New AdSense Performance Reports

[RedBar]

I'm looking at these new performance reports and they're confusing the heck out of me at first glance. I'll have to look again later, far too busy to try and understand them right now.

[rustybrick]

These? [adsense.blogspot.com...]

[netmeg]

After repeated attempts over the past few weeks, I haven't been happy with the new reports so I went back to the older reporting interface. The bottom line is, why make me go to extra trouble and extra clicks to get the information I want, instead of leaving it all on one page?

I really really really really wish they'd let us just create our own dashboards and default performance reports so that we could assemble the metrics that are important to US, and not what Google thinks should be important to us. We can (more or less) do this in Analytics with dashboards and shortcuts. Why not AdSense? Actually I have a suspicious why (it's no secret they've been trying to de-emphasize things like the number of clicks, CTR and EPC for a while now) so I am not holding my breath. But I will not be converting to the new reports until I'm dragged in kicking and screaming. (And I've told them this many times. I don't think they care.)

[frankleeceo]

I thought the new active view metric is nice to know. This is a good way to know the amount of ads that are actually viewed without other custom methods.

I do think that cpc and epc is becoming less and less important. those metrics can be deceiving at times to people who are new to adsense. The original report is not accurate in its sense of definition for newbies without digging further into how the whole thing works.

Although I still think ctr is a still important metric since it can more or less determine the ad placement clues more than cpm. Pure cpm is too dependent on the advertiser bids.

Overall I think the new design is alot better for new beginners. But it can be hard to use for the older players who know where everything is and have custom setups and reports.

I personally only care about pvs and impressions, so the new report actually works for me.

[Evan Salamanca]

The new dash with the active metric and the lack of emphasis on clicks and EPC tells me that Adsense is on the way to where AdX is now: primarily a network of RPM ads and not EPC ads.

[magician]

They've changed the way I used to track my performance. I used to see only 2 things - Page CTR and CPC (both resulting in Page RPM). Now 'Page CTR' is gone. They now provide impression CTR that too in case of CPC bids.

I think although it require me to change the way I track my performance, it is somewhat better specially the "Active View Viewable" thing which we can control. I am sure, it was there in reports earlier as well but I never paid much attention to it.

I am now inclined to move more ads above the fold to increase "Active View Viewable" ratio but there is a problem -

"Google Adsense" says above the fold ads will fetch you better CTR and thus better earnings. "Google Search" tells you, if put too many ads above the fold, we will degrade your ranking.

Well, the mantra is to hit the perfect balance between ads and content and only G knows what's that. Let me know if you guys know more about it.

[Mentat]

I hate Adx, It's terrible to find some stats.
Now Adsense is getting Adx "improvements"; not a good idea!

[loner]

The reports appear to further obfuscate necessary data. That stuff will mess you up and waste your time. Truly, as my Dad used to tell me, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with BS." I gave up on trying to figure it all out years ago. I just work on my sites and have fun. It will never get easier--not when they get free chili for lunch.

[zdgn]

I confess the last time I was on AdSense dashboard's reports for more than 5 minutes was around the time Steve Jobs was introducing a great new tablet-type computer... it's all Analytics for me now for years.

I also wonder why they're duplicating so much effort and time with their bells & whistles of reports on AdSense dashboard when they can work and focus to further enhance AdSense features over at Analytics. Saves time and is more uniformed user experience as well.

[martinibuster]

I do think that cpc and epc is becoming less and less important.

That is a very interesting observation. I would enjoy reading an entire thread about that topic.

those metrics can be deceiving at times to people who are new to adsense.

I agree, especially for sites with relatively low traffic, the fluctuations in CPC and EPC can appear deceptively large when expressed as percentages of a relatively low amount of traffic.

...but there is a problem -

"Google Adsense" says above the fold ads will fetch you better CTR and thus better earnings. "Google Search" tells you, if put too many ads above the fold, we will degrade your ranking.

The problem isn't that you get more active views above the fold. The problem may be that you are not getting enough active views below the fold. Although this point is not universal and is open for debate, keeping site visitors on your page for a long time is usually an indicator of a good user experience. If that's not going on then that might be a diagnostic feedback that something may need improvement.

Keeping site visitors on your page for a long time also sends a positive signal back to the search engines that there's a good user experience going on. This is true for re-ranking algorithms, this is true for quality control algorithms. So there may be value in this metric for SEO purposes, to flag a page to you that there may be a problem with your page that needs addressing.

Using this metric for determining where to better place an ad unit is useful, but it may be more profitable to use it for user engagement related metrics and SEO purposes.

[ember]

I don't like the new interface either. I had the option to start using it a month or two ago and quickly opted out of it. For one thing, the numbers do not make sense. If the Overview metric says I have 5,000 pageviews, for example, then why does the Views metric say I have 275? What is the difference? I shouldn't have to spend time trying to figure this out.

[RedBar]

I've had another go and I really do not like it, I cannot find things I want to know like EPCs and click volume, they may be there somewhere however it's not obvious to me, I really do not want to have to waste my time finding out these things when I have better to do. Maybe it's fine for power users who need to present statistics to someone.

The killer for me is that it is very slow to load.

[londrum]

the CTR and RPM give different figures if you opt in and then opt out.
i opted in and the figures plummeted. so i opted out again and they went back up to what was expected.
how can they give wildly different figures when you're looking at the same day in each report?

[magician]

Using this metric for determining where to better place an ad unit is useful, but it may be more profitable to use it for user engagement related metrics and SEO purposes.

