PubStar.io Review: The Best Ad Network for App Monetization

App developers and publishers often struggle to balance offering free apps while generating revenue. Since most users favor free apps, monetizing through paid downloads is typically rigorous. While subscription models sometimes work, retention is tricky. In most cases, in-app advertising becomes the key means through which publishers approach monetization. 

According to Statista, over seven billion mobile users worldwide are spending more time on their devices than ever before, mobile app advertising is becoming an increasingly important component of any mobile app’s success. In fact, mobile ad expenditure has grown dramatically over the last decade and is expected to reach about $400 billion in 2024.

The Harsh Truth: Why Most Developers Are Losing Ad Revenue

Let’s face it, millions of apps exist on Google Play and the App Store, making visibility without a marketing budget a challenge— for most app developers and publishers, user acquisition costs are high and too much of a risk if you are starting out and have not yet partnered with an ad network. For developers who do have ad network(s) to do the heavy lifting for them, there is this constant strain to contend with crashing eCPMs and inconsistent fill rates— after all, most ad networks favor advertisers over publishers. Sound familiar?  Tired of delayed payments, low-quality ads, and unstable eCPMs? Have you faced AdMob suspensions or sudden revenue drops? Try PubStar. But of course, you don’t have to take our word for it. To make things simple, we have delved into the platform’s ins and outs to present a detailed PubStar review for all app developers and publishers.

Why Traditional Ad Networks Fail in 2025 & How Pubstar.io can Fix It

Have you noticed a significant decline in the performance of traditional ad networks compared to five or seven years ago? Several factors contribute to this shift. Many traditional networks still rely on outdated, intrusive ad formats like banners and pop-ups, which disrupt user experience and drive engagement down. Additionally, the absence of high-performing formats like rewarded ads—known for boosting retention and engagement—further limits revenue potential. To make matters worse, traditional networks often have a limited pool of advertisers, leading to low fill rates and wasted ad inventory.

Meanwhile, mobile app users remain among the most engaged digital audiences, making in-app advertising a powerful monetization tool. Research shows that in-app ads achieve a CTR of 0.56% compared to just 0.23% for mobile web ads, and they offer three times higher conversion rates than traditional ads. With such clear advantages, maximizing in-app ad revenue should be a priority for developers and publishers.

This is where PubStar comes in. By addressing the limitations of traditional ad networks, PubStar offers a smarter, more profitable way to monetize your app with better ad formats and premium demand sources. Here's how:

What is PubStar?

PubStar.io is an all-in-one platform that works with every type of publisher and app developer offering multiple ad formats that are responsive for all mobile devices. The platform’s flexible array of ad formats include: Video Instream, Outstream, Display Banner, Sticky Banners, Interstitial, Native Ads, Reward Ads, Audio Ads, and Open Ads for Apps. 

So now you can just say goodbye to working with bad ads! PubStar’s premium Header Bidding wrapper ensures the highest bids for your inventory through premium DSPs and RTB sources. Strong competition between multiple demands from direct advertisers, agencies, leading DSPs, and RTB sources means higher revenue at incremental CPMs. What’s not to like? This ad network is built for developers like you. So let’s delve in further and unpack the platform’s key features and capabilities.

PubStar.io Features & Capabilities (Why It Is the Future of App Monetization)

• Global Monetization: PubStar has high-demand advertisers across Tier 1 & global markets, ensuring top fill rates for all regions.
  
• Competitive CPM Rates: PubStar offers competitive CPMs ($3–$25), outperforming many traditional networks.
  
• Flexible Ad Formats: PubStar’s high-performing formats first like Rewarded Ads and Interstitials drive higher engagement, retention, and revenue for app publishers. Rewarded Ads enhance user interaction by offering in-app incentives, leading to higher completion rates and improved user satisfaction. Meanwhile, Interstitial Ads, strategically placed between content transitions, capture full-screen attention without disrupting the user experience.
  
• Better Earnings: PubStar is a publisher-first platform, not one that prioritizes advertisers. A smarter ad-serving system that maximizes eCPMs and pays on time, helping you earn more efficiently, and consistently.
  
• Quicker Payouts: Get paid twice as fast as industry standards! Net-30 payouts mean faster earnings and better cash flow.
• Effortless Integration: No headaches setting up multiple ad providers either.
• Video Monetization: With video monetization, building brand awareness through engagement-based videos ad units can help users stay longer on the app and directly generate more monetization opportunities for publishers.
• Premium DSPs: Publishers can take advantage of PubStar’s premium demand to monetize traffic and fully optimized ad delivery.
• Header Bidding Wrapper: Their real-time analytics and efficient integrations allow publishers to get the most of each impression.
• Full Transparency & Real-time Analytics: You control your earnings, ad formats, and reports to thoroughly understand your campaigns and maximize your revenue potential.
• 24/7 Customer Support: Pubstar offers 24/7 dedicated support to ensure you are connecting to all potential demands and optimizing the ad performance by keeping up-to-date.

