Chitika is another Ad network that I use regularly on some of my product related websites. Chitika has been around quite a bit longer and is more widely used than Widgetbucks (previously reviewed here). Many top bloggers like Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net and Digital Photography School have made hundreds of thousands of dollars from Chitika.

Chitika Review

Chitika has a lot of options when it comes to displaying ads on your website. Their most popular (and the one I most frequently use) are eMiniMalls.

eminimall-example.png

The eMiniMalls are great because they are very customizable. You can change all the color, borders, tabs, etc. Blending these into your content definitely increase CTR but also don’t stick out and look like you over-did it on ads.

The other Chitika product I have been using are Related Product Units (RPU). At one time, these were only available to certain publishers but have since been released to anyone. They can be styled via CSS to match your site exactly. They typically go at the end of a post and look a lot like the Related Post plugin.

RPU

I started using Chitika because I read that it was great for product related sites like mine. The ads are easy to use and customize. If I’m talking about a particular model of electronics, I can usually easily create an ad for that specific model. In addition to the 2 types of ads above they also have Linx (in-text link ads), Facebook Advertising, Whitespace Ads, ShopClouds and several others.

In the last year, Chitika has really expanded their line up of ads to make it a great fit for almost any website. They now have Premium Ads that are similar to Adsense and Chitika for Parked Domains so you can use them to advertise just about anywhere.

Overall:

Chitika started out really awesome for me. Just like Widgetbucks, the average CPC dropped quite a bit over time. I’m not involved in the Make Money Online community much but I’m starting to wonder if this is common practice for ad networks; reel people in and get them hooked with nice CPC averages and then slowly drop them.

Things I like about Chitika:

  • Easy to use. I use them primarily on WordPress and plugins make including and customizing ads very simple.
  • Paypal Payments. Don’t have to worry about getting checks in the mail, everyone should use Paypal.
  • Decent CPC Averages. Based on my experience, the average CPC is lower than Widgetbucks but I’m sure your website topic has a lot to do with this.
  • Support/Company. I’ve spoken to a few different people at Chitika and they are very nice and helpful.

Things I Dislike:

  • Audited vs. Unaudited Revenue. Your income is audited monthly for invalid clicks. I know they gotta do it but other networks only show you audited revenue which would make me much less depressed when I get paid.
  • Declined CPC Averages. As mentioned above, the average CPC was great for a few months and then mysteriously declined.
  • Reporting/Website. Not horrible but not great either. I’ve seen much better from other ad networks.

If Chitika could increase their average CPC for me, it would be my dream ad network. They currently come in 2nd or 3rd each month for my top earners. With their ad units and functionality, I think they could easily be 1st. I haven’t used the non-product related ads much but if you are working with a product related site, I’d definitely recommend testing Chitika out. Based on your category, you might see even better CPC averages.

Chitika: 8/10

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Disclaimer: Links above may contain affiliate codes but the review is my honest opinion!