I recently discovered that Adbrite, one of the biggest ad networks which was considered by many as the best alternative to Google Adsense, shut down almost a month ago. Apparently they were planning to sell Adbrite but the deal fell through, somehow forcing them to shut the company down.
It is reported somewhere that Adbrite users were notified about their closure. However, I never received any notification.
According to Wikipedia, Adbrite had 160 million unique U.S. visitors. Although it is not specified how much it made annually, it probably made many millions of dollars. Since most advertising networks have a payment threshold, most publishers who hadn’t reached the payment threshold may never get paid.
The shutdown of Adbrite showed how unreliable advertising networks can be as a source of income. If they decide to close today, you never know who to contact to claim your money. Google Adsense can also terminate your account without any explanation and there is nothing the CCMA can do to help you. It is therefore advisable for entrepreneurs to find many different ways to make money online and not solely rely on advertising revenue as their source of income.
