We've all heard about "the ramp up period" with programmatic advertising, but what does that really mean? And, more specifically, what does it mean for you?

When you launch new programmatic ads, it can take time to rebuild the history between your site and the buyers to make them appreciate your new ad placements. You've basically just hit the reset button on all your ad prices in the open marketplace.

How long it takes to "ramp up" can vary, so let's look at a few things that can affect that time frame.

The age of your domain. If your site has an established history with advertisers, they can re-learn the details faster. If your site is new to programmatic advertising it can take longer for advertisers to know about your readers and how best to serve them.
How much traffic you have. Larger sites have more inventory. Advertising algorithms can adjust more quickly when they have more data to analyze. Advertisers will learn about your traffic faster when you are starting off with a larger number of impressions to fill.
How much US traffic you have. CPM's and fill rate tend to be higher for US traffic. If you have less than 65% US traffic, it can take a little longer for advertisers to figure things out. There's just not as much competition.
What quarter we are in! This is a big one. If you go live in Q4 when spend is high, your ads will "ramp up" much faster than they would in Q1 when spending is more conservative. The same can be said for the second half of Q2 (high!), or the first bit of Q3 (low).

Your ad revenue is just this equation: CPM * IMPRESSIONS / 1000

Average CPMs are naturally higher during certain times of the year, so the starting point for CPMs is higher.
Knowing what to expect from those seasonal trends can help map out the length of time it takes to hit your stride.
Your ads.txt file. This is another big one, especially right after you launch with Mediavine. The sooner advertisers can read your ads.txt file and know they are spending on a Mediavine site, the sooner you will see that spend increase. If you've gotten a reminder email about your ads.txt file, don't delay! Learn how to check and update your ads.txt file here.

Help move things along.

There are a few things you can do to help speed up the process.

BONUS! They are also all things that will help you earn more long term.

Optimize for SEO and Ad Earnings by making sure that your content is formatted in a way that will monetize well. That means short, easy-to-read paragraphs, plenty of images, a minimal sidebar.
Add video! If you haven't already, this is one of those things that can make the biggest difference right away. You can learn how to upload a video to your Mediavine dashboard, and if you've not yet got any videos made, we have our Universal Video Player unit.

Our strategy is long term.

We appreciate your patience while advertisers are learning how to spend on your readers and your site. This is a long term optimization plan with us, and we'll get you there.

We are here to help build a sustainable business which means putting all the pieces in place to earn well now, 6 months from now, and far into the future of your site.

Still have questions? We are here to help!

Just reach out to publishers@mediavine.com and we will make personalized recommendations for your account.