Smashing Magazine - we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.
Ad Management Plug-Ins And Tutorials For Your Website
Almost everyone out there who runs a website has toyed with the idea of selling ads on their website. So many options are available. Dozens of ad and affiliate networks exist, and you have different ad formats to consider. Should you sell text ads or banner ads? Should you allow Flash ads? What about ads with sound, pop-ups or floating ads? People have so many decisions to make that they often just end up slapping on some AdSense code and calling it a day. And that’s fine.
But you have a ton of other options for displaying ads on your website, from using other ad networks to selling and managing banner ads yourself. There are plug-ins for virtually every CMS and blogging platform out there that allow you to rotate banner ads or insert blocks of ad code.
This post is a collection of ad management plug-ins for WordPress, Movable Type, Drupal and Joomla! to get your started. At the end are a few tutorials for creating your own banner ad rotation scripts in PHP and ASP (so that even if a plug-in is not available for your CMS of choice, you’ll likely be able to build your own).
You might also want to check out our article on AdSense, 100% Google AdSense: Tools, Tips and Resources.
1. Plug-Ins For WordPress
Who Sees Ads?
Control which visitors see ads on your website, based on where they came from, whether they’re logged in, how old the post is and more.
AdRotate
A simple tool that lets you manage banner ads (even for multiple sizes and different placement) on your website.
Ads For Old Posts
This plug-in automatically inserts an ad block in your posts once they’re past a certain age.
OIO Publisher
An ad manager that focuses on maximising your revenue, saving you time, and keeping you in complete control of your ad space. The php-script can be used to sell and serve ads and it is also available as a ready-to-be-used Wordpress plugin.
OpenX Manager
Lets you integrate the open-source ad server OpenX, along with the ability to import data from an existing OpenX server.
WP125
Manage 125×125 pixel ads without having to edit your template or keep track of when advertisements need to be removed.
Advertising Manager
A plug-in to manage Google AdSense or other ad network ads.
Twitter Brand Sponsors
Allows up to 10 different brands to syndicate their most recent tweets on your blog’s sidebar.
All in One AdSense and YPN
A plug-in to integrate AdSense and Yahoo! Publisher Network ads into your blog.
WordPress Classifieds Plug-In
Another plug-in to create a classifieds section on your blog.
OmniAds – WordPress Ads Plug-In
An ad plug-in that allows you to post HTML or PHP units within your code.
Post Layout WordPress Plug-In
A plug-in to let you control where your AdSense ads appear within a post.
Feed Layout
Add advertisements or other items into your RSS feed.
Smart Ads WordPress Plug-In
A plug-in to automatically insert ads at the beginning and/or end of each post, depending on the post’s length, age or category or the blog member’s status.
Another WordPress Classifieds Plug-In
An easy-to-use plug-in for creating a classifieds ad page on your blog.
AdSense Revenue Sharing
A great plug-in if you want to share your AdSense revenue with multiple authors on a single blog.
WP-banner
A plug-in that allows you to put banner ads in a widget or a DIV anywhere on your website.
Random/Rotating Ads
Show any kind of ad on your website, either in widgets or in your template.
Clickbank Hop Ad Plug-In for WordPress
Lets you add Clickbank ads to your website through a configurable widget.
2. Plug-Ins For Joomla!
Featured Entries and Ads
This plug-in lets visitors to your website purchase a featured entry or ad, and it completely automates the process, with PayPal payment included.
MultiAds
Lets you insert any type of ad in your website’s articles.
Adsense and YPN Inserter
A plug-in to insert your Google AdSense or Yahoo! Publisher Networks ads into your website automatically, with full control over position and display.
YOS Ads with pop-in and inject features
Lets you insert ads on your website via either a pop-in (separate window) or inject page (between two other pages).
Hide GoogleAds in PDF
If you let users create PDFs of your website content, this plug-in will hide AdSense ads in those PDFs.
Text Link Ads Module
An easy-to-use plug-in that handles all the technical aspects of managing Text Link Ads.
Hide Google Ads in RSS Feed
This plug-in prevents AdSense ads from showing up in your website’s RSS feeds.
Chitika eMiniMalls Mambot 1.0
Automatic integration of Chitika eMiniMalls in your website, including automatic placement of ads, selection of a default ad channel and color adjustment of ads.
Phoca – Google AdSense Easy
A very quick and easy plug-in for adding AdSense ads to your website by just copying and pasting in your AdSense code.
Page Peel Banner
A plug-in that manages page peel banner ads for your website, including impression and click statistics. It supports JPG and Flash ads.
AdSense Deluxe Module
AdSense management plug-in that includes a complete set of ad formats.
AdSense Easy Insert
Allows insertion of two AdSense ads around your content (one before and one after).
3. Plug-Ins For Drupal
Advertisement Module
A module for displaying ads (graphical or text) in a random order anywhere on your website. Ads can be automatically or manually inserted into your website.
ad_flash
An add-on that allows Flash advertisements to be displayed with the Drupal ad module.
Affiliate
Allows you to set up your own affiliate network and issue affiliate links to partners.
