// docs / methodology.md
How we estimate website traffic and ad revenue
A transparent log of the data sources and model behind our website traffic checker and revenue calculator — how we go from live traffic signals to a monthly ad revenue estimate and a rough website value.
## 01 · traffic_data via DataForSEO
We pull live organic + paid search traffic estimates and keyword ranking footprint from DataForSEO Labs (domain rank overview), plus the domain's primary content category from a second DataForSEO Labs lookup (categories for domain). Country split and engagement metrics are modeled. When a domain isn't covered, we fall back to a deterministic model derived from category and rank signals. The RPM is a display/ad-content benchmark; it does not capture affiliate commissions, sponsorships, or private programmatic deals because those are not visible in public traffic data. It's also driven by search-referred traffic specifically, so sites where direct, social, or app traffic dominates will read lower than their true total audience.
## 02 · category_rpm
Each category has a typical revenue-per-1000-visits (RPM) benchmark, calibrated against 2026 display-ad network reports (Mediavine, AdThrive/Raptive, Ezoic) and AdSense niche data. We use these anchors:
Finance
$32
Jobs / Career
$22
E-commerce
$22
Law / Gov
$20
Real Estate
$20
Business Services
$18
Health
$16
Technology
$14
Travel
$14
Vehicles
$13
News
$12
Sports
$10
Home / Garden
$10
Food
$9
Lifestyle
$9
Arts / Ent.
$8
Reference
$7
Education
$7
Games
$6
Adult
$4
## 03 · confidence
Real revenue varies with ad-fill rate, audience quality, and direct deals. Estimates carry a ±30% confidence band (conservative / median / optimistic).