Best online advertising Networks

In the two-plus years I’ve been on the network, it’s brought me a steady trickle of ad revenue, and indirectly, more lucrative work.

But BlogHer isn’t the only ad network around. In fact, if you start digging, you’ll quickly find dozens of other companies that sell advertising on blogs. Some are big. Some are small. Some specialize. Some are DIY efforts that bloggers have teamed up to create.

I can’t possibly list all of them here. But I am sharing 8 (keep reading) to give you a sense of what’s out there, along with some resources you can use to see what else is available.

A few tips to keep in mind as you start looking at blog ad networks.

• Most ad networks refer to bloggers as “publishers” and advertisers as “advertisers.”
• There are many different types of blog ads – banner ads; contextual ads; inline text ads (where the ad is linked to a word or phrase in a blog post), and a lot more.
• There are also different ad payment schemes, including ads that pay based on click throughs, impressions or how many people subscribe to or buy something from the advertiser.
• To find out about an ad network’s requirements, look for a “Publishers” or “FAQ” page. Some only work with blogs that have a minimum amount of monthly page views or traffic or have other requirements that bloggers need to meet.
• Some ad networks won’t work with blogs that run adult or other content they find objectionable – make sure you read the fine print.
• Some ad networks require that their ads be placed in a specific position on your blog – if you’re running ads from more than one network, you’ll need to make sure you don’t run afoul of any of their placement restrictions.
• If the ad network’s got a blog read it – it’s a good way to get a feel for the culture of the business.
• Before joining a network, find out what other bloggers think of it by reading comments on the company’s website or blog, asking bloggers you know for their feedback, or doing a search on Google, Bing or Twitter.

Blog Advertising Networks

Here’s an alphabetized list of some advertising networks that cater to small, mid-sized and big blogs:

1. – This ad network works with niche blogs that have as few as 30, 000 impressions per month, or “sites with a broader focus (ie gossip or humor) typically need at least 500, 000 to 1 million monthly impressions before they start attracting advertiser interest.”

– The company says it places 4 billion ads a month on more than 200, 000 sites, and specializes in search targeted, mobile and local ads.

– This San Francisco digital media and marketing company got started selling ads on big blogs such as Dooce, Boing Boing and Apartment Therapy. The company has added other business lines since, and continues to work with mainly well-trafficked blogs. The company splits its publishers into three main groups: living, business and technology.

– What many bloggers think of when they think of ad networks. AdSense offers display, text, video and mobile ads as well as link units. Find out more in this AdSense program policies page. AdSense is one of several publisher solutions that Google offers.

5. Lijit – The formerly independent ad network acquired by Federated Media in October 2011. A blogger friend recently referred to Lijit as “Federated Lite” because the network works with blogs with much lower monthly page views than its big brother. In addition to advertising, Lijit gives publishers audience analytics and “reader engagement tools.”