EthicalAds vs Google AdSense Comparison 2026
EthicalAds targets ads to the page rather than the reader, showing one per page with no tracking, and keeps 30 percent of what advertisers spend: entry needs an application and roughly 50,000 monthly pageviews from a developer-facing audience. Google AdSense is the default answer for putting ads on any site: no traffic floor, a script tag and a review, and Google states publishers keep about 80 percent of AdSense for Content revenue. The choice is between a smaller, invite-only network with a published rate and the ad network almost anybody can join today.
Ads without tracking, for developer sites
Ads on your site, paid out by Google
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
- Google AdSense takes 20% of what you earn against EthicalAds's 30%.
Side by side
EthicalAds | Google AdSense | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export |
EthicalAds
Ads without tracking, for developer sites
EthicalAds targets on page content rather than on the reader, so a site running it needs no cookie banner and shows one ad instead of six. That is a smaller advertiser pool and a lower ceiling than a general network, and the trade is deliberate. Getting in is the hard part: the network is invite-only and aimed at sites a developer audience reads.
Our note
The published revenue share is the reason to read this one. Every other network in this category treats its split as confidential, so a stated 70 percent is a number you can hold them to.
Google AdSense
Ads on your site, paid out by Google
AdSense is the default answer to putting ads on a site, and for most creators it is the only one available until traffic grows enough for a managed network to take the call. Setup is a script tag and a review. The rate per thousand views is lower than what Raptive or Mediavine negotiate, and the trade is that nobody has to want you first.
Our note
Why people weigh these two
- Google AdSense instead of EthicalAds
- Google AdSense is the default display network most sites try first, paid out by Google, where EthicalAds sells the no-tracking version of the same slot.
- EthicalAds instead of Google AdSense
- EthicalAds shows ads with no tracking at all on developer and open-source sites, free to join, the pick for a privacy-minded audience over a general one.
Which one should you pick
Pick EthicalAds if your site is developer-facing, documentation or a technical newsletter already past 50,000 monthly pageviews. You get one ad per page, no cookie banner, and a published 70 percent revenue share, which almost nothing else in ad networks discloses.
Pick Google AdSense if you are starting out or under that traffic floor and want revenue this week rather than after an application. Setup is a script tag and a review, with no minimum traffic at all. Treat 25,000 monthly pageviews as the day to apply to a managed network like Raptive instead, since the same traffic typically earns more there.
Common questions
- Which one pays the publisher a bigger share?
- On paper, EthicalAds: it states plainly that it keeps 30 percent, leaving 70 percent to the publisher. Google states publishers receive about 80 percent of AdSense for Content revenue, or roughly 68 percent when the advertiser buys through Google Ads, and does not disclose rates for its other products.
- Can a small or new site join EthicalAds?
- No. It sets a traffic floor of roughly 50,000 monthly pageviews and an application aimed at developer-facing sites, documentation and technical newsletters. AdSense has no traffic floor at all and asks only for a script tag and a review.
- Does EthicalAds track readers the way AdSense does?
- No, and that is its whole pitch: it targets the page's content rather than the reader, so a site running it needs no cookie banner. It shows one ad per page against AdSense's several, trading a smaller advertiser pool for that.
- When should a site move on from AdSense?
- Around 25,000 monthly pageviews, per the editorial guidance here, the point a managed network like Raptive starts accepting applications and typically pays more per thousand views for the same traffic. EthicalAds is a narrower move from there, open only to developer-facing sites past about 50,000 pageviews.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.