badAd
The official plugin from badAd.one, this can help monetize your WordPress site by embedding badAd advertisements with shortcodes.
Consider an alternative
badAd shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. Was last updated 3 years ago, and scores 21/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (<10 active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 3 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.3 (latest is 7.1)
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where badAd stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| ad shortcode | >100 |
| ads | >100 |
| advertise | >100 |
| embed | >100 |
| monetize | >100 |
About badAd
From the official readme · v1.2Description
The official plugin from badAd.one, this can help monetize your WordPress site by embedding badAd advertisements with shortcodes.
Once connected, you can use two shortcodes:
- To embed ads for your badAd Partner account
- To embed a styled referral link for you and others to receive free ad credits, also adding to your Partner click count
All the settings are on one page in your WordPress Dashboard with an easy walk-through.
This plugin is intended for badAd Partners, but it is easy to become one. Once you are a badAd monetizing Partner, this is plugin connects your WordPress site to the badAd “Dev API” mentioned in the help videos.
badAd.one is an advertising network that started in early 2020.
Requires WordPress 5.3 and PHP 7 or newer.
Installation
-
Upload ‘badad’ to the ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory,
-
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a badAd.one account?
Yes. Signup is easy and there are help videos available at the badAd Help page.
Will this slow down my WordPress site?
In short: not as much. Technically, everything you add to any website will slow it down. But, badAd takes two steps to speed things up: Less is more: We minimize code, files, and things like database calls. We also don’t mine information about visitors to your WordPress site. We just deliver the ads, short and simple. badAd uses text ads. These load faster than ads with pictures.
Do these ads make my website look ugly?
They shouldn’t. Our text ads try their best to inherit the styling of your WordPress theme, hopefully having some of the same fonts, etc. We try to keep things organized and grouped so that badAd ads aren’t confused with your WordPress site’s content, but still should fit nicely alongside your content.
Does this work on multisite?
Yes, as of version 1.1 it works on multisite.
It doesn’t say it is tested with the current version of WordPress. Will it still work?
Note this light-weight plugin easily endures WordPress updates, so it may not be updated with each minor WP update. This is intended to cause less work on your back end, but know that we are actively watching and testing this plugin!
Changelog
1.2
-
Support for multisite
-
Shortcode defaults changed
– To settings more likely to be common
- Settings page improvements
– More shortcode examples and explanation
– Styling is more readable
– Some explanations are more clearly worded
– Layout is unchanged
- Streamlined database workflow for storing keys
– This is backend behavior which web users won’t notice
– Reduces security risk
– Porting database to new web hosting or refreshing plugin installation should preserve the API connection
- Developer notes
– Multisite: Callback files are prefixed with the site ID, seamlessly working with both multisite and single sites
– All keys and settings are stored in the database
– The only key stored in the file system is the current test/live public API key, cached in the “callback” subdirectory
– Callback files are created automatically when visiting the admin dashboard, which is the only time they are needed
– Creating callback files via put_contents() is less cost and databse size than creating a custom post type
– Porting the database to a new cloud location should preserve the API connection, whether or not the old plugin folder is ported also
– Callback files are cached in the “callback” subdirectory for API use, but they are largely superflous to web host admins since they are only-always confirmed/created only-always when they are needed
– Visiting the admin dashboard will automatically confirm and/or create the callback file, but the callback is only needed if making or checking the API connection, which requires visiting the plugin settings page in admin dashboard anyway. So, this is moot, but may be useful information for some developers.
– Security improvement: The callback file simply captures and redirects the API connection response to the admin dashboard, which guarantees more security and level permissions checks so script kiddies have less room to mess
1.2.1
- Backend tweaks so both shortcodes render more similarly in HTML
- Tested wtih WP 5.6.1
1.2.2
- Note this light-weight plugin easily endures WordPress updates, so it may not be updated with each minor WP update. This is intended to cause less work on your back end, but know that we are actively watching and testing this plugin!
- Tested wtih WP 5.8.3
1.2.3
- Tested wtih WP 6.3
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
FAQ
badAd: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 16, 2026
Is badAd free?
Yes. badAd is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is badAd safe to use in 2026?
badAd shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. Was last updated 3 years ago, and scores 21/100 on our health check.
How many websites use badAd?
badAd is active on <10 WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,792 times since it launched in April 2020. It was downloaded 61 times in the last 30 days.
Does badAd work with WordPress 7.1?
badAd is officially tested up to WordPress 6.3.0, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does badAd need?
badAd requires PHP 7.2.0 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was badAd last updated?
The latest version, 1.2, was released on August 20, 2023 (3 years ago).
Who makes badAd?
badAd is developed and maintained by Jesse Steele.
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