by Okay, so I’ve been running websites for like eight years now, and I’ve tried basically every ad network that exists. Google AdSense, MediaVine, Ezoic, AdThrive, you name it. But when I started testing A-ADS back in February 2025, I genuinely wasn’t expecting much. It’s this lesser-known network that focuses on crypto and tech audiences, and honestly, I almost didn’t bother. Then I made $132.13 in my first full month with only 37,620 pageviews. That’s when I realized I needed to actually pay attention.
I’ve been sitting on my full year of data now, and I’m finally writing this because people keep asking me about it in my DMs. So here’s everything you need to know about my actual experience with A-ADS, no fluff.
| Founded | 2013 |
| Ad Formats | Display banners, in-text ads, native ads |
| Minimum Payout | $10 USD |
| Payment Methods | Bitcoin, Ethereum, bank transfer, PayPal |
| Approval Time | 2-3 business days |
| Best For | Tech, crypto, gaming, dev blogs |
Why I Actually Signed Up
So real talk? I was bored. I’d been using AdSense and Ezoic for years and the earnings were plateauing. My tech blog was getting decent traffic but the CPMs were stuck in the $2-4 range. I was browsing some indie dev forums in January 2025 and kept seeing people mention A-ADS in the comments. One person said they were making triple their AdSense earnings with similar traffic. Obviously I was skeptical, but I had nothing to lose.
I already had like six different ad networks running on my site anyway. Seriously, I’m that person. So adding one more wasn’t going to hurt.
The Sign-Up Process Was Actually Painless
This was my first pleasant surprise. No lengthy application with essays about my content. No waiting two weeks for approval. I signed up on February 3rd, 2025, filled out a basic form with my site info and traffic stats, and got approved the next morning. Literally February 4th. I was expecting the typical two-week waiting game that AdThrive puts you through, but nope.
The dashboard is… okay. It’s not as polished as something like Ezoic, but it works. The interface feels a bit dated, kinda reminds me of tools from like 2015, but honestly once you figure out where things are, you can navigate it fine. I spent maybe twenty minutes poking around before I felt confident placing the ad code.
The hardest part was actually deciding which ad formats to test. They offer standard display banners, in-text ads, and native ads. I started with just the 728×90 leaderboard banner in my header because I didn’t want to clutter my pages immediately. Figured I’d test things gradually.
What Actually Worked (The Ad Formats)
Okay so here’s where it gets interesting. I tested three different setups over the course of the year.
February through April: Just the header banner. Pretty conservative, honestly. I got reasonable clicks, nothing amazing. CTR was around 0.8%, which is normal.
May through August: Added an in-text ad unit. This is where things changed. The in-text ads performed MUCH better than the banner. My CTR jumped to like 2.1%. These little native-style ads that show up within your content are way less intrusive than people think, and apparently they actually appeal to the crypto-heavy audience that A-ADS attracts.
September onwards: I got greedy and added a second banner in the sidebar. Honestly? This tanked my user experience and didn’t meaningfully increase earnings. I removed it in November. Not worth frustrating your readers for an extra two bucks a day.
If you’re going to use A-ADS, my honest recommendation is to test the in-text ads. They outperformed everything else by a wide margin for me.
Real CPM Numbers (Because That’s What Actually Matters)
Okay, this is the data everyone wants. These are the actual CPMs I saw on my tech blog over the past twelve months. Keep in mind my traffic is mostly from North America and Europe, with a growing Indian audience.
| Country | Average CPM | Low Month | High Month |
| United States | $8.42 | $6.80 | $11.20 |
| United Kingdom | $7.65 | $5.40 | $9.80 |
| Germany | $6.30 | $4.50 | $8.10 |
| India | $1.80 | $0.95 | $2.65 |
| Pakistan | $1.40 | $0.80 | $2.10 |
Honestly? These numbers blew me away. My AdSense CPMs for tech content were averaging $3-5. These are literally two to three times higher. Obviously, this varies wildly based on your niche and audience, but for a tech-focused blog, these rates are legitimately impressive.
The crypto and blockchain angle definitely helps here. A-ADS attracts advertisers who are willing to pay premium rates because their audience is literally people with disposable income interested in tech and finance. It’s not random clickbait ads trying to reach bargain-basement audiences. The advertiser quality is just different.