Thanks for the insightful feedback - you are absolutely right. Low active views is a symptom and not necessarily a problem.

For my specific case, the active view percentage on mobile devices is abysmally low and that's probably because I have only one ad in the content and rest two in the sidebar which goes below the content on mobile devices (responsive behavior) and there is no reason for the visitor to scroll down so much on mobile.

Does anyone has any idea on when google is planning to launch anchor ads for everyone? [adsense.blogspot.in ]

the CTR and RPM give different figures if you opt in and then opt out.

I think that's because in new reports they are providing 'impression CTR' that too only for CPC bids while in old reports the CTR is overall 'page CTR'. No idea why 'page RPM' is different - it should be same.

Overall, new reports are very confusing. I think they've done it the way they have exhaustive reports in adwords which is fine as most adwords users are corporates and they can manage to employ a person just for this kind of analysis. For adsense, average user is an individual who is doing everything - building websites, writing content, managing servers, and trying to optimize ad income. No way, 90% of adsense users need this.

[londrum]

I think that's because in new reports they are providing 'impression CTR' that too only for CPC bids while in old reports the CTR is overall 'page CTR'. No idea why 'page RPM' is different - it should be same.

its really annoying when they change things like that, because i've got stats that go back years and now i can't compare.
i've opted out in the meantime. but of course they will force it on us all eventually

[yunarel]

Google Adsense doesn't actually explain this new design as it should

[RedBar]

Google never explains anything, that's why so many dislike them!

[Swanny007]

I've opted out and told them it's too much, I prefer the simpler reporting. Eventually they'll force us on everybody though.

[anefarious1]

The new design provides more information which is also easier to configure. If you don't care to dig deep into your reports then I can understand why someone wouldn't like it.

[netmeg]

If you don't care to dig deep into your reports then I can understand why someone wouldn't like it.

If you don't care to get to know the forum and its participants before making such a ridiculous statement then I can understand why you'd think so.

[anefarious1]

I certainly don't care to get to know you, netmeg. The fact is that the new performance interface provides all the reports which were previously available and then some.

[magician]

The fact is that the new performance interface provides all the reports which were previously available and then some.

Well, that's not true. 'Page CTR' is something, I used to track very seriously. Now, it's gone and replaced by 'impression CTR'. So, if my 'page CTR' earlier was 1.5%, it will be now 0.5% (if I have 3 ads) or 0.75% (if I have 2 ads). Since, I have different number of ads on different pages, I just can't match this metric with the old metric. So, things have definitely changed.

For better?
The new report is more detailed - more data w.r.t to bid types (CPC, CPM, engagement), more focus on 'active views' etc. Some of it is useful but most of it is in-actionable. I can't control which bid type ads are shown on my website (or can I?) so what do I do with RPMs for each of the bid types?

Also, it's not about resistance to change. I would have been very happy with more detailed report (and spending more time understanding them) if it helps me improve my results but it isn't a case here. May be G planning to let us control the bid type on adsense - in that case these reports might come handy but as of today, most of the new information in reports is in-actionable.

[anefarious1]

Page CTR was eliminated regardless of the new interface. Same goes for the following:

Ad CTR
Ad request CTR
Ad requests
Ad RPM
Ad request RPM
Ad impressions
Coverage

You can view all the changes here:
[support.google.com...]

These were coming with or without the redesign.

[ember]

anefarious1, netmeg probably knows more about Adsense and the web in general than most of the rest of us combined. You've come in here complaining about your CTR, not listened to why it may be dropping, boasted that you've been making too much money and now suggested that the rest of us are too lazy or dumb to dig through our reports.

You really know how to make friends.

And BTW, the page you reference above does not exist.

[anefarious1]

Ember you have to be kidding. If you've read through my posts and get the impression that I'm a person who doesn't listen or that I boast, then you live on another planet. I've said no such thing about people here being "too lazy or dumb" and importantly was not responding to anyone in particular. Both of you are rude and anyone who reads the thread can see that for themselves.

BTW - You have to be logged into Google for the link to work.

[ken_b]

BTW - You have to be logged into Google for the link to work.

Logged in or not for me it shows

Sorry, this page can't be found.

This page doesn't exist in AdSense Help.

[anefarious1]

Ken_b log into your Adsense account and in the help section (top left, there's a question mark) type in "changes to adsense reporting metrics" and you will find the page in question.

[anefarious1]

"i think it's easy to use, You just need to sit for it and learn how it works it's Easy"

Yunarel, how dare you say this in the forum!

[MikeNoLastName]

I'M extremely confused with the new reports. Most importantly, as far as I can see, most of them on the performance reports display totally different earnings totals when you look at the "entire account by day" earnings stats. If you then select either Overview vs. Clicks vs. Views vs. Active Views vs. Engagements tabs, shouldn't they all show the same earnings estimates in the far right column?

As far as the Active Views concept, I think this is directly opposed to GoogleSearch which says you should NOT have too many ads above the fold. Make up your minds G. My guess is if you get too high of an Active Views %, they flag the page and send it on to G-search for manual penalty review. :)

[magician]

Clicks vs. Views vs. Active Views vs. Engagements tabs, shouldn't they all show the same earnings estimates in the far right column?

No. the earnings estimates in each of the tab are earnings from different types of ads shown on your website. Clicks tab is for CPC ads, Views for CPM ads and so on. Thus, the sum of earnings in different tabs should be equal to Overview tab total.