Description

PubExa is built on one number. In a real-world test, its slim scroll-in ad tab earned about 5.2% click-through where a standard display banner earned 0.49% — roughly 10× the clicks. The tab works because it flows with the story and slides in exactly when reader attention peaks, so people engage with it instead of scrolling past. For you that means more revenue from the traffic you already have. And there’s no ad code to paste: PubExa is a contextual ad network that matches ads to each page and pays you a share.

Visit the demo site — open it on your phone to watch the mobile ad tab slide in. On desktop you’ll see the content cards instead, since the tab is mobile-first by design.

PubExa puts modern, good-looking ads on your WordPress site — and lets you run your own promotions right alongside them — without touching a line of code. It’s built mobile-first, it stays out of your readers’ way, and your first ad can be live a few minutes after you activate it.

You’re in control from the very start: show only your own ads, join the PubExa network to earn, or blend both. No account is needed to install the plugin and run your own ads — you connect to the network only when you decide you want to start earning.

Mobile-first ad tabs

The signature format is a slim ad “tab” that slides in from the top of the screen as your reader scrolls, shows a single clean ad, and can be dismissed with one tap. It never covers your content, it appears only after the reader has scrolled a distance you choose, and you can switch on a second set at the bottom of the screen. On phones — where most of your traffic already is, and where ordinary banners feel heavy — this format stays light, native, and easy on the reader. The colors, opacity, animation, and spacing are all yours to set.

Native content and ad cards, right before the footer

Below your posts, PubExa can show a row or a column of clean image cards — the same kind of “you might also like” strip you see on large publisher sites. The difference is that you decide what goes in it: feature your own best articles, products, or offers as cards, and in Hybrid mode the network quietly fills the remaining slots with relevant paid ads. Your content and the ads share one natural, on-brand look, so the strip feels like a real part of your site rather than a banner bolted on top. It’s a simple way to keep readers moving through your site and earn at the same time.

Your own ads, no account required

Everything above works with ads you make yourself:

Text ads — a headline and two short lines, with your link.
Image banners — a 320×100 image, with your link.
Promo cards — image cards for the post-row and post-column strips.

Manage them all from a single screen: set each one active or paused, drag to reorder, and preview exactly how it looks before it goes live.

Optional: earn with the PubExa network

When you’re ready to earn, create a free publisher account, add your Site ID, and switch your source to Remote or Hybrid. Network ads use the very same placements you already set up — the tabs, the desktop unit, the cards — matched to the topic of each page, and you earn a revenue share. Everything else keeps working without an account.

What to expect, start to finish

Install and activate PubExa — a PubExa menu appears in your dashboard.
Open Local Ads and add your first ad: a text ad, or a 320×100 image, with the link you want.
(Optional) Open Cards and add a few image cards for the before-footer strip.
Choose where ads appear and how they look: the scroll-in tabs, the desktop [pubexa_ad] shortcode or Elementor widget, and the post-row / post-column cards.
Pick your ad source: Local (only your ads), Preview (test the look), Hybrid, or Remote.
(Optional) Add your Site ID to turn on network ads and start earning.

You’ll know exactly how the plugin looks and behaves before you ever join the network: set it up with your own ads first, then switch earning on whenever you like.

External services

This plugin connects to the PubExa ad network, an external service operated by PubExa LLC, in order to request ads and record ad events. This connection is required for the plugin’s core function of serving network advertising.

What is sent, and when:

When a page that contains a PubExa ad unit is viewed, the plugin sends an ad request to the PubExa ad server. The request includes: the page URL, page title, page language, the visible page headings (H1–H6), an anonymous first-party visitor identifier (stored in the pubexa_vid cookie), your site host, and the visitor’s IP address (used for fraud prevention and coarse country reporting).
When an ad is shown, clicked, or dismissed, the plugin sends an event (impression, click, or dismiss) with the associated delivery identifier so the event can be recorded.
If you choose “Remove and delete data” when deactivating, and optionally give a reason, the plugin sends a one-time anonymous feedback message to PubExa (https://pubexa.com/api/plugin-feedback). It includes only: the reason you typed, the plugin/WordPress/PHP versions, whether the site is multisite, and a random anonymous install identifier. No personal data, site URL, or account data is sent. This is optional telemetry and never blocks deactivation.

