Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Perhaps it's because many of you are new to the program and haven't learned to just roll with it for a while.
The stats thing is interesting to me though.. Why do you need to check your income every 10 minutes? If AdSense doesn't update your earnings until 9:00pm is it REALLY that big of a deal? I mean, come on. Just calm down and spend all that nervous energy working on your site instead of worrying about your revenue.
If everything you do for your site is based around what effect it'll have on your AdSense then I'm willing to bet that you have a crappy site.
I've actually removed one block of AdSense that did pretty well because it made the articles look too addy. I want my site to be a good resource that people will come back to, not some POS site that is obviously just to show ads.
And, yes, the WHOLE reason I do have websites is for the revenue. The fact that I get to help people at the same time is a nice bonus.
I want my site to be a good resource that people will come back to, not some POS site that is obviously just to show ads.
And, yes, the WHOLE reason I do have websites is for the revenue. The fact that I get to help people at the same time is a nice bonus.
For the record, I've been with Adsense since it started and I'm not one of those who panics when there are down periods.
But the statements you made above are a bit contradictory, no?
If you want your site to be a good resource for people, then it shouldn't follow that helping those people is simply a "bonus".
Shouldn't that be the other way around?
..everybody on this forum starts hyperventilating..
..I'm willing to bet that you have a crappy site..
Take it easy Sootah, you are not likely to get anyone to help you or engage in a discussion with you using such statements.
a couple of crappy days everybody on this forum starts hyperventilating.
Not exactly do they however I understand where you're coming from since I do post regularly when "stuff doesn't look right".
Do you know why I and many others do this?
It's quite simple, most of us work by ourselves and, I would guess, many from home, therefore we need a place to interreact just like a regular office environment where one can turn round to someone and say "The weather's crap in my cubicle today, what's it like in yours?"
I've been working from home for 25+ years and the reason I go to the pub every night is not just for the beer, I need social intercourse and to listen to and understand other people's problems and desires.
No one can run a truly successful web site without understand the requirements of the visitor and no one can run a successful business without questioning whether or not everything is running smoothly when there appears to be a hiccup.
It's a very pleasant reassurance to know within a very short period of time that one is not the only one seeing delays or unusual changes to the earning stream.
The stats thing is interesting to me though.. Why do you need to check your income every 10 minutes? If AdSense doesn't update your earnings until 9:00pm is it REALLY that big of a deal? I mean, come on. Just calm down and spend all that nervous energy working on your site instead of worrying about your revenue.
I will agree with your statement... though it can make for interesting conversation at times.
The AdSense system breaks every once in awhile, but unless you get feedback from other members, you can never really know if there's an outage.
Everyone is different and does things their own way. Some people check their stats every ten minutes, others every ten days. Bravo, good for them both.
Some people panic, sometimes over what may seem like trivial sums. But it's important to that webmaster, and it doesn't matter if it's important to you, it's important to that one person, and it may be important to another webmaster.
It has happened in the past that what seemed like a trivial anomaly was in fact the first wind of an approaching storm. For that reason it's important to keep an open mind.
If everything you do for your site is based around what effect it'll have on your AdSense then I'm willing to bet that you have a crappy site.
This is the AdSense forum, what else are we going to be talking about here? ;) It's like going to a bar and complaining that the patrons aren't drinking tea.
We are here to drink... I mean talk about AdSense and what works and what isn't working.
Sootah: Far from "everyone here" panics at the slightest twitch in Adsense. It might seem like they do, but most likely the majority don't even post in those threads as a habit.
To get the most from this forum a publisher needs to keep it all in perspective.
As for my site reasoning, I don't think that it's completely contradictory. I do the site because it makes me money primarily, otherwise I'd spend my excess time on my "real life" business more (which happens to relate directly to my websites). However, because my primary reasoning for maintaining them is to make money does not mean that I don't care about my visitors. Just as I am in business to make money, I care about how my clients are doing, and try to serve them in the best manner possible; which sometimes means less money for me. My logic is that I may make a little less the one time, but if I serve them well then they'll use me again.
Same attitude applys to my websites.
I also didn't mean to imply that everybody panics, I realize there are many that are far more experienced than myself on here.
It just seems like that many of the threads that I see lately are "Why aren't stats updating" "$ dollars less today! Am I smartpriced?"
Forgive me if I offended anybody.
I do the site because it makes me money primarily, otherwise I'd spend my excess time on my "real life" business more (which happens to relate directly to my websites).
For many of us Adsense is our real life business and sole income.
But you will find a lot of folks here who believe that Adsense success is based on site content, niche, and dedication to optimization.
A question often asked here is: "Would you continue to put time and energy into your site if there was no Adsense?"
A lot of folks would answer: "No."
I mean, come on. Just calm down and spend all that nervous energy working on your site instead of worrying about your revenue.
This kind of statement always drives me nuts. Some people honestly believe that because people post here we're not working on our sites. If I was a machine that would be true... But
- I work a full time job - ten hours a day.
- I come home and spend time with the family.
- Then I sit down and and write a new article.
- Then I proof read the one I wrote the day before.
- Then I upload that page, adding links, tables and the like.
- Then I research the article I'm going to write the next day.
- Then I drop from exhaustion.
When I'm not working like a dog, I post here. I can keep this pace because I watch about an hour of television a week.
- I work a full time job - ten hours a day.
- I come home and spend time with the family.
- Then I sit down and and write a new article.
- Then I proof read the one I wrote the day before.
- Then I upload that page, adding links, tables and the like.
- Then I research the article I'm going to write the next day.
- Then I drop from exhaustion.When I'm not working like a dog, I post here. I can keep this pace because I watch about an hour of television a week.
