How we estimate website earnings
Every tool on Traffic Earnings Estimator uses the same transparent model. This page lists every assumption and every number in it, so you can judge the estimates for yourself and adjust them to your own data.
The formula
Page RPM = niche RPM × ad network factor × traffic location factor × month factor
All figures are publisher earnings: what you receive after the ad network takes its revenue share. That matches how networks report RPM in their dashboards.
Each result is shown as a range. The low end combines the low niche RPM with the network's low factor; the high end combines the two high values; the typical value uses the midpoints.
1. Niche RPM
The starting point is the page RPM a site in each niche typically earns on a premium managed network (such as Mediavine or Raptive) with 100% US traffic, averaged over a full year. The ranges are our modelled estimates. They are informed by publisher-reported 2026 benchmarks, which put general US content at roughly $10–$15 per 1,000 pageviews, finance and B2B at $20–$50, and entertainment at the bottom of the range.
| Niche | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Personal finance & investing | $22.00 | $40.00 |
| Insurance, legal & B2B | $25.00 | $50.00 |
| Business, marketing & careers | $15.00 | $28.00 |
| Technology & software | $12.00 | $22.00 |
| Travel | $12.00 | $22.00 |
| Home, garden & DIY | $13.00 | $23.00 |
| Food & recipes | $12.00 | $20.00 |
| Health & fitness | $12.00 | $22.00 |
| Parenting & family | $12.00 | $20.00 |
| Pets & animals | $10.00 | $18.00 |
| Automotive | $10.00 | $20.00 |
| Lifestyle, beauty & fashion | $10.00 | $18.00 |
| Crafts & hobbies | $10.00 | $18.00 |
| Education & reference | $8.00 | $16.00 |
| Sports & outdoors | $7.00 | $14.00 |
| News & politics | $6.00 | $12.00 |
| Gaming | $5.00 | $10.00 |
| Entertainment & celebrity | $4.00 | $9.00 |
| General / mixed topics | $8.00 | $14.00 |
2. Ad network factor
Networks differ in how much demand they bring to each ad slot. We express that as a factor relative to the premium baseline (1.00). Industry comparisons commonly find that premium networks pay roughly 30–60% more than AdSense for the same traffic, and individual publishers often report bigger jumps. Our factors sit within that evidence.
| Network | Low factor | High factor |
|---|---|---|
| Google AdSense | 0.45× | 0.70× |
| Journey by Mediavine | 0.70× | 0.90× |
| Ezoic | 0.65× | 0.90× |
| Monumetric | 0.65× | 0.85× |
| SHE Media | 0.75× | 0.95× |
| Raptive | 0.90× | 1.10× |
| Mediavine | 0.90× | 1.10× |
| Playwire | 0.85× | 1.10× |
| Freestar | 0.85× | 1.10× |
3. Traffic location factor
Advertisers pay very different prices depending on where a visitor is. We group countries into regions and weight each region's multiplier by your share of traffic from it. US traffic is 1.00.
| Region | Multiplier | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| United States tier-1 | 1.00× | United States |
| Canada, UK, Australia & NZ tier-1 | 0.78× | Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand |
| Western & Northern Europe | 0.55× | Germany, Nordics, Netherlands, France, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy |
| Developed Asia-Pacific | 0.50× | Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan |
| Latin America & Eastern Europe | 0.22× | Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Poland, Romania, Greece, Turkey and others |
| Middle East & Africa | 0.18× | Gulf states, Israel, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and others |
| India, South & Southeast Asia | 0.10× | India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and others |
The tools offer these presets for quick estimates:
- Mostly US — location factor 0.89× (US 75%)
- English-speaking, global — location factor 0.80× (US 55%)
- Worldwide mix — location factor 0.55× (US 30%)
- Mostly Europe — location factor 0.57× (US 10%)
- Mostly Asia — location factor 0.32× (US 10%)
4. Seasonality
Ad prices follow advertisers' budgets: they drop sharply in January, recover through spring and peak in November and December. Monthly results use these multipliers, which average 1.00 over the year. Annual figures already include the full seasonal cycle.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.72 | 0.80 | 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.97 | 1.00 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 1.03 | 1.10 | 1.25 | 1.33 |
5. Eligibility
The eligibility checks compare your inputs with each network's published requirements: traffic (pageviews, sessions, users or tier-1 sessions), annual ad revenue, share of tier-1 or US traffic and domain age. "Close" means you meet at least 60% of every requirement you are missing. Networks also review content quality and traffic sources, which no calculator can check.
When a tool only knows your pageviews, it estimates sessions as pageviews ÷ pages per session (1.5 by default) and monthly users as 80% of sessions.
What the model cannot see
- Your ad layout, ad density, sticky and video units, and page speed.
- Content length, scroll depth and how many pages each visitor reads.
- Desktop vs mobile split, and consent rates for visitors in Europe.
- Traffic quality and source (search, social, direct, paid).
- Market-wide shifts in ad prices. Mediavine's CEO said in 2025 that CPMs were down 10–20% year over year, for example.
That is why the tools show a range. Once your ads are running, use the RPM calculator with your real revenue and traffic, then enter your own RPM where the tools allow it.
How we keep the data current
Network requirements, revenue shares and payment terms are taken from each network's own website or help centre wherever possible, and each profile page shows when it was last checked. RPM ranges and factors are reviewed regularly against new benchmark data. If you spot something out of date, please let us know.