Maximizing Profits: Top Ad Networks for Food Blogs

Struggling to monetize your food blog effectively? Find out which ad networks can help you maximize your earnings without compromising your content.

Ad networks provide a reliable revenue stream for food bloggers by displaying relevant ads to their audience. For instance, in 2021, Tiffy Cooks reported making $45,000 to $55,000 per month from her food blog, with half of that income coming from ads. She noted,

“Every month is different, but now 50% of my income comes from my website ads!”

Using ad networks can simplify the process of finding specific companies to work with, as they act as intermediaries between publishers (website owners) and advertisers. The potential benefits of using ad networks include:

• Increased revenue through optimized ad placements.
• Access to a wide range of advertisers willing to pay premium rates for ad space.
• Enhanced blog traffic and engagement due to professional ad integration.

By the end of this article, you will understand the importance of ad networks for monetizing a food blog, which specific ad networks will benefit you the most, and how to leverage them effectively. 

Whether you are a newbie food blogger or looking to optimize your earnings, this guide will provide you with the strategies and tools you need to transform your passion into a thriving income-generating blog.

Finding the right ad network: Top things to evaluate

When choosing the best ad network for your food blog, it’s crucial to evaluate various factors to maximize your revenue while maintaining a positive user experience. Key factors to look at include easy setup for beginners, good customer service, fair pay, and scalability. 

Here’s an in-depth look at finding your perfect match:

Traffic requirements

Contrary to what you might think, many ad networks have no or low minimum traffic requirements, making them accessible to bloggers of all sizes. For example, Google AdSense has no minimum traffic requirement, making it an excellent choice for new bloggers. However, some popular networks have specific traffic thresholds, such as Mediavine, which requires 50,000 sessions per month. 

In any case, building relevant organic traffic is something you should take seriously if you want to get the most out of ads! You won’t make it far as a food blogger if you don’t create high-quality, SEO-friendly content.

“Investing in high-quality SEO strategies directly correlates with increased traffic and better monetization opportunities for food bloggers.”

Hanna Savoie

Cofounder of Small Plugins & Creator Theme

• Mail

Thankfully, plugins like WP Recipe Maker can simplify this process and help you increase traffic by improving SEO and user engagement (but more on that later).

Revenue potential

Carefully research the revenue-generating capabilities of each possible provider. For example, they need to have the option to display relevant ads, as they can boost Click-Through Rates (CTR) and overall revenue.

Additionally, take your time to go through the payment terms, such as Net-30 or Net-60 (whether you get paid 30 or 60 days after your first month of revenue), and make sure they align with your cash flow needs and profit goals. There’s a big difference between blogging as a hobby that brings extra income and potentially a full-time job to support you. 

User experience

What you don’t want to do is clutter your site with too many ads or choose the wrong type of ad, which will impact the user experience and prevent them from fully taking in your content, in addition to slowing down the page. Networks like Mediavine and Raptive strike a good balance between monetization and user experience because they focus on high-quality, relevant ads and prioritize fast-loading ads. 

Besides that, WP Recipe Maker’s customizable recipe cards allow you to design templates with enough space for ads without disrupting the recipe, enhancing user experience and keeping visitors engaged. This is an example from The Defined Dish website, which uses WP Recipe Maker for all their recipes.

Support and resources

Different ad networks offer varying levels of support and resources, such as detailed documentation, dedicated account managers, and community forums for troubleshooting and optimizing ad performance. Ideally, you’d find a provider with quick response times and the ability to quickly identify and fix potential issues. 

Ad types and flexibility

Ad networks offer many different ad types, so take advantage of that and tailor your strategy to fit your blog’s content and audience. We also recommend experimenting with different ad types and placements, which can help optimize your revenue.

Transparency

Finally, transparent reporting and analytics from ad networks allow bloggers to track performance and make informed decisions. Designated dashboards help you monitor your earnings and understand the effectiveness of your ad placements.

Top ad networks that cater to food bloggers

Mediavine

Mediavine is renowned for its high RPMs (Revenue Per Thousand Impressions) and excellent customer service. The network focuses on optimizing ad placements to maximize revenue, making it a top choice for many bloggers. To join Mediavine, your blog needs to have at least 50,000 sessions per month and meet high content quality standards, which can be hard to achieve by less established food bloggers.

However, if you do reach that level, Mediavine offers high earnings potential, a user-friendly dashboard, and comprehensive support. They are committed to maintaining site speed and ensuring a positive user experience and are fully optimized to work with the WP Recipe Maker templates, including the “save recipe” button. 

Payment terms and potential earnings

Payments are made 65 days after the end of the month, on which the earnings accrued, and on the 5th of the month. For example, January payments are paid on April 5th. 

Mediavine publishers often report RPMs ranging from $10 to $40, though this can vary widely. They also offer an MVP Loyalty bonus which means that your revenue share increases with every year you spend with Mediavine. 

