by Look, I’m gonna be real with you. After getting rejected by Google AdSense three times—and I mean legitimately rejected, not just pending forever—I was ready to try literally anything. I had this blog about productivity hacks that was actually getting decent traffic, but I was making zero dollars from it. Frustrating doesn’t even cover it.
By June of last year, I was at around 24,775 monthly pageviews and I was basically just giving my content away for free to anyone with an internet connection. My friend Marcus told me about Unruly and I was like “okay, sure, one more thing to try before I give up entirely.” I wasn’t expecting much, to be honest.
But here’s the thing—I actually stuck with it for a full year now and I have some real thoughts to share. Not the fake “this changed my life” stuff, but actual data and experience from someone who was genuinely skeptical.
| Founded | 2006 |
| Ad Formats | Display, Video (Outstream & Instream), Native |
| Minimum Payout | $20 |
| Payment Methods | Bank Transfer, Wire Transfer, PayPal, Checks |
| Approval Time | Usually 24-48 hours |
| Best For | Publishers with moderate-to-high traffic who want video monetization |
The Signup Was Shockingly Easy
I was expecting some nightmare approval process. You know, like AdSense where they want your birth certificate and a character reference. Instead, Unruly’s signup took me literally 12 minutes. I filled out basic info about my site, pasted in my URL, and boom. They asked me a few questions about my content (which is fine, it’s normal business stuff), and I was approved the next morning.
I remember checking my email at like 6:47 AM on June 15th and just being shocked. The email was from their account team and it had actual personality in it, not just robotic template nonsense. That’s when I realized maybe this wouldn’t be a complete disaster.
The dashboard itself is… fine. Not beautiful, not terrible. It’s functional. I can see my earnings, my CPM rates, traffic sources. The UI is a little dated compared to what I’m used to, but honestly after spending months staring at the AdSense rejection page, I wasn’t complaining.
Testing Different Ad Formats
Once I was in, I had to actually figure out what would work. Unruly primarily handles video and display ads. The way it works is different from Google—they’re not showing me random ads, they’re matching demand from advertisers who specifically want video content.
I started with their outstream video format first because I read that was their bread and butter. Outstream basically means video ads that play in your content areas without needing a video player already on the page. They auto-expand when someone scrolls past them.
Honest take? The first week was rough. I got like maybe $4.50. But the outstream format actually performed way better than I expected once I optimized placement. I tried putting one mid-article and another at the end of my posts. The mid-article one did better.
Then I tested their display ads. I put banner ads in my sidebar. Performance was okay but not great. Definitely lower CPMs on display versus video. I kept both running because theoretically more ad inventory means more money, but the video was doing the heavy lifting.
I also messed around with their native ad format for a bit. This is where the ads blend into your content style. It’s less jarring for readers but performance was inconsistent. Some weeks it would do decent, other weeks barely anything. I ended up removing it.
Here’s what actually worked for me: outstream video in strategic placements. That was the money maker.
Real CPM Data (And It Varies Wildly)
Okay so CPMs—that’s cost per mille or cost per thousand impressions if you’re not familiar. This is the big metric everyone asks about. The answer is: it depends on where your traffic is coming from.
| Country | Average CPM | Range I Saw |
| United States | $8.50 – $12.00 | $6.20 – $14.75 |
| United Kingdom | $6.50 – $9.00 | $4.80 – $10.20 |
| Germany | $5.00 – $7.50 | $3.20 – $8.90 |
| India | $0.80 – $2.00 | $0.30 – $3.50 |
| Pakistan | $0.50 – $1.20 | $0.20 – $2.10 |
So my traffic is about 52% US, 18% UK, 12% Germany, 10% India, and the rest scattered. That actually matters a lot for your earnings. US traffic is king. My best CPM days were when I had a article about remote work that went a little viral in tech circles—mostly US traffic, and I was seeing CPMs around $13-$14.
The worst days were when I got random traffic from lower-CPM countries. Nothing wrong with that traffic, but economically it just pays less. That’s not Unruly’s fault, that’s just how the ad market works globally.
Month by Month Earnings (The Real Numbers)
| Month | Pageviews | Earnings | RPM |
| June 2024 (partial) | 8,200 | $18.40 | $2.24 |
| July 2024 | 24,775 | $87.90 | $3.55 |
| August 2024 | 26,340 | $124.60 | $4.73 |
| September 2024 | 23,450 | $98.75 | $4.21 |
| October 2024 | 31,200 | $167.45 | $5.37 |
| November 2024 | 28,900 | $189.30 | $6.55 |
| December 2024 | 34,100 | $267.80 | $7.85 |
| January 2025 | 29,450 | $156.20 | $5.30 |
| February 2025 | 25,600 | $142.50 | $5.57 |
| March 2025 | 32,100 | $218.70 | $6.81 |
| April 2025 | 27,850 | $179.40 | $6.44 |
| May 2025 | 30,200 | $198.60 | $6.58 |
| 12-Month Total | 344,460 | $1,649.40 | $4.79 |
So that’s what I made. Real numbers, not fluffed up. Over the course of a year, with my traffic levels, I earned $1,649.40. Is that life-changing? Nope. But it’s beer money. It’s real actual cash that I wasn’t making before.
