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I was trying to figure out what Page RPM means, and I got the below explanation from Google:

Page RPM = (Estimated earnings / Number of page views) * 1000. For example, if you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page views, then your page RPM would equal ($0.15 / 25) * 1000, or $6.00.

Does that mean your RPM is your estimated earning per 1,000 views? If then, if your RPM is $2, does it mean that you only need around 50,000 views per day to earn around $100?

Also, in Adsense, it says estimated earning, but I can't find the actual earning anywhere. Does it mean, that it doesn't actually tell you how much you're earning? If so, how will you know how much you're earning at the end of month?

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    You seem to understand RPM just fine. You got it. The estimated earnings assumes that there are no issues with bad page views or clicks that need to be removed from the calculations. That happens sometimes though rarely. There are a whole host of reasons, I am sure, why ad revenue would be rescinded such as bot traffic likely being the more common. Like I said. It is rare.
    – closetnoc
    Dec 23, 2015 at 4:46
  • @closetnoc Is there a way for us to find the actual earning, or do adsense tell us at the end of the month? Like, maybe on the 30th, or 31st?
    – jessica
    Dec 23, 2015 at 4:49
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    It appears that when the day is done (midnight PST or about 3am EST) the days total becomes yesterdays total as well as being added to the weekly and monthly etc. It is fairly safe to assume these numbers are actuals since typically anything that is removed is often removed fairly quickly. However, it is possible, but rare, that something is removed the next day. It all depends on the site of course, but I have only seen a few things removed from my account (count them on one hand) since 2008 if that gives you an idea.
    – closetnoc
    Dec 23, 2015 at 4:55
  • @closetnoc, so basically weekly, and monthly is for sure, but there's a small chance that yesterday's is still estimated?
    – jessica
    Dec 23, 2015 at 4:57
  • From my experience that is the way it seems to work.
    – closetnoc
    Dec 23, 2015 at 5:00

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Your understanding of RPM is correct. From their help document:

Page revenue per thousand impressions (RPM) is calculated by dividing your estimated earnings by the number of page views you received, then multiplying by 1000.

Page RPM = (Estimated earnings / Number of page views) * 1000

For example, if you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page views, then your page RPM would equal ($0.15 / 25) * 1000, or $6.00.

To make $100 you would need varying numbers of pageviews for different RPMs:

RPM   Pageviews to make $100
$1    100,000
$2    50,000
$3    33,000
$4    25,000
$5    20,000
$6    17,000
$7    14,000

A $2 RPM sounds quite typical to me. By optimizing your ads (experimenting with color, layout, and prominence) you may be able to increase that to $4 or $5. RPM also fluctuates seasonally. Advertisers are willing to pay more at different times of the year and as their ad budgets allow.

Google Adsense only displays estimated earnings until the end of the month. After the end of the month Google will "finalize" any earnings. That process will likely reduce the estimated earnings somewhat by taking out any invalid clicks or clicks for which Google didn't get paid by the advertiser. If you meet the minimum payment threshold and have entered all the documentation needed to get paid, you should get the money at the end that month. Finalized earnings appear directly on the front page when you log into AdSense:

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  • I noticed through server experimentation that speed is a HUGE factor in how much money you make. On a server that's ridiculously slow when trying to service a large number of requests, you might be lucky to receive one cent RPM instead of x dollars RPM.
    – Mike -- No longer here
    Dec 25, 2015 at 1:17
  • You might as well learn that from me. Google likes it when your server can deliver thousands of pages in a shorter time frame.
    – Mike -- No longer here
    Dec 29, 2015 at 4:32

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