8 WordPress Plugins for Ads

I have been thinking about adding some ads on my site. I do not expect to make a living doing this, or even really make any money. I do not have a focus, which as many of the money making blogs point out, is really necessary. But it would be nice if I can get enough to occasionally defray some of the costs for my hosting. In that vein, I decided to look at the plugins out there that help handle ads on WordPress.

And there are a lot of them. A large number are specifically made for using Google Adsense ads, but there are more that allow ads from other programs. I only wanted ones that work in WordPress 2.7, which meant I didn’t look at a couple that had nice sounding features, but hadn’t been updated in several months.

Adsense Program plugins

  • AdsenseAnna is probably the easiest plugin to use. It gives you a single widget for your sidebar, and you just need three things to get it going. A name for the widget, your Adsense-ID number, and what size you want the ad to be. And you chose the size from a drop down menu that looks like it has all the options that Google offers. No copy and paste of code, no worrying about how many ads are on a page, just input your ID and save. The only short coming is only one ad block is placed. You can’t have one anywhere but your sidebar with this plugin.
  • EasyAdSenser limits your options for ad placement more than some of the other plugins, but does include an option for an ad in your sidebar, along with a Google search bar. You need to copy and paste your Adsense code from Google, but this lets you chose different size ads for different locations. There are also two ways to prevent ads showing on a particular page or post. The search bar on this one, along with the sidebar ad, makes this plugin stand out.

AdSense and Other Programs

  • AdSense Integrator is a nice way to add code into a page in a variety of areas. It is probably the most versatile plugin, since you can decide exactly which posts and/or pages you want an ad to appear on. Including your Archives, Category, and Tags pages. It also allows you to place ads exactly where you want them on the page using a small checkbox gui. You do need to copy the ad script into a box on the setup page, which is one of the things that makes this useful for multiple ad campaigns. You can even set it so that ads from different programs appear on the same page/post in different places. Or ads from one program on pages, another program on posts. The only real shortcoming is the lack of a widget for sidebar placement. But the authors are working on that.
  • All in One Adsense and YPN allows you to place ads from 2 different programs, Google Adsense and Yahoo Publisher’s Network. You can use either program alone, or both at the same time. Set up is easy, you just need to paste your ID number from either program into the setup page, choose the ad size, and the number of ads per page. A lot of placement options for ads, including random, on your pages. It lets you decide if you want ads on particular pages and/or posts, and gives you two short codes to give you more control over placement. It is limited to the 2 programs, and has no option for sidebar placement of ads. And the size of the ads is limited also, probably to only the sizes used in both programs.
  • Ozh Who Sees Ads is a more complicated plugin to use. It allows you to control who sees an ad, so regular readers are not annoyed by a lot of them, but search engine visitors see them regularly. It can be used with any program, and you can place ads anywhere you want in a post using the generated comment codes, which are in a dropdown on the HTML editor. You can also place ads in your sidebars, but it requires editing the php file and placing that generated php code. Not the easiest plugin to set up, but can definitely be worth the effort.
  • Smart Ads is another plugin that is useful for any ad program. You need to paste your generated code into the appropriate box, it will be placed either before, after, or both places in your post. You can also use a custom box that will placed where ever you put a shortcode on your blog. You can also choose to exclude particular categories from having ads shown, or not have ads appear on short posts or for registered members. But it does not have any options for sidebar placement.
  • Shantanu’s WP Prefix Suffix Plugin is not really an ad plugin. It allows you to add some form of content, text, HTML/CSS, javascript, etc., before, after, or in the middle of the a page or post. It can easily be used for ads, you just need to paste the code into one of the 3 input boxed, depending on where you want the ad to appear. And you have control over whether it appears on pages, posts, your homepage, and your excerpts. Easy to set up, and can be very useful for all kinds of things, but somewhat limited for ad placement.

Other Programs Only

  • Chitika | Premium plugin is only for the Chitika Premium program. According to their FAQ, you are allowed to show Chitika ads on the same pages as Adsense ads, even encouraging you to ask your Adsense rep to make sure. There are limited options for ad placement, basically above or below your post, although there are a variety of ad sizes and you can keep ads from appearing by using a shortcode.  Like many other plugins, there is no option for sidebar placement with it.

So there you are. Several choices for putting ads on your blog and making a little money. Some of them place a linkback to the author’s site, others give you the option of letting the author replace one of your ads with theirs a fraction of the time, still others just ask for a donation. None of these options seem unreasonable, since you are using their work to (hopefully) make money, and on these plugins at least, you can decide if and how much any ad replacement takes place.

