Glossaryad networksmobile advertising

Top Ad Networks and Mobile Ad Networks: A Reference Directory

RTBreal-time biddingremnant inventorynon-premium inventorypremium inventorydisplay adsvideo adsnative adsin-app adsOTTCTVuser acquisitionad mediationapp monetizationSSPDSP

Ad networks were among the first pieces of advertising technology introduced in the mid-1990s. They helped publishers sell available ad space to multiple advertisers, allowing buyers to purchase inventory from many different sites through a single platform rather than negotiating with each publisher individually.

What Is an Ad Network and How Does It Work?

An ad network is a technology platform that acts as a broker between a group of publishers and a group of advertisers.

Ad networks collect unsold ad inventory from multiple publishers and offer that pooled inventory to advertisers at prices considerably lower than a publisher's direct sales rate. This type of inventory is commonly referred to as non-premium or remnant inventory.

Today, however, many networks also give advertisers access to premium inventory alongside remnant supply.

While ad networks were originally designed for display advertising — banner ads on websites — modern networks operate across many formats and channels, including video, native, in-app mobile, and OTT.

Here's a simple representation of how ad networks work:

How ad networks work

The Top Ad Networks

The following is a reference directory of major ad networks serving display, video, native, in-app, OTT, and CTV advertising.

33Across

33Across is a technology company focused on solving the challenge of consumer attention in automated advertising by unifying high-impact creative, quality supply, and technology-driven scale.

Founded: 2007 Headquarters: New York, US Private or public: Private

AdAction

AdAction is a mobile app marketing platform that delivers over 6 million monthly conversions for well-known companies and game developers.

Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Lakewood, US Private or public: Private

AdBlade

Adblade is one of the largest ad networks in the world, with access to over 500 million unique users per month across hundreds of premium online publishing partners.

Founded: 2008 Headquarters: Somerville, US Private or public: Private

AdColony

AdColony is one of the largest mobile advertising platforms in the world, with a reach of more than 1.5 billion users globally.

Founded: 2011 Headquarters: Los Angeles, California Private or public: Public

AdMaven

AdMaven provides advertisers with high-quality direct traffic to maximize ROI and reach, while delivering high performance and broad distribution for ad budgets.

Founded: 2015 Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel Private or public: Private

AdPushup

AdPushup helps content creators generate more revenue by connecting them to 50+ premium advertising exchanges, deploying ad serving technology, and providing hands-on ad operations support.

Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Wilmington, US Private or public: Private

AdTiming

AdTiming is positioned as a world-leading intelligent mobile marketing platform devoted to offering quality solutions for brands and developers worldwide and driving maximum ROI.

Founded: 2015 Headquarters: Singapore Private or public: Private

Adbuff

Adbuff is an AdSense-alternative ad network for publishers, operating a real-time bidding (RTB) platform that works with large advertisers to deliver strong eCPM rates.

Founded: 2016 Headquarters: Toronto, Canada Private or public: Private

Adcash

Adcash offers a self-service advertising platform built on advanced machine learning and next-generation AdTech solutions.

Founded: 2007 Headquarters: Tallinn, Estonia Private or public: Private

Adjust

Adjust is a global app marketing analytics platform committed to the highest privacy and performance standards, covering attribution and measurement, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, and automation tools.

Founded: 2012 Headquarters: Berlin, Germany Private or public: Private

Adslot Media is a tool designed to scale the direct buying and selling of premium display advertising by modernizing the traditional direct-to-publisher buying process.

Founded: 1975 Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia Private or public: Public

Adsperfection

Adsperfection is a technology-driven app monetization platform for mobile publishers that combines big data analytics and machine learning to deliver high-impact monetization solutions.

Founded: 2018 Headquarters: Goa, India Private or public: Private

Adsterra

Adsterra is a global ad network trusted by 30,000+ advertisers and publishers worldwide, providing an advertising and traffic monetization platform with partner support for both private and corporate media buyers and sellers.

Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Agios Andreas, Cyprus Private or public: Private

ADXAD

ADXAD is a dynamically developing ad network for publishers and advertisers that supports banner, popunder, native, and interstitial ad formats, with access to 70%+ of adult traffic worldwide.

