SOP #43 — Display Revenue Tracing

SOP #43 — Display Revenue Tracing

For any ad-monetized site, trace the money to its source before you believe the P&L. Run this on Mediavine, AdThrive, or Ezoic sites.

1. Request read access to the ad network dashboard, not exported PDFs. Fail if only PDFs offered.
2. Pull RPM (revenue per thousand sessions) by month for 12 months. Fail if any month is missing.
3. Multiply network sessions by RPM and reconcile to claimed revenue. Pass within 5%.
4. Check payout records against a bank statement line. Fail if payouts don't land.
5. Confirm the ads.txt file lists the current network. Fail on stale entries.
6. Identify seasonality — flag Q4 spikes so you don't overpay on a December average.

Save this — run it every deal.