With ad rates and revenues declining across many networks, bloggers today face an increasingly competitive landscape when monetizing their sites. Mediavine has held strong as a highly desirable, invite-only ad management option promising premium earnings.
However, Mediavine’s exclusivity means meeting their eligibility requirements is no easy feat. So what exactly are Mediavine’s current standards for 2024, and what must your site demonstrate to gain acceptance into their sought-after network?
I’ve been a Mediavine publisher since 2017 and I currently have 3 websites displaying their ads. I’ll break down the key stats and qualifications Mediavine looks for when vetting publisher applicants, from traffic and sessions to content depth and site design.
I’ll provide tips to improve your site and meet the rigorous Mediavine requirements if you hope to get in this year.
With the right strategy, you can position your site to finally garner that coveted Mediavine approval and access the impressive ad rates that make it a worthwhile income channel for established blogs today.
What is Mediavine?
Mediavine is an advertising management service and ad network that helps bloggers and content creators monetize their online content through display advertising. It is a popular partner among hobby bloggers, content publishers, and website owners who are looking to generate revenue from their online platforms.
Mediavine offers a full-service ad management solution, handling tasks such as ad optimization, ad placement, and revenue maximization. The platform is known for its focus on user experience and site performance, aiming to balance revenue generation with a positive experience for end users and web visitors.
Some key features and services provided by Mediavine include:
- Ad Management: Mediavine helps publishers manage and optimize display ads on their websites to maximize revenue while ensuring a good user experience.
- Ad Technology: The platform utilizes advanced ad technology to deliver targeted and relevant ads to website visitors.
- Revenue Optimization: Mediavine is committed to maximizing revenue for publishers by employing various optimization techniques and staying up-to-date with industry best practices.
- Site Speed and Performance: The platform emphasizes the importance of site speed and overall performance, as these factors can impact user engagement and search engine rankings.
- Video Monetization: In addition to display ads, Mediavine also supports video ads, allowing content creators to monetize their video content.
New Mediavine Requirements
Now that you understand how Mediavine works, let’s get into the factors that will qualify your blog for Mediavine’s network.
Mediavine publishes its own guidelines for acceptance into their network but the factors that influence whether your site will be accepted or not are far more complex than publicly stated.
Here’s what Mediavine says publicly:
Here’s what to really expect when preparing a successful Mediavine application.
Self-Hosted Blog
Mediavine only works with bloggers who have their own domains and web hosting. If you have a BlogSpot blog, take the time to migrate it to a self-hosted WordPress install before applying to Mediavine.
GA4-Verified Traffic
You must have Google Analytics “GA4” installed on your blog measuring your traffic for at least one month. No other web traffic analytics platforms are accepted.
50,000 Monthly Sessions
In 2020, Mediavine, a leading ad management and monetization company for publishers, announced that they would be increasing the minimum number of monthly sessions required for publishers to join their network.
Previously, publishers needed to have at least 25,000 sessions per month to qualify for Mediavine. However, citing rising applications and a need to provide greater support and service to their clients, Mediavine raised the threshold to 50,000 monthly sessions.
This significant doubling of the minimum requirement shut out many smaller yet promising publishers who did not yet have enough site traffic. Nonetheless, it allowed Mediavine to achieve more sustainable growth levels.
For those publishers able to meet the new 50,000 session minimum, Mediavine continues to offer some of the highest ad rates and earning potential, though at the cost of lost opportunity for smaller publishers.
Why Did Mediavine Increase the Sessions Requirement?
Mediavine’s popularity is growing fast. It currently works with 9,000 publishers. Over 72% of applications to join the ad network are turned down.
It’s not uncommon for advertising networks and platforms to adjust their eligibility criteria based on industry trends, market conditions, or their own business strategies.
The change was attributed to the evolving landscape of online advertising, the need for higher-quality content and traffic, and adjustments to ensure optimal performance for both publishers and advertisers.
What about Second Sites?
