Publishers looking to diversify their ad revenue streams have embraced displaying paid advertisements on their websites, apps, and social media channels.
This shouldn't be surprising, given that the global online ad market is projected to surpass US$1.3 trillion by 2033. Whether you're asking yourself "What is header bidding?", figuring out how to load ads without impacting page speed, how to increase your page RPM or maybe improving ad placements to increase ad revenue, we’ve got you covered below.
But first, let’s take a look at an outline of how to create a UX-safe framework in three steps.
How to Create a UX-safe Framework in Three Steps
Step 1: Set your baseline
Measure your current RPM against LCP, INP and CLS so that ad revenue changes are judged against UX. By establishing a relationship between UX and ad revenue, it’ll become easier to spot the more costly UX trade-offs and then set data-informed performance thresholds that’ll focus on maximising both UX and ad revenue potential.
Applying this first step, Publift was able to improve the overall page pRPM of a European news publisher. A set of strategic ad placements was designed to ensure strong performance in metrics such as average CTR and viewability. The result? A 154% increase in pRPM.
Step 2: Optimise placements and ad formats with minimal CWV costs
This second step begins with reserving ad slots, which are fixed-size spaces that have been allocated for ads before they load, as well as lazy loading, which slows down the loading of an ad until it’s fully within a user’s viewport. Heatmaps can be used to assess audience engagement and optimise strategicad placement accordingly.
The benefit of reserving ad slots is that it prevents a web page’s content from suddenly moving as the page loads slowly or as ads are rendered.
Through the use of Publift's Fuse platform, this second step was applied with a US news provider who was struggling with unreliable and vague performance data from their ads. Among other actions, Publift ran A/B testing with different ad layouts, which ultimately led to a 747% increase in average net revenue per day within the first three months.
Step 3: Increase competition for inventory
Start by applying header bidding. This is the practice of multiple demand partners bidding on an ad space simultaneously before the ad server decides to whom the winning ad slot should be awarded. Because this practice involves increasing the number of advertisers and not the number of actual ad spaces, it increases competition. This, in turn, increases the yield per ad impression, as well as CPMs. In short, a level playing field emerges that stimulates revenue growth.
Publift applied this third step with an Australian weather news publisher who wanted to improve the quality of their content without having to spend countless hours trying to boost their eCPM. By applying header bidding in tandem with larger ad formats, Publift was able to increase the publisher's YoY revenue by 121%.
Before we look at specific ways to improve ad revenue, it’ll be instructive to recap some revenue basics.
How is Ad Revenue Calculated?
The CPM model is where advertisers pay for every 1000 impressions. To calculate ad revenue as per CPM pricing, divide the total number of ad impressions by 1,000, then multiply your result by the agreed CPM rate.
As for the CPC model, it's the total number of ad clicks that determines the revenue. Simply multiply the ad clicks by the CPC rate to calculate the revenue.
How Much Ad Revenue Can You Make?
CPM and CPC depend on a variety of factors, such as target audience demographics, the niche, supply and demand for a specific product or service, the ad network used, and the season.
Ad impressions and user clicks will largely depend on the app or site’s web traffic and the targeted audience. The math is simple—the higher the CPM, CPC, and traffic, the higher the ad revenue.
13 Ways to Improve Ad Revenue
1) Choose Your Target Audience – UX neutral
The cost of CPM and CPC will vary depending on the country where your target audience is located – the CPM of an African audience, for example, will be lower than that of the audience of high-value GEOs or premium tier 1 countries like America. The same principle applies to the demographics of an app’s target audience, with the CPM of minors, for instance, much lower than that of adults, given the former's inability to complete a digital transaction.
2) Increase Content Quality – UX safe
Advertisers pay for views or clicks, which implies an audience and, ideally, high traffic. And the best way to attract lots of traffic is to provide good-quality content. Good quality content, in turn, needs to be SEO-friendly, with high search volume keywords and low competition, if possible.
3) Provide Dynamic Content – UX neutral
It’s not enough just to post an article and hope for the best. Google prefers forums, blogs, vlogs and other similar formats where user-generated content is produced and, therefore, where publishers and users interact with the content constantly.
4) Offer a Free Tool – UX safe
Another way to boost user engagement is to offer a free tool. Google AdSense advises that websites that offer a free online tool are perfect for attracting both new and repeat users.
5) Choose the Right Niche – UX safe
Ad networks discover CPM and CPC based on supply and demand. This means that some industries or niches with high demand will have a higher level of monetisation, so it pays to choose the right one.
Some of the highest-ranked niches are insurance, online education, marketing, cryptocurrency, online banking, internet, technology, the car industry, eCommerce, and health.
6) Bypass Ad Blocker Issues – UX neutral
According to inStreamly, 912 million internet users use ad blockers to prevent ads from appearing, which ends up hurting ad campaigns. There are three strategies for bypassing ad blockers.
The first is by asking users to turn off ad blockers while on your website, app, or channel. This can be risky as it may result in the users leaving regardless of how engaging they find your content.
The second approach is to use native ads, which are incorporated within your website’s content. This tactic is more appealing because it doesn't irritate the user and adds value to the content.
