Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AdSense VS Medium

Compare AdSense VS Medium and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

AdSense logo AdSense

Earn money with website monetization from Google AdSense. We'll optimize your ad sizes to give them more chance to be seen and clicked.

Medium logo Medium

Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.
  • AdSense Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-11
  • Medium Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-08

AdSense features and specs

  • Earn Revenue
    AdSense allows website owners to earn money by displaying ads on their site, which can be a significant source of income.
  • Flexible Ad Formats
    Google AdSense offers a variety of ad formats (text, image, video) that can blend seamlessly into the layout of a website.
  • Easy to Use
    Setting up AdSense is relatively straightforward, even for those with limited technical experience.
  • High-Quality Ads
    As a product of Google, AdSense provides access to high-quality advertisers, which can enhance the overall user experience.
  • Reliable Payments
    Google AdSense has a consistent and reliable payment system, which ensures timely payouts for earnings.
  • Detailed Reports
    AdSense offers detailed performance reports, giving users insights into ad performance, earnings, and visitor interactions.
  • Wide Reach
    AdSense is used by millions of websites, indicating a broad acceptance and trust in the platform.

Possible disadvantages of AdSense

  • Ad Control Limitations
    Although flexible, there is limited control over the specific ads displayed, which can sometimes lead to irrelevant or low-quality ads.
  • Payout Threshold
    AdSense requires a minimum threshold of $100 before payments are issued, which can delay earnings for smaller sites.
  • Strict Policies
    Google's policies can be strict, and violations (even unintentional) can result in account suspension or ban.
  • Revenue Share
    Google takes a percentage of the ad revenue, meaning publishers don't earn the full amount advertisers pay.
  • Ad Placement Restrictions
    There are specific rules about where and how ads can be placed, sometimes limiting layout flexibility and user experience.
  • Competition
    The high number of AdSense users can make it competitive, impacting the ad rates and potential earnings for publishers.
  • Dependence on Traffic
    The revenue earned through AdSense heavily depends on the amount and quality of web traffic, which can fluctuate.

Medium features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Medium offers an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple for anyone to start writing and publishing content without any technical knowledge.
  • Built-in Audience
    The platform has a large and active user base, so new content has the potential to reach a wide audience quickly.
  • Publishing Tools
    Medium provides versatile publishing tools that support text, images, and various media formats, which helps in creating rich and engaging content.
  • SEO Benefits
    Articles posted on Medium tend to rank well in search engine results, thanks to the platform's high domain authority.
  • Community and Interaction
    Medium encourages reader engagement through comments, claps, and highlights, fostering a sense of community among writers and readers.

Possible disadvantages of Medium

  • Monetization
    While Medium has a Partner Program, it may not be as lucrative as other methods of monetization available on independent blogging platforms.
  • Control and Customization
    Medium offers limited customization options compared to dedicated blog platforms like WordPress, restricting how you can brand and personalize your blog.
  • Content Ownership
    By publishing on Medium, you agree to their terms and conditions, which may include giving up some control over how your content is used and distributed.
  • Paywall Issues
    Some articles are placed behind a paywall, which might limit the reach of your content if you want it to be freely accessible to everyone.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying solely on Medium means that any changes to the platform's policies or algorithms can directly impact your reach and engagement.

Analysis of AdSense

Overall verdict

  • AdSense is considered a good option for those looking to monetize web content. It is reputable, backed by Google, and offers substantial opportunities for revenue generation, particularly for websites with significant traffic. However, it might not be the best fit for everyone, as the income can vary greatly depending on factors like niche, audience engagement, and traffic volume.

Why this product is good

  • Google AdSense is a popular advertising program that allows publishers to earn revenue by displaying ads on their websites or YouTube channels. It is widely regarded as a reliable and efficient way to monetize online content due to its vast network of advertisers and its user-friendly interface. AdSense adapts ads to the content of the site and the audience, maximizing potential earnings. Additionally, it provides detailed analytics, which helps publishers understand their audience and optimize their ad placements.