Yasmin Henley from By the Forkful uses Mediavine to monetize her food blog, benefiting from their high RPMs and excellent support.

Google AdSense 

Google AdSense is one of the most popular and accessible ad networks, especially for beginners, due to its low entry barriers. It allows bloggers to start monetizing their content easily.

There are no specific traffic requirements, making AdSense ideal for new bloggers. However, maintaining quality content and adhering to Google’s policies are essential for approval and continued use.

AdSense is easy to set up and widely accepted, allowing you to serve ads from Google’s vast advertiser pool. It offers flexibility in ad placements and formats, giving you control over how and where ads appear on your blog, as well as blocking the ads you don’t like. 

Payment terms and potential earnings

The minimum payout threshold is $100, with payments made monthly, typically within 21-30 days after the end of the month in which you reach the payment threshold. AdSense primarily operates on a cost-per-click (CPC) model, where you earn money every time a user clicks on an ad. Some ad formats, especially display ads, can also generate revenue on a CPM basis.

Keep in mind that potential earnings with AdSense can be lower compared to more specialized networks, and significant traffic is often needed to generate substantial revenue. For example, if you have a page with around 75K monthly views, the platform estimate is around $2,300. 

Herbivore’s Kitchen uses Google AdSense to monetize their food blog, taking advantage of its easy setup and flexible ad placements.

Raptive

Raptive (formerly AdThrive) is a premium ad network known for its high RPMs and strong community support. It is particularly favored by bloggers seeking to maximize revenue with professional and personalized assistance.

To join Raptive, your blog needs to have at least 100,000 page views per month and maintain high-quality content. This higher threshold ensures that only established blogs with substantial traffic and engagement are accepted.

Raptive offers personalized support, advanced ad optimization, and high earnings potential. They are dedicated to maintaining a positive user experience by ensuring ads do not disrupt the content flow or slow down your site.

Payment terms and potential earnings

Raptive pays 75% of the ad revenue to publishers. Payments are made on the 15th of every month on a Net-45 schedule, meaning earnings are paid 45 days after the end of the month in which they were accrued. Average RPM ranges from $13 to $33 but can be higher depending on traffic quality and niche.

Cookie and Kate is a well-known vegetarian food blog by Kathryne Taylor, who uses Raptive as one of her monetization strategies, benefiting from their high RPMs and personalized support.

Ezoic

Ezoic is an AI-driven platform that optimizes ad placements to maximize revenue, making it suitable for bloggers at various stages of growth. It has lower traffic requirements, needing just 10,000 sessions per month. This flexibility makes it accessible for many bloggers, regardless of their site content and design.

Ezoic leverages AI-driven ad optimization and provides detailed analytics, allowing bloggers to achieve high earnings. The platform also offers flexibility in testing different ad placements to find the most effective setup.

There is a learning curve associated with using Ezoic’s platform, and ongoing optimization is necessary to get the best results.

Payment terms and potential earnings

Ezoic’s EPMV (Earnings per Thousand Visitors) typically ranges from $5 to $25, depending on traffic quality and ad placement. The minimum payout is $20, with monthly payments between the 27th and 31st of each month. It follows a Net-30 payment which means that you get paid out the month after earning. 

Vintage Cooking uses Ezoic to optimize ad placements and maximize their blog’s revenue.

Monumetric

Monumetric is an ad network that balances revenue generation with user experience. To join Monumetric, your blog needs at least 10,000 page views per month, making it a good choice for mid-sized blogs. As your site grows, so do the opportunities, and Monumetric offers customized opportunities for blogs of all sizes, even those over 10 million page views/month. 

Monumetric offers personalized support and flexible ad placements while ensuring site speed and user satisfaction. Their approach helps bloggers maximize revenue without compromising the user experience and track their success with custom dashboards and reports. 

Payment terms and potential earnings

Monumetric operates on a Net-60 payment schedule, meaning earnings are paid out 60 days after the end of the month in which they were accrued. There is a setup fee of $99 for publishers with less than 80,000 monthly page views. RPM for Monumetric publishers generally ranges from $5 to $20.

A Traditional Life has successfully monetized its blog with Monumetric. In their first month, they made $18.45 per 1,000 sessions or $15.62 per 1,000 page views, resulting in earnings of $592.17.

Gourmet Ads

Gourmet Ads specializes in the food and cooking niche, providing high-quality, contextually relevant ads that enhance user experience and drive high engagement rates. This platform typically requires a minimum of 10,000 page views per month to join. 

They emphasize high-quality, original content and prefer sites with a strong focus on food, recipes, cooking, and related topics.

Gourmet Ads offers high earnings potential due to its specialized targeting and premium advertiser relationships. Publishers benefit from a user-friendly dashboard, comprehensive support, and free ad installations and updates. The network is committed to maintaining site speed and delivering a positive user experience.

Payment terms and potential earnings

Payments are made approximately 60 days from the end of the month in which earnings were accrued. The minimum payout threshold is $100. RPMs can vary widely depending on the quality and engagement of the traffic, but they aim to provide competitive rates within the niche.

