Revenue Per Session - A Complete Guide for Publishers.

Congratulations! Despite Google’s frequent algorithmic updates, decreasing attention span of the visitors, and at least thousands of tough competitors surrounding your website, you have managed to make your place on the open web. You have your visitors coming to your website, getting engaged with what you have created for them. But, being an ad publisher, are you utilizing this benefit to its fullest?
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Actually, to unlock the full potential of your website, you must delve deep into elements that not only enhance user experience but also drive revenue growth. Apart from establishing and maintaining trusted relationships with your users, you must be capable of generating the maximum revenue from each visit. And that is what we call Revenue Per Session (RPS).

Revenue Per Session is a metric used by digital businesses to measure the total revenue generated per single session. A session represents the time users spend with your website in one visit. You can use the following formulae to calculate RPS:

Revenue Per Session = Total Revenue / Total User Sessions

As a successful publisher, your goal should be to generate as much revenue out of each session as possible. But this must not keep your users at the edge.

I mean, you can think of generating additional revenue from the same session by using ad refresh. However, refreshing the ads without considering viewability or user interaction can cost you both - users and advertisers. Tricky, right? So what can you do?

This is exactly what we will be talking about here - how you can generate the maximum revenue out of each session. Let’s dig in.

Revenue Per Session: Why Should Publisher Care?

Because the digital world has transformed. It’s no more about traffic but quality traffic and not about viewability but attention. Well, we will discuss these things in detail later, but let’s discuss why RPS should be your North Star:

It is your key to access the overall effectiveness of your monetization strategy.
Beyond vanity metrics like traffic volume, RPS reveals the true earning potential of your audience. A strong RPS signifies an engaged audience receptive to advertising.
Focusing solely on acquiring new visitors can be expensive. Optimizing RPS allows you to extract maximum value from your existing audience, reducing dependence on constant traffic acquisition efforts.
Strong RPS signifies an audience receptive to advertising. This allows you to command premium ad rates as advertisers seek targeted, high-value impressions.
RPS gives you access to exclusive data that provides you with information about performance issues, be it traffic, content, or ads (including unit, size, format, placement, type, and many more).

How to Increase Revenue Per Session?

It’s now time to focus on each element that you need to optimize in order to get the maximum revenue out of each session:

Ads

Be it quality, size, format, type, or placement, you need to optimize every feature of this element to generate as much revenue as possible. We recommend:

Format:

When it comes to format, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You have banners, video, audio, native, responsive, and many more formats to choose from. Despite the fact that supporting each format needs extra configuration and support, the ROIs are always satisfactory.
Video ads are already a new favorite of advertisers. Responsive are user friendly. These creative formats cut down your dependency on the old banner ads that often result in banner blindness.

What will you need:

Rich media capabilities: To deliver video, audio, and other rich media formats, you'll need a platform that supports these ad types effectively. Ensure your ad server can handle the increased file sizes and transcode videos for optimal delivery across devices.
SSP with format flexibility: Choose a Supply-Side Platform (SSP) that offers a wide range of ad formats beyond just display banners. Look for an SSP that integrates seamlessly with various ad exchanges to maximize demand for your inventory across diverse formats.
Technical expertise: Implementing new ad formats may require some technical expertise. Consider partnering with an ad tech platform that can provide support with multi-format, ad tag creation, format optimization, and campaign management.

Placement:

Placement plays a massive role in influencing user interaction and advertiser interest. Where you place your ad decides what revenue it will generate. Off-course size, format, type, etc., also matter. But the king here is the placement.

Remember, intrusive placements can disrupt user flow and lead to ad blocking. Aim for a balance between ad visibility and a seamless user journey. Consider placements like in-content placements where ads are strategically positioned within your content, like native ads within article feeds or sponsored content recommendations. These can be highly effective without being disruptive.

You can also go for the natural fold. It is all about placing ads at natural breaks in user content, like between paragraphs or sections, allowing users to consume your content while still registering the ad message.

An important thing to note here is that not all placements are created equal. Ads placed above the fold (visible without scrolling) typically have higher viewability rates compared to those placed below the fold. However, don't discount the power of strategic below-the-fold placements, especially for engaging formats like in-feed video ads.

