In This Guide
Most ad arbitrage guides assume you have $5,000 to spend. This one doesn't. You can start a real ad arbitrage operation with $100 — if you choose the right platform, the right niche, and the right monetization from day one.
This guide gives you the exact playbook: where to buy traffic for under $0.15 per click, which ad networks pay the most for your pageviews, and a realistic 30-day plan to your first profitable campaign.
What Is Ad Arbitrage (In Plain English)
Ad arbitrage is simple: you buy website traffic from a cheap source, send it to content that monetizes through display ads or affiliate offers, and earn more from the monetization than you spent on the traffic.
The golden rule: Revenue Per Visitor (RPV) must exceed Cost Per Click (CPC). If you pay $0.10 per click and earn $0.15 per visitor in display revenue, you're profitable. Scale that to 100,000 visitors and you have a business.
The Three-Part Model
Buy cheap traffic
Purchase clicks from native ad networks (Taboola, MGID, Revcontent), social platforms (Facebook), or push networks (PropellerAds). Target: $0.03-0.20 per click for US traffic.
Monetize with display ads
Place ads from Google AdSense, Ezoic, or premium networks (Mediavine, Raptive) on your content. Each pageview earns $0.005-0.050+ depending on your niche and network.
Optimize the gap
Profit lives in the spread between what you pay for clicks and what you earn per visitor. Data-driven optimization — better content, targeting, ad placement — widens this gap over time.
The Math: How $100 Becomes Profit
Here's a real example of how arbitrage math works at the beginner level:
$100 Budget: Realistic Campaign Math
| Metric | Conservative | Optimistic |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | $100 | $100 |
| Platform | MGID (native) | PropellerAds (push) |
| Avg. CPC | $0.05 | $0.03 |
| Clicks purchased | 2,000 | 3,333 |
| Bounce rate | 70% | 65% |
| Engaged visitors | 600 | 1,167 |
| Pages per session | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| Total pageviews | 780 | 1,750 |
| AdSense RPM | $8 | $10 |
| Revenue | $6.24 | $17.50 |
| Profit/Loss | -$93.76 (test data) | -$82.50 (test data) |
At this scale, you're losing money — that's expected. The $100 buys you data, not profit. You learn which headlines, content formats, and traffic sources perform best. Use that data to improve your next $100 spend.
"Jon," a beginner arbitrageur documented online, started with $100 running native ads to a health content blog. He earned $50/day within a month, reinvested profits, hired a content writer, and scaled to $500/day in 3 months. The $100 was tuition, not profit.
The Facebook arbitrage model: with $10 in ad spend at $0.10-0.30 CPC driving 1,000 visitors, if 5% click AdSense ads at $0.40 average CPC, you earn $20 + $1 in impressions = $21 from $10 spent — 110% profit margin.
Traffic Sources You Can Start With $100
PropellerAds — Best for $100 Budgets
PropellerAds accepts a minimum deposit of $100 (credit card). It covers 195+ countries with push notifications, popunders, and interstitial formats. The platform is explicitly designed for beginners alongside large teams spending tens of thousands per day.
MGID — Best for Native Ads on $100
MGID accepts a $100 minimum deposit with a minimum daily campaign budget of $50. For tier-2 countries, minimum CPC is $0.01. For US traffic, expect $0.015-0.10 per click — very accessible for beginners.
Revcontent — Budget Native Alternative
Revcontent offers lower CPCs than Taboola and Outbrain, making it ideal for aggressive testing with a limited budget. It's a strong starting point before moving to the larger native networks once you have a winning campaign formula validated.
NewsBreak — Underrated Low-CPC Source
NewsBreak is an underrated traffic source that costs approximately $4 per 1,000 impressions — significantly below the $5-10 industry average for comparable native placements. Particularly strong for US local news and general interest content.
Facebook Ads — Highest Ceiling, Slower Start
Facebook allows campaigns starting at $5/day with CPCs ranging $0.10-0.80 for arbitrage content depending on targeting. The algorithm takes 3-7 days to optimize, so budget for at least 1-2 weeks of learning phase before judging performance.
Traffic Platform Comparison for $100 Budgets
| Platform | Min. Deposit | Min. CPC (US) | Best Format | Learning Curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PropellerAds | $100 | $0.02-0.08 | Push / Interstitial | Low |
| MGID | $100 | $0.015-0.10 | Native | Low |
| Revcontent | $100-500 | $0.03-0.12 | Native | Low-Medium |
| NewsBreak | $50 | ~$4 CPM | Native | Low |
| Facebook Ads | $0 (no min) | $0.10-0.80 | Image / Video | Medium |
| Taboola | $50/day min | $0.06-0.25 | Native | Medium-High |
| Outbrain | $50/day min | $0.08-0.30 | Native | Medium-High |
Monetization: Where the Revenue Comes From
Ad Networks by Traffic Requirement
Google AdSense — Start Immediately (No Minimum)
No minimum traffic requirement. Apply once you have 15-20 published articles. RPM: $5-15 for general content, $15-30 for high-value niches. Start here and upgrade as traffic grows.
Ezoic — Available from Day One
Ezoic removed their previous traffic minimum — you can apply immediately after your site is live with quality content. Pays 10-50% more than AdSense on average. Uses EPMV (Earnings Per Thousand Visitors): typically $5-12+. The most accessible premium network upgrade available.
Mediavine Journey — Entry Tier at 10K Sessions
Mediavine's entry-level program requires 10,000 monthly sessions and pays 15-30% more than AdSense. Easier to reach than main Mediavine (50K sessions). Apply here first as a stepping stone to the main program.
