Plus revenue ideas, RPM tips, and the latest on AI  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Raptive News SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 By Ross Yoder Editorial Director Hi Traci, Somehow, Labor Day has come and gone, and September’s back-to-school (and back-to-business) energy is here—but it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming thing, I promise! This week, we’re channeling it into smart ways to grow your audience, get a clearer view of what’s driving your results, and learn from publishers building real momentum. Plus, we’ll take a look at why the human part of your work matters more than ever in the AI era. Here’s what’s inside: • Two ways to earn money with Raptive Community • The metrics that put your RPM in context • New case studies with practical growth takeaways • The latest on AI, search, and agentic buying What’s new Reminder: Make your TikTok audience count There’s still time to authenticate your TikTok account with Comscore! Completing this quick step helps ensure your TikTok audience is reflected in Comscore reporting and helps Raptive show advertisers the full scale of our creator and publisher network. Authenticate at your earliest convenience to ensure your TikTok audience is included, then tap the button below to mark your site as complete. Confirm authentication → Get rewarded for growing your community To celebrate the launch of Raptive Community, we’re introducing new bonuses—up to $5,000—for hitting certain member growth milestones. Plus, if you’re already a Raptive Community creator, you can get rewarded for referring non-Raptive creators who reach the same member growth targets. You’re eligible for the member growth and referral bonuses through September 30. See how Community bonuses work → Top resource Find the traffic sources driving your strongest results Where readers come from can shape how they engage with your content and how much that traffic earns. See how traffic source, reader behavior, and data availability affect RPM, and get a quick refresher on how to use your Performance by Traffic Source report to decide where to focus your promotion. See what’s driving your RPM → Quick tip Get a clearer view of your ad performance “If your sitewide RPM looks lower than expected, bot traffic and unmonetized visits may be increasing pageviews without increasing earnings. For a clearer picture, check RPM on Monetized Traffic in the Earnings Overview tab; it filters out pageviews that weren’t eligible to monetize.” Becca Clark VP, Creator Partnerships Management Creator spotlight Three sites, three paths toward growth Growth doesn’t look the same for every site, and that’s what makes these three stories worth a read. See how Visual Capitalist, BJPenn.com, and Plugged In Golf used clearer insights and focused testing to find exactly what worked for their businesses—and built stronger traffic and revenue as a result. Have a Raptive story of your own? If Raptive has helped you grow your traffic, revenue, or business in any way, shape, or form, we’d love to hear about it! Share your experience through our testimonial form → Visual Capitalist turned Discover insights into 39% more clicks With clearer performance data and support from Raptive’s audience growth team, Visual Capitalist sharpened its Google Discover strategy and increased clicks 39% compared with the previous six months. Read Visual Capitalist’s story → BJPenn.com built momentum across traffic and revenue BJPenn.com increased Google Discover clicks 44% and RPM 56% in the 90-day comparison highlighted in this case study. Read BJPenn.com’s story → Plugged In Golf tested its way to stronger RPMs A focused testing strategy helped Plugged In Golf increase RPM 169% within two weeks and sustain 129% year-over-year growth during the four-month period highlighted. Read Plugged In Golf’s story → In the news Raptive’s publisher-first take on agentic buying A Media Operator explores how publishers are testing agentic buying, which uses AI agents to make buying premium ad inventory faster and more direct. Raptive’s Ryan Maynard and Paul Bannister bring a publisher-first perspective to the conversation, weighing the opportunity against the questions still surrounding transparency, control, and complexity. Read the article | Gated → The rise of AI slop: Why human writing matters more than ever HackerNoon makes the case that the flood of low-effort AI content is making human creativity more valuable (not less) with firsthand experience, original research, and a distinctive voice helping great work stand out. It cites Raptive’s research, which found that readers rated content they suspected was AI-generated as 48% less trustworthy—even when a person had written it. It’s a powerful reminder that your hard-earned expertise and audience trust are so much more than a “nice-to-have”—they’re actually an edge that AI can’t replicate. Read the article → What we’re reading Catch up on news from around the industry • Generative AI performance report (Google Search Console Help) • YouTube Shopping creators can now tag Amazon products (YouTube) • Instagram puts new limits on undisclosed AI profiles (TechCrunch) Question of the week Be honest: How are you handling the end of summer? 🍅 I’m eating every last summer tomato Fall produce can wait. 🌅 I’m chasing every outdoor evening See you after sunset! 📅 I’m fully in planning mode Give me the color-coded calendar already. 🍂 I’ve already made a pot of soup I’m ready, fall—bring on the cozy vibes! Thanks for reading! Was this email helpful? You’re receiving this email because you help manage a site that works with Raptive. To ensure our emails reach your inbox, add hello@email.raptive.com to your email contacts. 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