PubStar Review: Ad Formats

• Video Instream: These are ads that play before, during, or after video content within an app or website. Video instream ads are typically skippable or non-skippable and are widely used on platforms like YouTube, streaming apps, and video-based websites.
• Outstream Ads: These are video ads that appear outside of traditional video players, meaning they can play within text content, social feeds, or even between app screens. Unlike instream ads, they don’t require existing video content to run, making them ideal for apps and websites that are not video-focused.
• Display Banner Ads: They are one of the most common and non-intrusive ad formats, offering steady revenue without significantly disrupting the user experience.
• Sticky Banners: Sticky Banners are display ads that remain fixed in position while users scroll through an app or website. Unlike traditional banners that move with content, sticky banners stay visible, ensuring higher viewability and engagement.
• Interstitials: Full-screen ads that appear at natural transition points in an app, such as between levels in a game, after completing a task, or when switching screens. These ads provide higher engagement and revenue compared to standard banner ads because they capture the user’s full attention.
• Native Ads: Ads that blend seamlessly into an app’s content and design, making them feel like a natural part of the user experience.
• Rewarded Ads: Rewarded ads are user-initiated ads that offer in-app rewards in exchange for watching a video or interacting with an ad. These ads are popular in gaming, education, and utility apps, as they enhance engagement while providing a non-intrusive monetization strategy.
• Audio Ads: Ads delivered through audio content such as music streaming apps, podcasts, and radio platforms
• Open Ads for Apps: A full-screen ad format that appears when users open or switch back to an app.

PubStar Dashboard Overview

Let’s look at the publisher dashboard next in this PubStar review. At a snapshot, the dashboard makes it easy to manage payments, track ad performance, analyze reports—all in one place. It is designed to keep things simple and organized, so you can quickly check your earnings, monitor transactions, and see how your ads are performing. 

• Apps: The Apps section of the PubStar Dashboard basically displays all apps linked to a publisher or app developer's account. It provides an organized view of all registered applications, allowing you to manage and track your ad performance.
• Payment Orders (Wallet Section): This is where PubStar displays a list of completed and pending payments. Users can find transaction details including Payment Method, Amount, Order Time, and Estimated Payment time. It is easy to filter payment history by date range and apply data filters for refined searches.
• Reports Section: Provides detailed insights into ad performance, including CPM (Cost Per Mille) and total impressions for a selected date range. The visual graphs track CPM fluctuations and impression trends, helping users spot revenue-driving patterns. Additionally, a breakdown by date, app, ad unit type, impressions, revenue, and CPM offers a clear performance overview.
• Additional Features: The dashboard allows data export for further analysis. Details of your account manager are listed for support and assistance.

PubStar Review: Publisher Eligibility

As a publisher, you should ideally have a minimum of 100k monthly visitors or 300k monthly pageviews. This entry level publisher traffic threshold is often recommended for a certain level of data to kick in for the optimization process to get started. Also, this threshold can benefit both the parties as this is a good starting point for scaling the website revenue.

Typically, for successful mobile app monetization, traffic requirements for monetization as a general rule of thumb is as follows:

• Small Apps (Less than 10,000 DAUs): Works best with high-engagement formats like rewarded ads.
• Mid-Sized Apps (10,000 - 50,000 DAUs): Can generate decent earnings ($200–$2,000/month depending on engagement & eCPMs). They require a mix of ad formats (banner, interstitial, rewarded).
• Large Apps (50,000 - 500,000+ DAUs): Can generate consistent, scalable revenue ($5,000–$50,000+/month).

PubStar CPM Rates

CPM rates, or rates based on Cost Per Thousand impressions, are determined by multiple factors, some of which include ad format, audience demographics, and niche industry. Although PubStar offers industry-competitive CPM rates, they will undoubtedly vary from publisher to publisher depending on a number of circumstances.

PubStar Review: Payment and Payout Info

PubStar offers one of the fastest payment terms in the industry, paying all publishers on a Net-30 basis.

PubStar Key Facts

• Better ad control with real-time, granular insights
• No complex setup process
• Premium Header Bidding tech
• Quick net-30 payouts

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The Bottom Line

This concludes our PubStar review. Whether you’re dealing with unstable CPMs, struggling with ad suspensions, or simply looking to boost your ad revenue, Pubstar.io provides a modern, efficient, and publisher-friendly approach to mobile app monetization. If you want better control, higher earnings, and a seamless ad experience, the platform is definitely worth considering. With premium ad formats like Rewarded Ads, Interstitials, and Video Instream, plus access to high-demand DSPs and real-time analytics, PubStar maximizes eCPMs and ensures steady revenue for app developers and publishers around the globe.

PubStar Testimonials from the Web

"My app’s eCPM increased by 45% in just three months after switching to PubStar. Their high-performing ad formats and strong demand sources made a huge difference!" 

– Jake M., Mobile Game Developer

"With PubStar’s Rewarded Ads, my user retention improved by 30%, and ad revenue nearly doubled. My users actually engage with ads instead of skipping them!" 

– Samantha R., Productivity App Publisher

"I struggled with low fill rates on other networks, but PubStar boosted my ad fill rate to 98%, significantly reducing wasted inventory and increasing my overall earnings."

– David L., Finance App Creator

"AdMob banned my account. Pubstar.io replaced my revenue & boosted eCPMs by 45% in 3 months."

– Melissa K., News & Media App Publisher