My issue is, standard banner ads are really ugly. Do you all have any suggestions that allow me to control the styling a bit more so the ads actually fit into my website and are less obtrusive? I know I'll probably make a lot less this way but that's okay with me.
It varies depending on your site, it can vary a lot, but you might get between $1 to $5 per thousand views.
If making your site ugly made you rich that would be one thing. If making your site ugly can pay for a Netflix membership that's another thing. That said, a site like that might cost $5 a month to run and it is possible it could cover your operating costs.
I'm building something that would be better to monetize through ads but I need something like instagram stories to fit well into my product. Couldn't find anything good.