New ads alternative for early SaaS/site owners to sell sponsor slots

Hey everyone,

I’ve been noticing a pattern on a lot of indie sites lately: side sponsor slots as an alternative to traditional Google Ads.

It feels like a cleaner way to monetize, especially for products that have meaningful traffic, but lower MRR. It also seems better for users since the ads can be relevant tools/products, instead of random Google spying on you ads.

How it works: it’s a marketplace where site owners can create and sell ad slots, and sponsors can browse and buy those slots. I also added a screenshot of a mockup for how it would look/work.

I’d genuinely love to hear why you would or wouldn’t use it - especially if you fit in the criteria below.

Roughly ideal early users:

SaaS/products with at least ~1,000 monthly users

Any site with a real audience (directory, tool site, content site, etc.)