Consistent & Prolonged Drop in Earnings per Click

Since the end of December Earning 10% of what I used to

[wonderhurt]

I see sporadic postings at this forum from people experiencing a sudden drop in AdSense earnings per click. I'm seeing the same thing but I thought I'd make a new post because my change has been consistent for about a month. I experienced the drop back in December and the new low rate continues to today (Jan 20).

Using the great <snip> one can see a clear graphical representation of this phenomenon.

<snip>

As you can see, my clicks have been relatively steady, even growing a bit (excepting the initial surge when the ads first appeared), but the earnings per click plunged significantly at the end of December and stayed there.

My website represents a very specialized field: typography. There are about 6 font companies that have always appeared in my AdSense ads. I remember that at one point other companies like graphic design firms also appeared, but not any more. Could this make a difference in my earnings per click? It was my understanding that every company pays the same rate per click.

Thank you so much for helping me understand why I am earning less from Google. I don't fully understand the inner workings of the program so I apologize if I'm asking any dumb questions.

[edited by: Brett_Tabke at 8:59 pm (utc) on Jan. 20, 2004]
[edit reason] Tos #13. [/edit]

[europeforvisitors]

I remember that at one point other companies like graphic design firms also appeared, but not any more. Could this make a difference in my earnings per click? It was my understanding that every company pays the same rate per click.

No, the rate per click is determined through bidding. If there's less competition for placement (as there seems to be for your topic), that's likely to result in lower bids and less money for both Google and the publisher.

[wonderhurt]

Nice site you got there Wonder ;)

Hah, thanks. You mean stewf.com? That's just my personal spot.

No, the rate per click is determined through bidding.

Ahh, thank you. I suspected that was the case. So I guess the only way to improve my earnings per click is by broadening my content? We haven't changed the focus at all in the last few months, why did the higher-paying advertisers get dropped?

[loanuniverse]

Actually, I thought you were the owner of the chart site, but after doing a bit of research I see that you really are in the industry that you claim to be.

Hehehe, sometimes I am a bit more sarcastic than I should be. The board has a policy against specifics, and they don't like links.

Anyway, I think that EFV's is right on the money. I would add that if the type of advertisers changed that would definetily affect your EPC, as clicks for certaing subtopics difer greatly even if the other subtopic is closely related.

BTW, welcome to Webmasterworld.

[wonderhurt]

Thanks for the welcome, LU. Looks like I got snipped, but I don't see how I violated TOS #13. I thought the graphs helped to illustrate my point. I don't have any connection to adsensecharts.com.