK and Ireland. It was built by Joshua Goodwin in 2015 as a project to pass the time between job applications after graduating. Now, bustimes.org is used 6.5 million times a month.

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About Bustimes.org

‍The Challenge

Joshua was originally monetizing his site with AdSense. We approached Bustimes.org when we saw an opportunity to improve his existing ad setup and boost his revenue. There were a range of new formats that Publift wanted to test on Bustimes.org which were not previously live with AdSense. With this, we took extreme care to customize the new ad formats to blend with the nature of the site without impacting its user experience.

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‍The Approach

With the help of our expert team of yield optimizers and account managers, we improved Bustimes.org’s average yield through granular analysis of performance data and user behavior on the site. On top of increasing ad units, we also facilitated enhanced traction from our header bidding partners through high value programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals, real-time floor price optimization, and smart ad placements.

We focused on a few optimizations that were the main revenue drivers:

  • Dynamic ad injection
    Since each page had varying amounts of space available for ads depending on the content, it was not feasible to have a fixed amount of ads across all pages. In order to counteract this, the development team built a custom feature within the tag: Ad insertion would be controlled so that an ad would appear after every nth paragraph (or number of words). 
  • Customisable sticky footer
    Due to a high volume of loyal users frequenting Bustimes.org, it was critical to have minimal effect on users despite adding additional ad units. By harnessing the publisher’s feedback, our development team was able to modify the look and feel of the sticky footer so that it blends well with the site's layout. 
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  • ‍Optimization is more than what meets the eye
    Through constant scrutiny of ad unit performance, the account management team has been successful in improving month on month revenue since the onboarding phase. The key to success with Bustimes.org lies in the fact of replacing the low performing ads with better ones. Further, Multivariate testing helps determine the best approach which may include having a new ad unit, replacing an existing ad unit, implementing a new size and more with absolute certainty backed up with necessary data and charts.


“I was hesitant to make the leap and join Publift. Ben persistently pursued me and I am so glad he did! Making the jump has changed Bustimes dramatically. The service has been perfect. Anyone holding out should jump in and give them a try."

Joshua Goodwin, Foudner, Bustimes.org

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The Results

In order to evaluate our progress with Bustimes.org, we compared our year on year progress across 4 months (April to August), where year 1 was with AdSense and year 2 with Publift. We were able to achieve:

  • a staggering 313% increase in average revenue per month‍
  • 62% increase in monthly pRPM; and
  • ‍309% in average revenue per day.

Do you have a tool-based site like Bustimes.org you’re wanting to monetize? Contact us here to book a demo and get a customized revenue boosting strategy for your site!

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A graph showing the YoY change of average revenue per day. The results are compiled over 4 months (May-August). The results from Publift (2022) are significantly higher than the results from AdSense (2021).

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