Display Ads Pros and Cons

Display ads pros and cons: Breaking down the pros and cons of monetizing a blog or website with display ads. The positives outweigh the negatives. This post may contain affiliate links.

I have been using display ads to monetize my website for a few years now.

Since I started blogging, I’ve tested out three different display ad networks—Google Adsense, Monumetric, and Interactive Offers.

I used Google Adsense from 2016 to 2019 before switching to Monumetric in 2020. Then in early 2021, I started testing out in-email ads with Interactive Offers.

Overall, my experience with display ads have been positive. They work great for me. And personally, I don’t mind display ads on websites. The way I see it, display ads are no different than ads in magazines—if they are done right, they actually add to the experience.

But like everything in life, there are some tradeoffs.

In this article, I will unapologetically analyze and break down the display ads pros and cons.

First, let’s get started with an overview of what display ads are.

What Are Display Ads?

Display ads are digital display advertising graphics that are placed on websites, blogs, apps, and social media. The formats of the advertisements include text, images, videos, and audio.

Simply put, display ads are the advertisements you commonly find on websites.

Behind the scenes, content creators will work with display ad networks to put ads on their websites.

Content creators do this to make money, display ad networks do this to make money, and companies pay display ad networks to market their products.

For more information on display ads and ad networks, check out:

Best Display Ad Networks For Publishers

Monumetric: A Simple Way For Blogs To Earn Monthly Income

Display Ads Pros and Cons

It can be a controversial decision to put display ads on your blog or website.

Some people can’t stand them.

In my opinion, I think the pros outweigh the cons.

I enjoy blogging and marketing a website. By including display ads on my website, I am able to cover my blogging expenses and make some extra money to do something I would do for free.

Of course, whenever you have to make an important decision, it always helps to make a pros and cons list.

So, let’s take a look at the pros of display ads.

Pros Of Display Ads

Way to Cover Blog Expenses

Although blogging is a relatively low-cost hobby, there are some expenses if you want to run a professional blog.

If you choose to self-host a blog, you will have to pay for web hosting.

If you want your blog to be unique and aesthetically pleasing, you will need to pay for a website theme.

And if you want to grow website traffic, you may need to pay for marketing tools like Hootsuite or Canva Pro.

Obviously, you don’t want to pay for these expenses out of your own pocket.

By having display ads on your blog or website, you can cover these blog expenses and reinvest in it.

To learn more about the cost to run a blog and managing blog expenses, check out:

How Much Does A Blog Cost Per Month

How To Blog Successfully (this year) — 8 Blog Tasks With The Highest ROI

Low Involvement, Easy Way to Monetize a Blog or Website

Frankly, display ads are a low involvement, easy way to monetize a website.

The are easy to set up and run.

Once they are set up, you pretty much don’t have to do anything. You just keep blogging and marketing content, and you get paid money.

Allows Content Creators To Focus Solely On Content Creation and Marketing

We only have so much time in our short lives on this planet.

So why waste it doing things you don’t like?

With display ads, content creators get to focus on the task they enjoy the most—creating content.

This way, the can avoid spending time on tasks they dislike, such as sales or creating a product.

Scalable

One of the things I like most about display ads is how scalable they are.

To grow a business that sells a product, I might have to hire someone else to sell products, or I might have to rent a larger warehouse to store more products. It can be challenging to scale.

Alternatively, to grow a business sells a service, you have to hire additional staff to perform the service and hire more staff to train the new staff.

But with display ads, they are extremely scalable. I don’t to rent a larger warehouse to store more ads, and I don’t have to hire someone to sell them.

The more articles I have on my website, the more display ad income potential I have.

Low Cost Way To Make Money

Advertising with display ads is an extremely low cost business to maintain.

I simply pay for web hosting with Bluehost.

If you want to run a lean business, web hosting is all you really need to pay for.

It’s possible to run a display ad business for as low as $5 per month.

Of course, there may be some initial setup fees, such as a one-time payment to set up Monumetric, or to buy a proper website theme.

But overall, display ads are a very low cost way to make money.

Easy To Monitor

In addition to all the other benefits, display ads are easy to monitor.

All I have to do is sign onto Monumetric or Interactive offers to check the performance.

I don’t have to store products a certain way like you would have to if you ran a restaurant.

Nor do I have to hire security guards to make sure people don’t steal products.

Cons of Display Ads

Of course, nothing is perfect.

Even display ads have their tradeoffs.

Here are a few of the downsides of display ads.

They Can Clutter Websites/Blogs

If you are someone that takes pride in aesthetic design and prefers minimalism, running display ads could feel like selling out.

To put it bluntly, display ads can clutter websites and blogs. It can make the content more difficult to read.

On the other hand, most ad networks provide customization options so publishers can decide how many ads they want to appear.

They Can Deter Visitors

One of the biggest downsides to running display ads is that it can deter some visitors.

Simply put, some people just hate display ads.

As soon as they see your site has ads, they will leave. In turn, your website’s bounce rate will increase.

This can lead to lower website engagement and lower display ad income as well.

I’ve even received feedback from some visitors who actually like my content. Even though they like my content, they won’t check it or they will leave quickly because the ads make it more difficult to read.

It’s unfortunate, but it’s one of those tradeoffs you have to make a decision on.

Although it can slow down website growth and deter some visitors, most people don’t seem to mind and I get paid money for blogging every month.

Most Display Ads Don’t Pay That Well

It’s such a thrill to be paid for something you enjoy doing for free.

I feel very lucky to get paid for blogging.

But the truth is that most display ads don’t pay that well.

In most cases, it’s not get rich quick strategy or anything like that.

Most display ad networks pay somewhere between $5 to $15 per 1,000 page views. This amount is referred to as revenue for 1,000 page views (RPM).

If you have keywords with a low cost per click (CPC), it can even be lower. For example, I use to earn$2 per 1,000 page views or less.

Ultimately, though, the amount of money you can make from display ads depends on how many page views you can attract.

If you can get accepted to a top ad network like Mediavine, and if you receive a lot of page views per month, you might be able to make $1,000 plus per month.

Display Ads Affect Other Income Sources Such As Affiliate Marketing

One of the other negative impacts of display ads on revenue is how it affects other potential income streams.

If you have display ads on your website, your affiliate links might not get noticed.

The display ads may distract visitors from visiting the higher-paying affiliate links.

In a worst case scenario, it could make visitors take you less seriously, which would matter more if you were trying to sell a product.

However, if you are straight up with your readers, and if you are consistent with your strategy, I think most readers will understand.

It Can Slow Your Website Down

The more plugins, popups, and ads you put on your website, the slower it will be.

This is another one of the big downsides of display ads.

They can make your website slower, which could affect Google search rankings.

Display Ads Pros and Cons – Final Thoughts

Even though the amount of display ads pros and cons are close, I still think the pros outweigh the cons.

Of course, the decision to use display ads is ultimately a personal choice. It’s a decision that must be made based on personal preferences.

If you are a business that aims to sell a product or service, display ads may not be the best idea. They could confuse your customers. And your efforts are probably better spent on sales and marketing.

But if you just want to operate like a magazine, display ads could be an excellent way to cover your expenses and monetize your website.

What do you think of display ads? Are the a good way to monetize a website? Or an annoyance?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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Email: graham@reversethecrush.com

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