Hello,

I read the recent post by Her Paper Route about MediaVine’s new sister company, Journey, which will now accept sites with 10,000/month traffic. This is exciting as I am almost at 10k!

However, I want to get some advice and opinions. I know it’s a common strategy for most bloggers to apply to an ad network that accepts lower-traffic sites, while they wait to qualify for MediaVine. However, I’ve heard horror stories from bloggers, that when they decide to switch to Mediavine they have an incredibly difficult time. Usually, the ad network they’re working with (I’ve heard Shemedia is bad and Monumetric) will pose barriers, such as not allowing a blogger to get out of a contract, or something a lot more unreasonable. I’ve heard this quite a lot actually.

I’ve heard this scenario a lot. This is why, I’ve chosen to just wait until I qualify for MediaVine, to skip the dreaded risk/outcome of something like that. What do ya’ll think? Has anyone experienced anything like this?

I guess I’m afraid of something like this happening with Journey. It’s comforting to know that Journey is a sister company of MediaVine, which makes me think the chance of this happening is pretty null. But I still want to pose the question.

Does anyone know if there are requirements or parameters for applying to MediaVine when you are coming from Journey? I know it’s still so new, so maybe no one knows yet.

Anyways, thanks! Curious to hear people’s thoughts, opinions, and experiences working with the ad networks.

Hi Audrey,

I’m currently with Monumetric but planning to switch to Journey once I get approved (assuming I will). I can’t speak for SheMedia, but I only have good things to say about Monumetric. They simply ask for a 30-day notice if you decide to part ways. They are great to work with and it’s easy to move on from them once you are ready. I’d recommend applying for Journey or another low-threshold ad network when you can, but know that it’s very little money at 10,000 sessions. Still, it can help cover the costs of operating your food blog.

Hope that helps!

Jumping in to say that Bjork actually interviewed Chelsea for an upcoming podcast episode (scheduled to air Tuesday, April 9th) and one of the topics they covered is Journey! Definitely recommend tuning in if you want to learn more.

There still isn’t a ton of information on Journey online since it is so new, but I can’t imagine there would be barriers to going from Journey into the full-fledged Mediavine ad management solution. I’ll keep you posted as we hear more.

Just as an FYI — Raptive also recently released Raptive Rise for creators with ~50,000 monthly pageviews (the usual cutoff for Raptive is 100,000 pageviews). Cool to see more options for creators!

Hi Adam,

Thanks for sharing your experience, that’s very helpful! I’m glad to hear you’ve had a good experience so far.

Audrey

Thanks Emily, that’s encouraging to hear! I will look out for that podcast episode!

Also, I do have a follow-up question. It was recommended by a couple articles I read to install the grow.me plugin, so I can start tracking my traffic. They said it should run for at least 30 days before I apply to Journey.

So, my question is, what does grow look like? Just want to make sure I’m downloading the right plugin. I didn’t see anything that was Mediavine branded. Below is the closest thing I could find. Thanks again!

That looks like it to me! You can see more about Grow in the Mediavine blog post here.

This was also linked directly from that blog post!

Hope that helps. Keep us posted!

Hi Audrey,

I am on Shemedia and it’s been a really good experience for me, great support etc. They ask for a 60-day notice to discontinue the partnership before your yearly commitment is over.  I am looking to jumping to Mediavine soon as I am nearing the session count for that.  In my opinion, it has been a great first start and the ads have been good quality ads.  I hope this helps.

Best,

Ana

Hi Emily,

Thank you! I will let you know if I have any more questions. 🙂

Thank you Ana! Good feedback, glad to know you’ve had no trouble.

Hello,

I have SheMedia, and they have been very good to me too. Some income is better than no income in my opinion. I’ve canceled before and decided to go back. They don’t hold you hostage. 🙂

I have an application pending with Journey. Although I am very close to MediaVine, I am intrigued by the new RaptiveRise! This is the first I’ve heard about that!