RPM Guarantee FAQs

Michael Lombardi

December 19, 2025 17:28

Sections

Section 1 - General Info
Section 2 - RPM Guarantee Calculations & Guarantee Fulfillment
Section 3 - Ad Requirements & Change Requests

General Info

1. Are you offering an RPM guarantee?

Yes! Raptive is offering a limited-time opportunity for qualified creators to secure a 15% RPM lift guarantee—without increasing ad density. Or for creators who want to decrease their ad density, you can receive a guaranteed RPM with a slightly smaller RPM lift.

Eligibility:
- Your site must average at least 100,000 monthly pageviews (PVs) and be currently running ads
- Your site must have earned $20,000+ in net advertising revenue over the past twelve months
Guarantee length is determined by earnings:
- For sites generating $20,000-$100,000 per year, you’ll receive one full calendar month of guaranteed RPM uplift following installation
- For sites generating $100,000+ annually, please reach out to receive your custom guarantee

2. How can you deliver my RPM lift?

You’ll reach a baseline level of ad earnings just by running ads on your site from any source that taps into the programmatic open market.

The real benefit comes from our exclusive partnerships and investments in your future. This includes following advantages, which are only available with Raptive:

Ongoing ad code optimizations
New, exclusive demand partners
New opportunities from our direct sales team, which is double the size of any competitor and secures exclusive deals that earn 2-3x higher CPMs than programmatic ads
Constant personalized behind-the-scenes optimizations

We are committed to continuing these investments in your future and ensuring we deliver the highest RPMs.

3. How do I get started?

Apply here today! Once your application is approved, we’ll reach out to get started. To determine your guarantee, we will verify that your site averages at least 100,000 monthly pageviews and review traffic data from your Google Analytics account along with requested ad performance data.

4. Do any restrictions exist around getting a guarantee based on a decreased ad density?

Raptive’s ads depend on premium advertising demand and direct deals. This means that we can run fewer ads overall on each page than more commoditized ad providers and still earn the same or more. However, those ads have to be strategically placed where readers spend time, for example the recipe card on food sites. Our analysis team will work with you to understand your goals and provide an ad layout recommendation that maximizes UX improvement while also minimizing revenue loss. Once we’ve aligned on the new layout, we’ll determine the associated RPM guarantee based on the adjustments. Please keep in mind that if you want to reduce your ad layout by 25%, that RPM guarantee will be lower than if you reduced the ad layout by 15%.

5. Will I receive a guarantee for my small additional site?

If your secondary site meets Raptive eligibility requirements, we will waive the 100k monthly pageview requirement to be eligible for the RPM guarantee. The requirements for both your primary and secondary sites in this case will be the following:

Primary site meets:

Raptive network eligibility requirements
100,000+ monthly PVs
$20,000+ in net advertising revenue over the past twelve months

Secondary site meets:

Raptive network eligibility requirements
$12,000+ in net advertising revenue over the past twelve months

RPM Guarantee Calculations & Guarantee Fulfillment

6. When does the guarantee start?

The guarantee starts as early as the day of installation so long as the ad code/plugin and the ads.txt file are properly installed.

To ensure these items are properly installed, we share instructions (or manage the install for you!) and will follow up until they are fully completed. The guarantee will not begin until these are correctly set.

7. Is there a ramp-up period where my ads won’t perform at full strength?

Yes, when switching to a new ad provider it is very common to see a temporary dip in RPM. Our RPM guarantee starts the day the ads and our ads.txt file are live, so even if there is a dip during the ramp-up period (which is often 4-5 days and could be as long as 2 weeks), we cover the difference at the end of the month.

8. How is my RPM guarantee calculated? Is it based on daily or monthly averages?

The guarantee is based on monthly RPMs calculated using your daily earnings and sessions to your site. We use your actual earnings and sessions each day so that high-traffic days (like holidays) are weighted more heavily in the calculation.

Your RPM will ebb and flow throughout each month—some days you'll see higher RPMs than the guarantee, and some days may be lower.

Regardless, our guarantee ensures that you will always earn at least the guaranteed RPM at the end of the month. We’ll work with you to ensure we’re doing everything we can to exceed the guarantee.

9. What if I install mid-month? Does that count toward the guarantee?

For any install date after the first of the month, we will guarantee your RPM lift for the remainder of the month on top of your guarantee period. Think of this as a guarantee bonus!

10. What if I was receiving more than 75% revenue share with my ad management company last year?

We will take your net RPM from the previous year (based on the total net revenue that you earned) and guarantee you 15% more—regardless of your previous revenue share.

11. What if I’m receiving a higher revenue share now than last year?

If your revenue share has increased since last year, we can work with you to forecast your RPM in the coming months based on your current revenue share, traffic patterns, vertical, and seasonal trends. Then we’ll add 15% on top of that number.

12. What if my RPM has increased significantly YOY?

If you have seen a large shift in traffic or implemented a new ad strategy that resulted in higher RPMs in recent months, we can work with you to forecast your RPM in the coming months based on your current traffic patterns, vertical, and seasonal trends. Then we’ll add 15% on top of that number.

