Forum Moderators: martinibuster
The poll:
Over the past year or more, have message threads (and numbers of messages in those threads) complaining about low and/or declining EPC--Increased over time?
--Decreased over time?
--Stayed about the same?
Yes, not everybody has suffered from low/declining EPC recently if ever. And, yes, complainers are more likely to post than the satisfied and the complacent.
But if we assume that human nature has not changed much over the past year or two, and if we also assume that publisher demographics have not changed significantly (i.e., proportionately more e-commerce newbies now than a year ago)--if we assume these things, then the frequency of EPC complaints might be a good proxy measure of whether--on average, over the entire program, affecting a majority (perhaps) of publishers, with a minority (perhaps) of exceptions--EPC has generally been declining.
I'm an Adsense member since summer 2003. Last year the average EPC was $0.005 lower and this year my average EPC is $0.04 lower than 2003. But my traffic has increase hugely and my total earnings are about 900% higher than in 2004.
Have WW message threads (and message counts) complaining about low/declining EPC increased/decreased over time?
It is not focused on the question whether your individual EPC has increased/decreased over time. Nor is it about whether your personal complaints (or otherwise) have increased/decreased over time. We've seen plenty of threads (and a few polls) addressing the question of individual EPC performance. I'm asking a different question in this poll, looking for an overall, aggregate trend using the general complaint level as a proxy.
You don't need a poll, you need an analysis.
We've seen this analyzed before. The conclusions: Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends...
Some people say EPC has decreased for them. Other people (like you) say that EPC has increased or remained more or less constant. We have no way of ensuring proportionate much less full participation in any poll or analysis or whatever.
We make no real headway towards resolving this question.
In this poll--admittedly imperfect--I'm taking a different slant on the matter.
Barring a full disclosure from Google (unlikely), we look for clues the best we can.
Some people are such savvy investors--or are just plain lucky--that they can make money in the stock market at all times, bull market or bear. But your Average Joe investor would surely want to know if the market is trending up or down. Your Average Joe investor will likely lose in a bear market. Knowing it's a bear market, and knowing his limitations (ignorance, time constraints, etc.), he might want to pull out.
Some people know how to sail against the wind. To others, the idea of sailing against the wind seems preposterous. Put most people on a sailboat, they'll just be pushed along by the wind, clueless and helpless how to fight it. For most people, it helps to know which way the wind blows.
Some of us happier AdSense people try to share our rosy outlook on earnings going up 2x or 3x over the last few months but the reverse obviously happens to others. I'd hazard a guess many of the people earning well and happy are too busy club'n and eating at the steakhouse to bother posting :)