Mediavine — The Profitable Threshold
Requires 50,000 monthly sessions. RPM: $15-25+. Upgrading from AdSense to Mediavine on the same traffic can make previously breakeven campaigns profitable. This upgrade alone is often the biggest unlock in arbitrage.
Raptive (AdThrive) — Premium Tier
Requires 100,000 monthly pageviews. RPM: $20-40+. Only 15% of applicants are accepted. The highest payouts available for display-only monetization.
The 30-Day $100 Starter Plan
Your First 30 Days
Days 1-7: Build the Foundation (No Ad Spend)
Write 10 articles in a single high-value niche (finance, health, insurance, or home improvement). Each article 1,500+ words, original, and providing genuine value. Apply for Google AdSense. Set up Google Analytics. Total cost: $0 if you write yourself, ~$50-100 if you outsource.
Days 8-14: First Traffic Test ($50)
Launch one campaign on MGID or PropellerAds with $50. Test 3 different headlines for your best-performing article. Budget $15-20 per headline variant. Monitor CTR (> 0.3% is good), bounce rate (target < 70%), and pages per session (target > 1.3). This is data collection, not profit chasing.
Days 15-21: Optimize and Scale ($30)
Kill the 2 underperforming headline variants. Allocate the remaining $30 to the winning headline. If bounce rate is high, rewrite the article opening. If pages per session is low, add internal links and a "related articles" section — each additional page viewed is another ad impression earned.
Days 22-30: Analyze and Plan
Calculate your RPV (total revenue ÷ total visitors) and CPC (total spend ÷ total clicks). If RPV > CPC, you're profitable — plan to scale. If not, identify which variable to improve: better content, different niche, better headlines, different traffic source.
5 Niches That Work at Small Budgets
Beginner-Friendly High-RPM Niches
Personal Finance
Sub-topics: savings accounts, credit scores, budgeting apps. AdSense RPM: $15-50. The most monetizable niche in display advertising. Finance advertisers pay 5-10x more per impression than entertainment.
Health & Wellness
Sub-topics: sleep health, joint pain, blood sugar management. AdSense RPM: $3-8 average, up to $20 for high-intent sub-topics. Enormous audience. Weight loss, supplements, and mental wellness are strong sub-niches.
Home Improvement
Sub-topics: cost guides ("how much does X cost"), DIY projects, contractor tips. RPM: $12-25. Strong affiliate potential alongside display ads. Clear buyer intent audience.
Auto & Car Ownership
Sub-topics: car maintenance costs, used car buying guides, insurance comparisons. RPM: $15-30. Large search volume, strong insurance affiliate potential. Works well with native ad angles.
Career & Education
Sub-topics: remote work, salary negotiation, online certifications. RPM: $10-22. Huge audience of job-seekers. High intent traffic that engages deeply with content.
What to avoid: Entertainment and celebrity content earns $0.50-3 RPM — you need virtually free traffic ($0.001-0.003 per visitor) to profit. Finance and insurance at $15-50 RPM gives you room to pay $0.01-0.05 per visitor and still win.
Pages-Per-Session: Your Hidden Profit Lever
Most beginners focus on CPC (traffic cost) and RPM (display revenue rate) while ignoring a third variable that can double your earnings without spending more: pages per session.
Each additional page a visitor views earns another round of ad impressions. If your average RPM is $15 and the average visitor reads 1 page, you earn $0.015 per visitor. If they read 2 pages, you earn $0.030. If 3 pages, $0.045 — 3x the revenue from the same click cost.
How to Increase Pages Per Session
Slideshows and multi-page formats
"10 Finance Mistakes (Page 1 of 10)" naturally creates multiple pageviews per visitor. Each click to the next slide = another ad impression. This format is used extensively by high-RPV arbitrage sites.
Quizzes with result pages
A quiz like "What's Your Investment Style?" generates 5-8 page loads: question pages + result page + recommended content page. Each load triggers ads. Quiz engagement time is also much higher, improving session duration.
Strong internal linking
Every article should link to 3-5 related articles on your site. Use a "You might also like" widget powered by Ezoic or Mediavine's recommendation engine — these can increase pages per session by 30-50%.
Related articles widgets
Both Taboola Feed (publisher version) and Outbrain Engage run content recommendation widgets that you install on your site. They show related content from both your site and external sources — keeping visitors on your pages longer.
When to Scale (And How to Do It Safely)
Scaling too fast is how arbitrageurs lose money. Increasing daily budget by more than 20-30% per day triggers ad platform algorithms to push ads to lower-quality placements.
Safe Scaling Milestones
| Monthly Budget | RPV Target | Network Upgrade | Expected Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100-500 | Any positive margin | AdSense or Ezoic | Testing phase — expect small losses |
| $500-1,500 | RPV > CPC × 1.15 | Ezoic or Mediavine Journey | 5-15% margin |
| $1,500-5,000 | RPV > CPC × 1.25 | Mediavine Journey or Mediavine | 15-25% margin |
| $5,000+ | RPV > CPC × 1.30 | Mediavine or Raptive | 25-40% margin |
Know Your Margins Before You Spend
ArbHunter's niche analysis scores verticals by arbitrage potential — showing you expected RPM ranges vs. typical traffic costs so you know if a campaign is worth trying.
$100 is enough to run your first test and collect real data. It's not enough to become profitable immediately — expect to spend $300-500 total before you find a campaign that works. The $100 is tuition. Treat it that way and you'll extract maximum learning value from every dollar.
What is Ad Arbitrage?
Deepen your understanding with the complete guide on this topic.
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ArbHunter Content TeamArbHunter’s editorial team publishes data‑backed guides, case studies, and expert insights on ad arbitrage.
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