Recommended for

    AdSense is recommended for bloggers, website owners, and YouTube content creators who have substantial and consistent traffic. It's ideal for those who prefer a straightforward, automated way of earning revenue without the need to manage relationships with individual advertisers. While suitable for content creators across various niches, it is especially beneficial for those within high-traffic, advertiser-rich sectors such as finance, technology, and lifestyle.

Analysis of Medium

Overall verdict

  • Medium can be considered a good platform for those who enjoy a wide array of content and appreciate quality writing on diverse subjects. However, the value of Medium depends on individual preferences and whether the topics and writing styles align with what the reader is looking for.

Why this product is good

  • Medium offers a diverse range of articles from both professional and amateur writers, providing readers with numerous perspectives on various topics. Its clean user interface and ease of use make it an appealing platform for both writers and readers. The platform also supports monetization for writers, allowing them to earn from their content.

Recommended for

    Medium is recommended for avid readers seeking a variety of topics ranging from personal development to technology. It's also ideal for writers looking to publish their work to a broad audience and potentially earn revenue through the platform's Partner Program.

AdSense videos

Adsense Account Pending Review Solved | Adsense application still under review [Hindi]

More videos:

  • Review - Why I HATE Adsense (And REFUSE To Use It On My Website)
  • Review - โญ•Google Adsense: The truth behind monetizing your blog ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Medium videos

Medium Review - with Tom Vasel

More videos:

  • Review - Starting a blog on Medium.com? Watch this FIRST.
  • Review - The Medium Review
  • Review - The Medium - Before You Buy
  • Review - I recommend: The Medium (Review)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AdSense and Medium)
Advertising
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
100% 100
Ad Networks
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging Platform
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare AdSense and Medium

AdSense Reviews

Top 11 Google AdSense alternatives for 2022
Maybe you didnโ€™t get approved for AdSense, or youโ€™re busy appealing an account ban for invalid click activity, or you want to load up your ad stack to increase revenues. Whatever the reason, all is not lost. AdSense may be the market leader, but there are many competitors and Google AdSense alternatives that can provide good eCPMs and supplement ad revenue.
21 Best AdSense Alternatives to Consider for Your Website in 2022
I suggest to add alternatives to AdSense instead of replacing AdSense. The real-time competition can increase CPM a lot! There are different services nowadays online that can integrate many alternative networks to compete with AdSense. For me PapayAds is the one which performed the best increasing 3x usual AdSense revenue. They require minimum traffic to set up but it is...
Source: kinsta.com
Top 25 Google Adsense Alternatives For Your Website/Blog in 2022
To cut a long story short, for whatever reason you donโ€™t want to use AdSense, itโ€™s worth noting there are plenty of Google Adsense alternatives out there for you to work with. Today, Iโ€™m going to list down some of the best alternative ad solutions to Google Adsense, detailing what you need to know about them, so you have everything you need to choose the best platform for you.
Source: www.izooto.com
The Top 5 Display Advertising Networks: Monetize Your Blog The RIGHT Way
Thatโ€™s a lot more than what you need for Google Adsense and Ezoic, but once you meet the requirement, you should definitely at least test it out as some bloggers have reported seeing a 2-3x increase in earnings.
Source: www.rankxl.com
10 Alternatives To Google And Facebook Ads
Even more notable, in terms of incremental growth for your brand, The Bing Network audience includes 60 million desktop searchers not reached on Google according to comScore, cited by Microsoft. Microsoft Advertising typically has lower CPCs compared to Google Ads, but with that fact typically comes a lower volume of traffic compared to Google.
Source: www.ppchero.com

