Display ads are the most common first monetization path for bloggers. Picking the right network at each stage of the blog matters more than most people realize, because the wrong network at the wrong stage either earns almost nothing or wastes traffic that would have qualified you for a much better one. The requirements across these networks have also shifted meaningfully over the past year, so figures that were accurate in 2024 are already out of date.
This post is the current comparison, updated for where things actually stand right now.
What “RPM” means
RPM stands for revenue per 1,000 page views, or sessions, depending on which network you’re looking at. It’s the headline metric most bloggers use to compare ad income across networks.
A blog with 10,000 monthly page views and a $20 RPM earns $200 a month from ads. The same blog at a $5 RPM earns $50. The network you’re on determines RPM more than almost anything else you control, which is exactly why the choice matters so much.
The networks
Google AdSense
Traffic requirement: none.
Typical RPM: $1 to $10, depending heavily on niche.
Payout: monthly, with a $100 minimum threshold.
Setup: easy. Add the code, and ads start showing almost immediately.
Reality: the lowest RPM of any major network by a wide margin. Worth installing mainly if you have no other option yet, or you’re still well below the thresholds for the networks below.
Ezoic
Traffic requirement: a major shift here. Ezoic raised its minimum from effectively no floor to 250,000 monthly active users starting February 19, 2026, for any new sites joining the platform, according to Ezoic’s own current requirements page. Publishers who were already monetizing before that date are grandfathered in, but lose that status if they remove Ezoic’s integration for more than seven days.
Typical RPM: $8 to $25 depending on niche.
Payout: monthly, $20 minimum.
Setup: moderate, requiring DNS or plugin integration.
Reality: Ezoic used to be the natural step up from AdSense for smaller blogs, but the 2026 threshold change pushed most sub-250k-user sites out of new eligibility overnight. Smaller sites can apply to the Ezoic Incubator Program instead, which is built specifically to help growing sites scale toward full eligibility.
Journey by Mediavine
Traffic requirement: just 1,000 monthly sessions as of January 2026, a dramatic drop from earlier thresholds and now genuinely accessible to small blogs.
Typical RPM: $10 to $30.
Revenue share: 70% to the publisher, and requires installing Mediavine’s Grow plugin.
Payout: Net 65, meaning payment arrives 65 days after the end of the earning month.
Reality: Journey exists specifically as an on-ramp into the Mediavine ecosystem for bloggers well below the main network’s requirements. Once a Journey site earns $5,000 in ad revenue within a trailing 12-month period, it’s automatically upgraded to Mediavine’s main Official tier.
Mediavine
Traffic requirement: Mediavine moved away from its old 50,000-sessions-per-month rule in January 2026 and now runs a revenue-based model instead. New applicants qualify once a site generates at least $5,000 in annual ad revenue, typically reached organically through Journey rather than applied for directly.
Typical RPM: $15 to $50.
Payout: Net 65.
Setup: handled by the Mediavine team directly.
Reality: still the gold-standard mid-tier network, with excellent RPMs, sensible ad placement defaults, and real human support. The revenue-based path via Journey means the route to Mediavine is now about earnings, not raw session counts.
Raptive (formerly AdThrive)
Traffic requirement: Raptive dropped its pageview minimum from 100,000 to 25,000 monthly pageviews in October 2025, a 75% reduction that opened the top tier to far more bloggers; see Raptive’s eligibility page for the current criteria. Sites between 25,000 and 99,999 pageviews need at least 50% of traffic from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia; sites above 100,000 pageviews need only 40% from those markets.
Typical RPM: $20 to $60 or more.
Payout: typically Net 45.
Setup: handled by the Raptive team.
Reality: still the top tier, with the highest RPMs in the industry and premium ad placements, but the lowered threshold means bloggers can realistically aim for Raptive far earlier than before.
Newor Media
Traffic requirement: generally starting around 5,000 monthly users, with no hard minimum enforced the way Ezoic’s now is.
Typical RPM: $10 to $25.
Reality: Ezoic’s 2026 threshold increase pushed a large number of small and mid-size publishers out of new eligibility, and Newor Media has positioned itself directly in that gap, combining AI-driven optimization with actual human consultation and Net-30 payouts, faster than Mediavine’s or Raptive’s Net-65 and Net-45 terms.
