The best ad networks for tech blogs — and why Ezoic leads this one
In most categories the answer is one of two big managed networks. In technology it is neither of them, and the network that does lead has roughly three times the share of either — a result that says more about tech audiences than about the networks.
1 August 2026 · 6 min read
We index 1,845 technology sites carrying at least one identifiable ad network, at a median authority of 27.
Technology sits mid-table by size and near the top by authority — tech sites accumulate links faster than almost any other kind of publisher. That combination should, on the usual logic, make it premium-network territory. It is not.
Who monetises tech sites
| Network | Sites in category | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ezoic | 538 | 29.6% |
| Mediavine | 225 | 12.4% |
| Raptive | 223 | 12.3% |
| Publift | 167 | 9.2% |
| PubGalaxy | 148 | 8.1% |
| Setupad | 82 | 4.5% |
| Playwire | 68 | 3.7% |
| AdPushup | 61 | 3.4% |
| NitroPay | 52 | 2.9% |
| Freestar | 47 | 2.6% |
Two properties of tech traffic explain the whole table
The first is ad blocking. Technology audiences run blockers at rates no other category comes close to — they are, definitionally, the people who know how. A tech site therefore sells a much smaller fraction of its pageviews than its traffic figures suggest, which changes the arithmetic of every network relationship it can have. A managed network optimising for effective rate per thousand sold impressions is looking at a publisher whose sellable inventory is a fraction of its reported traffic.
The second is geography. Technology is among the most internationally distributed subjects on the web: a tutorial or an error-message explainer draws readers from everywhere, and the advertiser demand that follows international traffic is thinner and cheaper than the demand for a domestic audience. Networks whose value proposition is deep demand in a few wealthy markets have less to offer a site whose readers are spread across fifty.
Both push in the same direction: toward networks that will take the inventory as it is and monetise it at scale, rather than networks that select for a narrower, richer profile.
The programmatic tier is unusually visible here
Something else shows up in this category that is muted elsewhere. Networks with a programmatic and international orientation — Publift at 167 sites, PubGalaxy at 148 — hold real share of technology, well above their position in the lifestyle categories.
That is the same signal read from another angle. These are networks built to sell distributed, international, technically-literate traffic. In food and crafts they are marginal; here they are competing.
What this means if you run a tech site
- Do not benchmark against lifestyle blogs. Reported earnings from food and home publishers come from a population with a fraction of your ad-block rate and a much more domestic audience. The comparison will make a healthy tech site look broken.
- Know your geography split before you apply. It is the single number that most changes what a network can do for you, and it is the one you can measure yourself in an afternoon.
- Treat the premium networks as available, not automatic. They do carry tech sites — the table shows how many — but they are not competing hardest for this inventory, so meeting their bar is not the same as being their target publisher.
Real tech sites and their networks
The sub-categories diverge sharply
“Technology” covers work with almost nothing in common commercially. Consumer gadget and review sites have shopping intent and the most valuable audience in the category. Developer and tutorial sites have the highest ad-block rates and the most international traffic — the hardest combination to monetise on display alone, and the group most likely to do better on sponsorship or a product. Software how-to and troubleshooting sites sit between the two: broad audiences, shallow sessions, high volume.
The table above averages all three. If you sit at one end of it, your realistic options are narrower than the table implies in one direction and better in the other.
Questions tech publishers ask
Which ad network is best for a technology blog?
Ezoic leads the category by a wide margin — 538 indexed technology sites against 225 for Mediavine. That is not a quality verdict: it reflects that tech traffic is heavily ad-blocked and internationally distributed, which suits a network that monetises broad inventory at scale better than one selecting for a narrow, domestic profile.
Why do tech blogs earn less per visitor than food blogs?
Two reasons, both structural. A large share of a technology audience runs an ad blocker, so you sell far fewer impressions than you serve. And tech traffic is much more international, where advertiser demand is thinner. Neither is fixable by changing network — they are properties of the audience, and the right benchmark is other tech sites.
Can a tech blog join Mediavine or Raptive?
Yes — both carry technology sites, and the table above shows how many. But neither leads the category, which suggests they are not competing hardest for this inventory. Meeting the traffic bar makes you eligible; it does not make you their target publisher, and a network that specialises in distributed international traffic may serve you better.
Does ad blocking make a tech blog not worth monetising?
No, but it caps what display alone will do. Many of the largest technology sites in our index are monetised entirely by advertising. The practical response is to measure your own blocked share rather than guess, and to treat display as one revenue line among several if that share is very high.
The full list of indexed technology sites and the networks on each is at technology sites. To check one specific site, search it from the home page; to compare two networks head to head, use compare networks.
Every figure on this page is read from our own index when the page is built, and refreshes on a weekly cycle — so the numbers move as the data does. Method and evidence rules: coverage & method.