13. What if I wasn’t running ads last year / can’t provide 12 months of data?

If we can’t get the necessary data from last year, we can work with you to forecast your RPM in the coming months based on your current traffic patterns, vertical, and seasonal trends. Then we’ll add 15% on top of that number.

14. What if my traffic patterns have changed drastically YOY?

If you have seen a large shift in traffic in recent months, we can work with you to forecast your RPM in the coming months based on your current traffic patterns, vertical, and seasonal trends. Then we’ll add 15% on top of that number.

15. What happens if my RPMs exceed the guaranteed RPM amount?

You get to keep the difference! All upside is yours.

16. What happens if my RPMs fall short of the guaranteed amount?

If performance doesn’t meet the guarantee during the guarantee period, we’ll make up the difference. Guarantee payments are capped at the site’s total gross ad revenue for that period.

17. Can I qualify for the guarantee if I don’t currently have ads on my site?

No. Only sites currently running ads are eligible because we rely on historical ad performance to establish guaranteed RPMs. Sites must also meet the 100,000 monthly PVs and $20,000+ last-12-month net revenue thresholds.

18. What if my monthly RPM doesn’t hit the number I was guaranteed?

At the end of each month, we review your average finalized RPM. If it falls short of the guaranteed amount, we will calculate the extra revenue owed and manually add this incremental amount to your monthly payment, which will be paid out on our normal net-45 schedule.

The incremental payment will be reflected in the Dashboard ‘Earning Sources’ report as a ‘Guarantee’ line item on the 2nd of the following month (or the following Monday if that falls on a weekend).

19. When will the extra revenue be paid out if the guarantee is not met?

At the beginning of each month during your guarantee period, we will reach out with an update on how the guarantee is going and if you will receive an incremental payment to meet your guarantee.

Ad Requirements & Change Requests

20. Can I make changes to my ad or site layout during the guarantee period?

Yes, you may change your ad layout or site structure during the guarantee period, however this could void or require modifications to your RPM guarantee.

We strongly encourage you to speak with your Creator Partnership Manager or submit a support request before making any changes so we can provide recommendations and advise you of the potential impact on your guarantee.

21. What will change the guarantee?

While we are committed to upholding your RPM guarantee, there are some actions out of our control that could require us to modify or void the guarantee. These reasons include, but aren’t limited to:

You make revenue-impacting changes to the ad layout your guarantee is based on during the guarantee period
Your site traffic makeup (source, country, device, etc.) changes substantially during the guarantee period
You drastically change your site layout/theme to the point we’re unable to run the ad layout that would allow us to meet your guarantee
You modify or remove your Google Analytics implementation

We will keep in touch throughout your guarantee period and if we notice any changes that may impact the guarantee, we will immediately bring this to your attention.

If you request a change that would compromise the guarantee, we’ll work to get you an updated guarantee with the changes taken into account.

22. Will my ad layout significantly change in order to receive the guarantee?

Every ad provider’s ad tech is a bit different, so while our proposed ad layout may not be 100% identical to your current layout, we will try to get it as close as possible. Some pages could have one more ad, and some could have one less—but your site’s average number of ads should be similar.

You may also opt to change your ad layout by decreasing ad density and receive a guarantee based on that layout.

23. Which ad units/types are required in order to receive the RPM guarantee?

In most cases, our ads will be the same as the ones you are currently running, however there are a few exceptions. In these cases-–outlined below—we have carefully evaluated our ad units and placements to ensure the highest RPMs with the least impact on user experience.

If you were running similar ad types previously, then examples of ad units that may be slightly different here include:

Sticky Footer Ads - We work with many of premium advertisers that other competitors don’t and include unique footer ad experiences like Animated footers that appeal to these premium advertisers.
Sticky Sidebar Ads - In this sleek new experience, one sticky sidebar ad image is replaced by another as visitors scroll. More ad impressions, more money, and no impact to user experience.
Content and Recipe Ads - We do our best to match the number of content and recipe ads across your site but since every company’s technology inserts ads differently, some posts may have slightly fewer ads while others may have slightly more. We do run some unique content ad experiences like Large Format ads that were specifically requested by our advertisers and help these locations earn a premium.
Sticky Video Player - Our Sticky Playlist video player will replace your previous video player. It starts within the content and then sticks as a user scrolls past. On desktop, it will stick to the lower right corner of the screen, and on mobile, it will stick to the top center of the page.

24. I’m running Mediavine’s Universal Player. What video unit do I need to run to qualify for the guarantee?

If you are currently running Mediavine’s Universal Player, we will replace it with our Sticky Playlist Player. There are a few differences in functionality.

On desktop, the Sticky Playlist Player starts within the content and collapses to the bottom right corner upon scrolling. On mobile, the Sticky Playlist Player sticks to the top center of the page as users scroll.

If you would like to explore variations to our video units, it will impact your guarantee numbers.

25. When does my ads.txt need to be added?

Ads.txt should be updated on the day of install. The RPM guarantee will not begin until this has been updated correctly and the ads are installed properly.

We will be in touch throughout the day of install to help and will advise as needed.

Have additional questions? We're here to help! Send us a support request here for more information