Forum Moderators: martinibuster
What I have noticed is in past 1 year is the traffic to my websites have increased but my adsense payments have dropped from 500 USD to 100 USD approximately. Am I doing anything wrong Or I am missing on something critical as per Adsense placement on websites is concern?
Right now, I've moved on a bit. I'm spending a few hours every day working hard on two websites who are quickly growing and are what I would call high quality content based. My readers seem to like it, the google search engine seems to like me, the widgets I'm talking about seem to be pretty good adsense-wise when I check them in adwords, but for some odd reason..... I'm in a painful downward spiral EPC-wise.
How painful, you ask me? Very painful. I was used to getting low EPC's at 0.20 for the last 12 months, but in the last 2 months I've been constantly dropping, currently earning five (!) cents per click.
What can I do? I've e-mailed google, they tell me my optimization is ok and that I should experiment. I've tried changing ad positions and I've tried reducing the amount of ads. Nothing works.
Can anyone save me from the downward spiral, and stop me from hitting zero cents per click soon? ;)
Lots of people feeling this. They are helping themselves to fat margins since YPN is such a dud and probably won't be a credible competitor for another year at least.
Google's AdSense margins are virtually unchanged from quarter to quarter. What's more, some publishers are reporting increases in their revenues, which tends to weaken the "Google must be taking a bigger cut of the pie" argument.
The simplest explanation is also the most obvious and likely: The growth of publishers (and pages) has outstripped the growth of advertising budgets on the "content network." Other factors could include changes in Google's smart-pricing algorithm, changes in how ads are allocated, changes in the compensation formula to reward certain types of content while discouraging others, growth in site-targeted CPM ads at the expense of run-of-network contextual ads, etc. With the introduction of site-targeted contextual ads, we'll probably see even more of a shakeout. Still, for most publishers who are seeing declines in AdSense revenues, the culprit is likely to be faster growth in supply (a.k.a. click inventory) than in advertiser demand.
EFV, you plough a lonely furrow of sense in this forum. And, before the usual suspects pile on, perhaps they would like to let the rest of us know if they, in the last 12 months, have:
i) reduced their content (pages or sites)
ii) kept it the same
iii) added to their content
And if you, as purely altruistic publishers whose main aim is to provide quality information for your readers (ahem), have increased your content available for publishers to advertise on, what do you think the website production lines and domainer-developers have been doing during this time?
And what do you think the response of the advertisers has been in general to this?
EFV, you plough a lonely furrow of sense in this forum
Indeed, that explains why one can't cross grounds in this place without tripping :-)
Yes, can be SmartPricing algo changes, but supply and demand is not an overnight event, more like a gradual trend.
Sure, seen overall it is a gradual trend (although I would think it has become more marked and less gradual with recent changes to advertiser options).
But for an individual site or related sites, which is what some are referring to here, if a principal advertiser or group of advertisers decides to alter their campaigns, then the effect is abrupt, as the remaining pool of advertisers adjust their budgets and campaigns in reaction.
you mention a number of possible causes, all possibly very valid, but just out of curiosity, what makes you think that another possible reason (Google taking a bigger share and covering this somehow in their balance sheet) is so absolutely impossible?
As for the magic of the "overall share" - we have been through that already (if I remember correctly, we did not come to a joint conclusion). Just for your reference, have a look at these threads:
Year over year, adwords vs. adsense
[webmasterworld.com...]
Google just disclosed the amount of money given to AdSense partners
[webmasterworld.com...]
It should be a lot easier to track whether AdWords ads bring in increased traffic, more sales, or whatever the goal is, than it is to measure performance with print or broadcast media.
If AdWords doesn't bring results for an advertiser, they'll stop buying ads, or they'll bid less. AdWords has had big hype and has made its big debut. So now... does it work? It's not a rhetorical question. I'm asking. If it's a flop and PPC isn't bringing the desired returns, then it would be no surprise if advertisers started dropping out.
you mention a number of possible causes, all possibly very valid, but just out of curiosity, what makes you think that another possible reason (Google taking a bigger share and covering this somehow in their balance sheet) is so absolutely impossible?
I didn't say it's impossible; I merely said it's unlikely. Blaming the bogeyman for one's problems may be comforting, but that doesn't mean the bogeyman is real.
3) AdSense publishers are no longer benefiting from the cluelessness of advertisers who found themselves advertising on the content network because they hadn't opted out at launch.
I suspect this is a big factor. Advertisers learn more about how AdWords works and more advertisers employ tracking systems which are cheap or free now and easy to use. Ignorance was good for sellers (publishers). Clarity makes advertisers act more rationally.
