How Long Does the Mediavine Application Process Take?

How long does it take for a publisher to complete Mediavine’s application process and begin running ads? We get this question a lot, and the answer isn’t as simple as a concrete number of days or weeks.

The answer is … it depends. 

Mediavine has one of the most comprehensive application processes in the industry, which is how we guarantee high-quality sites and the best ad inventory. Our CEO, Eric Hochberger, has written extensively about the key Mediavine requirements and why they matter.

Here’s a quick recap of what Mediavine looks for in an application:

• How many sessions the website has
• Where its traffic comes from (Google, social, newsletters, direct, etc)
• Where traffic is originating from geographically
• The most popular posts/landing pages
• How long users view those posts
• The format of the posts
• The website layout
• Whether or not the traffic is consistent (or the result of a recent spike)
• The overall look and quality of the site
• What language the site is written in
• The site’s target audience (is it targeting minors, etc.)
• Whether the content is brand-friendly

Once we review the site, we send it off to our ad partners to be reviewed as well. Sometimes, even if all the pieces are in place on the site itself, one or more of our partners will say no for a variety of reasons.

If these ad partners are large buyers of inventory, and an applicant’s earning potential would be significantly limited without those partners on board, we often have to turn the website down. 

All of this can take an unpredictable and significant amount of time. 

We don’t have a waiting list, and we never have. However, we’ve been very fortunate to see our volume of applications grow steadily for years as our happy clients tell their fellow publishers about us.

On behalf of all of us at Mediavine, thank you! Your recommendations mean the world to us. The only caveat is that between our thorough vetting and the sheer number of applicants, new sites aren’t onboarded instantly.

Each application we receive is reviewed by a minimum of two different people on our team, and any site we’re considering turning down is examined by no fewer than three people internally. 

We take every Mediavine application seriously to ensure the highest quality of our platform as a whole. For this reason, don’t be alarmed if 14-21 business days pass from the time you submit your Google Analytics PDF until a final decision is made.

Sometimes, everything runs smoothly and it may not take as long. Other times, if application volumes are extremely high or we need to dive deeper into a particular application, it can take up to 28 days.

This isn’t because we like to keep people waiting. We simply don’t cut corners or blindly accept websites that might negatively impact the earning potential of our 5,650 publishers and counting.

Tips to make our application process as fast as possible

Whitelist our domains in your email client

Add “publishers@mediavine.com” and “mediavine-2d8c00c7ee73.intercom-mail.com” to your contacts and/or whitelist those domains in your email client. This will ensure our communications don’t accidentally end up in your SPAM folder.

Fill out the application completely and accurately

If we are missing details, or there is inaccurate information provided, it slows down the process.

Send in your PDF, in the correct format, promptly

We will send an email with instructions as soon as you submit your application, so watch for this and send the additional information ASAP. Applications are processed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Be patient (please and thank you)

As we described earlier, it is normal for it to take 2-3 weeks for a site to make it through our entire review process. We appreciate your eagerness to come on board, but if it hasn’t been longer than 21 days, sending multiple follow-up emails only adds to our support team’s backlog. We’re on top of it, and if we have questions about your PDF or need clarification on anything at all, we will let you know!

Apply with one domain at a time

If you are hoping to bring multiple sites on board, we suggest you start with one, then submit the others individually. Each site is vetted individually, and each site goes through its own set of launch procedures, so we recommend not applying with more than 1-2 at a time.

If you are planning on rebranding, don’t

So much of the application process is dependent on the domain you are applying with. Don’t change yours. For real, please don’t rebrand your site, if there’s any chance we can talk you out of it. If we can’t, then we encourage you not to do so in the middle of the launch process. New domains mean new approvals from ad partners and potential delays in re-indexing as well.