Ezoic vs Mediavine (2026): Which Ad Network Will Accept You?

Ezoic vs Mediavine used to be a simple choice: Ezoic for small and growing sites, Mediavine once you hit its traffic bar. In 2026 that flipped. Ezoic now requires 250,000 monthly active users for new sites, while Mediavine accepts sites earning $5,000 a year from ads, and its Journey programme takes sites with just 1,000 monthly sessions from the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

So for most bloggers the real question is no longer “Ezoic or Mediavine?” but “which network will accept me now, and which one should I grow into?” This guide answers that with each network’s current entry rules, how much of the ad revenue you keep, and a simple path from your first ads to a premium network. Every requirement and percentage comes from the networks’ own pages and help centres, checked on the date at the end.

Ezoic vs Mediavine at a glance

From Ezoic’s and Mediavine’s own requirement and help pages when this guide was updated. Both networks review every site for content quality and traffic, so meeting the numbers doesn’t guarantee approval.

What changed in 2026

Ezoic: 250,000 monthly users for new sites

Ezoic‘s support centre now says that sites are generally required to have 250,000 or more monthly active users to join. You prove it by connecting Google Analytics during the application. Sites that were already monetising with Ezoic before mid-February 2026 are grandfathered, whatever their size, as long as they keep using it; if a grandfathered site removes Ezoic for more than seven days, it loses that status. New sites added to an existing account must meet the new bar too.

For sites below the threshold, Ezoic runs an Incubator programme. It’s selective: Ezoic says it chooses 20 sites or apps a month, you apply once and your application stays in the queue, and if your site grows past 250,000 users it’s approved automatically if it meets the other criteria.

Mediavine: a revenue bar instead of a traffic bar

Mediavine asks applicants to generate at least $5,000 a year in ad revenue, keep clean, human, brand-safe traffic, be in good standing with Google AdSense and Ad Exchange, and offer a reader experience that suits premium advertising.

For sites that aren’t there yet, Journey by Mediavine is a self-supported programme for growing publishers. It needs at least 1,000 sessions in 30 days from Tier 1 countries (including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia) and Mediavine’s content and traffic standards. Journey sites use Mediavine’s ad technology and settings, with a path to the full Mediavine programme as they grow.

How much of the ad money you keep

Mediavine publishes its revenue share. For sites launched from 1 January 2026 it’s a flat rate by programme:

Sites that launched before 2026 stay on Mediavine’s legacy terms. Ads from its partners GumGum (in-image) and Chicory pay 80% to the publisher.

Ezoic doesn’t publish a fixed percentage. It says it’s free to use, with no upfront cost, and that it earns a share of the revenue generated through the platform, so it earns only when you do. Directly sold campaigns that you bring run inside Ezoic with 100% of the revenue paid to you, and you can keep your own Google Ad Manager and demand partners through its Programmatic Stack.

For comparison, Google AdSense pays publishers 80% of the revenue for display ads on content, after the advertiser’s platform takes its fee. A higher share of a lower RPM can still earn less, though, so compare total earnings per 1,000 visitors, not percentages alone.

Features and site speed

Both are Google Certified Publishing Partners, and both bring many advertisers to compete for your ad space. The differences are in how they manage your ads:

• Ezoic uses machine learning to test ad placements and formats until user experience and revenue improve together, and flags problem ads before visitors see them. It also offers formats for web apps, games and newsletters, and rewarded ads that let readers unlock content by watching a short ad. Setup is a JavaScript snippet (or SDKs for React, Vue and Angular); demand partners approve over the following days and weeks, so earnings ramp up gradually.
• Mediavine manages ads for more than 20,000 publishers with its own server-to-server header bidding. It works with editorial brands in food, travel, home, parenting, finance, tech, wellness, gaming and sports, as well as independent publishers, resource sites and forums.

Whichever you use, ads add weight to every page. Keep an eye on your Core Web Vitals in Search Console after ads go live, and adjust ad density if pages slow down. The WordPress SEO guide covers speed checks.

Get your site ready before you apply

Both networks review every site by hand, so the traffic number is only the first test. Ezoic publishes the rules its quality team checks, and they match what Mediavine means by “content quality and traffic standards”:

• Original content only. No copied pages, no automatically generated content and no empty pages without original material.
• Clean, reliable traffic. Real visitors from reliable sources, not bought or bot traffic. Mediavine asks for “clean, human, brand-safe” traffic.
• Policy-safe topics. Ezoic follows Google’s publisher policies: nothing copyrighted for download, no adult or dangerous content, and some restricted categories such as alcohol, tobacco and healthcare.
• No bad redirects. Pages shouldn’t send visitors to pop-ups, pop-unders or unwanted sites.
• A supported language. Ezoic requires an AdSense-supported language.
• Analytics in place. Ezoic verifies your users through Google Analytics, so set it up correctly first. The guide to checking your blog traffic shows how.

How to apply

Ezoic: sign up on Ezoic’s site, connect your analytics so it can confirm your monthly users, then add its JavaScript snippet to your site. If you’re under 250,000 users, Ezoic offers the Incubator application instead. You apply once; your application is reviewed each month until there’s a decision, and it’s approved automatically if you later pass the threshold and meet the other criteria.

Mediavine and Journey: apply on Mediavine’s site. Journey is for sites that meet its session requirement but not yet the full programme’s $5,000 revenue bar, and Mediavine describes a clear path from Journey to the full programme as you grow.

Switching networks without losing money

• Don’t leave a gap. Keep your current ads running until the new network is approved and ready to go live, then swap on the same day.
• Mind Ezoic’s seven-day rule. If your site is grandfathered on Ezoic, removing it for more than seven days means you’d have to meet the 250,000-user bar to come back.
• Compare 30 days with 30 days. Ad rates swing by season, so compare earnings per 1,000 sessions over the same period, or the same month a year earlier, not week against week.
• Give a new network time. Ezoic says demand partners approve over days and weeks, so first-week earnings are not a fair test.

Raptive: the third option most bloggers compare

Raptive (formerly AdThrive) is the other premium network bloggers weigh up. It recently lowered its minimum to 25,000 monthly pageviews, down from 100,000, alongside its other eligibility requirements, and folded its Rise pilot into its first creator level. Raptive also says it stays selective on quality. If your traffic sits between Journey’s entry level and Mediavine’s revenue bar, Raptive is worth checking too.

Which should you choose?

Follow the ladder by where your site is today:

1. Just starting: use Google AdSense while you build traffic, and follow its policies so you stay in good standing (Mediavine requires it).
2. 1,000+ monthly sessions from the US, UK, Canada or Australia: apply to Journey by Mediavine.
3. 25,000+ monthly pageviews: compare Raptive.
4. $5,000+ a year in ad revenue: apply to the full Mediavine programme.
5. 250,000+ monthly users: Ezoic becomes an option; compare its earnings per visitor with your current network before switching.

If you already use Ezoic from before 2026, you’re grandfathered: keep it running (removing it for more than seven days ends that status) and compare its earnings per visitor with what Mediavine or Raptive would pay before you move. For the AdSense side of the decision, see Ezoic vs AdSense, and for Ezoic on its own, the Ezoic review. Display ads are one income stream of several; the guide to earning money from a blog covers the rest.