# Maximize earnings by stacking revenue streams

Layer premium sponsorships, programmatic backfill, network distribution, and paid access in order, and balance the feed mix so engagement stays high.

Revenue grows when you combine premium placements, programmatic demand, audience extension, subscription access, and intent-based engagement.

All of these run in Monetize. For the product as a whole, see [Monetize: what it does and where to start](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/monetize-what-it-does-and-where-to-start).

## Plan the revenue stack

Build the stack from the top down. Sell the most valuable positions first, then let each lower layer fill what's left.

1. **Premium sponsorship**: takeovers, pinned first positions, and category sponsorships. Learn more in [Get started with paid partnerships](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-a-brand-can-get-started-with-sponsorships-in-business-account).
2. **Programmatic backfill**: mid-roll ads and in-feed placements. Learn more in [Set up programmatic ads in your feeds](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-do-we-set-up-programmatic-ads-to-generate-automated-ad-revenue).
3. **Extended distribution**: Extended Sponsored Placement, Programmatic Extended O&O, and Audience Extension on partner pages.
4. **Subscription layer**: subscription access for members. Learn more in [Subscriptions and Paid Access](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/subscriptions-and-paid-access).
5. **AI optimization**: the top layer of the stack. Learn more in [How AI automates revenue in your social experience](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/supervised-intelligence/leveraging-ai-to-automate-revenue-generation-in-your-community).

## Set the content mix

Don't overload feeds with ads. We recommend this mix because it preserves engagement while every layer of the stack still earns:

| Content type | Recommended mix |
| --- | --- |
| Organic or owned | 50–60% |
| Partner or sponsored | 20–30% |
| Programmatic ads | 10–20% |

To control where ads appear and how often a viewer sees them, see [Configure vertical video ad placements and frequency](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-does-a-brand-configure-vertical-video-ad-placements-and-frequency).

The built-in presets in **Settings** > **Ad Configuration** offer ready-made mixes:

| Preset | Mix |
| --- | --- |
| Premium | Only direct-sourced paid partnerships |
| Balanced | Avoids back-to-back ad fatigue |
| Conservative | Keeps video content pure, with ads only while scrolling |
| Aggressive | Maximizes revenue, with back-to-back ads |

Their ad settings are read-only. To set your own mix, create a custom preset.

## Sell premium positions first

Protect your most valuable positions by selling them directly before any open demand reaches them. Three formats carry the most value.

### Takeovers

Learn more about [category and topic-level takeovers](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-can-a-brand-monetize-category-and-topic-level-takeovers-across-communities) and [Paid Partner Takeover](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/paid-partner-takeover).

When a preset's **Partnered Takeover** toggle is on, a live takeover shows before sponsored posts on that placement or embed.

![A mobile app home screen with a Sponsored module brought to you by a sponsoring brand, holding three tiles: Sponsored Content (Highlights), an In-Feed Sponsored Placement, and Sponsored Content with a Mid-Roll Ad Placement.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/fc865e7b9bfcc11dac14c9c45238928008932758-332x466.jpg)
*A takeover fills a module on the home screen with one sponsor's content.*

### Pinned first position

A pinned sponsor's video keeps the first position in a feed. Learn more in [Monetize top positions and featured spots](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-can-a-brand-offer-and-monetize-exclusive-top-positions-or-featured-spots-within-communities-and-groups).

![A podcast's Highlights tab on a phone, with a sponsoring brand's video in the first position and a pin icon in its top-right corner.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/1e623a05efb2f3c18cf900a1a7efe26016704fd4-240x509.jpg)
*A sponsored video pinned to the first position of the Highlights feed.*

### Category sponsorship

Learn more in [Set up a community sponsorship](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-will-a-brand-manage-community-sponsorships-to-generate-revenue-and-add-more-value-to-members).

![A community's Members tab listing the sponsoring brand under Admins, next to the owner.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/d1df89ead9fd9671cadaf9a3d8547cc2c4e71073-261x516.jpg)
*The sponsoring brand appears among the community's admins.*

Turn on open demand only after these positions are sold. Open demand is managed in the Programmatic dashboard.

![The Programmatic dashboard's Demand view, listing demand sources with their floor, bids, spending, and on/off toggles beside an overview of traffic, impressions, CPM, spending, VCR, bid rate, and win rate.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/a02eede4e45187dd81303e5be24a10dafd04b395-1874x910.jpg)
*Open demand sources are listed and switched on in the Programmatic dashboard.*

## Backfill with programmatic

Programmatic demand fills the slots that premium sales leave open. It raises fill without lowering the value of your premium positions.