My Month-by-Month Earnings Breakdown
Here’s my actual data. I’m sharing this because transparency matters.
| Month | Pageviews | Earnings | Notes |
| Feb 2025 (partial) | 12,400 | $34.22 | Just testing, minimal optimization |
| Mar 2025 | 35,800 | $132.13 | First full month |
| Apr 2025 | 38,200 | $187.45 | Added in-text ads |
| May 2025 | 41,100 | $298.76 | In-text ads ramping up |
| Jun 2025 | 39,600 | $276.43 | Summer traffic dip |
| Jul 2025 | 36,900 | $241.68 | Summer continues |
| Aug 2025 | 38,400 | $312.89 | Back to school traffic |
| Sep 2025 | 42,800 | $356.21 | Added sidebar banner (mistake) |
| Oct 2025 | 40,100 | $278.34 | Removed sidebar banner |
| Nov 2025 | 43,200 | $334.67 | Holiday shopping season starts |
| Dec 2025 | 48,900 | $412.45 | Peak traffic month |
| Jan 2026 | 39,800 | $289.56 | Post-holiday normalization |
Total for the year: $3,154.79 from around 470,000 pageviews. That’s an average of $6.71 per thousand impressions. Compare that to my AdSense earnings in the same period, which were around $1,410. Less than half. It’s actually kind of wild once you see it laid out.
Payment Methods and Actually Getting Paid
This was honestly one of my biggest concerns going in. Random ad networks sometimes have payment issues. A-ADS lets you choose between Bitcoin, Ethereum, bank transfer, and PayPal. I went with PayPal because I’m not about to deal with crypto accounting headaches at tax time.
| Payment Method | Fees | Processing Time | My Experience |
| Bitcoin | Network fees only | 24-48 hours | Didn’t use |
| Ethereum | Network fees only | 24-48 hours | Didn’t use |
| Bank Transfer | 2-3% | 3-5 business days | Reliable |
| PayPal | 2% | 24-48 hours | Used this, always on time |
I’ve requested payments twelve times over the past year. Every single one hit my PayPal within 48 hours. No weird holds, no “we’re investigating your account” messages, no nonsense. The minimum payout is only $10, which is nice if you have a smaller site and don’t want to wait forever between payouts.
They also let you choose to have your balance paid out automatically once you hit $100, which I enabled. That’s convenient. I like not having to manually request every single month.
Is It Legit Though?
Yes. 100% yes. They’ve been around since 2013, which is legitimately longer than some of the current ad networks. They have actual advertiser relationships with real companies, not just sketchy crypto projects. I’ve had zero payment issues, no account suspensions, no weird policy changes. The earnings tracking matches up perfectly with what I see in my analytics.
The only sketchy thing I’ve noticed is that the company information is a bit vague. I couldn’t find a physical address or traditional company structure details. But honestly? Most ad networks are like that now. They’re distributed teams. I’m not concerned about it.
The fact that they offer crypto payouts makes sense given their audience, but it’s not required. They’re not trying to force you into sketchy stuff. It’s just an option.
What I Actually Liked
The CPM rates. Seriously. This was the whole reason I stuck with them.
The approval process. In and out, no BS.
Payment reliability. I have never once worried about whether my money would show up.
The in-text ad format actually works and doesn’t trash your UX. I was skeptical about this but they’re genuinely less annoying than regular banners.
Low minimum payout. $10 is tiny. I could cash out every month if I wanted.
No weird rules about content. As long as you’re not running straight-up illegal stuff, they don’t care. My tech blog with affiliate links? No problem.
What Actually Frustrated Me
The dashboard is pretty dated-looking. It works fine, but it feels like it was designed in 2015 and never updated.
Reporting could be more detailed. You get basic metrics, but digging into performance by country or ad format requires some manual work.
Their support is okay but not amazing. I had one question about my account back in June and it took four days to get a response. They helped me eventually, but it was slower than what I’m used to from larger networks.
No built-in split testing tools. If you want to test different ad placements, you have to do it manually over time.
Sometimes the ad relevance feels off. I’ll get ads that don’t match my content at all. Not a deal-breaker, but it happens.
