AdSense, Ezoic, Mediavine or Raptive? It depends on your traffic
Website ad networks gate their best deals behind traffic and revenue minimums. These are the current entry rules and the order most sites move through them.
For apps, choosing a network is mostly about testing. For websites it's mostly about size. The managed networks that pay the best only take sites above a certain size, so most publishers start on AdSense and move up as traffic grows.
All of the rules below were checked in October 2026. They change often, so check them again before you apply.
AdSense
Google AdSense has no traffic minimum. Its eligibility page asks for content that's "high-quality, original, and attract[s] an audience", plus a site you control and compliance with Google's policies. If you get rejected, these are the usual reasons.
What you give up is control. AdSense picks most of the placements and pricing, and sites that move to a managed network often report a big jump in RPM. We haven't found a neutral dataset that measures how big, so the calculator uses our own estimates for website RPMs and says so.
Ezoic
Ezoic accepts smaller sites than the premium networks and automatically tests ad placements to find what earns most. A lot of publishers use it as a step between AdSense and Mediavine or Raptive. Watch your page speed while it's testing; extra ad scripts slow pages down.
Mediavine
Mediavine dropped its old sessions requirement. Its requirements page now asks for at least $5,000 a year in ad revenue. For smaller sites there's Journey by Mediavine, which needs 1,000 sessions in 30 days from the US, Canada, UK or Australia.
A revenue bar is unusual. It means a site with mostly US readers can qualify with much less traffic than a site with a global audience, because each US pageview earns more.
Raptive
Raptive (formerly AdThrive) lowered its minimum from 100,000 to 25,000 monthly pageviews in October 2025, as Search Engine Journal reported. Sites between 25,000 and 99,999 pageviews need at least half their traffic from the US, UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Above 100,000, that drops to 40%.
The rules in one place
| Network | What you need to get in |
|---|---|
| Google AdSense | Policy approval, no traffic minimum |
| Ezoic | Lower bar than the premium networks; check its current rules |
| Journey by Mediavine | 1,000 sessions in 30 days from US, CA, UK or AU |
| Mediavine | $5,000+ a year in ad revenue |
| Raptive | 25,000+ pageviews a month, 50%+ from US, UK, CA, AU or NZ (40% above 100k) |
Before you switch
Apply as soon as you qualify. For many sites, the move off AdSense is the biggest revenue jump they'll ever make.
Check where your readers are before you apply anywhere. Both Raptive's rule and Mediavine's revenue bar depend heavily on it.
Read the contract. Managed networks can have exclusivity clauses, minimum terms and notice periods, and it's much easier to ask about them before you sign.