High-impact placements, like leaderboards or large mobile banners, often command premium pricing from advertisers. However, consider the trade-off between revenue and user experience. Striking a balance is key.

What will you need:

Analytics with placement insights: Go beyond basic website analytics. Invest in tools that provide heatmaps, scroll tracking, and user behavior data specific to ad placements. This granular data allows you to identify high-performing zones and optimize placement strategy for maximum impact.
A/B testing framework: A robust A/B testing framework is essential for experimenting with different ad placements. Test variations like above-the-fold vs. below-the-fold, in-feed vs. sidebar placements, and mobile-specific layouts.
Ad serving technology with placement flexibility: Choose an ad server or SSP that offers precise control over ad placement. Look for features like zone management, dynamic ad insertion based on user data, and the ability to integrate with heatmap and A/B testing tools for seamless data analysis and optimization.
Internal alignment: Effective ad placement requires collaboration between your ad ops team and content creators. Develop clear guidelines for ad placement that consider both user experience and revenue goals. Educate content creators on high-performing placement zones to encourage strategic ad integration within their content.
Dynamic ad insertion: Leverage ad-serving technology that dynamically inserts ads based on user data and content context. This allows for highly targeted placements that resonate with users and potentially increase ad value.

Size:

Just like the ad formats, ad sizes matter too. They are equally important to your users and advertisers but may be in a different way. Choosing the right size is like finding the sweet spot in a Venn diagram – it should be large enough to be noticeable and generate clicks yet small enough to avoid disrupting user flow.

Larger ad sizes naturally have higher visibility, potentially leading to more clicks and conversions. However, excessively large ads can overwhelm users and backfire. Obtrusive ad sizes that take up a significant portion of the screen can hinder user experience and lead to ad blocking. Striking a balance between size and user comfort is crucial. Optimizing size ensures you maximize revenue without sacrificing valuable content space.

Standard ad sizes often compete in a crowded marketplace. Custom ad sizes can be designed to integrate seamlessly with your content, minimizing disruption and potentially improving user experience. They can attract a new pool of high-value advertisers seeking innovative placements. This can lead to higher CPMs (cost per mille) and significant revenue boosts.

What will you need:

A data-driven ad ops squad: Invest in an ad ops team well-versed in custom ad size implementation. They should be able to collaborate with high-value advertisers to create unique ad units that cater to specific needs and potentially command premium pricing.
Data is the fuel for optimization. Equip your ad ops team with data analysis skills. They should be able to interpret heatmaps, user journey tracking, and other user behavior data to identify high-performing placements for various ad sizes.
A/B testing: Don't just pick a size and hope for the best. Test different ad sizes and layouts (e.g., leaderboard vs. rectangle, sidebar vs. in-feed) to see which combinations generate the most clicks, conversions, and revenue.
Go for dynamic optimization. Consider solutions that allow for dynamic ad size optimization based on real-time user data and device type. This ensures you're always presenting the most optimal ad size for each user, maximizing revenue potential.
SSP with granular size controls: Choose an SSP (Supply-Side Platform) that offers precise control over ad size settings. Look for features like size-specific CPM bidding, allowing you to set different CPMs for various ad sizes and maximize revenue based on their performance.

Your ad server should be your size optimization partner. Ensure it supports a wide range of ad sizes, including custom formats, and allows for seamless integration with A/B testing tools for ongoing refinement.

Bonus Tips:

Explore ad-serving solutions that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically optimize ad size and placement based on real-time user data and historical performance. This can further streamline the optimization process and unlock additional revenue potential.
You can also partner with ad tech platforms like Mile that give you more control over your ad management and, at the same time, bring technology, support, strategies, and innovation to the table. Be it outsourcing the complete ad management or building an in-house team, Mile is there to support you at every stage.

Apart from these, you also need to focus on ad quality and implement solutions like ad block recovery to ensure that you are not missing a single penny. Always go for high quality ads that don’t compromise on UX. Serve brand-safe ads in multi-format, but ensure that they are not messing with your page speed or impacting your user experience.