Classified Ads
A module that allows you to create a text-based classified ads section on your website.
Click-Thru Tracking
Allows website owners and admins to track click-through rates on their websites, for ads or any other links.
Pay2Publish
Allow visitors to your website to publish free listings (content) on your website and then upgrade to paid versions at any time.
Rotor Banner
A plug-in for creating blocks of rotating content on your website, where you can place banner ads or anything else you want.
Slidebox
Create ad boxes of any size that float into your page from above.
Simple Ad Block
A very simple ad management plug-in that places an ad block onto your website in which you can paste code from AdSense or any other ad network.
4. Plug-Ins For Movable Type
Page Layout Plug-In
Allows you to create and use page layout templates, which facilitate the hiding and showing of ads and other content on certain pages.
Google AdSense Widget
This widget allows you to view your Google AdSense daily earnings in your Movable Type dashboard.
5. Ad Management Tutorials And Articles
Which Ad Manager Plug-In Makes Managing Ads Easiest?
This article provides a great comparison of ad management plug-ins for WordPress, listing the pros and cons of each.
Blogtalks.net
A collection of articles about managing ads on your blog, including “How to track clicks” and “Tips for using OpenAds with WordPress.”
How to Integrate Advertising into Your Blog
A great overview of things to consider when integrating advertising in your blog, as well as some practical how-to information.
How to Set Up Google Ad Manager on Your Blog/Website
Comprehensive overview and set-up instructions for using Google Ad Manager on your website or blog.
Banner Rotator
Another PHP tutorial on showing rotating banner ads on your website. This one stores information about the ads and the views that each ad gets in a MySQL database.
Rotating Banner Ads Using a Database
An ASP tutorial on creating a database-driven banner-ad rotation script.
Dynamic Banner Administration
A comprehensive ASP tutorial on putting rotating banner ads on your website.
Related posts
- 100% Google AdSense: Tools, Tips and Resources
- Online Advertising And Its Impact On Web Design
- Optimizing Conversion Rates: Less Effort, More Customers
- Optimizing Conversion Rates: It’s All About Usability
- Use Conversions To Generate More Conversions
(al)
Cameron Chapman is a professional Web and graphic designer with over 6 years of experience. She writes for a number of blogs, including her own, Cameron Chapman On Writing. She’s also the author of Internet Famous: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Online Celebrity.
(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...- 34 Comments
- 1
- 2
June 19th, 2009 1:51 amNow you can change font size with Google Adsense, I hope these plug-ins will update feature that can modify font size easily.
- 3
June 19th, 2009 2:16 amDoes anyone have any suggestions for a decent ad manager for SMF? I run a growing forum and would like a decent ad manager. If it has any geo targeting built in them even better!
- 4
June 19th, 2009 2:30 amThe OpenX module for Drupal should be listed as well.
http://drupal.org/project/openx - 5
June 19th, 2009 2:40 amI swear on manually costumizing of advertises.
- 6
June 19th, 2009 2:50 amSo what about TYPO3?
- 7
June 19th, 2009 3:35 amSome serious marketing stuff going on here lol
- 8
June 19th, 2009 3:44 amYou completely missed OIO Publisher (stand alone or WordPress plug-in).
- 9
June 19th, 2009 4:39 amI using Drupal OpenX manager in site jogos de meninas and jogos online
This plugins save my life! ;-)
- 10
June 19th, 2009 4:47 amCool. Thank you.
- 11
June 19th, 2009 5:07 amWho Sees Ads? is not bad at all, I like it :)
- 12
June 19th, 2009 5:42 amI KNOW you’re supposed to test different ad formats, colors, placement, etc. I just don’t have the discipline. The other day, I signed up with http://yieldbuild.com, as they are supposed to take care of this stuff for me. So far, I’m pretty impressed with the results. Other webmasters who’d rather concentrate on content than ads might want to check them out as well.
- 13
June 19th, 2009 5:43 amAwesome. Great list, Thanks SM.
- 14
June 19th, 2009 6:01 amLike the collection of tips, but I need the information to be on a even MORE basis knowledge…
I think there are a couple of libnks under #5, that I should look into…
But thanks so much for the great ressource.I’ll be needing the plugins for Joomla soon…
- 15
June 19th, 2009 6:22 amnice compilation, I really like OpenX and highly recommend it. I know there is a WP plug-in being developed for OpenX, you may be able to find the beta download on the OpenX site.
- 16
June 19th, 2009 6:43 amTwitter Brand Sponsors looks like an interesting plug-in. Unfortunately it looks like the developer hasn’t done much to it and a lot of questions, bugs, and problems seem to have been unanswered and/or unresolved. I like the concept though!
- 17
June 19th, 2009 6:46 amOpenx really isn’t a ‘Drupal’ application. We use it on Techgeist which is ran on Wordpress, along with other non-Drupal sites.
- 18
June 19th, 2009 7:03 amGreat post!
