Key Points

  • There is no limit to how much advertising revenue a website can make.
  • While online ad revenue calculators shouldn’t be the ultimate authority, several benchmarks can help you evaluate your revenue based on how much website traffic you have.
  • There are nearly unlimited ways to increase your revenue within the ad space, but the right tools and expertise can be a true ad revenue game changer.

There is no upper limit to how much ad revenue a website can make. But whether you’ve just implemented Google AdSense, or if you’ve been pulling in ad revenue for a while, you need benchmarks if you want to improve. 

Why? 

In order to maximize your performance, you need insights into how much revenue your website in particular can earn based on your current website traffic.  And several common traffic metrics can help you get that answer.

Let's dive into the primary traffic metrics you need to know to determine if your website is earning as much ad revenue as it should be.

The Playwire team has gathered this information through years of helping publishers and content creators maximize their ad revenue. We know what we're doing and can get your revenue where you want it to be. Contact us to learn more!

 

 

 

  • And there are always ways to increase your revenue within the ad space.

Website Ad Revenue Metrics Based on Page Views

Historically, websites have earned monthly ad revenue based heavily on the number of monthly page views so we'll begin there. 

Below are several key benchmark ranges based on page views.

  • 500K monthly page views: $1,000 - 5,000 per month
  • 1M monthly page views: $2,500 - 25,000 per month
  • 5M monthly page views: $10,000 - 100,000 per month
  • 10M monthly page views: $25,000 - 250,000 per month
  • 20M monthly page views: $50,000 - 700,000 per month
  • 40M monthly page views: $100,000 - 2,000,000 per month

But, the performance metrics you need to know don't end there. Page views are only one way to measure a page’s success – or, in other words, how much an ad can earn if it’s placed there. Nowadays, website owners also need to analyze other related metrics like user sessions to get a broader understanding of the user journey.

Let's explore what this means for you in practice.

Page views vs. Sessions

Both page views and sessions provide important information about your overall website traffic, and both metrics can inform the prices you set for your digital ad space.

However, there are key distinctions between the two online advertising metrics that are important to understand if you want to use them successfully.

What is a Pageview? 

A pageview refers to a user viewing a page on your website. This metric includes every single time any user loads a page. This means every time a user refreshes a page, that would count as a new pageview, even if it’s the same person during the same website visit. 

Page views are good to use when publishers want to understand how ads are performing relative to the number of pages viewed. 

This stat is most helpful if your website has: 

  1. Users that tend to view multiple pages in a single session.
  2. Content-heavy pages, where ad revenue is closely tied to the number of pages viewed.

What is a Session?

A session is a single website visit by a user, which includes every action that user takes on the site and all pages they view during that time. This extends from the initial interaction – when they first arrive — either to when they leave your site or to 30 minutes of inactivity. 

Session data can help publishers understand the revenue generated per visitor by giving them a broader view of how much revenue a typical user session brings in, regardless of how many pages they view during that session. 

This is good for websites where:

  1. User engagement per session is critical, such as websites with fewer, but more targeted pageviews per visit,
  2. Analyzing revenue on a per-visitor basis is most important,
  3. Understanding the overall effectiveness of your website, including factors like user engagement, session length, and bounce rate, is key to generating ad revenue.

Why Measure Sessions vs. Page Views?

While page views provide helpful data in the right circumstances, session RPM is a more comprehensive and insightful metric, especially when your goal is to optimize for the overall quality of user engagement, understand visitor value, and drive long-term growth.

Why?

Session RPMs push publishers to look beyond page views and consider the full context of user interactions. This can support content and monetization strategies that enhance the user experience and revenue-earning potential more holistically.

Sessions also reflect user engagement and experience more effectively. 

Some of the benefits of measuring session RPMs include:

  • Getting a broader view of the user journey by considering all interactions within a session, which emphasizes the importance of the entire experience rather than just individual page views.
  • Reflecting the quality of user engagement, as a high Session RPM indicates users are interacting meaningfully with content rather than simply browsing.
  • Measuring the value of each visitor, which helps gauge user loyalty and improves strategies for converting sessions into revenue.
  • Accounting for diverse pageview behaviors, such as users who quickly skim through multiple pages, giving a more accurate representation of user interaction.
  • Encouraging long-term growth by focusing on session value, which can lead to improvements in user loyalty, user experience, and content relevance.
  • Offering insights that can guide strategies to increase revenue within the ad space through various optimization techniques.

Ad Revenue Session Benchmarks to Track

To track your ad revenue performance by session, use the following benchmarks: 

  • 500K monthly sessions: $5,000 - $10,000 per month
  • 1M monthly sessions: $10,000 - $25,000 per month
  • 5M monthly sessions: $50,000 - $185,000 per month
  • 10M monthly sessions: $100,000 - $400,000 per month
  • 20M monthly sessions: $200,000 - $900,000 per month
  • 40M monthly sessions: $400,000 - $2,000,000 per month

Keep reading to explore how much advertising revenue your website can make, and how you can ensure you are on track to make the revenue you deserve based on your current monthly sessions.

