Sudden Spike in impressions and clicks

Sudden spike in impressions and click, and adsene guys not replying

[techgirl]

I noticed a sudden spike in no. of impressions and clicks in one of my site participating in adsense.

My earning shooted up, around 9-10 times that day. I am using a third party tool to track my stats (statcounter), Some traffic look weird to me.But average CTR remains constant.

I immediatelly pulled off the ads, and contacted the adsense guys, telling them about the incident.

I suspected if someone is falsely clicking the ads, traffic will pour down after removing the ads, but to my surprise this doesn`t hapen.

Still waiting for the reply from adsense guys, but it seems they take a long time.

Frankly speaking I am getting sick of this threat that they can kick me out anytime from the network without any reason. I wish Yahoo Contexual service come soon.

Anyways any idea what should I do.

[mack]

was there a corosponding rise in your overall web traffic at around the same time?

Mack.

[PatrickDeese]

> Anyways any idea what should I do.

You should put adsense ads back on the site, as soon as possible.

I have a page about the Vatican City that was getting about 35 page views a day, until the pope died.

Suddenly I had an average of 2000 visits per day for a few days, dropping off, then the page had another spike, and peaked to over 3800 visitors on the day that the new pope was announced - guess what, it's not my fault the pope died - and its not fraud.

Adsense fraud teams track your page referrers. If you are getting legitimate traffic, you will get credit for the clicks, end of story.

i would hate to have been running an adwords campaign for Rome the past month :P

> I wish Yahoo Contexual service come soon.

Do you think that Yahoo will somehow be more tolerant towards click fraud?

[david_uk]

Adsense is a roller coaster, and you just need to see the ride through. So many factors can affect clicks/earnings that you can do diddly-squat about that the best thing to do is not worry.

My spikes in traffic tend to occur when somebody posts a link to my content on forums and message boards. I then get a huge spike that lasts a day or two, then it dies. Sometimes the spike affects my earnings, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes (like now) there aren't any spikes, but overall traffic is up, therefore clicks and earnings are good.

I'd be inclined to put the ads back. Keep an eye on future spikes, but don't panic! We get good days as well as bad days.

[techgirl]

>was there a corosponding rise in your overall web traffic at around the same time?

Yeah traffic increased suddenly, CTR remains same. Even after pulling the ads, traffic remains same.

>My spikes in traffic tend to occur when somebody posts a link to my content on forums and message boards

The problem is I can`t make out the refererr from where they are coming from. I have checked out and IP addresses seemed to be genuied, couldn`t found any open proxies. It seems they are opening the home page directly.

I have written to adsense guys, but they haven't replied yet.

[jomaxx]

Think about it: If it was the Russian Mafia or whoever launching an elaborate attack to get you kicked out, why would your CTR remain unchanged? Nobody knows your CTR but you, so that would be pretty tough to fake. For that matter, why would be the point of keeping the CTR down anyway?

It sounds like you have no reason to think it's anything other than a pleasant surge in traffic. If it was me I'd be working very hard to find out what the traffic was due to, but I'd leave AdSense in place.

[techgirl]

Yeah I am getting very suspicious. But all my rankings remain same and just can`t figure out from where traffic is coming.

I put adsonar in place, and even that started getting clicks with the same normal CTR I used to get with adsense.

Now I think I have waited long enough, and putting adsense back. After all I have written them a mail too, with no response.

Should I inform them that since they haven`t replied I assume things are right so I am putting adsense back. I am really getting very confused.

One more thing CTR, EPC remains same, but I just can`t figure out from where traffic is coming from, as I used to do few days ago.

[jomaxx]

Take a close look at every referrer. Even if the majority of visitors don't have any referring page, there may be a clue somewhere in one of the search strings you can see. Looking at your raw log file may be better than using pre-digested stats from a third party.

If the traffic was due to an email newsletter, you'd still expect to see a fair number of referrers from web-based email sites (Yahoo, etc).

The main thing that seems to be left is that you got a media mention somewhere. Maybe the pattern of IP addresses can help you determine if it was regional or national or international.

P.S. If you receive any emails regarding this site, write back and ask them point-blank how they happened to hear about it or get there.

[techgirl]

I received a mail from google team ..

-------------
<paraphrase>

Thanks for the note, put your Adsense back, all is OK.

</paraphrase>
Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

[edited by: Woz at 6:47 am (utc) on April 23, 2005]
[edit reason] No Email quotes please, see TOS#9 [/edit]

[jomaxx]

So, did you find out what caused your traffic to jump tenfold?