As for which one I will use? I am not certain yet. There is always the question of versatility versus ease of use. I am leaning toward Easy Adsenser because of the two widgets for the sidebar as well as the ads in the posts. Or it would probably be possible to combine AdSenseAnna with one of the others that does not have a sidebar option, although that would require care not to break the various placement rules.

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17 Responses to 8 WordPress Plugins for Ads

  1. John Kolbert says:

    Hi, thanks for talking about my plugin (Smart Ads)! I’m working on another version that will allow ad placement in the sidebar via a widget and one that will be able to display an ad on the homepage after the 1st post (or whatever number you set). I hope to have it out in a few weeks.

    John Kolbert’s last blog post..What Shortcodes Does WordPress Need?

  2. Hey Tom, thanks for mentioning my plugin in your list.

  3. Tom B. says:

    Thank both of you for writing the plugins. I enjoyed playing with them.

  4. kelly says:

    I don’t use Adsense but you opene up my eyes to the plugins that’s avail for WordPress. And for that – many thanks to you!

  5. T Edwards says:

    This is a great list. I’m kind of stuck between incorporating some ads to my site or waiting until traffic grows. How has your monetizing been working out?

    T

    T Edwards’s last blog post..5 Reasons To Blog In A Recession

    • Tom B. says:

      Like I said, I do not expect to make any money at this. Maybe enough to offset some costs. The Amazon.com store is more about promoting books I like than profiting. Which is good, I would starve if I depended on that for income.

      For the ads right on the blog, I have been waiting for a bit more traffic. Although I have a guest post that should be posted soon, so I will probably stick something up very soon. But I am still sort of stuck about which plugin to choose.

  6. I’m still trying to find a plugin that would allow me to share adsense earnings with other contributors. Any heads up, Tom?

    Chicago Cooking Schools’s last blog post..Chicago Cooking Schools

    • Tom B. says:

      If you mean place ads using code from multiple accounts on one page, your best bet is something like AdSense Integrator or Smart Ads.

      AdSense Integrator will allow you to set up different ads from different people, then place them on whatever pages or posts you want. So you could just place ads for someone on the pages or posts they write. Or you can place ads from several people on one page, like your front page, in different places. Assuming Google allows that, I am not that familiar with their rules on placement.

      Smart Ads or Shantanu’s Prefix Suffix plugin would allow you to place ads from 2 or 3 people on every page in the same place. Just paste their code in the input boxes and set the options so the ads appear on the pages you want. For more than 2 or 3, I think AdSense Integrator is your only option.

      Did that help, or did I miss you point?

      • Excellent! Thanks for intro. I’m gonna check out Adsense Integrator and see if it fits into my need. By the way, I’m not too familiar with the rule of placement either. I suppose having either one and not both doesn’t violate its TOS.

        Thanks, Tom. You’ve been a great help.

        Top Culinary Arts Schools’s last blog post..Chicago Cooking Schools

      • Tom B. says:

        No problem. Glad I could point something useful out to you. I missed the idea that having ads for a contributor only show on his posts would be one way to utilize the plugin. This can be an incentive for your writers to get better so they get more ad views.

  7. Terri says:

    Have you started to use any of these plugins and ad programs? Any success or failures to report? This is a great list!

    Terri’s last blog post..Reviewing Ninedays Blog – Traffic Questions

    • Tom B. says:

      Not yet, I have been busy offline, which has made me behind writing online, so I have not started my Adsense account yet. I am probably going to go with Easy AdSenser or Adsense Anna, since I really want to start with a sidebar ad, just to get my feet wet.

  8. Alanna says:

    I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Alanna

    http://www.craigslisthelper.info

    Alanna’s last blog post..An Expert’s Guide to make quick money using Craigslist

  9. It can be tricky to make money with adsense if you are new to it. The trick is to construct a well themed page so that the ads are relevant. The content match works like this:

    Advertisers put similar themed phrases in an ad group. This themed ad group containing the ads, will then be triggered based on the phrases used on the target webpage. If the target webpage contains similar phrases the advertiser uses in his ad group, the relevant ad will be presented on your webpage.

    Anyway, aside from that, it also is important to make your ads blend with your content. You also have to consider your audience. If your audience is web savvy, they will not click on advertisements as much as someone who may not be as web savvy. Great extension for those who are into making money with adsense. I run a few wordpress sites myself, and these plugins are a better alternative than to go directly into the code itself to add the javascript.

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