The ad server endpoint is the URL you configure in the plugin settings (the PubExa ad server). Use of the PubExa service is governed by the PubExa Advertiser and Publisher Terms of Service and Privacy Policy:

Publisher Terms of Service: https://info.pubexa.com/publisher-terms-of-service/
Advertiser Terms of Service: https://info.pubexa.com/advertiser-terms-of-service/
Privacy Policy: https://info.pubexa.com/privacy-policy/
Cookie Notice: https://info.pubexa.com/cookie-notice/

Installation

Upload the plugin to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory, or install it from the Plugins screen in WordPress.
Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
Go to the PubExa menu in the admin sidebar and enter your Site ID (create an account at https://pub.pubexa.com/).
Choose your ad source and placement settings, and configure any brand-safety blocks you want.

FAQ

Do I need an account?: To serve network ads you need a free PubExa publisher account and a Site ID. You can use Local ads and Preview mode without network serving, but a Site ID is required for network ads and earnings.
Does the plugin slow down my pages?: Ad requests run in the browser after the page is shown, so reading the page headings and requesting ads does not block page loading.
What data does the plugin send to the PubExa server?: See the “External services” section above for the full list. In short: page context (URL, title, language, headings), an anonymous visitor identifier, your site host, and the visitor IP for fraud prevention and country reporting.
Where can I read the terms and privacy policy?: Publisher Terms: https://info.pubexa.com/publisher-terms-of-service/ — Privacy Policy: https://info.pubexa.com/privacy-policy/

Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

Contributors & Developers

“PubExa – Contextual Ads & Website Monetization” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

PubExa

Translate “PubExa – Contextual Ads & Website Monetization” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.5.8

Plugin header: the Plugin URI now points to the plugin’s own information page, and the Author URI to the author’s site. The two are distinct.

1.5.6

Bulk-action queries now follow the wpdb::prepare() IN() pattern from the WordPress documentation: a generated list of %d placeholders, with all values bound as prepare() arguments.

1.5.4

All database identifiers are now bound with the %i placeholder, and IN() lists are bound with generated %d placeholders. No value is interpolated into a SQL string.
The tracking rate limiter is now keyed on REMOTE_ADDR only, which the client cannot forge, and its transient is properly prefixed.
Removed a dead server-side ad cache whose transient key included the page URL and visitor IP.

1.5.3

Unslashed and sanitized the REMOTE_ADDR fallback used for the tracking rate limiter.

1.5.2

Fixed: the deactivation feedback dialog did not open after the asset refactor in 1.5.1, because the dialog markup is printed after enqueued footer scripts run. All of its DOM wiring is now deferred until the document is ready.

1.5.1

All plugin CSS and JavaScript is now loaded through the WordPress enqueue system (wp_enqueue_script / wp_enqueue_style) from real asset files, instead of being printed inline. Settings, ad data and nonces are passed with wp_add_inline_script().
Removed the third-party ip-api.com geolocation lookup. Country reporting for local-ad impressions now reads the site’s own Cloudflare country header when available, so the plugin no longer contacts any external geolocation service.
The deactivation feedback identifier is now a random per-install value stored in an option, rather than being derived from a WordPress authentication salt.
The tracking rate limiter now derives its key from the server-resolved visitor IP instead of a value supplied in the request, so the limit cannot be bypassed.
Escaped all translated strings at output.
No changes to features or behavior.

1.5.0

First public release on the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Hardened all custom-table database access for WordPress coding standards: every dynamic value is bound through $wpdb->prepare(), and internal-only table identifiers are documented as trusted.
No changes to features or behavior — this release rolls up the 1.4.x series into a clean public baseline.

1.4.75

Within a card row, publisher and advertiser cards now alternate (publisher, advertiser, publisher, …) like the mobile tabs, instead of all publisher cards followed by all advertiser cards.

1.4.74

Card ordering now follows priority: the publisher’s own cards appear first, then advertiser cards, within the row’s shape. (Previously hybrid mode shuffled them.)

1.4.73

Each card row now shows a single shape per set — all 16:9 or all 1:1 — chosen per page load and rotating between the two when both are available. This keeps every card in a row the same size, instead of mixing shapes. Combined with equal-height cards, rows now look consistent. (The mobile tab 160-character description limit is unchanged.)

1.4.72

Card captions are shown in full again (no two-line limit), so long product descriptions and prices are visible. To keep rows tidy, all cards in a row now stretch to the same height and the source line aligns to the bottom of each card.

1.4.71

Fixed: card captions were not limited to two lines, so an ad with a very long title/description grew far taller than the others in the same row. An inline style was overriding the line-clamp CSS; removed it, so every card keeps a compact two-line title and two-line description.

