Forum Moderators: martinibuster
as anybody experienced a reduction in % commission following a good month? I did. Each end every month since the beginning.
They cannot play with the impressions or the clicks because we track them but they decide how much we get paid.
So this is the thing: the more traffic I get and the more revenue I produce for them, the less I get paid. And the new (lower) commission structure kicks in a few days after the month end.
What to do?
Maybe if someone were to send a letter to google, we could get an answere ;-)
And if no one else does, chance are i will send a letter ;-)
Personally, toward the end of last month, I had my best days ever, both in CTR and payout rate.. Starting this month, it continues and there seem to be more targeted ads available also..
HOPEFULLY, this trend continues!
Shortz
Perhaps with some of he new ad programs coming up that will change. I'd really like to be able to put in one or two keywords to help Google or whover match ads to pages. For example people who make widgets themselves aren't going to be interested in buying cheap widgets from overseas. But they are interested in patterns, materials, books etc. on widget making. Right now I have to spend a lot of time filtering out ads selling poor quality widgets.
as anybody experienced a reduction in % commission following a good month? I did. Each end every month since the beginning.
You would think Google would reward sites that do well, since they're making money for Google. I'm struggling just to stay even; I work hard to increase traffic, and then Google cuts the payout (I don't care why they do, but there's no question that they do) so I make less in terms of EPC/CPM.
May is looking dismal indeed. EPC payout has been cut *yet again*. I'll be glad when some real competitors come onto the stage.
I experienced a 30-40% decrease in revenue since the beginning of may. Same traffic , same sites, same content but not the same revenue.
Google in a way are just shooting themselves in the leg. It wouldn't take long now before publishers will start taking off the adsense code and replace it with something more productive. I know i did, on some of my busiest pages. Why struggle for a 7-13 cents click? when you can have a better targeted affiliate product that can earn you anywhere from 25%-50% commission.
It is just a shame to see such a great thing as ad sense slowly but surly being reduced to just a waist of everyone’s time.
They just had to brake it!
Ho well.....publishers WILL MOVE ON. It is just a matter of time before google sees it on their bottom line (big time).
Just my 2 cents...
May is looking dismal indeed. EPC payout has been cut *yet again*. I'll be glad when some real competitors come onto the stage.I second that.
I experienced a 30-40% decrease in revenue since the beginning of may. Same traffic , same sites, same content but not the same revenue.
If you'd said "since the beginning of April," I'd have replied that the new variable-pricing scheme is the reason for your drop in revenue. It's too early to speculate on a drop since the beginning of May, because it's hard to deduce a trend from less than a week's traffic and earnings.
It is just a shame to see such a great thing as ad sense slowly but surly being reduced to just a waist of everyone’s time.
On the other hand, AdSense wouldn't have much of a future if it became known as a waste of advertisers' money.
Fact is, there's a lot of low-quality traffic from "content ads"--some from AdSense sites that don't convert, and some from sources like DomainPark and gmail. The variable-pricing scheme may not be perfect, but it's a legitimate attempt to bring cost per click into line with value to the advertiser.
It wouldn't take long now before publishers will start taking off the adsense code and replace it with something more productive. I know i did, on some of my busiest pages. Why struggle for a 7-13 cents click? when you can have a better targeted affiliate product that can earn you anywhere from 25%-50% commission.
If you can earn decent money from affiliate sales, why not use ASense and affiliate links on any pages where they can generate earnings? It just doesn't make sense to have all of your eggs in one basket--or to limit your income when you can have multiple revenue streams.
It takes only one look at google SERP to see that there is no shortage of advertisers and hundreds of new ones keep appearing every day as more and more businesses embrace online advertising and yes usually my customers first request is to have their site appearing on google’s right hand side SERP top position (Adwords).
Try targeting (as an advertiser with adwords) some popolur keywords and you’ll notice that the competition and bids just keep getting higher and higher by the day.
Advertisers who are not getting value from content sites have the option to disable content delivery. It would have taken a decent programmer about a few hours to write a few more line’s of code and add even more options to content ads delivery for advertiser.
If an advertiser is not satisfied with content delivery then they should just disable this option for their campaign or google can add for them an option to lower bids for content ads. Instead, google just automatically cut content revenue to all publishers?
