AdSense Alternatives for Small Websites (When You Can’t Get Approved)

Look, getting rejected by AdSense sucks. You've been grinding away at your site, watching those visitor numbers creep up, and then boom—"We're unable to approve your application at this time." No real explanation. Just radio silence or some vague policy mumbo-jumbo that doesn't tell you what you actually did wrong.

Here's the thing though: your traffic has value whether Google wants to acknowledge it or not. If you're getting visitors, you've built something people want to read or use. That's an asset. And in 2026, there are more ways than ever to turn those visits into actual money without waiting around for AdSense to grace you with approval.

Here at Adstimate, we have noticed something weird. People were asking "What could I earn with AdSense?" but half of them couldn't even get approved yet. The other half were already approved but had no clue they were leaving money on the table by going all-in on Google. We're not here to worship at the altar of AdSense—we're here to help you figure out what your traffic is actually worth, period. If Google won't monetize it yet, someone else will. And honestly? Sometimes those "someone elses" pay better anyway.

The Networks That'll Take You Right Now (No Minimums, No Drama)

Let's start with the good news. There are ad networks out there that don't care if you're getting 100 visits a day or 100,000. They'll work with you from day one, and some of them are surprisingly decent at converting those visits into cash.

Monetag (formerly PropellerAds)

Monetag doesn't mess around with traffic requirements. You could literally have your first visitor yesterday and sign up today. They're particularly strong if you've got international traffic—like, if half your visitors are coming from India, Brazil, or Eastern Europe, Monetag might actually outperform AdSense anyway because they specialize in those regions.

The catch? Their ad formats can be... aggressive. We're talking popunders, push notifications, that sort of thing. If you run a serious finance blog, maybe skip this one. But for entertainment sites, mobile games coverage, or anything where users are already expecting some ad noise, it works. You're not going to make AdSense money here, but $1-3 CPM isn't bad when Google won't even let you through the door.

Adsterra

Adsterra sits in a similar space but feels slightly more "professional" if that makes sense. They've been cleaning up their act over the past few years, and their CPM rates for tier-one traffic (US, UK, Canada) can surprise you—sometimes hitting $4-6 for the right niches.

They also give you actual control over ad formats. Don't want popunders? Turn them off. Want to stick with standard display banners? Go for it. The approval process takes like 24 hours max, and their payment threshold is only $5, which means you're not waiting months to see if this whole "making money online" thing actually works.

Infolinks

Infolinks is the weird cousin at the family reunion who's actually cooler than everyone expected. Instead of traditional banner ads, they do in-text advertising—those double-underlined keywords that show ads when you hover over them. Some people hate this format. Others don't even notice it's there.

The beauty of Infolinks is you can layer it on top of whatever else you're running. Got banner ads from another network? Cool, add Infolinks too. The revenue won't make you rich, but it's literally just adding a line of code to your site. For the effort-to-reward ratio, it's hard to beat when you're starting out.

When Native Ads Make More Sense Than Display

Sometimes the problem isn't that you can't get approved—it's that display ads are the wrong format entirely. Taboola and Outbrain specialize in those "recommended content" widgets you see at the bottom of news articles. The dirty secret? For content sites, native ads often convert better than display because they don't look like ads. They look like more content to consume.

Both require serious traffic though—we're talking 500,000+ pageviews per month. But if you're in that awkward middle zone where you've got decent traffic but AdSense is still playing hard to get, native might be your move. The CPMs can compete with Google, especially if your audience skews older.

The Ezoic Play: Sometimes Better Than AdSense Anyway

Ezoic deserves its own section because they've completely changed the game for small publishers. Their "Access Now" program lets you start with basically zero traffic—like, 50 visitors a day works.

What makes Ezoic different: they use AI to test different ad placements and networks automatically, figuring out what makes you the most money. Sometimes that's AdSense (they're a Google partner), sometimes it's other networks, sometimes it's a mix. The result? A lot of publishers stick with Ezoic even after getting AdSense approval because the revenue is just better—we're talking 20-40% better in some niches.

The tradeoff is you give up control—Ezoic decides where ads go. And their dashboard looks like it was designed by engineers who've never heard of user experience. But once you get past that learning curve, the revenue speaks for itself. Ezoic works best for information sites where people stick around for 2+ minutes. Quick-hit sites where people bounce fast? Not so much.

The Commerce Angle (Because Ads Aren't Everything)

If you can't get AdSense approval, there's a decent chance your site is in a niche where affiliate marketing might work better anyway. Amazon Associates is the obvious one. If you're writing product reviews, comparisons, gift guides—why are you even stressing about display ads? A single $200 commission from an electronics review can beat what you'd make from 10,000 ad impressions.

ShareASale and Commission Junction open up even more options. The approval process is usually easier than AdSense, and the income potential is higher if you're willing to actually recommend products instead of just hoping people click random ads. This isn't technically an "ad alternative," but it's definitely a monetization alternative. Sometimes that's a better frame to think in anyway.

The Real Strategy That Nobody Tells Beginners

Here's what actually works if you're serious about this: you don't pick one network and pray. You test. Start with whatever will approve you today—Monetag, Adsterra, whatever. Get some money flowing, even if it's just $20 a month. That proves the concept works.

While that's running, you work on fixing whatever got you rejected from AdSense. Usually it's one of these: thin content, copyright issues, not enough pages, or your about/privacy/contact pages are missing or garbage. Fix those things. Reapply in a few months.

If you get in, great. Test AdSense against what you're already running. See which performs better. Keep the winner, or run both if they don't conflict. If you don't get in, who cares? You're already making money with Plan B.

The goal isn't AdSense approval. The goal is revenue. AdSense is just one possible tool for getting there, and honestly, it's not even the best tool for a lot of niches anymore.

What Your Traffic Is Actually Worth Today

This is where we're supposed to do the hard sell for our calculator, but let's just be honest about what it does and why it matters.

Most beginners have no idea what their traffic should be earning. They sign up for some random network, make $5 last month, and think "cool, I'm making money!" without realizing they should be making $50 with the same traffic and a better setup.

Our calculator uses industry-standard multipliers that work across most display networks—not just AdSense. You punch in your traffic numbers, your niche, your visitor geography, and it tells you what you should realistically be earning. If you're way below that number, you know something's wrong. Maybe it's your network. Maybe it's your ad placements. Maybe you're in the wrong monetization model entirely.

The calculator won't magically make you more money. But it will tell you if you're leaving money on the table, which is almost more valuable. You can't fix a problem you don't know exists.

The Bottom Line

Getting rejected by AdSense doesn't mean your site isn't good enough to make money. It usually just means you haven't checked some arbitrary boxes in Google's approval checklist yet, or you're in a niche they're weird about.

What matters: you've got traffic. Traffic is valuable. There are dozens of companies willing to pay you for that traffic right now, today, without making you jump through hoops or wait for approval.

Will you make as much as you might with a perfectly optimized AdSense setup? Maybe not at first. But you'll make something, and something beats nothing while you're waiting around for Google to notice you exist.

Start where you can start. Test what works. Optimize as you learn. The publishers making real money aren't the ones who got approved first—they're the ones who figured out how to monetize their traffic effectively, with or without Google's blessing. Your traffic is an asset. Treat it like one.