The story of Adning, a longstanding WordPress advertising plugin, came to an unanticipated close this year. Since 2023, the downhill trend has been steep, with escalating issues and mounting complaints. The developers were unresponsive to support requests, and bugs became more frequent, distorting the once smooth user experience.
It’s official: The plugin is no longer available from its only marketplace, Codecanyon. The website is still up, yet eerily silent about the discontinuation of the plugin. The alarm bells are ringing for users still using the plugin on their websites. It’s high time to find a secure and reliable alternative.
In this article, I’ll take a last glance at Adning; I’ll propose the ideal alternative ad manager plugin and explain how switching to a different software can drastically elevate your operational capabilities.
Table of Contents
What is Adning?
The Adning plugin (formerly known as WP Pro Advertising System) was a popular advertising management solution for WordPress websites designed to help users manage and display ads efficiently. Here’s a brief history of the plugin from its inception in 2011 until its deprecation.
2011 – initial release
The developer launched the plugin in 2011 as WP Pro Advertising System. Designed to be a comprehensive advertising management system for WordPress sites, it allowed users to manage multiple ad campaigns, track impressions and clicks, and display ads in various formats (such as banners, popups, and background ads).
2011-2017 – growth and popularity
Over the years, the WP Pro Advertising System gained popularity due to its robust features and ease of use. It became one of the go-to plugins for WordPress users looking to monetize their websites through ads.
The plugin offered various display options, including ad grids, corner peel ads, and background ads, which appealed to users with diverse advertising needs.
Continuous updates added new features, improved the user interface, and made it compatible with the latest WordPress versions, further solidifying its place in the market.
2017 – rebranding to Adning
2017, the plugin underwent a significant rebranding, changing its name from WP Pro Advertising System to Adning Advertising. This rebranding was part of a broader strategy to modernize the plugin’s image and appeal to a wider audience.
Along with the name change, Adning introduced a more streamlined user interface, additional ad display options, and enhanced analytics features.
2018-2020 – continued development
After rebranding, Adning continued to receive updates, focusing on improving performance, compatibility, and user experience. It remained a popular choice for WordPress users, particularly those managing large-scale advertising operations.
However, during this period, competition from other ad management plugins and platforms, such as Advanced Ads, began to intensify. Newer solutions with more capable features and better integration with modern ad networks started to gain traction.
2021 – signs of decline
By 2021, while Adning was still in use, there were signs that its development was slowing down. Users began reporting compatibility issues with the latest versions of WordPress and other plugins, and the frequency of updates decreased.
The plugin also faced criticism for lacking some of the advanced features offered by newer competitors, such as more sophisticated targeting and better integration with programmatic ad networks.
2023 – official deprecation
The final nail in the coffin appeared to be Adning’s official deprecation in 2023. The company’s decision was likely the result of a combination of factors, encompassing the emergence of modern ad management solutions, dwindling sales, and the uphill struggle of maintaining the plugin in a fast-evolving WordPress ecosystem.
Post-deprecation
After its deprecation, Adning was no longer available for purchase, and existing users were encouraged to migrate to other ad management platforms.
Some users who continued using the plugin reported issues with compatibility, particularly with newer versions of WordPress, leading many to switch to other ad management solutions.
The Adning plugin had a solid decade-long run, and during its peak, it was a powerful tool for managing advertising on WordPress websites. However, as online advertising evolved and competition increased, the plugin ultimately could not keep pace, leading to its deprecation.
Specific features of Adning
From the onset, Adning, as an ad manager, introduced specific features to the WordPress world that other plugins couldn’t provide. These features are primarily associated with managing ad campaigns and directly selling ad spaces, including WooCommerce integration.
In addition, Adning provided technical solutions to resolve specific issues. The most crucial features in this regard include:
- Notification bar feature to quickly implement ads as notification bars
- Ad grids
- Google Analytics tracking (Universal Analytics)
- Ad Blocker detection
- Role manager
- Selling ads with payment options and WooCommerce integration
- Display filters
- Parallax effect (no interscroller)
What is the best Adning alternative?
With Adning closing shop, users are left stranded and wringing their hands, looking for a suitable alternative to their ad manager plugin to continue monetizing their sites. Unfortunately, Adning does not provide a suitable export solution. So, it’s inevitable to recreate the entire setup from scratch using another plugin.
Advanced Ads is best suited for replacing Adning in projects of any size, as it supports all ad formats and combines options for campaign management, tracking, and targeting, as well as direct selling of ad spaces, including WooCommerce integration.
Advanced Ads also comes with an extensive toolset for managing and monetizing traffic with an enabled AdBlocker, just like the representation of banners in ad grids or a clear concept for managing internal user roles.
Moreover, the plugin’s add-ons expand on known features. Unlike Adning, which only supported the deprecated Universal Analytics, Advanced Ads also supports tracking with Google Analytics 4 properties.
Users who switch will enjoy considerably more targeting options. Advanced Ads allows displaying ads on specific content and finely tuned targeting of particular user groups using display and visitor conditions. These functionalities increase the conversion and income of your advertising spaces.
Those expanded features are part of Advanced Ads’ significantly extended toolbox that also includes modern features such as lazy loading, cache busting, or click fraud protection.
Why should I switch to another plugin?
For those who still have Adning installed on their websites, the writing is on the wall. You must deactivate it immediately and find an alternative—mainly for security reasons. The last plugin update was in February 2022, and since then, it has not functioned perfectly or provided full compatibility.
Users have been left in the lurch, with no responses from support. The plugin’s website, which appears to have been hacked, is now riddled with pharma spam posts. It’s time to pack up and move on!
Conclusion
With the discontinuation of Adning, switching to a modern ad management plugin has become not just advisable but an urgent necessity. Today, a wide range of ad managers are available for WordPress, each offering various features. However, only a few plugins can fully replicate Adning’s functionality.
Among them, Advanced Ads stands out as the best option. It matches all of Adning’s capabilities and extends them with modern features like click fraud protection, Google Analytics 4 tracking, and smooth integration with Google Ad Manager. These additional tools can elevate your advertising efforts and significantly enhance your website’s monetization.
Switching is, therefore, not just about security; it’s an opportunity to benefit from the advanced features and better support offered by modern plugins like Advanced Ads.