1.4.70

The [pubexa_ad] shortcode and the Elementor “PubExa Ad” widget now take a card count: [pubexa_ad count=”4″] and a “Number of ads” field on the widget (1-12), matching the Post Column. They render a card row (same layout as the post row) instead of a single text/image unit, so they show image cards.

1.4.69

Automatic desktop insertion now places a card row (the same layout as the post row) at each position instead of a single text/image unit. Each position (before content, after paragraph 2, after content) has its own card-count field. Because it uses the card renderer, it shows image cards and no longer picks up mobile-tab text ads. The manual [pubexa_ad] shortcode and Elementor widget still render the single ad unit.

1.4.68

Improved automatic desktop insertion on page builders: instead of guessing a single content container (which made ads bunch up near the end on Elementor), it now anchors to the real content paragraphs across the whole page in order, skipping header/nav/footer/sidebar. Before content, after the second paragraph, and after content now land in the right places even when paragraphs are spread across separate widgets.

1.4.67

Automatic desktop insertion now works on Elementor and other page builders. Because builders render outside WordPress’s the_content filter, a client-side inserter was added: it finds the content area in the rendered page and places the desktop ad at the chosen positions (before content, after the second paragraph, after content). It stands down when a desktop ad is already present (classic the_content insertion, a manual shortcode, or the Elementor widget), so pages never get a duplicate.

1.4.66

Fixed: the single desktop ad ([pubexa_ad] shortcode / Elementor widget) showed only the caption text and dropped the image. It now renders the creative image at its natural aspect ratio (no cropping) above the title and description. Text-only creatives still render as before.

1.4.65

The single desktop ad ([pubexa_ad] shortcode / Elementor widget) now also shows on mobile and narrow screens. It was previously hidden below 1024px; that restriction has been removed so the unit renders at every width. (The 970×90 leaderboard remains desktop-only, since it does not fit narrow screens.)

1.4.64

Fixed: the desktop ad (manual [pubexa_ad] shortcode and the Elementor “PubExa Ad” widget) rendered nothing when placement was set to Automatic insertion. Any desktop ad placement now renders. Note: automatic in-content insertion works on classic/Gutenberg content; on Elementor and other page builders, use the PubExa Ad widget or the [pubexa_ad] shortcode.

1.4.63

Fixed: desktop ads set to “Automatic insertion” rendered nothing. The auto-inserted desktop ad was being suppressed by the same rule meant to silence a manually placed shortcode. Automatically inserted ads now render, while a manually placed [pubexa_ad] stays inert in automatic mode as intended.

1.4.62

Desktop ads settings simplified: the separate Enable checkbox is gone. Placement is now a single choice — Off, Shortcode only, Automatic insertion, or Shortcode + Automatic insertion. New installs default to Automatic insertion, so once a Site ID is connected (with the ad source set to Remote or Hybrid) desktop ads start on their own and can be turned off in one click.

1.4.61

Content card row: when a format arrives as a single lone card, it now joins a mixed row instead of sitting alone on its own line. Formats with two or more cards still get their own grouped rows.

1.4.60

Content card row now groups cards by shape: 16:9 wide cards and 1:1 square cards are laid out in separate rows so each format keeps its true proportions, with wide cards placed first. Wide cards target ~2 per row and squares ~4 per row, and 5-per-row is avoided unless unavoidable. Rows are split evenly with no lonely leftover card (e.g. 4 wide + 7 square becomes 2+2 wide then 4+3 square).

1.4.59

Content card row now splits into equal rows whenever the card count allows it (10 -> 5+5, 9 -> 3+3+3, 12 -> 4+4+4), falling back to a balanced split only for prime counts (11 -> 4+4+3). Every row is justified to fill the full width at its own height, so two rows with the same number of cards are always the same width and a shorter row (like the 3 in 4+4+3) grows to fill the row instead of sitting narrow. A 1-2 card row is capped and centered rather than blown up.

1.4.58

Content card row now distributes cards into balanced rows instead of filling each row to the brim, so a set like 11 cards lays out 4+4+3 (no lonely leftover card). Every row shares one height, full rows fill edge to edge, and a shorter trailing row is centered. Mixed 16:9 and 1:1 cards are sized from their true dimensions with no cropping.

1.4.57

Content card row rebuilt with a justified layout that respects each card’s real aspect ratio (16:9 wide and 1:1 square) with no cropping. Post column (sidebar/Elementor) cards also honor their real aspect ratio.

1.4.51

Removed the optional “Powered by PubExa.com” attribution link from all front-end ad placements (mobile tabs and content cards), in line with WordPress.org plugin guidelines. Sponsored-label tagging on content rows is unchanged.

