What if the secret to a 20% ad revenue boost in just three months wasn’t luck, but a partnership built on total transparency? When a partnership starts with complete honesty, success follows. Alain Bollery, manager of three top local news sites in France, experienced exactly that growth after joining forces with us at Refinery89.
Who’s Alain Bollery?
As the website owner and publishing director of Creusot Infos, Infos Dijon, and Autun Infos, Alain oversees some of the primary sources of local information in the region. The audience of Creusot Infos in particular is certified by the Alliance for Press and Media Figures (ACPM), and together these sites attract over 7 million highly engaged readers every month looking for the latest scoops.
But while the numbers were promising, Alain quickly realized that growing audiences do not automatically translate into higher revenue, especially when ad partners fall short of their promises.
Audience growth vs low figures: a story that doesn’t add up
As Alain’s websites gained popularity and audience numbers went up, their revenue didn’t reflect their growth. Moreover, throughout his ad monetization journey, Alain encountered partners that didn’t practice what they preached. Specifically, he experienced payment issues, lacked access to performance dashboards, and even had ad formats added without his consent.
In the end, Alain lost his trust in ad monetization partners. He relied mostly on AdSense and a couple of demand sources, but this didn’t allow for a clear and unified overview of his ad strategy.
Exploring true potential (no-sugarcoating included)
As Google Certified Publishing Partners, we approached Alain with a straightforward action plan to work hand in hand. Our team crafted a tailored strategy that aligned perfectly with his sites’ current performance and growth goals.
We offered a simple, transparent solution to manage his ad inventory and keep him fully informed through clear results on our dashboard. Our publisher success manager also maintained ongoing communication in his native language and offered proactive assistance through the whole process.
From ad format to a momentum-driving ad stack
Given Alain’s bad experiences with ad networks, we agreed to proceed by improving his sites’ performance gradually, ad unit by ad unit. As a result, thanks to our support and improved results, we earned his trust.
Today, we monetize his entire advertising inventory with our full stack Single Tag, our in-house solution designed to deliver exactly what we promise: continuous growth.
Our ad monetization solution helps ensure higher earnings because of our connections to premium demand at the best CPMs (cost-per-mille) and better engagement because of our lightweight tech, but most importantly it provides:
- Transparent reporting Dashboard
- Compliance with industry standards
- Access to personalized support 24/7
- Regular improvement sessions with our team
Bottom line: a partnership built on trust fuels growth
Through open communication, dedicated support, and innovative tech, trust became growth in action. Within the first three months after launching our collaboration, Alain experienced an increase of 20% in his revenue compared to previous performance. At the same time, his viewability rate improved by +70%, and his fill rate by 30% since April 2025.
It’s quite simple: Refinery89 has a professional approach I had not encountered before in nearly 20 years. Refinery89 is not about empty talk but about results. And to borrow a slogan from the newspaper L’Équipe, I would say: Faster, Higher, Stronger – Alain Bollery, Publishing Director and Manager of Creusot Infos , Infos Dijon, and Autun Infos.
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