I attribute 45% to adwords success and new sign ups just from customers following the
”ads by google” appearing on Adsense ads over thousands of web sites.
When publishers start cutting on the number of impressions they give adsense ads so will
the stream of new advertisers that will sign up to the adwords program.
Bottom lines will speak for themselves…..time will tell.
Re:
If you can earn decent money from affiliate sales, why not use ASense and affiliate links on any pages where they can generate earnings? It just doesn't make sense to have all of your eggs in one basket--or to limit your income when you can have multiple revenue streams.
Because the way I deliver the affiliate ads is very similar to the adsense format and as such goe’s against the TOC.
I can’t have both on the same pages.
[edited by: Max_mb at 2:39 pm (utc) on May 7, 2004]
I work hard to increase traffic, and then Google cuts the payout
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It wouldn't take long now before publishers will start taking off the adsense code and replace it with something more productive.
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Like a lot of people, I've seen more click this month than ever before, but far less in commissions.
I woke up this morning, checked stats... and have this same feeling as mentioned above. Downward is the trend. Maybe I just need some coffee.
Fact is, there's a lot of low-quality traffic from "content ads"
(EFV You are, without a doubt, my favorite 'poster' at webmasterworld)
Part of this is poor targeting (my cake site is showing ads for molds for stepping stones), as well as I'm seeing the same ads on every page of a site... no matter the content of the page. I'm pretty sure this will be straightened out eventually.
Overall, I think its just that people hate to 'lose' things. Like farmers, we expect to see our 'seeds' grow into a fine garden... but the weather doesn't always co-operate.
You are right, certainly do NOT put all your eggs in one basket. But you have to also consider removing the eggs that are starting to rot.
Scrambled eggs anyone?
You are right, certainly do NOT put all your eggs in one basket. But you have to also consider removing the eggs that are starting to rot.
I second every word!
Part of this is poor targeting (my cake site is showing ads for molds for stepping stones), as well as I'm seeing the same ads on every page of a site... no matter the content of the page. I'm pretty sure this will be straightened out eventually.
kwasher, your observation seems to be quite right. Off-target Ads certainly seems to be a major issue here.
Looks like recently the targetting-knob is turned more toward "site theme" and less toward the content on the individual pages. This probably is one of the reasons why we see same ads on most pages, regardless of what's on those pages.
This results in off-target ads, lower CTR, possibly poor conversion for the advertiser and lower payout for the publisher.
IMHO, if they were to turn the targetting-knob more toward individual page content, it would quite possibly improve the targeting by a great extent, better CTR, better conversion for the advertiser...
Looks like recently the targetting-knob is turned more toward "site theme" and less toward the content on the individual pages.
This is exactly what I am experiencing. I hope Google slides that knob over a bit soon.
But you have to also consider removing the eggs that are starting to rot.
"Rot" isn't quite the right word, but it's simply good business sense to watch how things perform and respond appropriately.
I found it very enlightening to set up channels. Some channels performed better than I had assumed, while others were duds. I've removed Adsense from some places where it wasn't worth the page space, and I'm working to drive traffic to sections where it does well.
Amidst the ups and downs, my Adsense cheque for April will be my highest yet. So count me as one who smiles about Adsense!
However, if you're using banner ads from networks like Tribal Fusion and FastClick, make sure you've disabled any Google AdWords campaigns that they may be running.
They cannot play with the impressions or the clicks because we track them but they decide how much we get paid.
What conclusions can we draw? Only that the Google payout algorithm is complex and I doubt we will ever understand it completely. There are just too many factors to take into account.
I can't really say that they change the % paid from my stats, but why not ask them, quoting your stats?
W.
What I can say though is that Google best fess up soon and let those of us who are actively promoting their ads, while at the same time driving potential customers away from our sites, in on the pay structure.
I don't know about you all, but I was always taught that if a person/company can't look you in the face and tell you the truth....they've got something to hide.
There is no feesable reason, except for pure greed, that Google can not publish a payout structure for its content promoters. Whatever reason they have for not doing so, be it competition paranoia, etc. , it will end up kicking them in the butt and may be their downfall in the months to come.
