Forum Moderators: martinibuster
My basic question is: is Google paying us based on CPC or eCPM?
I have always thought it was based on clicks, but I realized otherwise last week. This is what happened:
-I used to get close to 2500 page impressions and an average of $6 per day or so.
Then I decided: let me add Adsense to my forums too. And in one day, my daily page views shot up by some 500% to 10,000. I thought putting Adsense on my forums would generate extra clicks. This proved right on the first day, when my earnings reached a high of +$35, and I thought 'that is it, I am retiring young!" :)
On the second day, I came to check my stats, and realized that I had only earned less than $4.50 by day's end!
From a high of over $35 to less than $5
I looked at clicks, and they were average like always. Then I thought about something which I had never thought about before: eCPM. So I did the math, by multiplying my eCPM x page views (in thousands) = the result was the amount I had gotten that day!
So from that I concluded that I was getting paid, not for the clicks but based on mere impressions.
1-Am I right about this?
2-does this mean that they are not paying me for clicks?
3-or am I missing something?
and how does Google
4-How does Google decide whether to pay us based on clicks alone, impressions or both?
CPM and CPC are dependant upon the advertiser, specifically upon which method the advertiser chooses when bidding on ad campaigns. (I'm sure this is clearly documented on Google's site.) If you want to see your ACTUAL CPM earnings, go to Advanced Reports and select show data by individual ad. Then there's a tickbox you can use to show CPM and CPC earnings separately.
Google probably quickly figured out that the traffic you were sending them had declined in quality tremendously, and changed their payout correspondingly. Also your visitors probably grew bored with the ads very quickly, and started filtering them out mentally instead of clicking them. This is just speculative, but that's my best guess.
I looked at clicks, and they were average like always. Then I thought about something which I had never thought about before: eCPM. So I did the math, by multiplying my eCPM x page views (in thousands) = the result was the amount I had gotten that day!
eCPM is just calculated from earnings and pageviews, so I would be surprised if the result would have been any different. :-)
So from that I concluded that I was getting paid, not for the clicks but based on mere impressions.1-Am I right about this?
No, you are getting paid based on clicks and impressions. The Adwords program offers both methods to advertisers. They can pay for each click on their ad (Pay-per-Click, PPC), and they can pay per impression (Cost-per-Mille, CPM). You are probably seeing a mix of the two.
2-does this mean that they are not paying me for clicks?
No, see above. If you dig deep enough into your Adsense stats, you can separate the PPC from the CPM results. This will give you a frist indication of what has happened to your site.
3-or am I missing something?
Err, yes. The Adwords/Adsense combo is a complex program. Google is keeping the program more-or-less as "black box" towards publishers. Smartpricing is one of the functions that has been wildly discussed around here, and that has probably hit you. Also please keep in mind that you are not participating in a static program, but in an auction-based environment.
When you introduced Adsense to your forums, the pageviews shot up (repeat visitors) but the clicks remained more-or-less the same (repeatvisitors who want to read the forum, not click ads). Based on this, and the fact that your customers probably won't convert as well, the price for each click is being reduced.
I suggest that you read this forum regularily. You will find a number of tips to increase the effectiveness of Adsense. Whether it is enough to retire? Honestly, I don't know.
