Let us consider the income potential for a content based website. A web page on average can show 2 banners (one on top and one skybanner on the side). The average CPM rates are around $0.50. This translates to a CPC rate of $0.10 per click with a 0.5% CTR. The inter-conversion between CPM and CPC is explained in this article.
The website can also show one pop under ad per visitor at $3.00 CPM. The revenue that can be generated is below (assuming 5 page views per visitor on an average).
Monthly Page Views 2 Banners @ $0.50 CPM Pop Under @ $3.00 CPM
25,000 $ 25/month $ 15/month
100,000 $ 100/month $ 60/month
1,000,000 $ 1,000/month $ 600/month
30,000,000 $ 30,000/month $ 18,000/month
For high traffic websites and for niche markets, the owner can always negotiate a higher CPM rate. On top of that, these websites can also promote one line ads directly from the advertiser for a fixed amount per month. Usually that rate is around $500 per month per text ad for approximately 30 million page impressions per month or 0.0167 CPM.