Technology

It’s the generation of AI and ML. The buy-side is already reaping the benefits of algorithmic advancement. And for the sell side, if not earlier, then now is the best time to adapt and conquer. Be it ad optimization, website optimization, or auction optimization, publishers must experiment and use the best cutting-edge technology for complete yield optimization. Empower your ad stack with tools that are meant to earn higher.

If not all, then let’s talk about a few technologies that you must have to generate maximum revenue from every session.

Optimized Auction:

The best thing that happened to the digital advertising industry was the coming of programmatic and the next best thing - header bidding. Automated auction technologies are now ruling the industry.

You have Real Time Bidding (RTB) technologies like Header Bidding, Google Open Bidding, Amazon’s TAM, UAM, etc., to choose from. You also have programmatic direct, where you make one-on-one deals with the advertisers of your choice, and the ads are served programmatically.

The tricky part is how much CPM you can generate from a single bid. The answer lies in platforms that can facilitate several bidding technologies, thus diversifying your demand and getting the best CPM for you.

What will you need:

Best partner: Yes, the simplest and yet most efficient solution here is partnering with a platform that can be your one-stop shop.

Take Mile, for example.

Mile provides efficient wrapper management that ensures smooth participation in multiple RTB auctions, maximizing exposure to potential buyers.

The platform sets up, manages, runs, and optimizes the auctions. Mile facilitates unified auctions where client-side Header Bidding and server-side bidding - Google Open Bidding and Amazon TAM bids compete in a single auction. This ensures the highest possible bid wins for each impression, maximizing your revenue potential.

Mile’s smart bidding and auction management feature enables you to auto-select bidder partners and adjust timeouts based on multiple parameters, which helps drive yield.

With Mile, you also gain access to a vast network of premium demand partners through major SSPs, exchanges, networks, and DSPs. This extensive network fosters maximum competition for your ad inventory, potentially leading to higher CPMs and improved ad quality.

Mile also offers comprehensive bidding strategies, including Video Header Bidding. You can run video auctions through Mile's video header bidding wrappers to increase competition for video ad inventory and drive up video CPMs.

Mile intelligently differentiates and packages high-value ad inventory for targeted SSPs and DSPs who we know are interested in what you are offering. This approach unlocks significant revenue uplifts.

Price Floor Optimization:

Floor pricing, aka price floors, plays another important role in helping you increase the revenue generation capability of each impression. Yet, often, it is the most overlooked feature.

The floor price is the minimum price (CPM) you set to sell off your inventory. Any bidders bidding below it are automatically disqualified. However, market conditions, demand, placement, geography, category, etc., all play a decisive role in determining this minimum value.

Finding the right balance between maximizing competition and protecting your revenue is key to effective price floor optimization. Traditionally, publishers have relied on static price floors, setting a fixed minimum CPM for their entire ad inventory. They also are used to updating these floors manually.

Static price floors lack flexibility. If the market value for your inventory is higher than your static floor, you could be rejecting bids that would have generated more revenue. Additionally, static floors don't account for real-time market fluctuations or differences in placement value. Manually setting these floors is another pain. It’s time and resource-intensive and often comes with less ROI.

Dynamic price floors offer a more sophisticated approach. They automatically adjust to market conditions, freeing you from the time-consuming task of manually monitoring and updating static price floors constantly.

What will you need:

AI-powered dynamic flooring: These leverage algorithms to adjust your price floors based on various factors, ensuring you capture the highest possible value for each impression. By analyzing historical data, market trends, and real-time demand, dynamic price floors can identify and capitalize on moments of high demand, potentially leading to higher CPMs.

Mile’s AI-powered dynamic flooring built for the Prebid ecosystem uses site-specific data, historical data, and real-time data to predict and set optimal floor prices. The algorithm learns from the real-time bid performance data after setting the floors and then readjusts the price based on the performance. This ensures you capture the most value for every single ad opportunity, maximizing your overall revenue potential.

Ad Refresh:

It would be a loss for publishers when they show only one ad, even on longer session times. That is why it is important to implement an ad refresh approach on your site. It refreshes ad units, shows different ads every 10 to 25 seconds, and increases revenue opportunities.

Ad refresh diversifies your ad inventory and shows different relevant ads to catch user attention in any of the ads. It increases the impressions and clicks on the ads.

