In Google Adsense, what does "Page RPM" really mean?

Question

I was trying to figure out what Page RPM means, and I got the below explanation from Google:

Page RPM = (Estimated earnings / Number of page views) * 1000. For example, if you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page views, then your page RPM would equal ($0.15 / 25) * 1000, or $6.00.

Does that mean your RPM is your estimated earning per 1,000 views? If then, if your RPM is $2, does it mean that you only need around 50,000 views per day to earn around $100?

Also, in Adsense, it says estimated earning, but I can't find the actual earning anywhere. Does it mean, that it doesn't actually tell you how much you're earning? If so, how will you know how much you're earning at the end of month?

Solution

Your understanding of RPM is correct. From their help document:

Page revenue per thousand impressions (RPM) is calculated by dividing your estimated earnings by the number of page views you received, then multiplying by 1000.

Page RPM = (Estimated earnings / Number of page views) * 1000

For example, if you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page views, then your page RPM would equal ($0.15 / 25) * 1000, or $6.00.

To make $100 you would need varying numbers of pageviews for different RPMs:

RPM   Pageviews to make $100
$1    100,000
$2    50,000
$3    33,000
$4    25,000
$5    20,000
$6    17,000
$7    14,000

A $2 RPM sounds quite typical to me. By optimizing your ads (experimenting with color, layout, and prominence) you may be able to increase that to $4 or $5. RPM also fluctuates seasonally. Advertisers are willing to pay more at different times of the year and as their ad budgets allow.

---

Google Adsense only displays estimated earnings until the end of the month. After the end of the month Google will "finalize" any earnings. That process will likely reduce the estimated earnings somewhat by taking out any invalid clicks or clicks for which Google didn't get paid by the advertiser. If you meet the minimum payment threshold and have entered all the documentation needed to get paid, you should get the money at the end that month. Finalized earnings appear directly on the front page when you log into AdSense:

Comments

[closetnoc]

You seem to understand RPM just fine. You got it. The estimated earnings assumes that there are no issues with bad page views or clicks that need to be removed from the calculations. That happens sometimes though rarely. There are a whole host of reasons, I am sure, why ad revenue would be rescinded such as bot traffic likely being the more common. Like I said. It is rare.

[jessica]

@closetnoc Is there a way for us to find the actual earning, or do adsense tell us at the end of the month? Like, maybe on the 30th, or 31st?

[closetnoc]

It appears that when the day is done (midnight PST or about 3am EST) the days total becomes yesterdays total as well as being added to the weekly and monthly etc. It is fairly safe to assume these numbers are actuals since typically anything that is removed is often removed fairly quickly. However, it is possible, but rare, that something is removed the next day. It all depends on the site of course, but I have only seen a few things removed from my account (count them on one hand) since 2008 if that gives you an idea.

[closetnoc]

From my experience that is the way it seems to work.

[jessica]

@closetnoc Also, in adsense is page views not by ACTUAL page views, but by how many ips visited? Today, I had around 800 page views, but in adsense, it only said 74. But the actual total ips that visited my site were less, around 60. How is that calculated?

[jessica]

@closetnoc Also, my RPM is jumping around like crazy. One minute it was $1.76 and a few minutes later it jumped to around $3.74. Is that normal?

[closetnoc]

Now that one is a mystery!! ;-) In Google Analytics you may see more traffic of all kinds but in Adsense, these are actual people. Who knows for sure but that is my guess looking at the stats. Also know that Adsense seems to lag behind a bit. For example, I may know there are 74 users so far, but Adsense will tell me 43... then all of a sudden... it jumps to 74 when GA is telling me 126.

[jessica]

@closetnoc Also, midnight just passed, and I earned 28 cents today, and it added to yesterday! Yay! :)

[closetnoc]

Whoo hoo! You whupped my earnings!! I prefer dollars, but hey - something is something. Again, steady traffic helps. Since June 17th, my site has been all over the place (trend/news update) where I would do a steady 5-12 bucks a day. It can be frustrating. Google has made me bald. ;-) What else can I blame Google for?? Where was G when I had acne?

[Stephen Ostermiller]

Keep in mind that it is against the AdSense terms of service to disclose your actual RPM or earnings. Google has closed accounts for as little as "I earned 28 cents yesterday."

[Mike -- No longer here]

I noticed through server experimentation that speed is a HUGE factor in how much money you make. On a server that's ridiculously slow when trying to service a large number of requests, you might be lucky to receive one cent RPM instead of x dollars RPM.

[Mike -- No longer here]

You might as well learn that from me. Google likes it when your server can deliver thousands of pages in a shorter time frame.