We reviewed 384 niche websites that use the Newor Media display ad network to identify opportunities and insights for growing successful niche sites.
Although Newor Media has far fewer websites on its platform than AdThrive and Mediavine, there are 122 sites that receive over 50,000 in monthly organic traffic according to AHREFs.
Examining these successful sites provides lessons and takeaways that we can apply to our own niche site portfolios.
Here is what’s covered in this report:
- Google Sheet with all raw data
- Referring domain, domain rating, and keyword findings from 384 websites
- Notable out-of-the-box niches
- Review of Newor Media
Let’s get into it.
Summary of 4 Key Findings
Here are my key findings:
- Newor Media sites typically cater to a younger male demographic (AdThrive and Mediavine typically cater to a middle-age female demographic)
- Newor Media is more lenient on topics they allow and they approve sites with content that may be considered controversial
- Although Newor Media has lower traffic requirements than Mediavine, the median traffic is slightly higher at 22,838 (22,253 for Mediavine)
- Newor Media sites typically had strong link profiles with a median of 1,210 referring domains and median domain rating of 38.
View Raw Newor Media Data
If you would like access to a Google Sheet with a breakdown of all of the data, check it out below:
Overall Data Insights from Newor Media Approved Websites
- Number of Sites: 384
- Average Traffic: 94,168
- Median Traffic: 22,838
- Average Keywords: 74,942
- Median Keywords: 22,183
- Average Referring Domains (dofollow): 4,468
- Median Referring Domains (dofollow): 1,210
- Average Domain Rating: 38
- Median Domain Rating: 38
- Average Pages: 4,133
- Median Pages: 422
Keywords: 69% of sites ranked for over 10,000 Keywords
The median site in our sample ranked for 22,183 keywords, a strong number but lower than our sample of AdThrive sites (47,427 keywords) and Mediavine sites (26,467 keywords).
265 sites (69.0%) ranked for at least 10,000 keywords. This is lower than the percentage for our sample of Mediavine sites (87%) and Adthrive sites (86%). 70 sites (18.2%) from our sample ranked for over 100,000 keywords.
Here s a chart showing the distribution for keywords:
Here is the data organized into a tabular format:
| Total Number of Keywords | Number of Sites | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 9,999 | 119 | 31.0% |
| 10,000 - 49,999 | 141 | 36.7% |
| 50,000 - 99,999 | 54 | 14.1% |
| Over 100,000 | 70 | 18.2% |
Traffic: Median AHREFs Traffic 22,838
The median traffic for Newor Media sites was 22,838 according to AHREFs estimate. This is slightly higher than our sample of Mediavine sites (22,253) and slightly lower than our sample of AdThrive sites (27,602).
57 sites (14.8%) had AHREFs traffic less than 1,000 which suggests a significant decrease in traffic compared to when the site was accepted by Newor Media (they require 30,000 unique visitors per month to get accepted). 80 sites (20.8%) had over 100,000 AHREFs traffic.
Here is the distribution:
Here is a breakdown in a table format:
| AHREFs Traffic | Number of Sites | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 9,999 | 132 | 34.4% |
| 10,000 - 49,999 | 130 | 33.9% |
| 50,000 - 99,999 | 42 | 10.9% |
| Over 100,000 | 80 | 20.8% |
Referring Domains: Median of 1,210 Referring Domains
We found that links were an important factor in sites that were approved to join the Newor Media display ad network with a median number of 1,210 referring domains (dofollow) in our sample. 36 sites (9.4%) had less than 100 referring domains. 254 sites (65.1%) had over 500 referring domains.
The median number of referring domains was lower than our AdThrive sample (4,975 dofollow referring domains) but higher than our Mediavine sample (861 dofollow referring domains).
Here is the distribution:
Here is the data organized into a tabular format:
| # of Referring Domains | Sites | Percentage of Sites (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 499 | 130 | 33.9% |
| 500 - 999 | 46 | 12.0% |
| 1000 - 1499 | 42 | 10.9% |
| 1500 - 1999 | 22 | 5.7% |
| 2000+ | 144 | 37.5% |
Domain Rating: Median DR of 38
The median site in our sample had a strong AHREFs Domain Rating of 38. The mode for domain rating was 52 (13 sites had a DR of 52). 134 sites (34.9%) in the sample had a Domain Rating of between 20 and 39. Just 73 sites (19.0%) had a Domain Rating below 20.
Here is the distribution:
Here is the data organized into a tabular format:
| Domain Rating | Sites | Percentage of Sites (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 19 | 73 | 19.0% |
| 20 - 39 | 134 | 34.9% |
| 40 - 59 | 118 | 30.7% |
| 60 - 79 | 58 | 15.1% |
| 80 - 99 | 1 | 0.3% |
Total Pages: 422 Median Number of Pages
The number of pages needed to reach the minimum traffic requirement of 30,000 unique visitors varied widely in our sample. We collected the total pages from the AHREFs Top Pages report.
Some websites provided web-based tools like calculators and had less than 10 pages while other websites had tens of thousands of pages (these large sites typically had auto-generated content).
Here are the results:
- The median number of pages in our sample was 422
- The median traffic per page in our sample was 34
- 38 sites had less than 10 pages
- 144 sites had more than 1,000 pages
Estimated Earnings and Website Valuations
Based on traffic estimates, we can make a rough estimate of monthly earnings from display ads.