However, you should not overdo refreshing the ads every 5 or 7 seconds. The optimal limit should be followed to maintain good UX. It is vital ground for increasing session time and revenue per session.

What will you need:

Smart ad refresh: Ad refresh is the best technology to generate the maximum revenue from a single session, but only when done correctly.

This is where Mile’s Smart Ad Refresh comes in. This technology beats the legacy ad refresh technologies in every single way. It helps publishers optimize their ad revenue and user experience by refreshing ads only when they are 75% or more visible to the user and the user is engaged with the page.

Smart Ad Refresh measures the active time the user spends on the page while an ad is in view. Once the active exposure time hits 15 seconds, a new ad will be served in the same unit without any delay. Then, the second impression is counted, and the active exposure time timer will be started again.

This way, Smart Ad Refresh ensures that the ads are refreshed only when they have the highest visibility and relevance.

Addressability:

Addressability allows advertisers to identify the right users on your page, enabling them to deliver targeted ads that resonate and drive results. Here's how you can optimize your strategy for a cookieless future:

Cookieless Inventory Optimization:

You need to move beyond third-party cookies and integrate cookieless identifiers. Partner with Identity Intelligence Providers (IIQs) and other non-consent-based ID vendors.

These solutions leverage data like context and devices to create audience segments without user identification. By enriching ad requests with these identifiers, you offer advertisers more targetable audiences within your cookieless inventory.

Contextual Signals:

Contextual targeting is key in a cookieless world. Google Publisher Provided Signals (PPS) and Page Partner Identifier (PPID) allow you to enrich ad requests with relevant data points like content category, page topic, and sentiment.

This empowers advertisers to target users based on the content they're consuming, leading to more relevant ad placements. Additionally, you need to leverage IAB Seller-defined audience products built on contextual data segments to further enhance targeting capabilities.

Prebid ID Module Management:

The Prebid ID module provides a centralized platform to manage various consent-based and non-consent-based identifiers. This empowers you to activate partnerships with different ID vendors and control how these IDs are used within your ad stack. It ensures transparency and user choice while maximizing addressability within user privacy regulations.

What Will You Need?

Partnerships with identity providers: Collaborate with Identity Intelligence Providers (IIQs) and other non-consent-based ID vendors to access cookieless identifiers.
Contextual Targeting Tools: Utilize tools like Google Publisher Provided Signals (PPS) & PPID to leverage contextual data for ad targeting.
Prebid ID Module Integration: Integrate the Prebid ID module to manage various consent-based and non-consent-based identifiers within your ad stack.
Transparency Framework: Implement a clear user consent mechanism to ensure transparency around data practices.

Bonus Tip:
You can do all the above separately and manage everything along with producing your content and managing your website. Or, you can simply partner with Mile, who takes care of everything.

Effortlessly Maximize Ad Revenue with Mile

Feeling overwhelmed managing ads and squeezing the most out of your website's potential? Mile takes the complexity out of ad tech, empowering publishers to maximize revenue from every session with minimal effort.

Our platform simplifies ad management, saving you time, cost, and resources. You'll focus on core business activities while Mile handles everything from sourcing high-quality, brand-safe ads to leveraging global advertiser partnerships.

Mile leverages cutting-edge AI-powered tools for header bidding, ad refresh, dynamic pricing, and more. This ensures you capture the highest possible bids for every ad impression, boosting your revenue potential.
The platform is built to scale with your business. Whether you're a small publisher or a large media group, our solution adapts to your needs, ensuring you maximize revenue as your audience grows.
Our dedicated team of ad ops specialists provides real-time assistance, quarterly business reviews, and growth insights. You'll have the support you need to optimize your ad strategy and achieve your revenue goals.
Unlike other ad tech solutions, Mile eliminates hidden fees. Our transparent flat-fee model ensures you prioritize return on investment (ROI), focusing on maximizing your bottom line.
As a Google Certified Publishing Partner, Mile has a proven track record of success. We equip you with the tools and expertise to make informed decisions and strengthen your financial standing.

Mile isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. We offer flexible options to suit your preferences. Choose from our fully managed in-house ad service, integrate seamlessly with our plug-and-play tools, or combine both for a hybrid approach.