The RPM—that’s revenue per thousand pageviews—climbed over the year as I optimized. Started at $2.24 in June and by the end I was hitting around $6-7 consistently. That improvement came from testing ad placements and understanding what worked.
December was my best month because of holiday season traffic and higher CPMs. January dipped a bit, which is typical in the ad world. Then it stabilized around $5.50-6.50 RPM territory.
Getting Paid (The Good News)
Here’s where Unruly actually impressed me. Payment was reliable. Like, almost boring in how consistent it was. My minimum payout was $20, which is pretty low. I hit that by mid-July and requested my first payment.
| Payment Method | Processing Time | Fees |
| PayPal | 1-3 business days | Usually absorbed by Unruly |
| Bank Transfer | 2-5 business days | Varies by location |
| Wire Transfer | 2-3 business days | Around $20-30 |
| Check (US Only) | 5-10 business days | None |
I used PayPal. Money showed up 2 days later. No surprises. No delays. No “we’ll get to it eventually” nonsense. I’ve requested payment like 10 times over this year and it’s been consistent every single time. For someone who got frustrated with AdSense’s vague approval processes, this was refreshing.
The earnings are paid out monthly on the 15th if you request them. You don’t have to hold them if you don’t want to. I usually let them accumulate for 2-3 months just because PayPal fees add up if you’re doing small transactions constantly, but the option is there if you need the cash sooner.
Is It Legit? (Spoiler: Yes)
This was actually my biggest question going in. After three AdSense rejections, I was paranoid this would turn out to be some sketchy operation that disappears with my money.
Unruly’s been around since 2006. They’re a real company with actual offices (they’re based in London but have US operations too). They work with major publishers—like actual big names, not just random blogs. That legitimacy matters.
I did some research when I signed up and they’re backed by real venture capital. They’ve been profitable (or at least functional) for nearly 20 years. That’s not a guarantee of anything, but it’s reassuring. No red flags.
The one thing I’ll say is their support chat is… slower than I’d like sometimes. I had a question in September about why my CPM dipped one week and it took them about 4 hours to respond. But they did respond, and the person who answered actually understood my question and gave me useful info. The answer was basically that advertiser demand was lower that week (true, September is a slower ad market). No BS, just straight facts.
The Good Stuff About Unruly
Video monetization actually works. I didn’t expect to get real money from video ads, but they deliver. If you’ve got video content opportunities, Unruly’s setup is solid for that.
No ridiculous content restrictions. AdSense rejected me three times and honestly I never figured out why. Unruly’s content policy makes sense—no illegal stuff, no hate speech, basic stuff. They’re not trying to restrict you to writing about gardening or whatever. My productivity blog with occasional takes on politics didn’t trigger any issues.
Easy to set up and integrate. I pasted their code into my WordPress site and it just worked. Some ad networks make this a whole technical ordeal. Unruly didn’t.
Flexible ad placement. They give you control over how many ads and where they go. I could test different placements without them restricting me to some weird proprietary setup.
Transparent reporting. The dashboard shows you actual data. CPMs by country, traffic sources, earnings trends. Not hidden behind some algorithm.
The Bad Stuff (And There Is Some)
The UI is dated. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but yeah, the dashboard looks like it’s from 2015. Functionally it works fine but it’s not pretty. If you’re used to modern SaaS dashboards this will feel clunky.
Support isn’t instant. They’re helpful when you get them, but it’s not 24/7 live chat. I got response times between 2-8 hours depending on when I contacted them. If something’s actively broken you might be waiting.
CPMs can be inconsistent. I understand this is partly about advertiser demand and geographic traffic mix, but some weeks I’d see wild swings. One week $8 CPM, next week $5. Made forecasting earnings hard.
They don’t really compete with Google on volume. Unruly gets outbid by AdSense on a lot of placements. If you can get AdSense working (which I obviously couldn’t), you’ll probably make more money. But if you’re in my situation where that’s not happening, this is better than nothing.
Mobile performance is inconsistent. I’ve got about 40% mobile traffic and Unruly’s mobile ad performance is unpredictable. Some months mobile does great, other months it tanks. The outstream video format especially can be janky on mobile depending on how users scroll.
No easy way to manage multiple sites. I have two blogs and Unruly makes me log into separate accounts. Minor annoyance but it exists.
Would I Recommend This? (The Honest Answer)
Yeah, with caveats.
If you’ve been rejected by AdSense and you genuinely have decent traffic, try Unruly. It’s low-risk. They approve people quickly. If it doesn’t work, you lose nothing. I’d especially recommend it if you have any video content or can work video content into your site.
