EPC/CPM better in the morning?

Is it just me?

[Tonearm]

It seems like my EPC and CPM are always best in the morning and gradually slide throughout the day. Has anyone else noticed this?

- Grant

[oddsod]

You don't know what your EPC and CPM are during the day. The figures you see in your stats are a rough indication. Standard caveats on stats interpretation apply, different columns could be updated at different speeds.

[hunderdown]

Perhaps you are getting clicks getting carried forward from the previous day....

My observation is that impressions update more frequently than clicks do--perhaps several times per hour (yes, I confess, there have been times when I've checked that often). Clicks, at least for my site, don't necessarily get updated every hour.

I do notice the same pattern on my site--sometimes with a rise at the end of the day--but even if it's real, how important is it? Would you do anything different if you knew for a fact that early-morning surfers converted better, or were worth more in smart pricing? Maybe you would. I can't think of anything, though.

[Atomic]

Maybe you would. I can't think of anything, though

If I knew for certain I would make sure I published new articles in the morning rather than at night and make sure it was advertised on the site that new material was a morning event or do anything I could to get people to the site in the morning such as advertise certain rewards or perks that could only be gained in the morning.

[Tonearm]

Hi guys,

It just seems to be an every day thing and I was wondering if that's standard.

- Grant

[oddsod]

Happens here too.

[Curiosity]

There was a thread about this not too long ago in which people brought up that some non-US markets pay more than US markets. You could be seeing clicks from people who are clicking more lucrative European ads during their own peak hours, which roughly coincide with morning in the USA.

[Tonearm]

Curiosity,

Interesting, why would non-US markets pay more? Just the way it comes out?

- Grant

[incrediBILL]

why would non-US markets pay more?

I speculated on this a couple of months ago in this very forum as I earn about 70% of my income by noon on most days. Maybe it's the exchange rate with the dollar weak against the euro, maybe we're getting euro rates on the early morning clicks.

Maybe some of the higher paying CPC ad budgets are exhausted by noon PST?

Hard to say, but my earnings were up 68% today at 10am, very nice :)

[edited by: incrediBILL at 9:06 pm (utc) on April 21, 2005]

[OptiRex]

why would non-US markets pay more?

Possibly better quality ad leads and the US is synonymous with wanting everything cheap in nearly every industry.

Don't shoot me down, it's a fact:-)

[Zygoot]

I think it could be a combination of multiple things. Like the combination of European peak hours with the American morning.

But also the currency exchange rates I guess. For European AdWords users the minimum bid pric is €0.05. With the current currency exchange rate this is equal to $0.065

[OptiRex]

But also the currency exchange rates I guess

I do know for a fact that in my widget sector that Europeans pay more for their keywords than in the US however they also spend less overall since the quality of their click thrus is much higher thus requiring fewer clicks to obtain the sales they require.

[hunderdown]

OptiRex, that kind of confirms the theory. If the conversion is better, the price paid per click under smart pricing will be higher.

This is starting to make sense to me. I know I do get signficant traffic from the UK, and that would help explain those mysterious high-value clicks that appear in what would be the early morning hours in the US....

[Curiosity]

Could part of it be supply and demand? If there are fewer sites aimed at Europeans, that equals less ad space and more jockeying for position.