Google control your payouts?

[StuntasticAudi]

Do you guys thing that google might control your payouts...do they really show you the real stats and how much you really made? I've been making $200 a day for the month of December and since Christmas its been only $75 a day. Traffic has increased and still going up but my CPM is down to stinking .25 cents.

How can this drop so dramatically from $200 a day to $75?

[europeforvisitors]

Do you guys thing that google might control your payouts...do they really show you the real stats and how much you really made?

What are you suggesting? That they're making up the numbers?

I can think of two more believable reasons why your earnings might be down:

1) AdWords/AdSense is an auction-based system, which means that prices vary with supply and demand (including seasonal demand);

2) Google's "smart pricing" formula may be reducing the net cost to advertisers for clicks from your site, depending on the anticipated likelihood of conversion.

[StuntasticAudi]

yea i guess..i'm not a big fan of the smart pricing.

[billcale]

My situation is just about opposite from yours. However, my industry annually sparks off just after Christmas so it's no big surprise (other than it's still working for me :-). The big spenders don't seem to be in an advertising mood right now but the increase in traffic is more than compensating for their absence. You might wonder about the big advertising spenders in your industry prior to, during and after the Christmas holidays. It may be that your answer lies there.

[whbiz]

Mine fell from $700+ per day to $75. That hurts more. Upside is that things can change. After 2 months of pain, income is back to previous levels, even going higher. Although mine was a result of traffic decrease. Not sure in your case though.

[jema]

My figures are going in the right direction, views up, clicks up, revenue up, but the revenue is rather poor compared to the increases. But heck it's January, revenue tanked for the holiday period and now who knows what is happening with advertising budgets. So whilst I have been making radical and I hope effective changes, I expect to wait some time before really knowing what is going on.

[OptiRex]

I've been making $200 a day for the month of December and since Christmas its been only $75 a day. Traffic has increased and still going up but my CPM is down to stinking .25 cents.

$75 a day with an eCPM of $0.25?

[hunderdown]

I guess he gets a lot of traffic. That would be, what, 300,000 impressions daily? Not unheard of.

[StuntasticAudi]

Yes..its usually a little over 300,000 impressions a day.

[hunderdown]

Is it a forum? If I had that kind of traffic and even a greatly reduced EPC I'd be able to quit my day job. I can understand your frustration at the drop. Actually, it wasn't that good an eCPM even pre-drop. But perhaps you belong to other programs.

[StuntasticAudi]

No it's not a forum. It's a photo hosting based website!

[hunderdown]

a photo hosting based website

Thanks. Then the low eCPM isn't surprising.