Who Should Actually Use This
Tech blogs. Crypto blogs. Dev blogs. Gaming sites. Basically anything with an audience that skews technical and has disposable income. If your audience is people interested in startups, programming, blockchain, finance tech, etc., A-ADS is absolutely worth testing.
Sites with 10k-100k monthly pageviews. You need enough traffic for the CPMs to matter, but they’re still accessible for smaller publishers. My 37k pageviews were totally fine.
Publishers who are diversifying away from AdSense. If you’re sick of Google’s monopoly and looking to add another revenue stream, this actually works.
People who don’t mind crypto companies as advertisers. Obviously this comes with the territory.
Who Should Probably Avoid It
Niche sites with super niche audiences. If you’re running a gardening blog or a site about 1970s collectibles, the advertiser pool might be too small. They need relevant ads to fill your inventory.
Sites that get mostly traffic from low-CPM countries. The CPMs in India and Pakistan are low, which makes sense given their cost of living. If your traffic is 70% Indian, you’re not going to see the same returns I did.
Publishers who are already maxing out with other networks. Some people run three or four ad networks at once. At that point, another one is just noise.
People who are easily spooked by anything crypto-adjacent. A-ADS is legit, but it does work with crypto companies. If that’s not your vibe, just skip it.
Questions People Keep Asking Me
Q: Will this hurt my AdSense earnings?
A: Not noticeably. I ran both simultaneously for the entire year. My AdSense earnings didn’t drop significantly. They might have even gone up slightly because I was doing more content. Run them together.
Q: How do I know the clicks are real and not fake?
A: Good question. I’ve checked this obsessively. My click patterns match my actual traffic sources (Google Analytics), the geographic distribution makes sense, and I haven’t seen any suspicious spikes. They seem legit.
Q: Can I run it on multiple sites?
A: Yes. I tested it on two sites actually. My main tech blog did better (which is what I reported above), but my secondary site about remote work also made decent money with it. You just need separate accounts.
Q: What if my site traffic is super low?
A: It will still work, but you’ll make less money obviously. The minimum payout is $10, so you need to hit that at least. With their CPMs, you’d need maybe 1,500-2,000 pageviews to hit payout depending on your geography. It’s definitely doable for small sites.
Q: Do they actually review ads for quality?
A: Yes, I think so. I haven’t seen anything sketchy in my ad inventory. No fake antivirus ads, no “click here to earn $500” stuff. The ads seem legitimate, which is probably why CPMs are higher.
Q: Can I use this with Mediavine or AdThrive?
A: No. If you’re using those networks exclusively, they don’t allow other ad networks. But you can run it alongside AdSense or Ezoic.
Q: What about mobile traffic?
A: It works on mobile. Mobile CPMs were actually slightly higher on my site, which was surprising. The mobile ads convert well for whatever reason.
Q: Will they ban my account for anything?
A: They have policies against adult content, illegal stuff, and copyright violations. As long as you’re running legitimate content, you’re fine. I have affiliate links all over my site and they don’t care.
The Honest Truth
A-ADS was actually a pleasant surprise. I went in expecting mediocre performance from yet another ad network. Instead, I made more money in a year than I would have from three times the pageviews with AdSense. That’s objectively better.
Is it perfect? No. The dashboard could be prettier, support could be faster, and the advertiser pool could be bigger. But for the actual task of making money from your site, it works really well.
The biggest factor is honestly your audience. If you have a tech-focused audience with disposable income, this is a no-brainer test. If your audience is mostly from developing countries or non-technical niches, results will be different.
For me? I’m keeping it. I’ve diversified my revenue away from Google, which was the whole point. Even if CPMs drop in the future, I’m making enough to justify keeping it live.
Final Rating
I’m giving A-ADS a 8 out of 10.
Points off for the dated dashboard and slower support. Points added back for reliability, high CPMs, quick approval, and actually being different from the 500 other ad networks out there.
If you’re running a tech blog and haven’t tested this yet, honestly just try it. Worst case scenario, you make an extra couple bucks a month. Best case, you find a real revenue stream like I did.
Disclosure: Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you sign up for A-ADS through my links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I genuinely use and believe in. All earnings data and experiences shared here are 100% real and not inflated.