Geez, BillyS -- this sounds like my life! (Except for the part about spending time with family. I have a fiancee, but she works nights.)
where the barrier to entry was really low to make your dreams come true
Quite profound!
I can vibe with you.. I have been working from home for the last 9 years now and sometimes miss the office gossip.. All, I get to see from my window is a patch of Green Grass ;-) and that too is turning brown due to the terrible heat...
This forum can be a lifeline...and I must login atleast 3-4 times a day..
As long as I can login to my adsense a/c , I don't panic... The ups and down are a challenge and make life fun.. I would hate to have everything stable and steadily increasing. The rollercoaster ride adds some variety. I love to see my CTR and ECPM jump one day and fall the next day... Thank you Google. This is a fun ride..
Panic is a sudden fear which dominates or replaces thinking and often affects groups of people or animals. Panics typically occur in disaster situations, and may endanger the overall health of the affected group. The word panic derives from the name of the Greek god Pan, who strikes fear into the enemies of His subjects.
I think Adsense-Panic is indeed linked to this description.
...a sudden fear which dominates or replaces thinking...
Your site has been running smoothly for some time, and you think everything is OK. Then, suddenly, the CTR drops, the EPC drops, the revenue folds. Without apparent reason. The result: panic!
...and often affects groups of people or animals.
Well, yes, just have a look around. You are not alone. Everybody is affected, now and then.
Panics typically occur in disaster situations...
When your whole lifestyle depends on Adsense, i.e. your ability to pay your monthly bills, then a sudden swing may indeed be regarded as "disaster". While you should never place all your eggs in one basket, you often end up with an uneven distribution of revenues, e.g. Adsense 60%, Affiliate Programs 30%, Licence Fees 10%. This may limit your risk, but it does not take away the risk. Also consider that for incoming traffic Google is often the biggest source. This fact will certainly not reduce your panic.
...and may endanger the overall health of the affected group.
Should Adsense go down significantly, or should Google lose attractiveness, then the whole group (e.g. this forum) is indeed affected.
So, I think that the panic is indeed real, and by going here and asking around whether others are "seeing the same thing" (the various posts are nothing else) is actually to make sure that their worst nightmare does not come true. E.g. "I cannot log-in to Adsense any longer, but hey, zillions of people are seeing the same, so it'll be just a glitch."
So, such forum posts actually help getting the panic back under control.
...the Greek god Pan, who strikes fear into the enemies of His subjects.
Google has something god-like. It sends you traffic and earnings one day, and the next day they are gone. You don't know why or how. It just happens, for many completely beyond their control.
* * *
Now, what can we do to prevent such panic?
First, I recommend to work on moving averages! Take long periods, like 31 days when it comes to judging the efforts of your daily Adsense business. All of a sudden, you will see less peaks and swings, and it boils down to the really important trends. You'll get more relaxed when you approach it like this.
Second, make sure that your site stays safely within Adsense TOS. Those who are operating on the edge receive a premium (in terms of earnings), but should be in return also prepared to get into panic mode more easily. That mail (and those of you working on the edge exactly know what I mean) could hit your mailbox right now. You're safer when you're safely within TOS. It'll cost you a bit, but thats the price you pay. Basically, it's in your hands.
And finally, what can Google do to prevent such panic?
I feel that the unforeseeable "suddenness" of changes causes a lot of the panic among Adsense webmasters.
We are all kept in the dark about the ongoings at the Plex, and we feel that changes "just come". If Google would be more open and more proactive about changes and downtimes, e.g. by announcing them with some lead time somewhere in the admin panel, then people would be less concerned. I think their communication team has still some room for improvement.
Needless to say, the daily swings are not for the faint-hearted anyway, especially if your own analysis leads to the conclusion that basically nothing has changed. So if Google could introduce some kind of stability and predictability into the Adsense program, this would also ease the situation.
Needless to say, the daily swings are not for the faint-hearted anyway, especially if your own analysis leads to the conclusion that basically nothing has changed. So if Google could introduce some kind of stability and predictability into the Adsense program, this would also ease the situation.
Publishers can introduce their own stability and predictability by having "organic," editorially diverse sites and reasonable levels of traffic. That's been my experience, anyway. Even within a niche, it's possible to have breadth and depth of topics and subtopics. To use an analogy, revenues from a site that's like an indexed mutual fund will be less volatile than revenues from a site that's like a single growth stock.
But even if that weren't the case, it would be unrealistic to expect Google to insulate publishers against market fluctuations. (Just imagine the hue and cry on this forum if publishers found out that Google was withholding a "reserve amount" from an account's revenues on good days to subsidize the publisher on bad days.)
Just imagine the hue and cry on this forum if publishers found out that Google was withholding a "reserve amount" from an account's revenues on good days to subsidize the publisher on bad days
Yes, an outcry their may be. But I would not see this as a problem. Heck, we do not even know how Google works and calculates today.
All we would see is increased stability (even if they took a reserve from "good days"). Could we prove that? Nope. At best, we would notice less variations on a daily base. I would very much appreciate that (and yes, I know that others may see this differently).
Fluctuations are part of the business. It's like being a writer or a sales rep: Some people can live with the uncertainty of freelance assignments or purely commission-based earnings, while others need the security of a paycheck.
everybody on this forum starts hyperventilating
That's a pretty big generalization :)
When those type of threads surface, I would hardly say it's "everybody" or "the majority" that respond to them.
A question often asked here is: "Would you continue to put time and energy into your site if there was no Adsense?"
I would not have the money and time for it.
I just think about visiting special fairs in other continents.
If I think, AdSense revenues will cover travel expenses in 6 month, I will do it. When AdSense revenues drop like last week, I have to bury all my traveling plans.
