AdMob Earnings Explained
If you monetise an app with Google AdMob, the number on your dashboard and the money that arrives in your bank are related, but not the same. This guide explains the metrics, the payment cycle and the most common surprises, based on Google's AdMob Help Center.
Estimated vs finalized earnings
- Estimated earnings are what your reports show during the month. They update throughout the day and give you a close, early picture of activity.
- Finalized earnings are calculated after the month ends, once Google has adjusted for invalid clicks and impressions. That revenue is refunded to advertisers, so finalized earnings are often a little lower than estimates.
There's also a time-zone wrinkle: reports on your Home page use your account's time zone, while finalized earnings and payments use the America/Los_Angeles billing time zone. Small differences at the month boundary are normal.
The monthly payment cycle
According to AdMob's payment documentation:
- During the month: you accrue estimated earnings.
- Around the 3rd of the next month: last month's finalized earnings are posted to your balance on the Payments page.
- By the 20th: any changes to payment details, or resolving payment holds, must be done for this month's payment. Your balance must also meet the payment threshold.
- Around the 21st: if your balance meets the threshold and there are no holds, a payment is issued. It can take up to about seven business days to reach your bank, and longer if the 21st falls on a weekend or holiday.
So earnings from June are typically paid around July 21st, if the threshold is met.
Thresholds
For a US dollar account, Google lists these thresholds (other currencies have local equivalents):
- Verification threshold: $10. You'll be asked to verify your identity and address (a PIN is mailed to you).
- Payment method selection threshold: $10. You can add a bank account once you reach it.
- Payment threshold: $100. You're only paid once your finalized balance reaches this. Below it, earnings roll over to the next month.
A common surprise: an account earning $60 a month gets paid every second month, because the balance only crosses $100 after two months.
Payment holds
Payments stop if there's a hold on the account, for example unverified identity or address, missing tax information, or no payment method. Check the Payments page for warnings well before the 20th.
The metrics on your dashboard
- Impressions: how many ads were shown.
- Requests and match rate: how often your app asked for an ad, and what share of those requests were filled.
- Show rate: the share of loaded ads that were actually shown. A low show rate often means ads are loaded but the user leaves before they appear.
- eCPM (effective cost per mille): earnings per 1,000 impressions.
eCPM = (earnings ÷ impressions) × 1,000
eCPM varies widely by ad format (rewarded and interstitial ads usually earn more per impression than banners), by country, by season (advertisers spend more in Q4), and by how much demand you have in mediation.
Reading trends without fooling yourself
- Compare like with like. Compare today to the same weekday last week, not to yesterday; weekends and paydays differ.
- Watch impressions and eCPM separately. Revenue down 20%? Find out whether you showed fewer ads or earned less per ad. The fixes are different.
- Expect a dip in January. Ad budgets reset after the holiday season.
- Look at weekly averages. Daily numbers are noisy, especially for small apps.
Currency
AdMob reports in your account's reporting currency. If you live elsewhere, your bank converts the payment at its own rate, so the amount that arrives can differ from the dashboard even when finalized earnings match. Converting estimates into your home currency gives a more realistic sense of what you'll receive.
Protecting your account
Invalid activity, including clicking your own ads, can lead to deductions or account suspension. Use test ads while developing, never ask users to click ads, and don't place ads where accidental taps are likely.
Checking earnings on your phone
The AdMob website works on mobile, but it's slow for a quick glance. Several apps read your data through Google's official AdMob API after you sign in with your Google account.
A glanceable dashboard: AdEarnings Pro (free, by the author of this guide) connects to an existing AdMob account with Google Sign-In and shows today's and yesterday's earnings, total unpaid earnings and your last payment, live earning rates per second, minute and hour, weekly averages for earnings and clicks, six months of history, and conversion into other currencies. Your AdMob data is not saved, shared or accessible to the developer.
Summary
- Estimated earnings are a preview; finalized earnings are what you're paid.
- Finalization happens around the 3rd; payment around the 21st.
- You need $100 (or the local equivalent) in finalized balance, and no holds.
- Track impressions and eCPM separately to understand changes.