Finally, the Ad-Shield adblock recovery platform can also be used to bypass ad blockers. Publift has faced a growing challenge from advanced ad blockers that block both ads and analytics scripts. This has created large volumes of “dark traffic” — users who can neither be measured nor monetised. Industry data showed that 79% of ad blocked traffic now falls into this category, making traditional ad recovery solutions ineffective.
To address this, Publift recently sought a solution that could measure dark traffic, restore ad monetisation, generate incremental revenue, and integrate easily with minimal maintenance. In May 2025, it began testing Ad-Shield alongside its legacy ad recovery vendor.
Ad-Shield successfully identified previously invisible dark traffic, restored Publift’s existing ad stack, and enabled compliant, user-friendly advertising. Implementation was quick, supported by strong technical and sales assistance.
Within three months, Ad-Shield was live on 43 websites and delivered five times more recovered ad impressions and revenue than the legacy solution. Publift has now adopted Ad-Shield as a long-term strategy against ad-blockers.
7) Optimise the Number of Ads Displayed – UX safe
In the marketing world, less can often mean more. Too many ads displayed within an article, video content, or app, might cause the audience to leave, once again hurting advertising revenue. That's why it is best to optimise the number of displayed ads to maintain a positive user experience and prevent bounce rates. Make sure you eliminate low-paying ad niches to boost ad revenue. The optimal number depends on the size of the ads, length (especially if it's a video ad), and form. Google Analytics is a helpful tool for checking the optimal number of displayed ads.
8) Track the Ads’ Performance – UX safe
Typically, ads that reach the right audience first have the highest click through rate and therefore, publishers tend to place ads with the highest CPC or CPM in the most attractive positions. Track key metrics such as impressions, rates, and user engagement to form a strong understanding of the ad performance.
Google AdSense provides some general advice on ad placements, but every publisher needs to track how their ads work best.
9) Use Flexible Prices and Paid Advertisements – UX safe
Seasonality is another characteristic of ad revenue. You should expect less revenue in January and June, while holiday season months (Christmas, Black Friday, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc.) are usually peak advertising times.
To effectively manage demand fluctuation over a given year, yield optimisation can be a good strategy.
10) Optimise Ad Sizes – UX neutral
Although bigger ads can be more noticeable than smaller ads, users might not appreciate having their entire screens dominated by ads. Nowadays, this is particularly the case given that almost 70% of organic Google searches in the US are done by users on mobile devices.
11) Use Different Ad Types and Ad Formats – UX safe
Since publishers can use a variety of channels—such as websites, social media profiles, video channels, blogs, apps, etc.—the types of ad units and ad formats will change accordingly.
Because of this, where appropriate, it's always good to embrace different ad formats, as this generally encourages user engagement, provides a seamless user experience and increases the click-through rate (CTR). Remember, however, that different platforms have different ecosystems and ways of implementing ads, and if you’re a major publisher, then you’ll also have to consider the specific needs of your departments and channel specialists. In short, balance a healthy variety of ad types and formats with the nature of your platform and business.
12) Choose the Correct Ad Placement – UX neutral
If you’re struggling with low ad revenue, one of the reasons might be wrong ad placement on your website or bad timing for an app. Check whether different ad placements are visible and easily clickable for site visitors. Some will perform better, and others will be less effective.
13) Speed Up Your Website – UX safe
Sometimes the reason for low ad revenue is a website’s slow load speed. Overloading a site with content can result in a poor user experience, especially when the site contains many images or audiovisual content, which can be heavy with code.
To overcome this, publishers can implement lazy loading, which speeds up the initial page load by first loading the top images or videos. When the user scrolls down, the system loads the rest as needed.
Does Adding More Ads Increase Revenue?
While adding more ads, in some cases, may bring more traffic and, therefore, open new revenue streams, the guiding principle for every publisher should be giving their users the online experience they want. To achieve this, it's important to focus on the quality of the ads, including their relevance, format and how well they accompany the editorial content of the broader site. In short, quality matters, so quality over quantity should be the publishers' guiding principle.
Conclusion
As with any other business, the monetisation of apps, websites, or social media accounts requires a well-thought-out marketing strategy.
Publift helps digital publishers get the most out of the ads on their websites. Publift has helped its clients realise an average 55% uplift in ad revenue since 2015, through the use of cutting-edge programmatic advertising technology paired with dedicated service expertise.
If you’re making more than $2,000 in monthly ad revenue, contact us today to learn more about how Publift can help increase your ad revenue and best optimise the ad space available on your website or app.
FAQs
How can you increase ad revenue without hurting your UX?
The best way to significantly increase your ad revenue without hurting your UX is to strike a balance between your ad placements, your website's speed and the visibility of your content.
How can you create a UX-safe framework in three steps?
You can create a UX-safe framework in three steps by measuring your current RPM against LCP, INP and CLS, optimising your placements and ad formats with minimal CWV costs, and increasing the competition for your inventory.
What are the best non-intrusive ad formats?
The best non-intrusive ad formats are in-text and native ads and outstream video ads. Compared to traditional display ads, video ads ensure better click-through rates.
What is the optimum number of ads for one page?
There is no specific optimum number of ads, but a good rule of thumb is to not have ads covering more than 15% of a page.
How can I prevent ads from hurting page speed?
The best way to prevent ads from hurting page speed is to use asynchronous ad loading, implement lazy loading and use header bidding timeouts.