FAQs

Getting Started

What is SHE Media?

We help publishers and influencers monetize their content and grow their audience. But please don’t lump us in the category of ad network, we are so much more than that!

Beyond just managing ads, we invest in every area of your business by sharing our expertise and insights so that holistically, you succeed for the long haul. Our goal is for you, our partner, to sit back and let our dedicated support team integrate, optimize, and run your ads as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Our members are also given exclusive opportunities to participate in sponsored campaigns and to speak at BlogHer events, designed to help take their brand to the next level.

Find out more on who we are and what your partnership includes here.

Why should I choose to work with the SHE Media Collective?

With our full-service management services, you can rest easy knowing you’re monetizing your content in the most efficient way possible. Due to the size of our collective, our scale opens doors to the best programmatic exchanges — we’re partnered with over a dozen of them; and our sales team provides members with high CPM direct sold campaigns.

In addition to display ads, collective members can participate in additional opportunities with video outstream ads, native ads, and even content recommendation tools. Our publisher support team is made up of bloggers, so we speak from experience, and we’re available to help, consult, and strategize.

Our relationship with SHE Media Partners goes much deeper than ad monetization. Our mission is to help content creators and entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses, and that is a long-game. As part of the Penske Media family, we care about the content.

We continue to work with top quality publishers to create content that matters, in order to reach a larger audience through expanding our educational programs and resources.

How do I apply for the SHE Media Collective?

Easy! Fill out the form here. We’ll receive your application and review it.

What are your requirements for approval?

• 20k+ page views per month

  • We look at sites on a case by case basis. If we see interesting content, consistent and frequent publication and recognize a strong potential for growth, we may approve sites that aren’t quite at this traffic level. That said, it’s important to understand that we set that limit to ensure our partners make revenue, as 20k+ pvs/mo is the sweet spot we see sites begin to make money with us. If you are accepted into the collective, but aren’t quite there, the revenue you make with us will be minimal to start.

• Consistent publishing of original, high-quality content

• Your site must be able to support our ad products

• A good track record with all Google ad products and platforms

• Sites must be brand safe and at least 90 days old

• Higher percentage US-based traffic and 5% or less IVT

• Additional editorial guidelines, like no hate speech and such

• Exclusivity to both your mobile and desktop ad inventory (affiliate links/banners are fine!)

Why do you require the exclusivity of my ad inventory?

There are several reasons.

First, we’ve negotiated rates with our ad providers based on exclusive placement, both from programmatic exchanges and our direct sold campaigns. Without exclusivity, we can’t include you in those premium dollar deals.

In certain cases, providers use the same demand sources. So when a site is using multiple providers, it’s hard to get the level of performance data needed to get you the highest price per impression.

When we’re managing 100% of your ad inventory, we can list your site with all exchanges at the same time, which allows us to have better control of the rates and ultimately get you the highest amount for each impression.

And remember, exclusivity with SHE Media only pertains to banner ads.

How long does it take to review my application?

It depends! We have a high volume of applicants each week, and all applications are reviewed on an individual basis by our support team, in order to verify our collective requirements and ensure that each new relationship is beneficial for all parties involved.

We take each application seriously and because of this, it can take 3-4 weeks for you to get a response.

Can SHE Media monetize my blog?

As long as your site runs on a platform that allows third-party advertising and supports ads.txt, the answer is YES!

When can I reapply if my site was rejected from the collective? My site has grown!

Our system won’t let you reapply until 6 months have passed from when your site was rejected from the Collective. We set a 6 month period to give you time to grow, market your blog - so that you’ll be accepted the next time you reapply.

If your site has blossomed in size before that six months is up, you can reach out to support@shemedia.com with a screenshot of your analytics (this cannot be photoshopped in any way) and we might reopen your application for evaluation. Or if you’ve changed your site to a platform that we can monetize (see the FAQ entry above), also reach out to support@shemedia.com to let us know.

Onboarding Questions

What are your standard ad placements?

Our support team will work with you to create an ad layout you are happy with. While customizations are possible, our most optimized ad layout is similar for all ours sites, regardless of content niche.

Adhesion Unit - These units appear along the bottom of your site, on both mobile and desktop. For more premium dollar campaigns, you may see a video play within this unit.

Sidebar Units - These units will appear on desktop only, and usually includes two. For viewability purposes, one unit would appear near the top and one at the very bottom. The best way to maximize revenue on the bottom sidebar unit is to make it sticky. Keeping your sidebar on the shorter side helps with user experience and monetization of your ad units.

