That's partly because its founder, David Karp, is very against running banner ads on the network. So the company is trying more creative ways to partner with sponsors.
Tumblr's latest money making scheme will roll out in the next few months, and it will focus on mobile advertising. Vice President Derek Gottfrid tells Bloomberg that Tumblr has been testing a pay-per-view model, where sponsors pay to get their content seen by more mobile users. Media companies such as Gawker and BuzzFeed are finding success with similar pay-per-view, viral ad products.
Coca Cola, Target and Adidas have all tried promoted content campaigns on Tumblr. Gottfrid says the average spend is just under six figures.
Last year, Tumblr generated about $13 million, and it hopes to bring in $100 million in 2013. But if campaigns are less than $100,000 each, the company has a long way to go.