Revenue & Payouts
Publishers earn 70% of every winning SSP bid. Revenue accumulates in real time and is paid out at the end of each calendar month via Stripe Connect bank transfer.
Revenue share
For every impression where an SSP wins the auction, publisher revenue is calculated as:
The remaining 30% is retained by Inlay to cover infrastructure costs, AI template generation, Prebid Server request fees, and the platform fee. The split is applied uniformly across all SSPs and all plan tiers — your revenue share percentage is not affected by which plan you are on.
CPM vs. per-impression revenue
winningCpm × 0.70 ÷ 1000. At a $2.00 winning CPM, each impression earns $0.0014 — modest individually, significant at scale.What counts as revenue
Revenue is recorded only when an SSP wins the auction above the floor CPM. All other outcomes generate no revenue:
| Impression type | Revenue | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SSP wins above floor CPM | Yes (70% of winning CPM) | Normal revenue event. SspImpression row written. |
| SSP bid below floor CPM | No | Bid rejected. House ad serves. |
| No SSP bids received | No | All SSPs timed out or returned no fill. House ad serves. |
| House ad (fallback) | No | Promotional impression only. Not counted in earnings. |
| Preview mode | No | Preview impressions are never recorded as revenue events. |
Payout cycle
Revenue accumulates throughout each calendar month. On the first business day of the following month, Inlay calculates your total earned revenue and initiates a bank transfer via Stripe Connect. Transfers typically settle within 2–5 business days depending on your bank and country.
Minimum payout
There is no minimum payout threshold. For very small balances, Inlay may defer a transfer to the following month if the Stripe transfer fee would exceed the balance — you will be notified by email if this occurs.
Stripe Connect requirement
Payouts require a connected bank account via Stripe Connect. If you have not completed onboarding, revenue continues to accumulate in your Inlay account and will be paid out on the next monthly cycle after your bank account is connected. No revenue is forfeited.
See Payout Setup for instructions on connecting your bank account.
Payout statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Payout calculated; Stripe transfer not yet initiated. |
| Processing | Transfer initiated with Stripe; awaiting confirmation from the network. |
| Paid | Transfer confirmed by Stripe. Funds are in transit to your bank. |
| Failed | Transfer failed. Inlay will retry on the next payout cycle and notify you by email. |
Earnings dashboard
Go to Dashboard → Earnings to view:
- Pending balance for the current month (revenue earned but not yet paid out)
- Historical payout records with status, amount, and Stripe transfer ID
- Revenue breakdown by SSP — Taboola, Outbrain, TripleLift, and others
- Hourly impression and revenue statistics for the current month
Analytics are updated in near real-time. Impressions recorded within the last minute typically appear in the dashboard within a few seconds.