Homepage Unit - Many sites in our collective aren’t the typical blogger sites, where homepages don’t typically drive much traffic. The homepage can tastefully contain one to two native units.

In Content Units - Every blog post should include banner ads throughout the content. We will set these up for you, and conservatively space them out for a better user experience. Depending on the length of your posts, these units have high viewability and drive considerable revenue for our partners.

Outstream Video - Our video unit typically yields the highest RPM of any other unit.

Recipe Card Unit (if applicable) - These units will appear inside of your recipe card, near the ingredients section. Data shows that users find ads that match the products on recipes helpful and good for user experience.

We’re happy to help you plan your ad layout —email us!

What is Infuse?

Infuse is our plugin for WordPress publishers that optimizes your ad layout, increases viewability, and keeps ads.txt files up to date. Not on WordPress? We’re happy to help you craft your ad strategy using Infuse.

Do I need the site badge?

Yes! Not only does the badge identify you as part of our collective, but it also contains important code to help SHE Media and your site remain GDPR and CCPA compliant - in that it offers links for residents in both areas to learn how to opt-out of personal information being shared, as well as a link to our collective’s privacy policy.

Is your ad code optimized for speed?

We keep our code optimized for the quickest load time possible and monitor code size constantly, all while looking for ways to optimize it even further to deliver the most revenue to our partners. We employ every modern technique to reduce its size and we're constantly working to improve it.

As a SHE Media Partner, you will be using a simple ad code script that uses asynchronous ad delivery to optimize your viewability. Unlike a waterfall ad system, ours conducts a live auction for each of your ad spaces on every page load, making sure your ads are earning the highest possible CPMs for each impression.

With over 60% of the traffic to our collective coming from organic search, Google best practices for both SEO & advertising is something we pay careful attention to. We know that site speed is very important but it’s just one out of hundreds of factors that Google’s search algorithm takes into account when ranking a domain.

We are constantly optimizing our ad code and adjusting our provider list in order to maximize available speed. Keep in mind that web pages with ads will always load slower than ones without, but Boomerang is designed from the ground up to operate asynchronously. This means that the content loads first while the ads load in the background - so that visitors see your content right away. That’s the most important factor in site speed.

Billing Questions

When will I be paid?

We send payment two months after the close of the month when the revenue was earned. So for example, ad revenue earned in January is paid on the last day of March. This also applies to any Beyond the Banner revenue earned, such as influencer campaigns or bonuses.

We do not withhold any funds for taxes, but we will provide you with a 1099 if you are paid $600 or more within one calendar year.

When will I get my 1099 for my taxes?

U.S. based partners (or those paying taxes in the U.S.) who are paid $600 or more in a calendar year will receive a 1099 the following January. Please note that this is revenue paid, not earned, and will typically include ad revenue earned from November of one year through October of the next as those are paid out from Jan through Dec.

How will I be paid?

All U.S. based partners must be paid through Direct Deposit/ACH (or if no ACH is possible, then through check). All International partners must be paid through PayPal.

If the country you reside in cannot receive PayPal payments, you are not eligible to join the collective.

Contract Questions

How long is my contract with SHE Media?

Publisher contracts are 12 months, automatically renewing at the end of each term unless we receive notice of termination. We do allow publishers to give notice ahead of time to leave 60-days prior to the contract renewal date at any time.

Please let us know before removing your ad code so we can properly close you out from our systems and cash you out for any money owed.

Can I have a shorter contract?

Contracts are set at 12 months for several reasons. We pride ourselves on a holistic approach in working with our publishing partners. Our traffic minimums are intentionally lower than some of our competitors to more closely align with our mission to support small business and truly help them grow.

We also aim to match SHE Media Partners with influencer campaigns and Meaningful Marketplaces and these have set flight dates. In order to made good on our work with brands, as well as publishers, we ask for at least a 60-day notice should you terminate.

How can I cancel my partnership?

If you’re unhappy as a SHE Media publishing partner, you can email the Support Team at any time, request to be released from your contract 60-days prior to your contract end date and then remove our ad code on the termination date given to you by SHE Media’s team. Otherwise, your contract will automatically renew for a new term. We’re always available to discuss your contract, never hesitate to reach out!

Can I just take the BlogHer ad code down without notifying SHE Media?

We’d really prefer if you didn’t. While we hate to see you go, we’d rather get your account situated for you, the right way. This entails updating our various systems, removing you from newsletter communications and closing out your payment information.

We appreciate partners who honor the contract and give us a 60-day termination notice.

I have a question about contracts that isn’t listed here, how can I get in touch with someone to help me?

Yes! You can contact us here for any questions regarding SHE Media Contracts.