This guide covers best practices for publishers across integration, ad setup, analytics, content, compliance, and video. Following these recommendations will help ensure your site is set up to maximize revenue, maintain compliance, and make the most of Ezoic's optimization tools.
Use JavaScript integration. JavaScript integration is Ezoic's recommended method for all publishers. It is lightweight, compatible with any hosting environment or CMS, and does not interfere with your existing speed stack.
Place the Ezoic JS snippet in the <head> of every page. The snippet must load on every page of your site, not just select templates. If your site uses a theme or CMS, confirm the snippet is injected globally. It should not be deferred, delayed, or conditionally loaded — doing so can prevent ads from serving correctly.
Exclude Ezoic domains from caching and script optimization plugins. If you use WP Rocket, Perfmatters, or similar tools, exclude the following from any delay, defer, or minify settings:
ezodn.comezoic.netezojs.comgatekeeperconsent.comAlso exclude googlesyndication.com from iframe lazy loading. Failing to do so can delay or block ad delivery, directly reducing EPMV.
Use one in-content placeholder per viewport. Place in-content placeholders at intervals that ensure one ad is visible per screen height as a user scrolls. This gives the system enough inventory to test combinations without overwhelming the page. On longer articles, this typically means placing placeholders every 300–400 words within the body content.
Give the system full range to test. Ezoic's machine learning makes better decisions with more data. Enable all available ad types — video, anchor, vignette, sticky sidebar, and any others available in your dashboard — and ensure placeholders cover a range of location types throughout your content. The more combinations the system can test across ad types, sizes, and positions, the more confident and accurate its optimization decisions will be. Restricting ad types or leaving large gaps in placeholder coverage limits what the system can learn and reduces its ability to maximize revenue.
Ensure placeholders are active on both desktop and mobile. Mobile and desktop audiences often behave differently, and the system needs independent data for each. Confirm that your placeholders have sizes enabled for both device types.
Ensure placeholders are live on your highest-traffic page templates. The system optimizes based on the data it collects, so placeholders need to be present on the pages that receive the most traffic. Confirm that your ad setup is active on article pages, category pages, and your homepage. Use BDA's Top Pages report to identify high-traffic pages where revenue is unexpectedly low — this often indicates a placeholder gap or an unintended exclusion rule.
Do not restrict ad sizes unnecessarily. The wider the range of ad sizes enabled on each placeholder, the more combinations the system can test. Avoid setting hard size restrictions unless there is a specific layout reason. Allow the system to determine which sizes perform best for each user and placement. Recommended sizes by device:
| Ad Size | Mobile | Desktop | Tablet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250×250 | All | All | All |
| 300×250 | All | All | All |
| 336×280 | All | All | All |
| 320×50 | All | — | — |
| 320×100 | All | — | — |
| 728×90 | — | In-Content | In-Content |
| 580×400 | — | In-Content | In-Content |
| 120×600 | All | Sidebar | — |
| 160×600 | All | Sidebar | Sidebar |
| 300×600 | All | Sidebar | Sidebar |
Connect first party data to ezID. If your site has a login system or you run a newsletter through an email service provider, send that data to ezID. First-party data signals (hashed emails) allow premium demand partners to bid with higher confidence. Identified users are essentially "VIPs" in the ad exchange, often commanding significantly higher CPMs than anonymous traffic. When a user's hashed email is passed to advertising partners, they can match that user to active campaigns and bid significantly higher for that impression.
Use Google One Tap if you aren't already collecting first-party data. If you don't have a site login or newsletter list, Google One Tap is the fastest way to start collecting first-party identity signals. It presents a low-friction sign-in prompt to Chrome users and automatically passes a hashed email to Ezoic Identity — no existing email list required. Publishers who have enabled Google One Tap report EPMV uplifts of 15–95% for identified users. Set it up via EzoicAds > Identity > Google One Tap.
