Niche Product Sites Case Study #7 – Algorithm Chaos
Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on January 21, 2025.
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Welcome to the seventh entry into our niche product site case study series.
In this case study, we are tracking the performance of niche product sites I created between 2020 and 2022, sharing what is working, what is not, income and traffic changes, and lessons learned along the way.
The first site we will look at is The Grape Pursuit, a wine blog I started in early 2020. The second site is Hipster Homesteaders, a home & garden plus food & beverage blog we started in late 2021 (where we merged two lagging product sites, a coffee blog and sous vide blog, into a broader umbrella branding to allow for more content to be produced with other topics).
Before jumping into this, I should note that my original intent for this series was to provide an update every six months. But with all that happened in 2024, I forgot to publish updates. So this one will cover everything that happened between September 2023 and January 2025. For those who know all that has gone on in blogging over this time, you'll understand when I say the theme is simply this- chaos.
Mediavine Journey vs Monumetric – Which is Better?
Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on October 29, 2025.
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As our new websites grow, we take the opportunity to try out different ad networks to see how they perform over time on the same sites.
In the past we've tested Adsense vs Monumetric and found that Monumetric was, to no one's surprise, a clear winner. Premium ad networks are just that much better than the basics, after all.
But after my wine blog qualified for Mediavine Journey, we thought we'd repeat the analysis comparing what is, in all honesty, two very similar companies- with rather similar earnings and some negatives of each worth keeping in mind.
Note: I tested Monumetric on my wine blog in 2022 and Mediavine Journey on my site in 2024. Due to the significant volatility in the market in recent years, it is hard to compare earnings/RPMs over time. While I can make the argument that RPMs tend to be down a fair bit now versus back then, it really is hard to make too strong of conclusions in this one.
Mediavine Journey Review – Monetize at Lower Sessions
Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on October 29, 2025.
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When it comes to display advertising on our blogs, we often highlight premium ad networks like Mediavine as the gold standard in programmatic advertising.
But, of course, these products also come with high barriers for entry that many bloggers simply do not qualify for until they grow to a sufficient size.
Mediavine Journey is one product designed with lower traffic requirements in mind, and while this one pays out a bit less than what we would expect from the classic product, we're ecstatic to have the option to earn a bit of income as our smaller sites grow.
Stay22's Spark Tool Helps Fill the Gaps in Affiliate Linking
Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on May 11, 2026.
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Stay22 has quickly become the leader in all things travel affiliates for their novel products resulting in more bookings and, subsequently, income for bloggers.
One of their latest offerings is a new tool known as Spark which uses proprietary AI to automatically add affiliate links into existing content. This tool was fascinating for us to try because, like many, I am sometimes fairly laid back about adding links to posts, especially when I am in a hurry, and it felt nice to know that the Spark tool is my linking assistant on pages that could use a boost.
So in this one, we thought we'd break down what Stay22's Spark tool is, how it works, and what kind of results they have been seeing since the initial rollout!
5 Ways to Get Newsleter Subscribers – From Free to Paid
Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on September 16, 2024.
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When it comes to building traffic for your blog, there is one source that is really hard to overlook- newsletters.
While you have to put in the work to get readers to become subscribers to see future content, once you have their opt-in consent, you will build a direct connection that few algorithms can impact.
This is why This Week in Blogging is primarily a newsletter, and why newsletter marketing is one of the most powerful sources of traffic today.
Naturally, with all the changes going on in search engines and social media, many bloggers are looking to supercharge their newsletters. For those looking to find new ways to build your list of subscribers, we have some ideas to find readers for your content- some free and some paid!