Bloggers: This Ad Network Pays the Most
• Originally broadcast November 17th, 2025 via email •
| 💡 Travel Blogging Tips of the Week 💡 Which Ad Network Pays Bloggers the Most?(+ Other Key Takeaways) |
Over the past two weeks, I’ve asked students of Scale Your Travel Blog to share their data from different ad networks.
- How much are they making from ads on their site?
- Are they satisfied with their ad network?
- Is the income worth it?
The patterns were clear, and I’m excited to show you what we found.
But before we dive in, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page..
What are display ads, how do they work, and how do bloggers actually make money from them?
If you’ve ever wondered how display ads work for bloggers, the easiest comparison is YouTube.
A YouTuber uploads a video, ads show up, and they earn money from those ads.
Simple.
Bloggers can do the exact same thing, but instead of showing an ad before a video, we have ads displayed on our site.
Here’s an example from my website below:
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The biggest difference though, is that YouTubers only have one ad network they can use: Google Adsense.
Bloggers, on the other hand, have tons of networks we can choose from (Mediavine, Raptive, Journey, SheMedia, Monumetric, etc).
And because we get to choose our network instead of being locked into one option, bloggers usually earn far more from ads than YouTubers do for the same amount of traffic/views.
Important Note: In this email, I reference something called RPM. This stands for “revenue per mille,” which is how much you earn from these ad networks per 1,000 sessions or pageviews.
Which Ad Network Pays the Most?
Based only on what bloggers reported:
Mediavine and Raptive consistently had the highest earners.
There were multiple strong performers on both networks, and whenever someone shared a top-tier RPM, it came from one of these two.
Not once did the highest earners come from SheMedia or Journey.
So if your long-term goal is maximizing ad income, these two networks are the clear front-runners.
And honestly… this isn’t new info.
Most experienced bloggers already know that Mediavine and Raptive tend to outperform the rest.
The real debate, and the one bloggers can’t stop talking about, is always:
Mediavine or Raptive? Which one is actually better?
There wasn’t a moment where one of them clearly outperformed the other across the board.
Both Mediavine and Raptive had high earners with relatively similar RPMs.
They’re both excellent, and the difference usually comes down to your niche, your audience location, and which network’s features you personally prefer.
Which Ad Network Has the Happiest Bloggers?
This one was almost identical to the earnings pattern:
Mediavine and Raptive had the highest satisfaction ratings across every submission.
Every rating for these networks fell between 7/10 and 10/10. Nobody rated them low. People consistently mentioned things like reliability, support, and ease of use.
In other words, the networks making bloggers the most money were also the ones bloggers liked the most.
This is no surprise.
Which Ad Network Has the Lowest Satisfaction?
This was the widest spread by far:
Journey had the lowest and most inconsistent ratings.
Some bloggers liked it, but several rated it very poorly (as low as 2/10). The experience varied a LOT.
So while Journey can work well for some niches, it was also the network where frustration showed up the most.
Journey RPMs ranged from as high as $35 to as low as $4.
Which Ad Network Reported the Lowest Earnings?
Looking only at the lowest RPM numbers people submitted:
Journey and SheMedia made up almost all of the low-end reports.
Multiple Journey users (particularly with Australia-focused traffic) reported extremely low numbers (as low as $4 RPM).
Most SheMedia users reported single digits to low teens.
More helpful data:
- Highest SheMedia RPM reported: $27.97
- Highest Journey RPM reported: $35
Other Interesting Insights
As I went through every submission, a few patterns kept showing up that I thought were worth sharing:
- Highly specific and luxury travel niches tended to earn more.
- Sites focused on Australian destinations repeatedly showed up in the lowest RPM group.
This tracks with what I’ve seen on my own sites; Australia traffic almost always earns significantly less than U.S. traffic.
💡 Tip: If most of your traffic isn’t from the US, UK, or Canada, you can still make great money blogging, but your ad income may look different.
Lean harder into affiliates, sponsorships, and other income streams. Ads can still work; they just take more traffic to add up.
And just because ad income grows slower with non-US/UK/Canada traffic doesn’t mean you’ll earn less overall. Affiliates can actually perform better in those markets because there’s less competition!
- Almost everyone’s main source of traffic is still Google. Pinterest and Facebook come next.
About two-thirds of bloggers who shared their data joined an ad network after September 2023, which is after Google had their major update (called the HCU).
The “Google is dead” narrative is loud, but the actual data tells a different story.
- More than 80% of bloggers got into their ad network after joining Scale Your Travel Blog. It pays (literally) to implement the right strategies.
Want To Start Earning From Your Blog?
If all of this has you thinking, “Okay… I want my blog to get into Mediavine or Raptive someday,” this is for you.
My course and coaching program, Scale Your Travel Blog has helped more than 150 students join Mediavine or Raptive, and hundreds more get into other ad networks, grow affiliate income, land sponsorships, and build sustainable revenue through digital products and services.
Enrollment opens again in January! If you want a reminder, join the waitlist here:
>> Join the Scale Your Travel Blog Waitlist
I’ll be back next week with more blogging tips, tricks, and success stories!
Laura
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Scale Your Travel Blog is currently CLOSED for enrollment until January 2026. To join our waitlist, please click here!
