The ad tech industry has a transparency problem. If you’re a website publisher working with a managed ad network, you’re probably looking at a net revenue number. That’s what gets deposited in your account after the ad partner takes their cut.
It’s clean, simple and exactly how ad networks have historically operated. But that doesn’t make it the right way to operate. There’s one even more important number that is often hidden from view. Without it, publishers could be receiving a skewed view of their earnings: gross revenue.
Why Gross Revenue Is So Critical
Gross revenue is the total amount your site earns before fees or revenue shares are taken out. It’s the holy grail of numbers and the one that shows what you’re actually generating through ads. The more granular a provider can get with how your revenue gets from gross to net, the better. But in today’s hyper-competitive ecosystem, it’s the number many ad networks work hard to obfuscate.
Why don’t you have access to the gross revenue number in the first place? Why do you need to ask for it? Can you even trust that number you’ve received?
That lack of visibility allows ad networks to obscure how they’re profiting from your website. Some networks might advertise an 85/15 percent revenue share, but never show you how that’s calculated in the back end and what number constitutes the total.
Others win business by temporarily giving you 100% of revenue up front, just to get you in the door. Once you’re onboarded, the revenue share starts quietly shifting without your knowledge. The net number changes month to month, but without visibility into the gross figure, you’ll never know why. If you question the fluctuation, you’ll find that rapidly changing markets are to blame. But that’s not the entire truth.
A Culture of Complexity
Working with an ad network should be straightforward. But there’s no standardization in what gets shared with website publishers. The model is intentionally designed to win business at all costs.
One example of this is the manipulation of ad refresh rates, which is a common practice among ad networks. Some networks speed up how often ads reload on your site (below the SSP-recommended 30-second limit) just to temporarily boost revenue and make themselves look better during a test period or at a specific time frame to boost performance under the radar.
It’s a risky move. If caught, it’s the publisher who gets penalized, not the ad network. More, not less, control should go to the web publisher, because they’re the ones ultimately responsible for policy compliance, long-term site health and brand reputation. Giving publishers full visibility empowers them to make sustainable choices instead of being left vulnerable to their partner’s short-term optimizations.
Why Transparency Matters Now More Than Ever
Programmatic advertising is volatile by nature. Revenue can spike or dip based on seasonality, auction demand and even global events. But when publishers don’t have transparency, they won’t know the difference between a market shift and a business decision made behind the scenes.
That’s why gross revenue matters. It’s not about micromanaging your ad partner, but rather having a baseline for trust. Knowing the total you’re generating gives you the ability to ask better questions, verify rev share and understand how your site is truly performing.
What Every Publisher Should Be Asking
There are a lot of metrics and dashboards in ad tech. But if you had to focus on just one? Start with gross revenue.
From there, ask how your net is calculated, what fees are applied and how often those shares change. If your provider can’t answer those questions, that’s a major red flag.
If you don’t have access to this number, you don’t know what you’re earning or losing to your ad network. You deserve to see the full picture of exactly how much you are making.