{"id":44638,"date":"2026-05-31T16:25:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsterra.com\/blog\/?p=44638"},"modified":"2026-06-04T19:27:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:27:01","slug":"earning-from-posting-local-news-case-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogdev.adsterratech.com\/blog\/earning-from-posting-local-news-case-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Earning from Posting Local News: $11,000 on an Indonesian News Site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Edi earns from posting local news, generating massive page views and ad impressions. He\u2019s going to unveil his tactics for revenue generation and mistakes he made trying to earn bigger. You\u2019ll learn why the Politics topic can become a financial trap for news-makers, and how Edi managed to hit $11,000 monthly revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Earning from posting local news in Indonesia: Core data<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Category<\/strong><\/th>Value<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Niche<\/td>Local News (Economy, Society, Culture, Politics)<\/td><\/tr>
Daily pageviews (two websites)<\/td>3,000,000+<\/td><\/tr>
Main traffic sources (countries)<\/td>Indonesia (ID), the United States (US)<\/td><\/tr>
Average Smartlink CPM <\/td>$0.3<\/td><\/tr>
Average Native Banner CPM <\/td>$0.2 \u2013 $0.7 (volatile rates)<\/td><\/tr>
Monthly revenue \u2014 Month 1<\/td>$1,400 (Native Banner only)<\/td><\/tr>
Monthly revenue \u2014 Month 7<\/td>$11,500 (Smartlink added)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Disclaimer<\/summary>\n

The story was translated by the Adsterra Content team. We had to depersonalize web screenshots and erase sensitive data to protect the publisher\u2019s privacy. We tried to keep the copy authentic but may have misinterpreted local names or slang. Please be tolerant of this.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

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Background: Why Indonesian news niche differs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I want to start this story with an uncomfortable truth: Indonesian news and politics traffic is both an opportunity and a trap.

The opportunity is obvious. Indonesia is the world’s third-largest democracy, and we are intensely engaged with economy and political news, especially during regional elections (Pilkada), parliamentary sessions, and national policy debates. 

The trap is also real. News content containing politics often get flagged if you post biased opinions or veer into propaganda. Buzzing has become a part of our lives, and if you want to monetize with an ad network, keep away from this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Adsterra\u2019s editor note: Buzzing is a content distribution technique becoming popular across Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Individuals and teams are paid to create and share political propaganda online. Buzzers promote candidates and parties, often creating havoc and disinformation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Why choose a global ad network<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Adsterra is a monetization platform for global traffic. They accept news, entertainment, gaming, and all sorts of traffic unless it violates their terms of inappropriate content. When I applied in early 2024, they reviewed my sites, confirmed the content was legitimate journalism, and approved my domain. No grey-zone categorization and no money cuts that slashed my effective CPM<\/a> (eCPM). Just clean rates for clean news traffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Adsterra\u2019s editor note: <\/em>Inappropriate content<\/em><\/a> is (but not limited to) the content which promotes violence, discrimination, illegal activities, aimed at political ends, both party political advertising and political advocacy\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

FIND BEST-MATCHING ADS<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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My news website background and audience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I run two sites. The first covers Central Java political news and municipal governance, and it\u2019s very local and niche. The second is a broader Indonesian current affairs site that covers national-level news: ministry announcements, parliamentary decisions, and Indonesia’s foreign policy posture. The national affairs site gets more raw traffic, but the local site gets more engaged traffic with longer session durations.