Use two formats:

- **Mid-roll ads**, which play inside a video. Pre-roll and post-roll positions sit at the start and end of the same video.
- **In-feed placements**, which take a slot between videos in the feed.

In a preset's **In-Feed** section, drag **Partnered Post**, **Video Ads**, and **House (Fallback Content)** to set their priority. **House** is always on and fills a slot when no other ad is available.

Each programmatic ad type appears only if the selected ad server supports it, even when its toggle is on.

![A guide to in-stream ad positions, with pre-roll, mid-roll, and end-roll markers on a desktop Highlights carousel and on a mobile video, and the full-screen view that opens on click.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/0dfdd91c2f5032de0c81f2959aff0a2bd3fef0ad-867x494.jpg)
*In-stream ads play at the start, middle, or end of a video.*

![A podcast's Highlights feed on a phone, with an in-feed ad tile labeled Ad between two videos.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/a52fa77c731310c22169f7623d668f8fdd9e2da9-223x476.jpg)
*An in-feed ad takes a slot between videos.*

For how demand sources connect, see [Genuin Ad Server](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/genuin-ad-server).

## Expand through network distribution

More reach means more revenue. Turn on three distribution layers to take your content past your own pages.

### Extended Sponsored Placement

Your sponsored module runs on a partner's pages. Learn more in [Extended O&O Destinations](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/network/extended-o-o-destinations).

![A publisher's mobile article page carrying a Sponsored module brought to you by another media brand, with the sponsoring brand's video highlighted in the middle tile.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/123cb8f07e1edd2b73ba9c1cd04e73416303f5f5-277x475.jpg)
*A sponsored module from your social experience on a partner's article page.*

### Programmatic Extended O&O

Programmatic demand runs in your module on the partner's page too.

![A partner's mobile article page carrying the Daily Health Brief Sponsored module, with the third tile of the module highlighted.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/048bd8defd343e511139f1bfd0c1ab5c46b35ea9-286x480.jpg)
*The programmatic slot in the same module on the partner's page.*

### Audience Extension

Audience Extension reaches your audience on partner pages through programmatic guaranteed (PG) and private marketplace (PMP) deals. Learn more in [Audience Extension Tag](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/offsite/audience-extension-tag).

![An ad unit layout on a publisher's article page, with a vertical video player inside the article on mobile and in the right rail on desktop.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/db30a65936faabf5c6e8df98b442bdb41bcef37b-819x441.jpg)
*An audience extension unit on a partner's article page, on mobile and desktop.*

![Two ad unit sizes, 300×600 and 300×250, each a vertical video player whose playlist alternates sponsored content with your brand's videos.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/3cd90f3e8c000631790f249577963387c61ed59f-289x450.jpg)
*The 300×600 and 300×250 units alternate sponsored content with your videos.*

## Position your video as premium

Present your placements as OTT inventory, OLV supply, and multimedia or rich media. This positioning supports a higher CPM.

Identity-mapped experiences add to that value. When viewers are logged in, verified, and identity-mapped, you get higher contextual precision, better brand safety, and higher engagement. Learn how to sign viewers in with [Bring your audience in with auto login and SSO](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/auto-login-sso).

## Act on the signals

Read these signals in your reports and adjust the stack. For the metrics available, see [Track programmatic ad performance](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/what-analytics-are-available-for-programmatic-advertising-on-genuin).

| Metric | What it signals | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Low fill rate | Unsold inventory | Add demand partners |
| High completion | Strong content match | Increase mid-roll frequency |
| High CPM category | Premium context | Sell an exclusive share of voice (SOV) |
| Low engagement | Weak relevance | Adjust contextual targeting |

## See also

- [Paid Partner Takeover](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/paid-partner-takeover)
- [Monetize category and topic takeovers](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-can-a-brand-monetize-category-and-topic-level-takeovers-across-communities)
- [Offer community sponsorships to brand partners](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-can-a-brand-offer-community-sponsorship-opportunities-to-brand-partners)
- [Monetize access to special events with an exclusive day pass](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/what-is-an-exclusive-day-pass-and-how-can-it-be-used-to-monetize-access-to-special-events)
- [Get up and running quickly with Monetize](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-can-i-get-up-and-running-quickly-with-monetize)