This can provide a high-level view of which sites are generating a lot of value for their owners and highlight high-earning sites that have relatively few pages or referring domains (this can indicate a low competition niche opportunity).
Overall, here are the earnings and valuation data for this sample of sites using Newor Media display ads:
- Average Monthly Earnings ($10 RPM): $942
- Median Monthly Earnings ($10 RPM): $228
- Average Valuation (35x): $32,959
- Median Valuation (35x): $7,993
The actual earnings are likely higher than these estimates because AHREFs typically underestimates traffic and the RPM may be greater than $10 depending on the niche.
6 Interesting Niches from our Sample of Sites
1. Astrology
We have seen successful Astrology sites in this sample as well as in our analysis of Mediavine sites. One site in this sample had over 40k AHREFs traffic with 242 pages and 500 referring domains. Astrology is a popular topic with some keywords in this niche getting millions of monthly searches. According to the American Federation of Astrologers, “as many as 70 million Americans read their horoscopes daily”.
2. Quotes
Quotes are a tricky niche because it is easy for a competitor to duplicate your site, especially if your content is simply a list of quotes from movies, shows, or celebrities.
There were several sites in our sample that focused on quotes specific to a particular show or topic. One example is a site receiving 20,000 organic traffic per month on just over 200 pages focused on quotes from the popular TV sitcom, The Office. There may be an opportunity to create a similar site based on other popular shows.
Typically, television and movie niche sites do not earn high RPMs compared to more lucrative niches like pets or golf because the audience is more general (not specific to a particular market segment).
3. Condolences Examples
Some sites focused on providing samples or templates for writing a condolences note for a friend or family member that has experienced a loss.
A related niche would be similar life situations where people need help writing a note such as a thank you note, birthday wishes, a job resignation letter, or congratulations note.
4. Unemployment or Other Government Programs
An interesting strategy is to provide informational content for people seeking information about a government program or service. Some examples in our sample include sites about filing unemployment and Section 8 housing assistance.
Often, government websites are not very well optimized for search engines or user experience so you can create content in a format that is both SEO friendly and convenient for people looking for information.
5. Holidays
A site all about the Day of the Dead holiday is receiving 69,000 monthly traffic on just 39 pages. The challenge with this type of niche is that it would be highly seasonal.
6. Calculators/Tools
There were several examples of high-traffic sites about a useful tool or calculator. Often these tools had just a handful of pages but tens of thousands of visitors per month.
Examples of tools include:
- YouTube to MP3 converter
- Downloading videos from Reddit
- Word counter and grammar check
- Temporary email address
Newor Media Review
Newor Media is a display ad network similar to Mediavine and AdThrive but with far fewer sites.
Minimum Requirements
Newor Media has lower requirements than AdThrive and Mediavine. The minimum requirements are:
- 30,000 unique visitors per month.
- Content is in English.
- No illegal content.
If you have a site that does not reach the minimum traffic requirements for AdThrive (100,000 page views) or Mediavine (50,000 sessions), then applying for Newor Media may be a good alternative.
Based on our review of Newor Media sites, they seem to allow more controversial niches. Newor Media may be a good option for monetization if your site may be considered controversial or is not family friendly.
Some examples of these niches we found included:
- Passing employer drug tests
- Dead wrestlers
- Drinking games
- Police radar detector reviews
- Scans of the pages of anime comic books
- Celebrity nudity
Types of Ad Units
Newor Media provides many of the common ad units including:
- Interstitial ads
- In content display ads
- Sidebar display ads
- Footer ads
- Video players
How Much Does Newor Media Pay Per 1,000 Pageviews?
Don’t expect to earn high RPMs with Newor Media compared to premium ad networks like AdThrive and Mediavine.
One of our case study sites used Newor Media display ads in October 2020. Check out the outdoor case study site write-up. The site earned about $253.48 from 77,097 impressions ($3.29 per 1,000 impressions).
You can earn more from Ezoic which does not have a minimum traffic requirement.
The nice thing about Newor Media is that you can limit the number of ad units on your pages whereas Ezoic typically shows more ads, which can hurt page speed and user experience.
How Long Does it Take to Get Paid?
One nice benefit of using Newor Media is that they send payments quicker than other display ad networks. Newor Media has net-30 terms which is shorter than AdThrive which has a net-45 payment schedule. Mediavine has a net-65 payment schedule.
What is Newor Media’s Rev Share with Publishers?
We could not find Newor Media’s rev share on their website and they didn’t reply when we contacted them.
AdThrive and Mediavine state on their website that they pay 75% of revenue to publishers and keep 25% (your percentage may be increased if you reach certain traffic levels).
Popular Niches for Websites Using Newor Media
The common niches in our sample typically catered to a younger male audience. These include:
- Video games
- Programming
- Technology
- Science
- Animals
Final Takeaways
This sample of Newor Media sites included many successful niche sites with over 100,000 AHREFs organic traffic including several out-of-the box niche ideas and some controversial topics (that may not be approved by other display ad networks).
The popular niches in this sample skewed toward a younger male demographic with a high proportion of video game, programming, and technology niche sites.