RPM varies by niche
The same network pays different RPMs depending on what the blog covers. Higher-paying niches tend to include:
- Personal finance
- Insurance, mortgages, and legal topics
- Health and medical content, outside restricted subtopics
- Technology and software
- Home improvement
- Education and degree programs
Lower-paying niches tend to include:
- Personal blogs and lifestyle content
- Entertainment
- Arts and crafts
- News and current events
The same traffic volume in finance can earn 3 to 5 times what it earns on a personal blog. Niche is close to destiny when it comes to ad revenue, regardless of which network you pick.
What changes at each tier
Under 1,000 sessions: don’t run ads yet
The income at this stage is genuinely small, often $10 to $50 a month even with AdSense. The cost in page speed and reader experience is real and immediate. It’s usually better to focus entirely on growth first.
One exception: a single AdSense placement purely to test that the integration works, not as a real income strategy.
1,000 to 25,000 sessions: Journey or Newor Media
Ad income starts becoming meaningful in this range, with $100 to $1,000 a month realistic depending on niche. Journey’s low 1,000-session bar makes it the obvious first real network for most blogs, with Newor Media as a solid alternative if you’d rather not commit to the Mediavine ecosystem yet.
25,000 to 100,000 pageviews: Raptive becomes reachable
This is the range where Raptive’s lowered 25,000-pageview threshold now puts the top tier within reach much earlier than it used to be. It’s worth applying as soon as you clear the bar and meet the audience-location requirements.
$5,000+ in annual ad revenue: Mediavine’s main tier
Rather than watching a session counter, track ad revenue instead. Once a Journey site crosses $5,000 in trailing 12-month ad revenue, it upgrades automatically, no separate application needed.
What slows ad income
Even on a good network, several factors consistently suppress RPM:
- Slow page speed. Ads load more slowly, and fewer impressions end up counting.
- Poor ad placement. Default placements from some networks run too aggressive out of the box, and manual cleanup genuinely pays off.
- Readers using ad blockers. A meaningful share of tech-savvy audiences run blockers, and RPM drops accordingly.
- Off-peak audiences. Traffic outside US time zones tends to pay less per impression.
- Restricted topic content. Posts about drugs, weapons, or certain medical topics earn less across every network.
The page-speed cost
Ads always slow a site down to some degree. The real question is how much:
- AdSense: small impact.
- Ezoic: moderate impact; aggressive defaults can hurt Core Web Vitals if left unadjusted.
- Mediavine: moderate impact, generally well-optimized but still adds real weight to the page.
- Raptive: moderate to large impact, since premium ad units tend to be heavier.
Mediavine and Raptive both publish their own lazy-load and optimization guides, and following them recovers most of the speed cost. Choosing a genuinely fast theme as your foundation matters here too. Aurora is built with lightweight, clean markup specifically so ad scripts have less baseline weight to fight against.
The reader-experience cost
Every network’s default settings run slightly more aggressive than what’s actually optimal for reader experience. Some bloggers manually reduce ad density below the network’s default, which typically costs 10 to 20% of income while reader engagement holds steady or improves.
The right call depends on whether your blog’s value comes mainly from short-term ad revenue or from long-term audience growth. For most blogs, slightly fewer ads beats slightly more, especially once you’re past the earliest growth stage.
Switching networks
When moving up a tier, from Journey to Mediavine’s main network, or from a smaller network to Raptive, keep a few things in mind:
- Most networks include a 60 to 90 day exclusivity clause. Read it carefully before signing.
- Remove old ad code completely before adding the new network’s code. Conflicting scripts cause real problems.
- Expect a few days of below-normal earnings while the new network’s algorithms optimize for your specific traffic.
Switching networks within the same tier rarely makes sense. The real income gains come from moving up tiers, not from lateral moves. For the bigger monetization picture beyond display ads alone, Aurora’s overview of blog monetization paths covers how ads fit alongside affiliates, products, and sponsorships, and the guide to adding Google AdSense to a WordPress blog walks through the actual setup if you’re starting from zero.
The bottom line on where things stand now
Don’t run ads at all under roughly 1,000 sessions a month. From there through 25,000 sessions, Journey or Newor Media are the realistic options. Raptive’s dropped threshold puts it within reach starting around 25,000 pageviews. Mediavine’s main tier now comes via revenue rather than a session count, triggered automatically once a Journey site clears $5,000 in trailing annual ad revenue. Niche still affects RPM more than network choice does, with finance and tech paying 3 to 5 times what lifestyle content pays. Optimize ad placement to balance income against reader experience, and remember that moving up a tier is the real income lever, not switching networks sideways within the same tier.