There is no feesable reason, except for pure greed, that Google can not publish a payout structure for its content promoters.
There may be any number of perfectly legitimate reasons:
1) Making it harder for future competitors to seduce publishers in high-profit categories with promises of higher pay;
2) Preventing a flood of complaints and grievances by publishers who aren't happy with the details of the formula;
3) Retaining the ability to modify the payout algorithm to meet specific goals;
4) Discouraging the creation of sites that are designed around the payout algorithm (.e., if the formula pays highest for conditions A, B, and C, Google would be foolish to say so because a zillion opportunists would crank out sites to exploit conditions A, B, and C).
To look it another way, there's no real benefit from Google's point of view) to reveal the details of the payout formula. For every publisher who'd be happy just to know how his revenues were being caculated, there would be another who'd be yelling and screaming about some aspectof the formula that didn't work to his advantage.
Whatever reason they have for not doing so, be it competition paranoia, etc. , it will end up kicking them in the butt and may be their downfall in the months to come.
We all place their ads on our sites knowing the rules and the way they do business. Google is not forcing any of us to keep their ads on our sites. Any webmaster can remove their ads at any time. If you don't like the way they do business, then walk away. Just my 2 cents.
Tell us something we don't already know.
Webmasters will walk away, not to worry. It is only a question of when. It looks like very soon by the rate of recent drop in revenues.
Some of us run very high quality sites. Adsense used to be (empassis on "used to") be a good source of revenue and a good match for our sites. It is no longer the case and is just turning to be a waste of bandwidth on our behalf.
Please spare us the obvious in your statements and concentrate on posting something more informative.
Please spare us the obvious in your statements and concentrate on posting something more informative.
Like what? Join in the complaining? I think what I said makes a good point. If you don't like Adsense then walk away. If their program becomes unprofitable to our company, then that's what we'll do. However, at this point, anything they produce seems to be helping us. Like I said before, this is just my opinion.
P.S. Maybe you have a different situation, but in our case, all Google Adsense ads are pulled from Google servers, so how exactly are you wasting bandwidth?
P.S. Maybe you have a different situation, but in our case, all Google Adsense ads are pulled from Google servers, so how exactly are you wasting bandwidth?
You've probably missed googlebot visits to your pages (almost every day) and sucking their content.......it amounts to great bandwidth when you have 40,000 pages or more....not to mention the extra few lines of adsense code on every page.
In case you didn’t notice, all the above is being pulled from your own server!
If you don't like the way they do business, then walk away.
Astute! Oh wait, uh, I thought that WAS what we were talking about...
As soon as you reach a level they change your commission %
Alternatives to AdSense? Anyone?
Anyway.... there seems to be a revving up of competition to adsense, like ad*sonar (why is this a 'bad word' here at WW?) and kanoodle and - I searched the WW board last night and there were others but I dont recall at the moment. But.. they are out there and revving up and it will be interesting to run some others and do some comparisons.
Anyway.... there seems to be a revving up of competition to adsense, like ad*sonar (why is this a 'bad word' here at WW?) and kanoodle and - I searched the WW board last night and there were others but I dont recall at the moment. But.. they are out there and revving up and it will be interesting to run some others and do some comparisons.
I'm all for competition, but I suspect that the only real competition for Google AdWords/AdSense will come from:
1) Overture (possibly)
2) Industry-specific ad networks
The problem for the generalist little guys like Ad*Sonar and Kanoodle is how to achieve breadth and depth of advertisers. Anyone can find advertisers who are selling Viagra, home mortgages, gambling, or PC software, but it takes a certain critical mass (and high visibility) to attract ads for Rhone river cruises or villa rentals in Monemvasia, Greece.
Also, if serious competitors like Overture or industry-specific ad networks do come along, they may not be as inclusive as Google has been. Google took the Amazon/Commission Junction "give us everybody" approach when it launched AdSense, partly for philosophical reasons but also because it wanted a dominant market share. There's no need for a competitor to do that; a serious competitor like Overture may observe the 80/20 rule and be more selective about which publishers it accepts. To put it another way, a serious competitor like Overture isn't likely to be a refuge for unhappy AdSense publishers. On the contrary: It will be more interested in luring away publishers who are making decent money with AdSense.