I personnaly use ad-minister plugin for WordPress.. good but do not permit targetting… - 19
June 19th, 2009 7:39 amI have tried several plugins but they’re often dependent to a single platform and often have limited functionality. For the blog, forum and also the content section of my site, I use AdSpeed.com, which is a hosted ad server with many features and it can integrate across different apps on the backend, no matter what you use, seamlessly.
- 20
- 21
June 19th, 2009 2:42 pmNice article. I use the 125-125 plugin in one of my blogs and it works really well for me.
- 22
June 19th, 2009 5:08 pmHow funny is this…i’ve been doing some research on this exact topic for the past couple days…And Voila!!!
My appreciation guys!
Telepathically Yours :)Blessed Light,
Aline @ArtWave - 23
June 19th, 2009 5:56 pmTwo things show how out of touch SM is getting. First, no one uses ASP anymore, not in many years (ASP.NET, perhaps, which is not a scripting engine). Quoting a tutorial from 1999? Seriously?
Second, how do you do a round up like this and not mention Google Ad Manager, which is totally free and buries most commercially available systems?
- 24
June 19th, 2009 8:27 pmSeriously, great resource.
I need them in very near future. - 25
June 19th, 2009 8:36 pmHey, thanks for smashing my WP125 plugin. :)
- 26
June 19th, 2009 8:46 pmI wish there were more non-CMS related links. Never say never, but I never use CMSs.
- 27
June 19th, 2009 10:15 pmwow all plugins @ one place..nice post…
- 28
June 20th, 2009 11:17 pmDoes anyone have a recommendation for the best ad management plugin for Wordpress if I want to segment my users in to geographic location? Effectively serve up different ads of my choosing to pepole in different areas.
- 29
- 30
June 23rd, 2009 2:24 amGuys, how about AdSense Revenue Sharing for phpBB3 ? Who can make it ?
- 31
June 25th, 2009 12:41 pmI’ve tried all of the ones for Wordpress and the best is easily OIOPublisher. The others don’t even have all of the same features it has, which is why it blows them out of the water. It can also be used as a standalone product.
- 32
July 6th, 2009 8:01 amAre there any plugins to prevent click fraud, something that will disable the ads after a few clicks or do not display ads to a particular IP.
- 33
September 3rd, 2009 4:58 pmClassic! I was actually looking for ad management scrips for a website I have, and all I found here was ad scripts for blogs. Title says what….???
- 34
November 28th, 2009 7:59 amFantastic compilation! You mentioned affiliate networks at the beginning of the article but only covered ad/banner plugins. A recent survey of affiliates found that text links *inside* your content are the best converting – better clickthrough / conversion rates as opposed to banners.
We have an automated wordpress plugin available: if you’re interested in generating affiliate commissions from links in your blog posts, but don’t want the complexity of signing up to networks/programs and hardcoding your affiliate links, , check it out at http://skimlinks.com
Automatically converts text links you write in your content (e.g. a link to Amazon, or Bestbuy) into affiliate links, on-the-fly when clicked. Works with over 13,000 affiliate programs worldwide.
(btw – we also have a javascript snippet that works with any CMS or website)
- 00
There are no trackbacks at this time. If you are interested in leaving a trackback, please use this URL.
Leave a Comment
Make sure you enter the * required information where indicated. Please also rate the article as it will help us decide future content and posts. Comments are moderated – and rel="nofollow" is in use. Please no link dropping, no keywords or domains as names; do not spam, and do not advertise!
Interact
Popular
- 100 Wordpress Themes
- Photoshop Tutorials
- Fantastic Wallpapers
- 40+ Excellent Freefonts
- Dual-Screen Wallpapers
- Wordpress Themes for 2009
- Illustrator Tutorials
- Incredible Free Icon Sets
- High-Quality Free Fonts
- 30 Scripts For Galleries
- Photoshop Text Effects
- Useful Icon Sets
- Web Design Trends
- iPhone Wallpapers
- Before Launching a Website
- CSS Layouts And Templates
- Photoshop Actions
- Stunning Pictures and Photos
- Fantastic HDR Pictures
- Logo Design Tutorials
- Free Design Templates
- 10 Mistakes In Logo Design
- Photoshop Custom Shapes
- 40 Creative Design Layouts
- 8 Layout Solutions
- 53 CSS Techniques
- Photography Techniques
- Black & White Photography
- Styling Design Elements
- CSS-Based Forms
- 50 jQuery Techniques
- 50 Portfolio Websites
- 50 CSS Techniques
- Creative Logo Designs
- Desktop Wallpapers
- 25 Open Source Mac Apps
- 50 Free Icon Sets
- Google Launches Real-Time Search - http://bit.ly/8Fh20r
- Essential Tips and Tricks for Coding and Debugging AJAX Based Website - http://bit.ly/8JSt1R
- You Can Survive and Thrive After a Crisis - http://bit.ly/6PoMfZ
- Everything You Ever Want to Know About Creating Seamless Patterns in Illustrator - http://bit.ly/5GmSrY
- From our archives: Invoice Like A Pro: Examples and Best Practices - http://bit.ly/WCSwK
- Portfolio Design Trends: vCard Websites - http://bit.ly/4Tcp6f
seriously?
Name 5 Things u don’t need…