Making money with your blog can be easy or hard depending on the path you choose. Obviously, most bloggers prefer the easy way. After all, time is money, right? Who’s got time to spend configuring complicated ads on sites? If you were looking for an easy way to monetize your site, then chances are you’ve come across a few Chitika reviews. You may even be wondering what the catch is since it looks so simple. In this Chitika review, we’ll lay out the good and the bad. And trust me, you don’t want to miss out on the bad. You’ve been warned!
What is Chitika?
Chitika.com is an online ad network that was founded in May 2003 by Alden DoRosario and Venkat Kolluri. Their headquarters are in Natick, Mass. Chitika has a network of over 350,000 publishers from around the world. They cater to over four billion strategically targeted ads each month to a network of over 250,000 sites. This makes it the second largest network of its kind.
How Does Chitika Work?
Chitika is similar to Google Adsense. Once you are approved, publishers choose ad formats from the Ad Code Generator in your account. You then add the code to your website. Publishers earn money for clicks on ads based on the advertiser’s payment options.
Chitika Features
Chitika is one of the easiest programs to use. Here are a few features for you to consider:
- Free to join.
- Top quality advertisers like Yahoo!
- Referral Program: You can earn 10% for 15 months from your referrals.
- Has an A+ rating with the BBB.
- Chitika is the preferred ad network for Yahoo!.
- Plenty of advertisers to choose from.
Clearly this network has some great features but it’s always a good idea to join more than one network such as Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic. Because joining multiple networks can usually lead to more money for you!
How Much Can You Make with Chitika?
According to Chitika, you can earn anywhere from 0 cents to $2 per 1000 impressions (CPM). Your earning potential will have a lot to do with the quality of your content, ad placement, the country where your market is and the amount paid by advertisers. But the biggest factor is probably the amount and type of traffic to your site. So to maximize your potential income, you may want to sign up for a free account with Wealthy Affiliate. They will teach you how to get tons of targeted traffic to your site for FREE from Google.
Either way, if Chikita’s potential pay rate isn’t inspiring you, that’s fine. You may want to consider joining other networks such as Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic. You may actually make more money with these networks.
When Do Chitika Publishers Get Paid?
Publishers are paid on a net 30 basis. This means that your earnings will be processed 30 days after the previous month. You will also have to have a minimum of $50 in your account. The only payment method available is Payoneer at the time of this review.
Chitika Requirements
It’s pretty easy to sign up with Chitika. All you need to do is enter your email address to get started. Your site will then be reviewed to make sure it’s in compliance with Chitika’s policies. Requirements include:
- A website
- Your site must not contain pornography, gambling, hacking, excessive profanity, or any illegal or defamatory content
If your site is found to be in violation at any time, you will receive a warning, suspension or account termination. So it’s a good idea to be part of multiple networks just in case you get screwed over. With that said, you may want to consider joining other networks such as Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic.
How To Login To Chitika
To log into your Chitika account, click this link here.
Chitika Support
You can get answers to your questions on the Support page here. If you don’t find an answer to your question, click on the Support Options link on the right side of the screen under Contact Us. There you will find a Help Center, Troubleshooters, a Chitika blog, a Facebook blog and email support.
Chitika Complaints
Now you know a bit about how Chitika works, some of the features and requirements. Now let’s take a look at a few things that may give you pause.
Third Party Disclosure
Chitika reserves the right to disclose your information to third parties and will not be held liable for any disclosure by any third party. This means that if Chitika disclose your personal information to a third party and that third party sells the information, Chitika is not responsible. This is something you should be aware of going into this program.
Very Limited Payment Option
Yes. That word, option, is singular. Payoneer is the ONLY payment option. Chitika is available in over 200 countries that support Payoneer. If you are in a country that does not support Payoneer, you cannot join Chitika.
Payment Rates
According to Chitika, you can earn anywhere from 0 to $2 per 1,000 impressions. Let’s face it. $2 per 1,000 is peanuts. And keep in mind that’s the maximum! With sites like MediaVine, you are making way more than assuming that you have enough traffic to get in.
These complaints are not really deal breakers, but the pay rates stink and there’s only one payment option, whereas other networks such as Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic have plenty of payment options.
Should You Join Chitika?
Chitika is pretty easy to join and has a nice low minimum payout feature. The payment rates aren’t great and that could be why this program is easier to join. And the limited payment option, Payoneer, may not work for everyone. Joining other networks such as Maxbounty.com, Traffic Jam Media, iGain.com or Ezoic will give you more payment options as well as additional income. You can also increase your earning potential by joining Wealthy Affiliate. With your free account to start, you’ll learn how to generate tons of free and targeted traffic to your site.
Well, I guess that’s all for now, folks. If you want to know more about Chitika visit their Support page here. And if you’d like to join our Chitika discussion, please leave a comment below.
Until next time,
Eddy with a y
Chitika.com Review
