I signed up for Journey by Mediavine in July, but this week I left it behind and returned to Adsense. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier.
After two months, my RPM on Journey barely reached $20, and it took forever to get there. I also haven’t been paid yet due to their net 65 payment schedule. But after just a day back with Adsense, my RPM is already around $15, and I’ll probably get paid next month if I cross the threshold.
For me, Adsense wins hands down, but I guess it depends on your niche and traffic. I keep my ads on auto.
Yeah, waiting for that first payout can be tough. Once it starts rolling, though, it’s every month like clockwork. I use Ezoic, and they do net 30, which is much better in my opinion. I get my October earnings at the end of November.
On Mediavine, you won’t see your October earnings until January!
Their payment terms are terrible. I prefer Raptive for that reason; I think they’re net-45. It feels like a missed opportunity when you can’t reinvest your earnings quickly.
CommentConnoisseur said:
Their payment terms are terrible. I prefer Raptive for that reason; I think they’re net-45. It feels like a missed opportunity when you can’t reinvest your earnings quickly.
Totally agree! Raptive is harder to get into, though…
Journey really sucks. They rejected my site, and it’s a great site with real, helpful content. My Google rankings are top for a bunch of terms. The guy I was in contact with, Kevin, kept stringing me along for months, saying they were still reviewing it.
I even turned down other offers because of them!
After I finally sent an email saying they should approve or reject me already because other bloggers with less traffic were getting in, I got a rejection the next day.
Honestly, forget Mediavine, forget Journey, and definitely forget Kevin.
I also had a bad time with Journey by Mediavine. I’m still waiting on my October payment. They keep telling me it’s coming, but the due date was October 5th! They’re blaming their payment system, Tipalti.
First time I’m hearing someone say Adsense pays more. Do you think it’s better to stay with Adsense until you hit 50k sessions and then switch to the regular Mediavine? Is Journey just a way for them to get more market share without offering real value?
Where’s your traffic coming from? Geography makes a big difference. Journey is usually better if your audience is in the US or Canada. If your traffic is from Europe, Adsense can do better.
Also, Adsense auto ads are more aggressive with pop-ups and high click-through rates. Journey might be missing out there.
@SEOStrategist4
Most of my traffic is from the UK, about 60-70%. Journey was pretty aggressive too, but they don’t use vignettes like Adsense does, and that made a difference.