Founded: 2017 Headquarters: Nicosia, Cyprus Private or public: Private

Affle

Affle is a global technology platform that aims to enhance returns on marketing investment through contextual mobile ads while also working to reduce digital ad fraud.

Founded: 2005 Headquarters: Singapore Private or public: Private

Airnow Media

Airnow Media provides advanced targeting and optimization technology, bringing monetization solutions to advertisers and app publishers.

Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Denver, US Private or public: Private

App Growing Global

App Growing Global provides detailed advertising intelligence tracked from 19 media platforms across 20 countries and regions, offering downloadable creatives and analysis of current advertising trends.

Founded: 2016 Headquarters: Guangzhou, China Private or public: Public

App Samurai

App Samurai is a self-service mobile advertising tool for high-growth companies that simplifies the creation, management, and measurement of ad campaigns without requiring deep mobile advertising expertise.

Founded: 2016 Headquarters: San Francisco, US Private or public: Private

AppLovin

AppLovin is a global mobile app technology company that drives the growth of mobile games, contributing to a richer ecosystem for developers and players alike.

Founded: 2012 Headquarters: Palo Alto, US Private or public: Private

Appitate

Appitate is an international mobile CPI affiliate network operating on a CPI model, supplying non-incentivized campaigns for iOS and Android across mobile and web promotion.

Founded: 2017 Headquarters: Huntington, US Private or public: Public

Applike

Applike group consists of three companies — JustDice, adjoe, and Sunday — that deliver products and business solutions to app publishers, collectively reaching 50 million users.

Founded: 2015 Headquarters: Hamburg, Germany Private or public: Private

Appnext

Appnext is a discovery platform offering a recommendation engine that covers both in-app and on-device content discovery.

Founded: 2012 Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel Private or public: Private

Appodeal

Appodeal's platform offers publishers tools including cross-promotion, direct deals, network monitoring, segments and placements, and parallel bidding technology.

Founded: 2015 Headquarters: San Francisco, US Private or public: Public

ArmorAds

ArmorAds is a global mobile advertising company with anti-fraud technology at its core, providing protection against revenue loss and brand damage from fraudulent practices while maintaining ROI and scalability.

Founded: 2017 Headquarters: Madrid, Spain Private or public: Private

Automatad

Automatad offers a full-stack programmatic monetization platform that brings together a suite of products to help publishers sell ad impressions at the best possible prices while preserving user experience.

Founded: 2013 Headquarters: New York, US Private or public: Private

BidVertiser

BidVertiser is an advertising network focused on technology, optimization, and automation, serving 13 billion ad impressions globally across desktop and mobile, supporting over 80,000 publishers and partners through native ads, pop-unders, direct ads, push notifications, and programmatic XML.

Founded: 1998 Headquarters: Tirat Carmel, Israel Private or public: Private

Billy Mobile

Billy Mobile is a leading affiliate platform operating exclusively in the mobile segment of the ad tech industry, with offices in Barcelona, Mexico, and Singapore.

Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain Private or public: Private

BlogAds

BlogAds has been active since 2002 and represents market-leading websites including PerezHilton, UrbanDictionary, Dlisted, and DailyKos. The network works with national advertisers across movies and TV, book publishing, retail, and technology.

Founded: 2002 Headquarters: Durham, US Private or public: Private

BuySellAds

BuySellAds helps marketers diversify advertising strategy and publishers maximize revenue through a cross-channel network supporting native, email, sponsored content, display, and podcast advertising.

Founded: 2008 Headquarters: Boston, US Private or public: Private

Chartboost

Chartboost is a leading in-app monetization and programmatic advertising platform that reaches over 900 million unique users every month across more than 300,000 mobile apps, connecting advertisers with engaged audiences while enabling developers to earn advertising revenue.

Founded: 2011 Headquarters: San Francisco, US Private or public: Private

ClickAdu

Clickadu is an advertising network for web and mobile channels focused on revenue maximization for both publishers and advertisers.

Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Prague, Czech Republic Private or public: Public

Digital Turbine

Digital Turbine is a media platform that simplifies mobile content discovery for subscribers by reducing friction in finding new apps and media, while delivering advertising experiences for brands seeking to reach new users in brand-safe environments at scale.

Founded: 2011 Headquarters: Austin, US Private or public: Public

EMX Digital

EMX Digital is a marketing technology company leveraging a purpose-built, patented tech stack designed to create open and closed-loop solutions that unify advertisers, platforms, and publishers across digital media channels — including Advanced TV, video, display, search, and social.

Founded: 2018 Headquarters: New York, US Private or public: Private

Epom Market

Epom is an independent AdTech company recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 30 local startups. The company offers a suite of digital products designed to drive growth for brands, ad networks, agencies, and publishers through digital advertising.

Founded: 2011 Headquarters: Kyiv, Ukraine Private or public: Private

EZmob

EZmob is a display and mobile advertising network providing monetization for website owners and SSPs, and offering advertisers, agencies, and app developers access to over 1 billion users.

Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel Private or public: Private

ExoClick

ExoClick's platform API supports 20+ ad formats with optimized targeting and behavioural retargeting, big data statistics, strategic analysis tools, data refresh every 60 seconds, day parting, and 24/7 customer service.

Founded: 2006 Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain Private or public: Private

Exponential

Exponential Interactive delivers advertising experiences designed to transform the way brands interact with audiences across desktop and mobile.

Founded: 2001 Headquarters: Emeryville, US Private or public: Private

Facebook Audience Network

Facebook Audience Network helps publishers monetize their mobile apps and mobile websites through access to Facebook's advertiser base.

Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Menlo Park, US Private or public: Public

Fyber

Fyber is a global technology company developing a next-generation monetization platform for mobile publishers that combines proprietary technologies in mediation, RTB, video, and audience segmentation to create solutions for the app economy.

Founded: 2009 Headquarters: San Francisco, US Private or public: Public

Gowide

Gowide is a user acquisition platform that consolidates advertising solutions in one place, connecting high-quality leads and publishers for inventory monetization.

Founded: 2015 Headquarters: Hamburg, Germany Private or public: Private

Gimbal

Gimbal enables brands, media agencies, and marketers to execute performance-based campaigns with personalized messaging, translating location data into intent, conversion, and consumer insight.

Founded: 2011 Headquarters: Los Angeles, US Private or public: Private

Google AdSense is a platform run by Google that allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve automatic text, image, video, or interactive media advertisements targeted to site content and audience.

Founded: 2003 Headquarters: Mountain View, US Private or public: Public

Headway

Headway is a marketing company servicing mobile apps, brands, and AdTech companies worldwide, providing optimized and targeted ad campaigns powered by machine learning and data-driven digital solutions.

Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain Private or public: Private

HilltopAds

HilltopAds is a global advertising network that combines smart tech solutions with a customized approach to help advertisers, webmasters, and digital networks grow their online businesses.

Founded: 2011 Headquarters: London, UK Private or public: Private

Hitapps

Hitapps supports clients in improving online exposure and increasing traffic using RTB solutions, helping to improve online results and drive scalable campaign performance.

Founded: 2017 Headquarters: Lewes, US Private or public: Private

IcyAds

IcyAds is an ad network focused on delivering advertising messages across different channels with high visibility and engagement.

Founded: 2021 Headquarters: New Delhi, India Private or public: Private

InMobi

InMobi is a global marketing cloud platform that builds connections between brands and consumers, leveraging mobile intelligence and technology to help brands understand, identify, engage, and acquire users.

Founded: 2007 Headquarters: Singapore Private or public: Private

Infolinks

Infolinks utilizes a unique ad technology platform and publisher marketplace to provide global advertising solutions, helping advertisers reach audiences through viewable, high-impact placements.

Founded: 2007 Headquarters: Ridgewood, NJ, US Private or public: Private

IronSource

IronSource develops a growth engine for games incorporating a mobile ad mediation platform, mobile ad network, and data-driven user acquisition platform, aimed at helping game developers build sustainable businesses.

Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel Private or public: Private

Jubna

Jubna CDN

Jubna is a leading content discovery network serving the MENA and Sub-Saharan regions. With over 2,000 premium publishers, it delivers a content recommendation engine serving tens of millions of impressions daily across brand-safe premium inventory.

Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Private or public: Private

KWANKO

Kwanko helps advertisers reach goals across branding, traffic, influence, app downloads, lead generation, sales, and drive-to-store campaigns.

Founded: 2003 Headquarters: Bourg-la-Reine, France Private or public: Private

Leadbolt

Leadbolt is a high-performance mobile advertising platform for user acquisition and in-app monetization, enabling advertisers to reach and acquire quality users at scale through direct relationships and dynamic ad-serving technology.

Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Sydney, Australia Private or public: Private

Liftoff

Liftoff is a complete mobile app marketing platform that helps companies acquire and retain high-quality app users at scale, using creative testing and a cost-per-revenue model to optimize for lifetime value goals.

Founded: 2012 Headquarters: Redwood City, US Private or public: Private

MGID

MGID is one of the earliest native performance advertising platforms worldwide, serving thousands of publishers with billions of content stories daily and delivering marketing solutions that reach consumers without disrupting their online experience.

Founded: 2008 Headquarters: Los Angeles, US Private or public: Private

Madvertise

Madvertise specializes in innovative branding solutions with hyper-local advertising formats, including video and exclusive special placements for mobile devices.

Founded: 2008 Headquarters: Berlin, Germany Private or public: Private

Media.net

Media.net provides publishers with access to monetization opportunities across programmatic, search, native, content, video, mobile, local, and social ad formats through highly customized solutions.

Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Private or public: Private

Mobidea

Mobidea is a mobile affiliate network for media buyers and webmasters, specializing in user acquisition through CPA campaigns and operating across 200+ markets.

Founded: 2010 Headquarters: Nicosia, Cyprus Private or public: Private

Mobusi

Mobusi is a technology media company with a mobile-first and performance mindset, empowering both advertisers and publishers to reach demanding targets.

Founded: 2012 Headquarters: Madrid, Spain Private or public: Private

Mobvista

Mobvista is a technology platform dedicated to driving global business growth in the digital age, using big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing to connect China with global markets.

Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Guangzhou, China Private or public: Private

MyAppFree

MyAppFree is a cross-device mobile app marketing platform powered by data and technology, helping companies acquire new users at scale through in-house solutions designed for engaging ad experiences.

Founded: 2014 Headquarters: Toronto, Canada Private or public: Public

Outbrain

Outbrain is a discovery and native advertising feed for the open web, with feed technology integrated into thousands of media companies' tech stacks to manage and monetize publishing operations.

Founded: 2006 Headquarters: New York, US Private or public: Private

Perform[cb]

Perform[cb] empowers brands to acquire new customers through incremental digital channels on a pay-for-results model, using specialized strategy development and a curated partner marketplace aligned to customer lifetime value.

Founded: 2002 Headquarters: Sarasota, US Private or public: Private

Persona.ly

Persona.ly is a global mobile ad-tech company specializing in acquiring engaged users for top-grossing apps, offering services from playable and interactive ad creation to data-driven user acquisition.

Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Ness Ziona, Israel Private or public: Private

Propel Media

Propel Media helps brands achieve online marketing goals through access to exclusive desktop traffic, using targeting technology to identify high-impact moments in the user journey.

Founded: 2008 Headquarters: Irvine, US Private or public: Public

Propeller Ads

PropellerAds is one of the larger ad networks, reaching over 1 billion desktop and mobile users monthly across thousands of premium publishing partners with access to a broad range of ad placements across content categories.

Founded: 2011 Headquarters: Limassol, Cyprus Private or public: Private

Publift

Publift is a platform designed to give small to mid-sized publishers access to premium advertisers. With a client base of 350+ publishers across 60 countries, it has been recognized by Deloitte as one of Australia's fastest-growing tech startups (2019).

Founded: 2015 Headquarters: Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia Private or public: Private