Mediavine RPM Calculator

Mediavine reports earnings per 1,000 sessions (session RPM), while most other tools quote earnings per 1,000 pageviews (page RPM). This page shows both. The base figures in the table below assume four ad units per page at 60% viewability.

• Mediavine is modelled at roughly $17 page RPM for Tier 1 readers, $7 for Tier 2 and $2 for Tier 3, before niche and layout adjustments.
• Niche multipliers run from 0.65x for news and entertainment to 1.9x for finance and business, with Technology at 1.15x and Food at 1.05x.
• Ad count follows a square-root curve, so nine units per page lifts the estimate by about half compared with four, not by more than double.
• Viewability scales in proportion to 60%, which means an 80% viewable layout is worth about a third more than the baseline.
• Display, in-article and sticky units are on by default. Switching on outstream video adds roughly 40% to the modelled RPM, and an interstitial adds about 15%.
• The low and high figures are 0.7x and 1.35x of the central estimate to allow for seasonality, which in practice can move managed-network RPM a long way between January and November.

Session RPM is page RPM multiplied by pages per session, so a site with 1.5 pages per visit and a site with 2.5 can show the same page RPM and very different session RPM. For how the ranges are put together, see the methodology page.

These three sites range from small to large. Multiply the monthly estimate by twelve and compare it with the $5,000 annual ad revenue Mediavine asks for; the first site is the one most likely to start with Journey instead, which is a useful reminder that the estimate is only worth acting on once you qualify.

Compare the earnings column with the eligibility bar above the table. Reaching $5,000 in annual ad revenue does not guarantee approval, since Mediavine also asks for original, audience-first content, clean traffic and good standing with Google AdSense or Ad Exchange. Its application requirements list the full set.

Mediavine pays monthly, and the wait is long. At the time of writing the payment arrives roughly 65 days after the end of the month in which you earned it, so March income lands around early June. The minimum payout is low, around $25.

Payment is by direct deposit or PayPal. If your bank account is outside the US or uses a different currency, check the fee and exchange-rate costs before you pick a method. The guide to receiving ad payouts abroad compares the usual options.

The long delay changes how you budget. A new managed-network account can go two or three months before the first payment, so keep your previous network running or hold some cash back. Always confirm the current schedule on the Mediavine site, because terms can change.

Page RPM divides revenue by pageviews. Session RPM divides it by sessions. If a reader opens three pages in one visit, that is one session and three pageviews, so session RPM will be about three times page RPM.

Neither is wrong. Session RPM is the better number for comparing sites, because it cannot be inflated by splitting an article into ten pages. Page RPM is the better number for judging a layout, because it shows what each page earns. Watch both, and see eCPM in plain English for how they relate to other metrics.

Below $5,000 in annual ad revenue, earn with something you can join today, or apply to Journey by Mediavine if you have 1,000 sessions from the US, Canada, the UK and Australia in 30 days. AdSense has no traffic minimum, Raptive asks for 25,000 monthly pageviews and Media.net has no fixed minimum. Put your effort into search traffic and into the pages that already attract readers.

Above the bar, apply but keep your expectations modest. Read AdSense or Mediavine first, and test the same traffic on the Raptive calculator, whose bar counts pageviews rather than revenue. Check how many ad units the network expects, because a heavier layout is the price of a higher RPM.