Blog Advertising Revenue Calculator

Blog ad revenue comes down to three numbers: pageviews, how many ad slots each page carries, and the rate paid per thousand impressions. The calculator multiplies the first two into monthly impressions and applies the rate, then annualises. It also reports revenue per pageview, which is the figure that compares one setup against another regardless of traffic size.

The rate to enter is the publisher-side one. Google documents that publishers receive 80% of AdSense for Content revenue after the advertiser platform takes its fee, and about 68% where advertisers buy through Google Ads, with an effective cost per mille paid to the publisher for advertiser bids. A dashboard figure is therefore already net of that share, while a rate quoted from the advertiser’s side is not, and entering the latter overstates the result by roughly a quarter to a half.

Rates differ widely by content category and audience location, and by the tier of network a site qualifies for. Sites typically start on a self-serve network and move to a managed one once traffic clears a minimum, which is usually quoted in sessions rather than pageviews. That distinction matters here, because this calculator takes pageviews, and a session generally contains more than one of them, so a site meeting a session threshold has more pageviews than the threshold number.

Quick example

With monthly pageviews of 50,000 and a CPM rate of 10 across 2 ads per page, the calculator returns 100,000 monthly impressions, 1,000 a month and 12,000 a year, at a revenue per pageview of 0.02. Raising the rate to 25 without changing anything else gives 2,500 a month, 30,000 a year and 0.05 per pageview.

Which inputs matter most

All three inputs multiply together, so each moves monthly revenue proportionally and any one is interchangeable with the others. Doubling pageviews to 100,000, doubling ads per page to 4, and doubling the CPM to 20 all return exactly the same 2,000 a month. Nothing in the model ranks traffic above rate or ad density.

Revenue per pageview separates them. It is ads per page multiplied by the rate and divided by a thousand, so pageview volume cancels out of it entirely: 50,000 pageviews and 100,000 pageviews both show 0.02 on the loaded settings, while doubling either the rate or the ad count moves it to 0.04. That makes it the figure to watch when comparing networks or page layouts, and monthly revenue the figure to watch when comparing traffic. At very low rates it rounds to zero on screen, which is a display artefact rather than a result.

What's happening under the hood

Monthly impressions are pageviews multiplied by ads per page. Monthly revenue is impressions divided by a thousand, multiplied by the rate. Annual revenue is twelve times the monthly figure, and revenue per pageview is monthly revenue divided by pageviews.

Worked example

Suppose a technology blog receives 120,000 pageviews per month, displays 3 ads per page, and works with an ad network paying 18 per 1000 impressions.

• Total impressions: 120,000 × 3 = 360,000
• Monthly revenue: (360,000 ÷ 1000) × 18 = 6,480
• Annual run rate: 6,480 × 12 = 77,760
• Revenue per pageview: 6,480 ÷ 120,000 = 0.05

If the blog later migrates to a higher-paying network at 35 CPM, the monthly figure moves to 12,600 and the annual run rate to 151,200, a shift driven entirely by the rate input while traffic and ad count remain constant. Revenue per pageview moves from 0.05 to 0.11 across the same change.

Common scenarios

Early-stage blog (10,000 monthly pageviews, 1 ad per page, 2 CPM): Monthly revenue of 20, or 240 a year, at a revenue per pageview that rounds to zero on screen. Traffic volume is the binding constraint at this stage rather than the rate.

Established blog (75,000 monthly pageviews, 2 ads per page, 12 CPM): Monthly revenue of 1,800, or 21,600 a year, at 0.02 per pageview. This is the point at which network tier and traffic stability start to move the total more than incremental page changes.

Niche authority site (200,000 monthly pageviews, 3 ads per page, 28 CPM): Monthly revenue of 16,800, or 201,600 a year, at 0.08 per pageview. Here the rate and the ad layout carry more of the result than further traffic growth would.

What the result shows and doesn't show

The calculator models revenue from three discrete inputs and shows the mathematical relationship between traffic volume, ad density and rate. It is a gross ceiling on those inputs rather than a payout figure.

It does not account for:

• Variation in the rate across months or seasons
• Ad viewability rates or blocked impressions
• Click-through rates or affiliate income
• Platform algorithm changes or traffic volatility
• Audience demographics or geographic distribution
• Competition within ad networks or inventory scarcity

Ad density in particular is treated more generously than reality allows: each placement is valued equally, whereas placements further down a page attract fewer bids and are seen by fewer visitors, so the contribution of the third and fourth slots is overstated. Page experience and search performance also tend to move in the opposite direction to ad density, which is a cost the arithmetic does not carry.

For educational use

This calculator demonstrates how blog revenue models function. Results are estimates derived from the figures supplied. Actual ad revenue varies with factors outside the scope of this tool, and the rate entered is the single input most likely to differ from what an account reports.