Medium Reviews

19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Medium focuses on thoughtful content and community engagement. It offers a user-friendly interface, a large readership base, and various features for writers and readers.
Source: www.pixpa.com
25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Medium is an online platform that was created in 2012 by Evan Williams. It is a place for people to share their thoughts and ideas on various topics. Medium has about 100 million monthly visitors, which makes it one of the most popular platforms for publishing articles.
Source: forgefusion.io
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
From thะต simplicity of Ghost to thะต vะตrsatility of Substack, thะตrะตโ€™s a homะต for ะตvะตryonะต seeking great Medium alternatives. Thะตsะต altะตrnativะตs offะตr a world of possibilitiะตs for rะตadะตrs and authors alikะต. Whะตthะตr youโ€™rะต in sะตarch of a uniquะต platform to sharะต your thoughts or want to read frะตsh contะตnt, thะตsะต platforms havะต somะตthing spะตcial to offะตr. All in all, we...
9 Best Medium Alternatives for Making Money With Your Writing in 2023
Substack and Medium differ primarily in their monetization methods. Medium pays creators based on reader engagement, while Substack enables writers to monetize directly through paid subscriptions to their newsletters. This business model allows Substack users to build a direct relationship with their readers via their email inboxes, whereas Medium interactions primarily...
How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform in 2021 (Compared)
Medium works much like a social networking site where you can create an account and start publishing your articles. After you sign up, youโ€™ll have a profile address like this: https://medium.com/@yourname. But you cannot use your own domain.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Medium seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3081 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

AdSense mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of AdSense yet. Tracking of AdSense recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Medium mentions (3081)

  • Microsoft Fire IdTech Team at Id Software
    Console vs PC is a red herring since UE games still stutter on consoles, people just notice that less because most games run at 30 fps anyway. You can read Unreal's own blog posts on this and they'll actually explain that this is mostly down to their material system (and game logic/scripts reaching into it) being designed to create nearly infinite shader variations on the fly in response to arbitrary world/game... - Source: Hacker News / about 20 hours ago
  • Why migrants come to Germany for work and then leave again
    I'm no expert on haplogroups either, but cursory googling seems to indicate they are far more numerous and nuanced than the late victorian, scientific-racism derived classifications used today - i.e.: black, white, asian etc. But we don't need to be specialists in population genetics to observe that human cultures interbreed. We can't reliably correlate visible biomarkers with genetic origin, especially in... - Source: Hacker News / 1 day ago
  • Footage Shows Cop Stalking Woman After Surveilling Her with a LPR
    I think it's intresting to read about the guy who made yolo, take a look at his website and later, his thoughts about the monster he may have created. https://medium.com/@graham.wallington/the-evolution-of-yolo-joseph-redmons-departure-and-the-ethics-of-computer-vision-66d9b75f0eca https://pjreddie.com/darknet/yolo/. - Source: Hacker News / 2 days ago
  • The Private Capture of Public Genius
    One hardly needs to soar to the exalted heights of "mysticism" or any sort of "ineffable qualities" to come into contact with the limitations of LLMs. 1) Models do not perform the functional equivalent of reasoning at all. When we reason, we don't simply babble out textual derivations of prior examples of "reasoning" to which we have been exposed, arrive at a conclusion, then occasionally state an altogether... - Source: Hacker News / 3 days ago
  • Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (July 2026)
    Io_uring, concurrency, TCP, mmap, systems programming Rรฉsumรฉ/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dQrgGxvun68WMty-m7A-wsR7KF3gxKdU/view?usp=sharing Email: ashishrathour1102@gmail.com GitHub: https://github.com/AasheeshLikePanner Backend and infrastructure engineer focused on systems programming in Go. I build low-level infrastructure from scratch and benchmark it honestly. Recent projects: vase โ€” a pub/sub broker... - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing AdSense and Medium, you can also consider the following products

Media.net - Yahoo! Bing Network Contextual Ads powered by Media. net gives you instantaneous access to one of the world's largest marketplaces for advertisers. People also askWhat is Media Net?What is Medianet Cisco?

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Epom - An ad serving solution for publishers, advertisers, ad and affiliate networks

DEV.to - Where software engineers connect, build their resumes, and grow.

Kevel - Kevel's APIs make it easy for engineers and PMs to quickly launch a fully-customized, white-labeled, server-side ad server.

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.