AdSense publishers are no longer benefiting from the cluelessness of advertisers who found themselves advertising on the content network because they hadn't opted out at launch.
And you can expect a lot more of this. I went to an AdWords seminar last week, and it was packed to the gills. It was billed as as 'intermediate and advanced' course, and most everyone was a beginner, but they spent the money and came out anyway, because it was the only official AdWords seminar that'd ever come to Detroit - one guy had even flown in from Florida. And most of 'em were doing campaigns for their own companies. They're desperate to make their AdWords work better for them, and they're learning how to deal differently with the content network.
If your site is talking about sub prime mortgages in the US then I would imagine you would not be getting many clicks because of all the companies going bankrupt
learning how to deal differently with the content network
What did you hear there on ppc site targeting, channel targeting, PPA targeting..?
They didn't really deal with PPA at that point other than to mention it, since it was still in beta and too new.
CPM up 48% for 1st 10 days of APR compared to all of MAR (no change in CTR).
I'm switching to EFVs side (google is good).
Why is CPM up, you ask? Google's conspiracy to meet this quarter's earnings estimate.
sailorjwd:
I'm switching to EFVs side
It's ok, I believe Google is good too, just too good for it's own good sometimes!
I'm switching to EFVs side (google is good).
I'm not saying they're good; I'm just saying they aren't stupid enough to kill the golden goose. :-)
I don't think you can make assumptions that everyone is doing worse. It comes down to inventory and who is willing to pay "what for what" on the content network in your industry.
netmeg, I wasn't asking about the seminar, but the adwords reps since you said we can expect a lot more pulling out of content.
That's not what I said, or meant to say. I meant to say that the advertisers are scrambling to educate themselves about AdWords, and most especially the Content Network; they'll still use it, but they're learning that it requires a completely different strategy and in many if not most cases, a lot less spend.
(Not sure what you meant about the AdWords reps)
They wanted to know how to make the Content Network work for them
They can advertise directly on our network, we will take good care of them and we will save them a lot of cash by eliminating the middle man :-)
I can imagine more and more advertisers will start doing direct advertising with selected group of websites. Time to get ready!
I can imagine more and more advertisers will start doing direct advertising with selected group of websites. Time to get ready!
It isn't that simple. Google's biggest "value add" is the ability to serve page-targeted (not just site-targeted) ads for just about any keyphrase across multiple sites--and to geotargeted audiences, at that. As long as advertisers want pay-per-click, keyword-driven contextual ads, they'll need to rely on middlemen like Google.
I wonder, much like job agencies, doesn't Google have a clause in their afreement with Adworders, where by, they can't sign on with any adsense publisher, outside of the control of Google?
for example, when an agency finds you a job, they often make you sign an agreement, which stats that 'you will not take any job with this company for 6 months during or after the termination of your contract'
I see it coming if more people start eliminating the middle man (Google)
I’m sure the business of generic branding and MFAs is more important for many big Corps' profits.
However, I’m convinced that users searching for pertinent information, advertisers in search for tuned traffic, and publishers with good content will find soon a better product.
If G doesn’t understand that, somebody else will do.
No matter how some people try to justify it…“More traffic, more clicks, less revenue” is a reality for a lot of quality content sites.
Nobody's trying to "justify it." Some of us are trying to explain it to those who dismiss or underestimate the importance of market forces.
I’m sure the business of generic branding and MFAs is more important for many big Corps' profits.
Are you suggesting that Google prefers to display low-paying, low-CTR ads, even though it makes less on such ads?
Junk ads are a symptom, not the disease.
However, I’m convinced that users searching for pertinent information, advertisers in search for tuned traffic, and publishers with good content will find soon a better product.
Sure, like Google's announced site-targeted contextual ads (which will benefit some publishers while hurting others).
No matter how some people try to justify it…“More traffic, more clicks, less revenue” is a reality for a lot of quality content sites.
Well it's going to be interesting to see what happens. My main site has a three month window of opportunity when it comes to large amounts of traffic and earnings - basically May-July. Last year I wasn't terribly happy with the targeting on the ads I was getting, and the more traffic I got (we're talking going from 200 visits per day up to a peak of 50,000 per day) of course the more clicks I got, but the EPC just divebombed to a few cents per click. It wasn't a tragedy or anything, because this is largely a hobby site and the volume of clicks made it more than worthwhile. I was kind of surprised though when a few months after the peak, the better paying ads started coming back.
This year the ads seem MUCH better and more targeted to my visitors I expect to have, and I'm really curious as to whether they'll drop out as the traffic starts to climb - I'm already seeing a little bump, and it hasn't hurt EPC yet. Yet.
