Earn Money Online With Chitika -Review

Chitika is one of the oldest company in online advertising space.It was founded in year 2003.I have signed up an account with them during my initial blogging period.I had heard lot about them over internet and thought to give them a try.I am writing this post based on my experience with this advertising network.This is not sponsored review or anything just my experience and information which can help you in making decision.

Advantages of Chitika

One of the advantages of Chitika is that they are old advertising network. Hence they are experienced and reliable too. Also, doubtless they do pay. Apart from all these, they are technologically advanced and has good R&D team who are well equipped with all the latest developments in the world of advertising.

Disadvantages of Chitika

The cons side of Chitika online advertising network is that they work best for product based websites. So, if you are reviewing any product on your website, you get more chances of benefiting from it. This is one of the major drawbacks of Chitika for universal websites. More to this, Chitika also needs to improve in recognizing the international traffic. As of now they are best in recognizing the U.S. traffic.

How to add the Chitika advertisements on blogs and websites?

It’s easy. Chitika provides ad codes in JavaScript and you can easily place it on your blogs and websites where you want. Only in the case of mobile ads the choice of spot is meaningless. You need to place it above the tag onthe blogs and websites.

Chitika payment terms and conditions

You can even withdraw $10 from Chitika. Remember, it is $100 for Google Adsense. For the $10 payment option you need to withdraw it through PayPal. If you want the payment to be done in check then the minimum threshold is $50. Well, this is also good enough compared to Google Adsense.

Is Chitika ad codes compatible with Google Adsense?

Yes, of course Chitika is compatible with Google Adsense. Neither you need to make any changes to Google Adsense and nor to the Chitika ads. Both can easily go together. Some webmasters even claims using Chitika ads along with the Google Adsense increases the earnings. Well, there are also such people who claim to have experienced lower Google Adsense CTR after using Chitika ads. So, its up to you whether to go with both the networks together.

Chitika ads type

Chitika ads can be clubbed into below group

Banner ads — They are standard ad type.Chitika does not show banner ad but they show images with text.Below is example of banner ads.It does offer huge number of ad formats.In fact I have not seen so many ad formats.
Mobile ads –These ads are displayed only if your website is viewed from mobile device.The ads are displayed on depending upon device not the site.This means if a user browses your website using mobile device ads will show up.You do not have to create mobile site for this.Entire mobile traffic of your website will get monetized.
In text ads — You might be familiar with Infolinks or similar in text advertising network.Chitika offers Linx which is CPC (cost per click) based in text link ads.
Hover ads — Hover ads are displayed on bottom right corner of your website.They remain at that place while the visitor is scrolling down your website.
Highlight ads — Highlight ads get displayed when user selects some text on your website.It will get displayed below the user selected text area.

The last three Chitika ads are clubbed as apps by them.They do offer wide range of ad format to choose from.

Compatibility with Google Adsense

Chitika is compatible with Google Adsense.You do not have to make any changes to your Adsense layout nor to Chitika ads to make them work together.They are compatible out of box.In fact it is claimed that using Chitika along with Adsense increases earnings.The reason cited is competition between the ad networks.Some people do complain lower Adsense CTR after using Chitika.So you might have to place them on your website and then decide the result.

Chitika Payment Terms

Chitika has low minimum payout threshold.The minimum payment threshold is $10 if payment method is PayPal.The minimum payment threshold is $50 if check payment method is selected.

Chitika Bonus Promo offers

Chitika offers excellent promo offers to their publishers from time to time.I have received two promo offers (worth mentioning)

In May 2012 Chitika offered $5 startup bonus promo
In 2012 itself it came with offer of paying double of your earning between Aug 1st and 30th Sept if your earning is less than $100.A good offer to small publisher indeed.

So you can get extra bucks and revenue generating offers from them.

Chitika publisher dashboard

Chitika does offer very simple and easy to use interface.The reporting is decent.They report traffic and clicks along with eCPM and your earning for each day.The data is also broken geography wise.But you will not get URL based reporting.But that does not is big drawback as majority of advertising networks provide this much details only.

Chitika referral program

Chitika offers referral program.You can earn 10% of your referral earning for 15 months.But the referral stats is not updated until referral is paid once.This is one area they should work on.Other advertising networks do show referral stats whether they have made money or not.

How to add Chitika ads on your website?

Adding Chitika ads to your website is easy task.Chitika ads code is JavaScript code.You need to place the ads where you want to display the ads.Mobile ads are exception to this rule.You need to place mobile ads above </body> tag of your website.

In case you are using WordPress then you can use one of below three options

Verdict

Not bad. Especially very good if your Google Adsense is disapproved. Though the pay is low with Chitika, but it is consistent. The entire Chitika team works for the benefit of publishers. Certain areas of Chitika need to be worked out properly, and I guess they will come out of the drawbacks in near future. For the time being, it is good as it is. Pros and cons is just a part of everything on this earth. Just go ahead with it considering all the advantages it is offering to publishers, rather to small publishers mostly.

That’s all said. You may be using either Google Adsense or Chitika ads or AdBrite or some other ad network on your blogs and websites. Do share with us and fellow readers why you have chosen it and whether it is giving you good revenue, justifying your effort. Use the below given comment box.