[techgirl]

No, thats really troubling me, just can`t figure out from where did that boost in traffic came from..

[techgirl]

Duplicate entry

[Powdork]

I have a photo gallery and one of the sections is on a place called Pope Beach. It seems a lot of people have been searching for pictures of the pope as of late. The URL Google was sending them too was one I had 301'd to my new site over a year ago. I removed the 301 so now Google is sending them to a 404. I suppose the smart thing would be to put up some info about the Pope and slap some Adsense on the page but I can't stop thinking part of the reason the site is still sandboxed is that Google can't figure out how to treat a 301.

[Sunflux]

I'm starting to like Saturdays. It's my site's slowest day, but they're turning into excellent AdSense days...

[incrediBILL]

People are so paranoid about a boost in traffic with AdSense.

I crack open the champagne and take the wife out for steak again :)

just can`t figure out from where did that boost in traffic came from

Don't you have a log analyzer with your web hosting?

Check the referrers and see if something new showed up.

[Zygoot]

It's also possible that the spike was caused by coverage in a major magazine/television show/radio/... , such kind of things can't be seen in site logs.

[CheeseburgerBrown]

Zygoot,

Yeah, that's what happened to me -- a blog of mine was featured on TV. Traffic EXPLODEMERATED!

When I first woke up and saw the AdS numbers the Webmasterworld paranoia struck me and I thought, "I'm sunk. They'll boot my ass for some kind of mystery click fraud."

But then, like the parent poster, I noticed that my CTR was stable. So I relaxed. MORE of the SAME isn't a crime...I reasoned that if Google was happy with my site before, they were probably still happy.

I haven't written to Google. I'm just going to spend the first half of May crossing my fingers and praying until my payment is approved! ;)

...THEN comes the steak dinner.

[synth78]

Cheers everyone,

I will have a steak dinner and well, and celebrate these fine times, maybee a peppercorn sauce?

Ah, adsense is now screaming, I used to get 1US per day, a few weeks back,
now the steaks are sizzling anywhere from 5US upwards, with peaks of 10 and 12US,
I am just so bloody happy with this,
thanks everyone,
Just to see evermorning that nice 7US after 12 hours is a great start to my day,
I''ve just changed a few critical adplacements, and have got 7US after 3 hours,
This has never happened before, so I thought I would just spread the love, and affirm to everyone to enjoy the good days, and don't worry about the bad,

I know have enough money to eat a really good meal every day!

S

[bostongio]

You know, if there's one thing to learn from reading the forums here, it's to not monitor your adsense performance so closely and worry about a daily spike here or there. People who are checking into their accounts 2 or 3 times a day are a little crazy in my mind. Once a day is plenty, if even that. Adsense is automated -- it runs smoothly no matter what. It doesn't need constant attention or monitoring. (The only exception to this is if you're making site template changes and want to check on how those changes affect your stats, if at all.)

If some of the people here who spent so much time "monitoring" their adsense put that time to actually working on their site's content, I imagine the time would be better spent. Your purpose is to attract new visitors interested in the content on your site, not to drool over ad revenue.

[DamonHD]

Hi bostongio,

Of course what you say is correct.

But do you think that you can stop me checking my stats 371 times per day? Not until you have the secure padded cell (with WiFi blocking) ready! B^>

Rgds

Damon

[techgirl]

that day my earning rose near about to 2k$. Iwas terrified, that i will be kicked out, but now i am going to open a champagne with my boyfriend. :)

[synth78]

ah,
12US/day, I knew it

Hi techgirl,
WOW, 2k/day,
Aren't you doing well,
How long ago did you start,

Quality sites, and patience,
the sky is the limit,

nice work techgirl,
I only started a couple of months ago, and I am geting the hang of this, and it is really rewarding,
This has ben the first week, where i have been living of the money,
I know it is not much, 12us per day, 15AUD, is all I need to be a happy boy!

s

[synth78]

BostonGio,

I don't think it's a good idea telling people what is good for them,
People are just people, and will do what ever pleases them,
I am sure it is just a personal thing,
But it is just a way for them to get a handle on how the whole game works,
Checking it every hour would arguabley make you a better marketer,
But getting upset about the rise and falls, is silly, so i do agree there,
Since i am in love with the whole business, I can check it up to 12 times per day, on a good day,
Just depends what else you are doing, and where you are placed in the ladder of success,

Take it easy
s