If you already have AdSense working and making money, don’t bother switching. You’re probably making more with Google.
If you’re getting rejected from every ad network and your site is kind of sketchy, Unruly might reject you too. They do have actual standards. But if you’re just a regular person running a legit blog, you’ll probably get approved.
If you’re in a niche with low advertiser demand (like heavily India-traffic-focused), your earnings will be limited. That’s not Unruly’s fault, that’s just economics. But you should know going in.
The Questions People Keep Asking Me
Is Unruly better than AdSense? That’s the wrong question. AdSense is better if you can get it. I couldn’t. For me, Unruly is better than zero dollars. For someone approved by Google? Probably not. They’re different products for different situations.
How much money can I make with Unruly? Depends entirely on your traffic and traffic sources. My experience: around $4-7 RPM with mostly US traffic. If you’re getting a lot of low-CPM country traffic, it’ll be lower. If your entire audience is US-based, it could be higher. The math is pretty straightforward—pageviews times your average CPM divided by 1000 equals your earnings. The CPM part is what’s variable.
Will they reject my site? They’ll reject you if your site is actually problematic or illegal content. If it’s just a normal blog with okay traffic, you’ll likely get in. They’re definitely more lenient than Google.
How long until I get paid? First payout takes a few weeks after you hit the $20 minimum (which for most sites happens pretty fast). After that, monthly if you request it. You get paid around the 15th of the month.
Can I use Unruly alongside other ad networks? Yes. I’m actually running Unruly plus a couple of other smaller networks simultaneously. They don’t mind as long as you’re not breaking anyone’s terms. Just be aware that having too many ad networks on one page can hurt user experience and actually tank your performance.
What if I get no earnings for a month? It happens sometimes if traffic is low or CPMs tank. The minimum payout is still $20 but it takes longer to accumulate. I had one week in January where I barely made anything but the month overall was fine.
Do I need a certain amount of traffic to make this worthwhile? Honestly? With around 25,000 monthly pageviews I was making maybe $150/month once I optimized. That’s not much. You’d need at least 50,000+ monthly pageviews to make real money. Below 10,000 pageviews, you’re probably wasting your time with any ad network.
Will Unruly turn down my site for certain topics? They’re more flexible than Google, but they still have limits. No explicit illegal stuff, nothing promoting violence, etc. But political content, religion, controversial topics? They’re fine with those. My site has some takes on workplace stuff that are kind of spicy and they don’t care.
What’s the catch? Why isn’t everyone using this? Because the money isn’t that good compared to Google if you can get Google approved, and a lot of people just assume it’s sketchy without trying. Plus they’re not as well-known for blogger monetization. For niche use cases (people like me who got rejected from AdSense), it’s solid.
Real Talk About My Year Using Unruly
I earned $1,649.40 over 12 months. That’s roughly $137/month on average, or about $4.79 per 1000 pageviews. Not life-changing money. But it’s real money that I earned by writing content I was going to write anyway. The friction was low.
If I’d given up after AdSense rejected me three times, I would have made zero dollars. Instead I made a grand and a half. That paid for my web hosting for the year plus a little extra. That feels like a win when my baseline was giving everything away for free.
Would I recommend Unruly to my friend who’s starting a blog? Honestly, yeah. It costs nothing to try, they approve you in a day, and if it doesn’t work you just remove the code. The risk is basically zero. If it does work, you make some side money. That’s a good trade.
Would I tell someone Unruly is going to replace their day job? Absolutely not. You need serious traffic for that. But for someone like me—small-to-medium blog that got denied by the big players—it’s a legitimate option.
The company seems legitimate, the support exists (even if it’s slow), payments are reliable, and CPMs are reasonable given the market. It’s not glamorous or cutting-edge. It’s just… functional. Sometimes functional is enough.
My Honest Rating
I’m giving Unruly a 7 out of 10.
Here’s why it’s not higher: The money is modest, the interface could be way better, and if you can get AdSense you probably should. Here’s why it’s not lower: It’s legit, it works, payments are reliable, and for people in my specific situation (rejected from AdSense, got decent traffic) it’s genuinely useful.
For someone in AdSense purgatory like I was? I’d give it an 8. For someone with AdSense already working? Maybe a 5. But averaged out across different user types, 7 feels right.
The biggest thing I’d change is modernizing their dashboard and improving support responsiveness. The core product works, it’s just the peripherals that could be better.
If you’re thinking about trying Unruly, go for it. The worst case is you paste some code into your site for a few weeks, make nothing, and remove it. The best case is you actually start making money from content you already created. That’s a reasonable bet to take.
Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, which means I could earn a small commission if you sign up through them. This doesn’t affect the price you pay, and it doesn’t change my honest assessment above. I only recommend products I’ve actually used and tested myself.
