Monetize Web Stories
Web Stories delight new and existing users while providing opportunities for you to monetize your content. This guide outlines ways to make money through Web Story creation. It will help you navigate the various options available to find which ones best fit your needs
Programmatic Display Ads
Web Stories, at their core, are web pages. Like web pages, they are able to embed display ads within them. Unlike classic web pages, display ads in Web Stories are immersive, full screen, and do not distract users from your story content.
The easiest way to get a display ad to appear on your Web Story is to use an ad network. An ad network serves as a go-between for Web Story creators and advertisers. An ad network collects all your advertisable Web Story impressions and clicks, then offers them to be bid on by an advertiser. The advertiser then pays the creator for the right to show the ad in their Web Story.
Ads are placed strategically in Web Stories to create a seamless and enjoyable experience. Because of this, you are unable to choose how many programmatic display ads appear in a single story. However, a longer Web Story typically creates more opportunities for ad placement.
Supporting Ad Networks
As the Web Story platform grows, so does the number of available ad networks. The following ad networks currently support Web Stories:
Once you’ve set up an account with your preferred ad network, you can configure your Web Stories to display ads through your creation tool. We encourage you to refer to your creation tool’s documentation for the most accurate steps.
Ensure you check for ads in your Web Stories on desktop and mobile. It may take some time before you start seeing ads served, so don’t worry if you don’t immediately start seeing ads in your Web Stories. It depends on a number of factors, such as the age of the account and prominence of the domain.
Direct Sold Ads
Display custom creative built within Ad Manager through direct sold ads. Direct sold ads appear the same as programmatic ads to users, but require some technical and design experience to set up. If you’re interested in including direct sold ads in your Web Stories, refer to Google Ad Manager’s documentation.
Affiliate and outlinks
You can place links within your Web Story that redirect the readers elsewhere. These links could be to a subscription page, a membership platform, or an affiliate link to a shopping site. There are two ways to embed links into your Web Story:
- The page attachment feature. This allows users to swipe up from the bottom of the Web Story page and open a web page from within the story.
- Links embedded directly into the Web Story page. Ensure you highlight these links and include calls to action to get readers attention.
While links are engaging and generate revenue, avoid overusing them. Including links on every page of your Web Story can fatigue users and detract from the storytelling experience. Ensure your links are placed cohesively and blend with your content so that they don’t appear out of place or forced.
House ads and Sponsored Brand Deals
If you want to highlight your own product, or a sponsored brand deal, you may style an individual page within your story to appear like an ad. This gives you total control over ad placement, how many ads, and the ad appearance. You can choose to have it blend in with the aesthetics of your story, or style it differently so it stands out. The choice is yours!
Derivative ad traffic
An often overlooked aspect of monetization with Web Stories is the incremental traffic they drive and impacts downstream monetization. If a user that wouldn’t normally land on your site comes across your Web Story, then clicks through to your site, any ads shown on your site are attributed back to the referral source of traffic - the Web Story.
