"Earn up to $2.00 per 1,000 views" — what does that actually mean for your wallet? Payout rates are the most advertised and least explained part of paid link shortening. Here is how they work on Shortun, with real numbers.
Rates are per 1,000 counted views (CPM)
Shorteners price earnings as a CPM: the amount you earn for every 1,000 counted views of your links. A $2.00 rate does not mean $2 per click — it means each counted view adds $0.002 to your balance, and 1,000 of them make $2.00. Small per view, meaningful at volume.
Why the country changes the rate
Advertisers pay more to reach visitors in some countries than others. On Shortun the published interstitial rates are:
- United States — $2.00 per 1,000 views
- United Kingdom — $2.00 per 1,000 views
- Canada — $1.60 per 1,000 views
- All other countries — $0.40 per 1,000 views
The full table lives on the Publisher Rates page.
Counted vs. filtered views
Your view count and your paid view count are different numbers. Views are filtered when they come from bots, proxies or VPNs, repeat refreshes by the same visitor inside a short window, ad-blocked sessions, or invalid countries. This filtering is what advertisers pay for — without it, rates would collapse. On Shortun every link's statistics page shows counted views, filtered views and the reason for each filter, so you always know where you stand.
A worked example
Say your links get 50,000 views in a month: 40% from the US, 20% from the UK, 10% from Canada and 30% from elsewhere. Assume 85% of views are counted (a realistic figure for genuine traffic).
- US: 20,000 × 85% × $2.00/1,000 = $34.00
- UK: 10,000 × 85% × $2.00/1,000 = $17.00
- Canada: 5,000 × 85% × $1.60/1,000 = $6.80
- Elsewhere: 15,000 × 85% × $0.40/1,000 = $5.10
Total: about $62.90 for the month — from traffic many people give away for free. Run your own numbers in the earnings calculator.
How to raise what you earn
- Grow top-country traffic. Content aimed at US/UK audiences earns five times the worldwide rate per view.
- Improve your counted ratio. Real, interested visitors count; bought or bot traffic doesn't. Quality sources show up clearly in your statistics.
- Add referrals. A 20% lifetime cut of your referrals' earnings stacks on top of everything above.
- Use the tools. The full-page script, QR codes and link-in-bio page in your publisher tools turn traffic you already have into more counted views.
Rates can change as ad markets move — the rate in force at the moment of each view is what you're paid, and withdrawals start at just $5. Create a free account and see your first counted views today.