Most conversations about monetization start with the wrong question. Publishers ask which network pays the highest CPM, and advertisers ask where traffic is che...
Most conversations about monetization start with the wrong question. Publishers ask which network pays the highest CPM, and advertisers ask where traffic is cheapest. Both questions skip the decision that actually drives the result: which format is being served, and whether it fits the page it runs on. Networks such as Monetag, ExoClick, PopCash and Mondiad all offer variations of the same high-impact family of formats, so the difference between a good and a bad month is rarely the network alone. It is usually the format choice and the discipline applied to it.
A popunder opens a new browser window behind the page the visitor is reading. It is the most direct way to buy a full-page impression, and it is why the format has stayed relevant for two decades. It is also the format with the highest cost in user experience, and modern browsers make it harder to trigger: pop-up blockers intervene unless the action is tied to a genuine user gesture.
Popunder works best on sites where sessions are long and intent is already established, and where a single interruption per visit is acceptable. It works badly on sites people visit many times a day, because the same interruption repeated becomes a reason to leave. Frequency capping is not optional with this format; it is the only thing keeping it viable.
This is the distinction most publishers get wrong, and it has a concrete technical cause. Real web push requires a Service Worker installed on the publisher's own domain plus an explicit permission granted by the visitor. A third-party tag cannot grant itself that permission. Once subscribed, the user can be reached even when they are not on the site, which is what makes the inventory valuable — and what makes it a long-term commitment rather than a quick switch to flip.
In-page push looks similar but is a different thing: a notification-styled creative rendered inside the page itself. No Service Worker, no permission prompt, no subscriber list. It converts less per impression than true push, but it starts producing on day one and it does not follow the user off-site. If a network offers you "push" and the setup takes thirty seconds, you are almost certainly buying in-page push.
An interstitial covers the page; a vignette typically appears at a natural transition, such as between two pageviews. Their value depends almost entirely on when they fire. Served on arrival, before the visitor has seen anything, they produce bounce. Served at a transition the visitor was already making, they are among the least disruptive high-impact formats available.
Google Ads, renamed from AdWords in 2018, plays a different role. It is demand-side and policy-driven: it does not offer popunder, and its format inventory is deliberately narrow. Comparing its CPMs directly with a performance network is comparing two different products. The useful comparison is not price per thousand, but what each channel is being asked to do — reach a defined audience under strict brand rules, or monetize volume that would otherwise go unsold.
The formats themselves are commodities: every serious network offers them. What is not a commodity is the judgement about which one belongs on a given page, and the willingness to measure the result honestly rather than by the headline rate.
You can review the full list of available ad formats, see how coverage breaks down in our traffic inventory, or read how the platform works for publishers and for advertisers.
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