Moore or Less Cooking has successfully monetized their blog with Gourmet Ads, taking advantage of the network’s specialization in the food niche to drive high engagement and revenue. “Gourmet Ads made it easy for me to make money. The platform was simple to install, and responses to questions were always prompt.”

SHE Media

SHE Media is a network focused on female content creators, offering competitive earnings and a supportive community. It aims to empower women through content and monetization opportunities.

To join SHE Media, your blog needs at least 20,000 page views per month. The network focuses on content that resonates with female audiences, making it ideal for bloggers with such a demographic.

SHE Media provides strong community support, networking opportunities, and the potential for high earnings. Bloggers can also benefit from additional opportunities for sponsored content and brand collaborations, enhancing their monetization strategies.

Payment terms and potential earnings

Since 2023, SHE Media payments are made on a Net-35 schedule, with a minimum payout threshold of $20. If you don’t reach this threshold, the existing money will be rolled onto the next payment. 

RPM rates typically range from $5 to $30, depending on traffic quality and niche. Bloggers have reported RPMs around $10 to $20, with higher rates during peak seasons.

LA Dunn of Black Girls Eat partners with SHE Media, leveraging the network’s supportive community and competitive earnings to successfully monetize her food blog.

How WP Recipe Maker helps you reach ad network traffic thresholds

Many food bloggers struggle to reach the traffic thresholds required to start advertising and generating passive income. WP Recipe Maker offers an effective solution by enhancing your blog’s SEO, user experience, and overall engagement, helping you reach these crucial milestones.

SEO Optimization

WP Recipe Maker’s SEO-friendly design ensures that your recipes get indexed by search engines, leading to higher visibility. The plugin supports rich snippets, which enhance your SERP listings by displaying additional information, such as ratings and cooking times, directly in the search results. 

This not only makes your listings more attractive but also drives more clicks. Additionally, the plugin is optimized for speed and performance, which are critical factors for better ranking in Google and providing a smooth experience for your visitors.

Customizable templates

The plugin offers customizable recipe card templates that can be tailored to match your blog’s branding. This enhances the visual appeal of your site and helps retain users. You can also display ads within these templates in a non-intrusive way, ensuring that your monetization efforts do not disrupt the user experience. 

Consistent and visually appealing pages help lower bounce rates and attract repeat visitors, which are essential for growing your traffic.

User experience

A positive user experience leads to higher engagement and repeat visits, both of which are beneficial for increasing traffic and monetization. This is why you need to make sure your ads do not interfere with recipe readability or site navigation and help users navigate easily. For example, you can include a “jump to recipe” button below the first header, like Vaishali from Holy Cow Vegan has done. 

WP Recipe Maker helps you avoid ad stuffing, as it can seriously annoy users, especially if they are browsing on a mobile device. 

Social media integration

WP Recipe Maker makes it easy to share your recipes on social media platforms, driving additional traffic to your blog. When your readers share your recipes, it increases your blog’s reach and brings in new visitors, helping you meet ad network traffic thresholds faster.

You can include social media links at the beginning of the post, like in the example above, or in the recipe card itself. 

Affiliate marketing

The plugin also allows you to integrate and manage affiliate links within your recipe cards easily. This feature enables you to earn extra commissions by recommending products related to your recipes without cluttering your blog with too many ads. 

Remember that you need to maintain trust and authenticity by recommending genuinely useful products as this can enhance your readers’ experience and increase your affiliate income.

Case Study: Minimalist Baker

Minimalist Baker is one of the biggest food blogs, consistently ranking in the top 4,000 sites in the U.S. according to an SEMrush report from April 2024. Their website features advertising through the third-party ad network Raptive.

Minimalist Baker uses small, subtle ads in the sidebar alongside their recipe cards, which are created using WP Recipe Maker. They cite WP Recipe Maker as the essential plugin for formatting recipes for both their site and search engines. 

“This shouldn’t be overlooked, as it helps your recipes become more searchable to sites like Google (one of our biggest traffic drivers).”

This combination of driving traffic to the site and featuring ads on the recipe pages means there is a high chance of generating fantastic revenue. By optimizing for search engines and seamlessly integrating ad placements, Minimalist Baker effectively maximizes their income while maintaining a positive user experience.

Next steps: Partner your blog with the right ad network

Choosing the right ad network is crucial for maximizing your food blog’s revenue. We discussed several top ad networks: Mediavine, Google AdSense, Raptive, Ezoic, Monumetric, Gourmet Ads, and SHE Media, each offering unique benefits tailored to different needs.

Using this guide will help you select the best ad network, an essential step toward achieving your blogging and financial goals. WP Recipe Maker plays a significant role in boosting traffic and meeting ad network thresholds through SEO optimization and user-friendly recipe cards.

Explore WP Recipe Maker to enhance your blog’s performance and take the next step in monetizing your food blog. Start now and transform your passion into a profitable venture.