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Ad Revenue Guide

Read The Publishers' Guide to Ad Revenue

Why You Shouldn’t Depend on Ad Revenue Calculators

While online ad revenue calculators can provide a quick estimate, they often fall short in accurately predicting your potential earnings. These calculators typically: 

  • Oversimplify complex factors that influence ad revenue
  • Fail to account for industry-specific trends and seasonality
  • Ignore the quality of content and level of user engagement
  • Can't adapt to the rapidly changing digital advertising landscape
  • Often produce misleading results that don't reflect real-world performance 

Instead of relying on generic calculators, it's crucial to consider data from industry experts who understand the nuances of the ad tech ecosystem.

Ad Revenue Breakdown by Monthly Sessions

Generic ad revenue calculators shouldn't be your go-to resource for estimating potential earnings. For a more accurate picture, turn to data gathered by ad tech industry experts like Playwire. Our insights are based on real-world performance across various niches and traffic levels. 

Here's a potential website ad revenue breakdown by monthly sessions:

500,000 SESSIONS

At half a million sessions per month, your website is starting to hit the big time, but may not be paying all the bills. You should be making at least $5,000 per month in website ad revenue, but we have seen the top websites in our ad network make upwards of $10,000 per month at this level.

1 MILLION SESSIONS

Things are heating up at 1 million monthly sessions. If you're not pulling in at least $10,000 per month in ad revenue, you are likely doing something wrong. But even that is the very low end for this tier. Some Playwire publishers have reached $25,000 per month with 1 million monthly page views.

5 MILLION SESSIONS

Anything less than $50,000 per month at 5 million monthly sessions is unacceptable. But really, with this much website traffic, you could be pulling in up to $185,000 per month, depending on your niche and other factors. 

10 MILLION SESSIONS

You're pretty much a household name when you're pulling in 10 million sessions every month, and your ad revenue should reflect that. You can expect to earn $100,000 per month in ad revenue with this much traffic. But keep in mind that the revenue possibilities are enormous. Some publishers pull in as much as $400,000 every month with 10 million monthly sessions.

20 MILLION SESSIONS

The vast majority of publishers will never come close to 20 million sessions per month. If you're among the elite few who reach this level, congratulations. You could make as much as $900,000 in ad revenue every month if you're maximizing every available source of ad revenue. At the very least, publishers at this level will bring in $200,000 per month.

40 MILLION SESSIONS OR MORE

How does $2 million per month sound? Playwire has seen publishers in our network bring in that much ad revenue once they cross the 40 million monthly sessions threshold. Even if you're not working with a partner like Playwire, you should still be making $400,000 per month minimum at this number of sessions.

Please keep in mind that these ad revenue breakdowns are based on publisher sites with the majority of their traffic coming from the United States.

 

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Ad Revenue Resource Center

The Complete Ad Revenue Resource Center

Key Factors Driving Ad Revenue Potential

Did you notice the huge ranges in possible ad revenue at each monthly session tier? Those big margins tell us that more than just website visits contribute to your overall ad revenue earning power.

Here are some of the most impactful factors that can push you from the bottom of your revenue tier to the top:

AD UNITS

Bottom-tier ad revenue numbers are usually associated with basic (borderline boring) website ads. We’re talking about more than just ad content – ad formats also have a huge impact. For example, think about your typical display ads – banner ads, native ads, and basic video ads are a dime a dozen. While there's nothing wrong with incorporating a standard ad format here and there, their CPMs tend to be lower than those of a premium ad unit like rewarded video ads, flex leaderboards, flex skins, sticky ads, interstitial ads, and the like.

AD PLACEMENT

Ad placement and ad density can tie directly back to your ability to earn revenue.

Here’s why these factors are so important:

  1. User experience: Nothing makes a user more unhappy than ad clutter or poor ad density. It is imperative to customize your ad layout to ensure your audience remains unobstructed by their ad experience, ultimately remaining on your site longer and continuing to visit in the future.
  2. Supply and demand: You need to find the perfect balance between supply and demand to maximize top-line revenue. Too many ads can devalue your inventory, while too few might leave money on the table.
  3. Quality over quantity: The ad tech industry is increasingly emphasizing this principle. Through our focus on QPT (Quality, Performance, and Transparency), we've discovered a significant trend: Playwire publishers who focus on fewer, more relevant ad placements see an average 58% increase in revenue. This finding underscores the importance of strategic ad placement over simply maximizing ad volume.

