RonS - 5:17 am on Aug 24, 2005 (gmt 0)

Last month was a good month, especially the last week or so. This month continued on, then the bottom started to droop, then fell out completely just before the weekend.

1-9 110%
10-18 75%
19-23 50%

With fewer visitors, lower CTR and lower EPC. Just across the board worse stats. If I had any hair left, I might be pulling it out.

I'm hoping for a resurgence as folks get back to work and school over the next few weeks. Hope springs eternal.

On another note, I am seeing a number of 2cent clicks. Last week I saw a 1 cent click. 1 Cent! It just so happens that particular page is in my URL tracking and I have tracking software installed on the page. It usually gets 3 or 4 clicks in the 60-80-100 cent range. This was not a CPM ad. This was a click.

Immediately I suspected that the click was from a foreign (non-US) country, and a trace of the IP addy confirmed this. The url the visitor went to is one of the biggest names in the niche, and is a regular payer of the 60 and 80 cent clicks.

I really want the ability to set a minimum acceptable payout for my site. If G doesn't have the inventory, then show my alternate URL or my background color. I can continue to guide my visitors to pages that may better suit their needs, and land them on a page with a higher CPC, or convert them myself into an opt-in list or other affiliate sale.

If AdSense can't give publishers minimum bid ability, I'm afraid that I'll have to look elsewhere for my measly 8 million yearly impressions, even if the payout is somewhat lower. Nothing drives me up a wall more than seeing a visitor of mine leave for such a pittance.