What if you already have a site in Mediavine and want to add a second or third site? Does the new 50k sessions requirement apply? Prior to 2020, you only needed 10,000 sessions to get your second site into Mediavine.
But now, your second site must also have 50,000 monthly sessions to get accepted.
The only two exceptions are if you are a part of Mediavine Pro, which reduces your additional site sessions requirement to 25,000, or Mediavine Premiere, which reduces the requirement down to 10,000.
The idea is that if you can successfully grow one site to high levels, you can probably grow more sites to these levels too.
Majority of Traffic From Tier 1 Countries Requirement
While Mediavine does not outwardly state it in their eligibility criteria, one common aspect of accepted blogs is their strong focus on the US, Canada, UK, and Australia audience markets. These Tier 1 countries are crucial for Mediavine publishers to maximize advertiser demand and achieve the highest RPMs and earnings.
Even if you meet all other Mediavine standards for sessions, page views, and site content, they will likely reject your application if analytics show low traffic volume from English-speaking and Western nations.
This disproportionately impacts international bloggers aiming to monetize local audiences. Though Mediavine claims to assess each site individually, accounts from denied applicants suggest you need over 50% of visitors from the main English-speaking geo targets.
So when angling to qualify for Mediavine, ensure your content strategy, outreach, and SEO specifically attract significant readers in the US, Canada, Australia, and Britain in line with their unstated but vital unofficial traffic stipulation.
Targeting these Tier 1 countries gives you the best shot at Mediavine acceptance.
Good Standing with Google AdSense
Most new bloggers won’t have this issue, but if you have a site that has been previously flagged for spam or platform abuse by Google AdSense, it’s ineligible to join Mediavine. This includes accounts that have been banned or suspended.
Can a site that has been rejected by Google AdSense still get accepted to Mediavine? Yes! It’s important to avoid confusing a punitory suspension with a harmless rejection from Google AdSense.
If you were simply a new blogger whose site didn’t meet the AdSene requirements at the time due to low traffic or thin content, that won’t be held against you.
As long as you have improved your content since then, your site should have no trouble getting into Mediavine.
Original Content in Any Niche
The way this requirement is written is kind of funny. Mediavine writes “original content in any niche as a lifestyle publisher.” So basically you need to be in the lifestyle niche!
In practical terms, what this means is that Mediavine prefers publishers who write about non-controversial, everyday topics. Here are some popular Mediavine blogger niches:
- Food
- Personal Finance
- Travel
- Fashion
- Beauty & Skincare
- Pets
- Home Decor
- DIY & Crafts
- Sewing
- Family & Parenting (“Mommy blogs”)
- Homesteading
- Running & Exercise
Mediavine wants bloggers who create original content on these niche topics. They must write their own posts and produce their own blog posts.
Does Mediavine require original photography? The good news is: no, they do not require that you take all the photos on your blog yourself.
Does Mediavine accept anonymous blogs? Yes! You don’t have to reveal your name on your blog if you don’t want to. While Mediavine will require you to use your legal name on tax forms so they can report your income to the IRS, this information stays private.
Long-Form, Engaging Content
One key but often overlooked criterion Mediavine specifies in its publisher policies is the need for in-depth, extensive content so Mediavine can strategically incorporate ads.
While having enough sessions and organic traffic is crucial, Mediavine ultimately accepts sites publishing posts over 1,000 words because longer pages directly translate to more ad placements and greater revenue.
With long-form guides, reviews, investigative reports, and listicles, publishers can add multiple ad units without detracting from user experience.
Furthermore, Google typically ranks verbose, value-adding content higher, compounding referral traffic. This incentivizes Mediavine to screen for blogs with long articles that keep visitors engaged.
By requiring paragraphs of original, strategic ad integration within posts, Mediavine ensures higher RPM potential, scalability, and sustainable earnings for itself and its publishers – key factors driving its success. The quality and consistency of long-form content also builds reader trust and loyalty over time.
Simply put, well-written long-form content drives traffic, visibility, and conversions necessary for healthy ad profits.