Political news traffic is heavily weighted toward weekday morning hours (7\u201310 AM Jakarta time) when people check news before work, and evening hours (8\u201310 PM) during major political developments. Understanding this temporal pattern was critical to my ad format decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Earnings from posting local Indonesian news by country<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Combined, my pages generate 30\u201335M monthly ad views. My audience is primarily 25\u201350 years old, predominantly male, mostly from Indonesian cities, but I also monetize the US, Malaysia, the UK, and Pakistan traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"monthly-earnings-from-posting-local-news-in-indonesia\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My readers access the sites on Android mobile devices, and mobile CPMs are usually higher. The desktop audience is smaller but proportionally more engaged \u2014 these are people who read my long-form analyses in full, not just the headline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top countries<\/strong><\/td>Impressions<\/strong><\/td>CPM<\/strong><\/td>Revenue<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Indonesia<\/td>30,815,550<\/td>$0.333<\/td>$10,273.57<\/td><\/tr>
United States<\/td>329,987<\/td>$0.983<\/td>$324.24<\/td><\/tr>
United Kingdom<\/td>165,600<\/td>$0.627<\/td>$103.77<\/td><\/tr>
Malaysia<\/td>129,638<\/td>$0.696<\/td>$90.20<\/td><\/tr>
Pakistan<\/td>275,836<\/td>$0.315<\/td>$86.85<\/td><\/tr>
Japan<\/td>161,400<\/td>$0.508<\/td>$82.01<\/td><\/tr>
Turkey<\/td>404,057<\/td>$0.152<\/td>$61.35<\/td><\/tr>
India<\/td>365,648<\/td>$0.098<\/td>$35.77<\/td><\/tr>
Korea, Republic of<\/td>64,331<\/td>$0.530<\/td>$34.10<\/td><\/tr>
Sweden<\/td>20,422<\/td>$1.442<\/td>$29.46<\/td><\/tr>
Total<\/td>33,512,164<\/td>$0.340<\/td>$11,404.47<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n
MONETIZE ANY GEO<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Why I chose Smartlinks, not Pop Ads or Banners<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Smartlink<\/a><\/strong> was the format I was most skeptical about before trying it. I assumed that news readers (they take content seriously) would resent anything that opens a new ad page while they are reading an important article.

The key insight my Adsterra account manager shared was that Smartlink for news content works well specifically because advertising is detached from the content and opens in a new tab. The same principle works on Pop ads, but they act too fast, when users hover any area on the page. Smartlink requires a click. But my manager stopped me from placing the Link inside articles\u2019 content, as it could mislead readers. We agreed to include links in the service information below articles, sections between blog categories, and also on the main page in the Special Offers section.\u00a0

Native Banners<\/a> <\/strong>are something I started with. It seemed they were the most suitable for news readers. And they are, but I could only place them in the sidebar and between news categories.\u00a0

Honestly, I can\u2019t name the reason people clicked them less. But when I added Smartlinks, the situation changed drastically.\u00a0

This screenshot clearly illustrates the difference in revenue performance between placements. Native Ads deliver higher CPMs (averaging $0.6 with a peak of $2), but Smartlinks ultimately generate more impressions, driving the overall revenue success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"revenue-split-across-smartlink-and-native-placements\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The election-season and major holidays peaks are very real. During Pilkada season and holidays, Indonesian CPMs rise because advertisers, including local businesses, target topically-engaged audiences. My September\u2013October peak of $21,888 was almost 50% above my normal monthly average (the same was in May, the year before). This is a structural advantage of local news: predictable, cyclical revenue spikes tied to government public activities, society reactions, and special events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"indonesian-entertainment-website-peak-revenue\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lessons I learned when developing a local news website<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Build authority in a specific region or beat, not “all news”<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are hundreds of Indonesian national news aggregators. The sites that win are hyper-local or hyper-topical. My Central Java site dominates its niche because I’m covering certain municipal council decisions in detail. I heard from my friend\u2019s son that teachers use them in civic education classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Invest in writer credibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I publish with author bylines that include a short biography. For news in Indonesia, readers want to know who is writing. Anonymous political commentary is everywhere, and it’s trusted less. Even a simple author box with a photo and a two-sentence background creates trust signals that keep readers subscribed to your content. And that\u2019s important for SEO<\/a> (E-E-A-T).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Target the 6\u20139 AM and 19\u201321 PM windows<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These are Indonesia’s peak news consumption windows. Publish your most important articles to be indexed before 7 AM WIB (draft them the evening before) and have your follow-up or analysis pieces ready for the evening window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Focus on local elections as evergreen traffic engines<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Indonesian Pilkada coverage generates search traffic for months after an election. People look up results, analyze outcomes, and read about incoming officials. This is evergreen traffic with a political trigger. Build archives of your election coverage with structured markup so they surface in search for the full post-election period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5. Add NewsArticle schema<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your site publishes news (including political news), NewsArticle is strongly recommended for visibility, trust, and eligibility in search engines. Google News, AI Overviews, and Discover rely heavily on structured data. The platform requires you to include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n