Update 2020
Before I even go ahead to pen this post, I think it would be important to point out that I am no longer using ezoic.
I ditched them and went back to Google Adsense.
What they did is that they offered me a seductive RPM at the beginning. But then that went south.
Never to recover.
My site speed was also compromised. And that affected my rankings.
Bottomline: Do not use ezoic, their speed accelerator or even that premium thing.
Ezoic Premium
One thing that I did not know about ezoic ad revenue is that it will go very low from January all the way to March.
In online ad networks, they call this the first quarter of the year, Q1.
It is usually small for everyone whether you are using ezoic, adsense, mediavine or adthrive.
Needless to say, it is a huge disappointment after the high income that you get in the last quarter of the year(that is October, November and December of the previous year).
So on February 6th, 2020 just as I was contemplating leaving Ezoic after seeing that my RPMs had gone so low,I receive an email from ezoic support that I have been selected to participate in ezoic premium.
Well, the email made me merry. The word ‘invite only’ makes me feel so special.
Structure of Ezoic Premium and What is Required of You
One thing that my readers need to know is that you do not join ezoic premium. You are invited. Unless you get that invite only email, then continue using the free version.
The premium version is divided into three main categories; each which has three additional tiers
- Starter Category: which has the basic, preferred and elite tiers.
Starter Basic–here you pay $14 per month and are assured of earning from $18 per month
Starter Preferred –here you pay $18 per month and are assured of earning from $26 to $34 per month
Starter Elite–here you pay $22 per month and are assured of earning from $33 to $42 per month
2. Growth Category which also has Basic, Preferred and Elite tiers
Growth Basic–here you pay $28 per month and are assured of earning from $36 to $43 per month
Growth Preferred here you pay $36 per month and are assured of earning from $52 $68 per month
Growth Elite here you pay $44 per month and are assured of earning from $68 to $83 per month
3. 3 Star Category which also has Basic, Preferred and Elite tiers
My Thoughts on the Premium Version
I went ahead to see the different reviews that were written online about the whole thing.
And so many writers were saying that the premium version had enabled them to earn more.
But all through I felt that there was a catch in all these.
For one, those people who had written rave reviews about ezoic premium were all affiliates of the program.
Maybe they were telling me to walk into it and use their affiliate links so that they could earn a commission for it.
Well, the other thing was that they were charging your credit card per month for using the premium version.
I am here to earn from online ads, not to pay to earn.
Luckily there was a trial version and I jumped into it.
However after the 7 days trial and my seeing that the premium version had not improved my earnings that much, I was not sold.
In total for the 7 days period that I used the premium version, I earned $21.73 and earned $40.52 from the normal free version. That was about $61 in total; not something to really write home about, right?
So I opted out and cancelled the subscription.
So currently, I am still using the free version of ezoic to post my ads.
My Honest Review of Ezoic Premium
If you are the type who believe that you need to part with some money so as to get more, then ezoic premium could be for you.
But you do not just into it, you have to wait to get that invite email.
To get invited, they have to see that you are attracting a good amount of impressions per month.
In my case, I was attracting about 20000 and I believe that was the reason why they sent me that email.
If you are like me though who believes that ad network programs should pay you rather than you paying them something to earn, then you can as well say goodbye to the premium version and continue using the free version as I am currently doing.
To be honest, ezoic has proved not to be what it promised. For one, I do not like the fact that they have been responsible for slowing my niche site and that their speed accelerator seems not to help that much.