Enable Revenue Testing and act on Revenue Opportunities. Navigate to EzoicAds > Rev. Opportunities to access Ezoic's data-backed recommendations for your site. Before opportunities can be measured, Revenue Testing must be active — if it isn't, you'll see an "Enable Revenue Testing" option at the top of the Auto Fix section. Once enabled, Ezoic tests select settings on approximately 1% of your traffic and measures the exact revenue uplift before recommending you apply the change site-wide. Recommendations marked "Tested" show the specific uplift measured on your site. Review this section regularly and use the "Update Recommendations" button periodically to ensure the AI is surfacing the most relevant optimizations for current advertiser demand.
Keep ads.txt current. Your ads.txt file must include all required Ezoic entries. Beyond compliance, a well-maintained ads.txt file supports supply path optimization — the process by which demand partners identify and prefer the most direct, efficient route to your inventory. A clean, accurate ads.txt signals to buyers that your supply chain is legitimate and transparent, which increases bid competition and CPMs. Check your ads.txt status in your Ezoic dashboard and update it whenever prompted.
Use Big Data Analytics as your primary performance tool. BDA is purpose-built for publishers monetizing with Ezoic and tracks dimensions that Google Analytics cannot — including EPMV, ad placeholder performance, engaged pageviews, and identity uplift. Make decisions based on BDA data rather than GA data wherever the two differ.
Track EPMV as your primary revenue metric. EPMV (Earnings Per Mille Visitors) measures revenue per 1,000 visitors across the full session, making it a more accurate performance signal than page RPM. Monitor EPMV week-over-week rather than day-to-day — daily fluctuation is normal and expected.
Use BDA to inform your content strategy. BDA's Content reports surface data that should directly shape what you write and how you structure it:
Use Ezoic's Consent Management Platform. A CMP is required for all Ezoic publishers. Ezoic's built-in CMP is purpose-built to work simultaneously with Ezoic's ad delivery, ensuring privacy compliance for CCPA and GDPR without disrupting monetization.
Complete your Site Information. Navigate to Settings > Content > Site Information and ensure your site name, site categories, and site description are filled out accurately. This information is used to match your site to curated ad campaigns from premium demand partners. Accurate IAB categories and a clear site description make your inventory more attractive to advertisers targeting specific audiences, directly improving bid competition and CPMs.
Link your privacy policy in your Ezoic dashboard. Ensure Ezoic's required disclosure snippet is included in your privacy policy and that the policy URL is entered in the Privacy section of your dashboard. This is required for monetization approval and ongoing compliance.
Enable Ezoic Video with Auto-Insert. Video ads generate additional revenue beyond standard display ads. Enable Auto-Insert in Ezoic Video > Player Settings > Settings to ensure a video player appears on all eligible pages automatically.
Connect your YouTube channel if you produce video content. Linking your YouTube channel and enabling Auto Import keeps Ezoic Video populated without manual uploads. Videos imported from YouTube carry over titles, descriptions, and thumbnails automatically.
Host your video channel on your own domain. Hosting your Ezoic Video channel on a subdomain of your site (e.g. videos.yoursite.com) keeps traffic and authority on your domain rather than open.video. Configure this via Ezoic Video > Customize Channel > Hosting.
Customize your channel page branding. Navigate to Ezoic Video > Customize Channel > Branding to update your channel logo and theme color to match your site's branding. A consistent visual identity across your site and video channel builds trust with viewers and improves the overall professionalism of your content presence.
Complete video metadata for all uploads. Add accurate titles, descriptions, content categories, and keywords to every video. This directly affects how your videos are matched to relevant pages across the Ezoic network, increasing views and video revenue. Check Ezoic Video > Opportunities for a list of videos with incomplete metadata.
Link your video channel URL in your site navigation or footer. Adding your Ezoic Video channel URL to your site's navigation or footer increases the discoverability of your video content and strengthens the connection between your site and your channel. This is surfaced as an actionable recommendation in Ezoic Video > Opportunities.