1.4.50

Code-quality and security hardening pass for the WordPress.org Plugin Directory: all admin output is now escaped on display, all request input is unslashed and sanitized, analytics queries use prepared statements, and internal helpers are uniquely prefixed. No features or behavior changed for publishers.

1.4.47

Page topic relevance: the plugin now reads the on-page headings (H1–H6) from the live page and sends them with each ad request, so ads can be matched to what the page is actually about. This works on page-builder pages (e.g. Elementor) because the headings are read from the rendered page, not from stored content. Raw heading text only is sent; meaningless connecting words are ignored on the server side. To allow heading reading, the mobile scroll-tabs now request their ads in the browser (the same way the desktop unit already did); this does not slow page loading, as it happens after the page is shown. All tab behavior, animations, colors, opt-outs and tracking are unchanged.

1.4.46

Fixed help tooltips being clipped or hidden behind panels (e.g. next to Desktop placement and the color picker). The tooltip now floats above all page content so it’s always fully visible.

1.4.45

Help tooltips refined: the “?” is now a subtle blue circle, moved out of the section heading to a tidier spot (top-right of the panel, or next to the relevant field) so it no longer crowds the title.

1.4.44

Help tooltips: the “?” is now blue (like a link), the popup is larger with bigger text and more spacing for easier reading, and a display glitch that showed the text in ALL CAPS is fixed — it now reads in normal sentence case.

1.4.43

Restyled the help tooltips for readability: the “?” mark is now a larger, lighter red so it’s easy to spot, and the explanation pops on a clean white background with darker, clearer text.

1.4.42

Added small “?” help tooltips next to the few settings that need a quick explanation (Ad Source, scroll distance, top vs bottom tabs, desktop placement). Hover on desktop or tap on mobile; they explain the difference between the options in plain, short language. No settings or behavior changed.

1.4.41

Removed two internal debug/diagnostic endpoints that were used during development. They were restricted to administrators, but are not needed in production and have been taken out.

1.4.40

Bottom mobile tabs now count views, clicks and dismissals like the top tabs. Previously clicks on a bottom tab sent the visitor to the advertiser but were never recorded. Each placement counts independently — an ad shown in both a top and a bottom tab counts as two views (two separate placements).
Fixed the tab styling when the top animation is set to “none” but the bottom tabs are on: bottom tabs now use the correct text, close-button and label styling instead of appearing unstyled.
Tabs are now a true fixed height of 100px (matching the 320×100 banner format) on every device, instead of a height that varied with screen size.
Removed an embedded key from the deactivation-feedback request. A key shipped inside a plugin that runs on many sites cannot stay secret, so it was removed; the feedback note now sends only anonymous information.
Minor cleanup: fixed a stray style rule and a harmless console error in the deactivation dialog.

1.4.38

Mobile tab banners now fill the full width of the tab — no more white gaps on the sides.
Removed the tab-height control so tabs stay a consistent, fixed height (banners always sit correctly).

1.4.37

Mobile tabs now also show network mobile-tab banners (320×100) that advertisers submit, not just your own local banners. The plugin reads the ad server’s format flag: images marked as mobile-tab banners appear in the tab strip; wide card images stay in the card row. This completes mobile-first: advertisers who provide a 320×100 banner reach the high-traffic mobile tabs.

1.4.36

Fixed: mobile tabs again show your own 320×100 mobile banner ads (1.4.35 had hidden them along with the wide card images). Tabs now show text ads and local mobile banners; only wide card/desktop images are skipped in tabs.

1.4.35

Mobile tabs now show text ads only. Wide image ads (desktop/card creatives) are skipped in the tab strip instead of being squeezed in. Dedicated mobile-tab images will be supported when the ad server adds that format.
Added an owner signal: when a logged-in site administrator views their own site, ad events are marked so the ad server can exclude the owner’s own clicks from billing (self-click protection).
The plugin now also echoes its own site host with serve and tracking calls, so site/origin checks stay accurate even when a browser strips the referrer.

1.4.34

Cookie banner links now show the full page names (“Privacy Policy” and “Cookie Notice”).
Local Ads and Cards: the description box is now a taller multi-line field so you can see the whole text while typing, with a live character counter beside it.

1.4.33

Cookie banner now always shows the Privacy and Cookie links (fixed a case where they were blank until the URL fields were saved).
Simplified the cookie-notice choice to two options (show PubExa’s banner / I have my own); the redundant “Off” option was removed — the prominent reminder shows until you pick one.