Interested in learning more about how our QPT initiative is transforming publishers' including increased viewability, traffic, and returning users? Let's Chat!

DEMAND

Demand directly impacts your ad revenue in two key ways:

  1. Fill rate: Every unfilled ad request is money left on the table. Even with a high fill rate, you might be earning less than you should if your demand sources aren't top-quality.
  2. CPMs: Without quality demand, your CPMs can suffer, reducing overall revenue even if ads are being served.

To maximize revenue, you need broad, high-quality demand from multiple sources. While Google ad demand is valuable, it shouldn't be your only option. Whether you're using programmatic, header bidding, direct sales, or a mix, diversifying your demand sources is crucial for optimizing ad performance and boosting your bottom line.

YOUR AD TECH STACK

Your ad tech stack can make or break your revenue potential. It's often the key differentiator between publishers with similar traffic but vastly different earnings. 

A well-optimized ad tech stack – the suite of tools powering your digital advertising efforts – can significantly boost your revenue. The right combination of technologies can help you: 

  • Maximize fill rates
  • Increase CPMs
  • Improve ad relevance
  • Enhance user experience
  • Access premium demand sources 

Investing in a robust, tailored ad tech stack is crucial for unlocking your site's full revenue potential.

DATA SOLUTIONS

Effective data management can dramatically boost your ad revenue, because it enables precise audience targeting and allows you attract higher-paying advertisers. 

Here's why data solutions are a game-changer: 

  • DMPs (Data Management Platforms) create valuable audience segments that command top dollar from major brands. 
  • As third-party cookies disappear due to privacy regulations, first-party data solutions like Hashed Email are becoming essential. 
  • Publishers using DMPs are better positioned to maximize revenue in this changing landscape. 

Implementing robust data solutions isn't just an option – it's becoming a necessity for publishers aiming to stay competitive and maximize their ad earnings.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) directly impacts your ad revenue potential – especially considering that, for most publishers, it’s their most important source of relevant traffic. In fact, SEO underpins your entire online presence.

Here’s why SEO is so impactful when it comes to your ad revenue:

  • Traffic volume: With less than 1% of searchers clicking past the first page of Google results, higher rankings mean more visitors – and more potential ad views. 
  • Quality traffic: SEO attracts users actively seeking your content, leading to higher engagement and better ad performance. 
  • Sustainable growth: Unlike paid traffic, SEO provides long-term, cost-effective visitor acquisition, steadily increasing your revenue potential over time.

And a strong SEO strategy goes beyond content creation. It includes technical optimization, faster page load speeds, and improved Core Web Vitals – all factors that can boost both your search rankings and ad revenue. 

MEASURING AD REVENUE METRICS

The simple act of knowing what to measure, and being vigilant about measuring it will help in your journey to increasing ad revenue.

Knowing which metrics to monitor, and how frequently to look at them, is the first and foundational step in maximizing your ad revenue. 

Learn about each of the most important metrics you should be looking at to track ad revenue, and alert yourself to future revenue drops (or opportunities for increased revenue), and find out how to dig deeper into each of these metrics to diagnose problems.

Check out our guide for more information on website ad revenue metrics: How to Manage and Monitor Your Website Ad Revenue Metrics.

MONITORING INDUSTRY TRENDS

It's also important to have a clear understanding of how ad revenue is trending across the industry. Luckily, Playwire has built just the tool.

The Publisher Earnings Index (PEI) is a tremendous indicator of the state of the industry, allowing you to monitor the health of total ad revenue and see earnings trends materialize over time.

Choose The Right Partner for Ad Revenue Optimization

Your choice of ad tech partner can make or break your revenue potential, often determining whether you achieve top-tier or bottom-tier ad monetization. 

Here's why: 

  • Industry expertise: Ad tech attracts many players, but not all have the skills to deliver results. Working with true experts can dramatically improve your earnings. 
  • Performance impact: If you're working with a partner lacking in actual skill, you may not be blown away by the results. 
  • Flexibility: You're not stuck with your current revenue partner. Making a change could be the difference between mediocre and exceptional ad monetization. 
  • Optimization potential: The right partner can elevate your entire ad strategy, not just sell ads. 

Remember, if you're unhappy with your current revenue partner, you have options. Choosing the right partner can significantly boost your ad revenue performance.

We've covered a lot of shoulds and coulds in this post. But will you do what it takes to take your website monetization to the next level? 

If you don't have the time for yield optimization, premium ad units, custom ad layouts, direct sales, header bidding, and more, it might be time to call in the professionals. 

At Playwire, we'll handle these complexities so you can focus on creating great content. With us, expect maximum earnings for your website advertising. 

Ready to boost your ad revenue? Reach out to our team online today.

Additional Website Ad Revenue Content

Browse some of our additional resources about website ad revenue:

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