1.4.32

Added a first-party visitor id (pubexa_vid) sent with serve and click/impression events, so the ad server can protect against invalid traffic. No raw data leaves the site beyond what was already sent.
New Cookie notice setting (General tab, next to Site ID): off by default with a clear reminder that a cookie notice is legally required. Turn on the built-in banner, or mark that you already run your own consent tool so the two don’t clash. Banner text and the Privacy / Cookie links are editable.

1.4.31

Description length raised to 160 characters (Google’s standard) for cards and mobile ads. The full text shows on post-cards; mobile tabs trim to two lines.
Live previews while editing: the mobile-ad form shows a phone-tab preview with the real line break, and the card form shows a card preview — both update as you type. The Local Ads table now shows the description the way it wraps on the tab.

1.4.30

Cards: the title can now be up to 90 characters and the text up to 150 (was 30 / 50), so promoted articles read properly. The text wraps onto more lines on the card.
Mobile ads: replaced the two separate text lines with a single description field (up to 90 characters) that wraps onto a second line on the ad. Existing second lines are no longer shown.

1.4.29

Cards now default to do-follow links. The “nofollow sponsored” box on a new card is no longer ticked by default (you can still tick it per card). Helps your own articles get link value.

1.4.28

When a card promotes an article from another site, the image we save to your Media Library is now tagged as ours, and deleting the card (single or bulk) also removes that saved copy. Internal article images — which are only referenced, never copied — are never deleted.
Fixed the Local Ads page showing a bulk-action notice as raw HTML instead of a proper notice.

1.4.27

Bulk actions on the Cards page and the Local Ads page: tick several items (or “select all”) and set them to active, pause them, or delete them in one click.
Bulk delete removes only the item and its stats — it never deletes any image, so internal article images are always safe.

1.4.26

Cards page: “Promote an article” — paste a link and PubExa reads the page’s image, title and summary and fills the card form for you to review and save.
Image handling: an image that is already on your own site is referenced directly; an image from another site is saved to your Media Library so the card never breaks if the other site goes down.

1.4.25

Cards page now has a display control: choose what the post row & sidebar column show — PubExa network ads only, your own cards only, both mixed, or off.
Cards page can hide the row & column on the home page and on specific pages (one URL or path per line).
Analytics now labels each entry as a Card or a Mobile banner (and groups cards first), so identically named items are easy to tell apart.
Cards no longer appear in the Local Ads list (banners only); the single mix toggle on the Post row page was replaced by the fuller control on the Cards page.

1.4.24

New “Cards” admin page (before Analytics): add your own post-style cards with an image (Choose/Upload), title, short text and a link — for your own articles or affiliate links. Saved cards are shown as a preview grid with per-card views/clicks, and can be edited, paused or deleted.
Cards are kept separate from the 320×100 Local Ads banners (which feed the mobile tabs); cards use a 16:9 image and appear only in the post row and the sidebar column.
The post row + column now blend your Cards with PubExa network ads (about half and half, shuffled; toggle on the Post row page to show only your own).

1.4.23

Your own Local Ads image cards now appear inside the post row and the sidebar column, blended with PubExa network ads (about half and half, shuffled).
New toggle on the Post row page: “Mix PubExa network ads with my own cards” (off = show only your own cards).
Local card impressions and clicks are now counted and shown in the existing Local Ads / Analytics stats.

1.4.22

Moved the Analytics tab to the end of the PubExa menu and tab bar.
Elementor: the Post Column widget now shows a labelled placeholder while editing (it was rendering empty in the editor because ads only load on the live page).

1.4.21

Post Column (sidebar) unit: vertical column of post-style ad cards, available as the [pubexa_column] shortcode, a classic “PubExa post column” widget (Gutenberg widget areas + classic sidebars), and a dedicated Elementor widget. Up to 12 cards, owner-adjustable (default 4).
Sidebar columns are hidden on phones by default (toggle to show) so they don’t duplicate the footer ad row on mobile.
Card units now de-duplicate within themselves only; the same ad may repeat across separate units (helps fill space while ad inventory is small).
Includes the card-body padding fix (caption inset from the card edges).

1.4.4

Pointed ad serving and deactivation feedback at the production PubExa ad server.

1.0.0

Initial public release of PubExa.
Mobile-first contextual ad tabs on scroll: Remote, Local, Hybrid, Preview, No-home, and Off modes.
Desktop ad unit via the [pubexa_ad] shortcode, automatic insertion, or an Elementor widget.
Local Ads manager with country geo-analytics and CTR.
Page-level opt-outs via Elementor Page Settings when Elementor is active.