Has AdSense died?

No real new posts for days

[IanCP]

Apart from the busy June observations and earnings thread, I haven't seen any posts for days, much less new topics.

Or are the northern hemisphere folks off enjoying glorious holidays courtesy of Mr. Google AdSense?

I must be sick - I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms - I had never thought I was an AdSense junkie.

[ken_b]

AdSense is alive and well, the health of this AdSense forum may be a different matter.

[IanCP]

I suspect you might be right Ken, perhaps it might be my imagination again, but I have detected a certain malaise for some time now.

[tangor]

Or arms tired of flogging a dead horse.

This could be the new normal.

[martinibuster]

My AdSense has been reaching new heights after changes I made a few months ago. Mostly user experience type stuff but also housecleaning on some sites.

[buckworks]

>> after changes I made a few months ago

Care to share?

[martinibuster]

Minified JS and CSS.
Removed duplicate JS.
Changed icons so that they weigh less and also made more sense.
I removed some icons entirely so that they used icons already downloaded.
Mobile friendliness increased.
I removed an ad unit and placed it in a better spot <-- this isn't the sole reason
I removed declared fonts so that the site uses default fonts native to their device.
Created .ico files that are specific for most every device hitting the site.
Added social sharing buttons that are getting used a lot

Been adding unique high quality content to several sites <-- this is starting to pay off, nothing huge yet
Mobile friendly upgrades

Year over year earnings are higher this year, 2015 vs, 2016

[keyplyr]

"Has AdSense died?"

No it just smells funny.

[robzilla]

No news is good news?

[ken_b]

I removed an ad unit and placed it in a better spot

This is a bit confusing, removed, or just moved?

On the same page?

How about a bit clearer example. For example header to first paragraph, left column to right, etc.

.

[hannamyluv]

I think most people are just tired of reading the bitching that goes on here. There is no real help or questions here, really anymore. Just complaining, complaining, complaining and it gets old after awhile... especially when if you post anything positive, you then just set off a whole new round of people complaining. Nobody likes a Downer Debbie. ;)

[martinibuster]

I removed it from the spot it was occupying below the fold and placed it lower down on the page. I thought that the performance of the ad unit would suffer but surprisingly all of the ad units improved. The ad units are now more spaced out from each other.

The site is popular with Pinterest and they were sending good traffic. So I wanted to make sure to capture more of that traffic so I added Pinterest buttons, as well as WhatsApp, YMail and AOL mail and others. Then I reviewed the stats to see the results and was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the buttons were getting used and what the referrals were like. For example, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger tended to result in slightly more clickthroughs than regular social media shares. Not discounting the social media shares like Reddit and Twitter, I think those are great too. Anything that spreads the word in a positive light is valuable (imo).

[System]

The following message was cut out to new thread by martinibuster. New thread at: google_adsense/4811031.htm [webmasterworld.com]
11:50 am on Jun 30, 2016 (utc -5)

[edited by: martinibuster at 5:22 pm (utc) on Jun 30, 2016]

[netmeg]

This my busy season. Haven't had much time for posting.

One thing we uncovered a couple days ago (thanks to my web host) was a bit of custom PHP coding that was slowing down the sites something fierce; my developer fixed it and revenue immediately went up. Could be a coincidence, could be not. Never hurts to do quick technical reviews, tho. Sometimes it's your own code, sometimes it's a plugin (we had to switch out the social media sharing plugin at the last minute too because the host said at our rate of traffic we were gonna run out of CPU in short order)

[hannamyluv]

For some of us. most definitely, G has introduced new measures that have killed-off some site's earning potential

Case in point. This thread is about why no one is posting on the AdSense forum and we still need to start complaining about how AdSense does not make certain individuals money. I am sorry, but it seems like every thread anymore gets hijacked by people (mostly the same ones) complaining about their own AdSense account. It gets boring after awhile.

[martinibuster]

That's a good point, netmeg. Improving site performance was the goal behind minifying code and shrinking image size. I could see improvement in ad performance after completion of those projects. I don't believe any one thing improved the ad performance but rather a combination of improving site performance, site promotion and user experience all collectively helped.

I'm evaluating shrinking HTML as a next step. However I have other user experience projects to complete first. Last night I met with a PHP guy who is going add more functionality to the site that's going to improve the user experience in really cool ways.

[System]

The following message was cut out to new thread by martinibuster. New thread at: google_adsense/4811031.htm [webmasterworld.com]
11:51 am on Jun 30, 2016 (utc -5)

[edited by: martinibuster at 5:24 pm (utc) on Jun 30, 2016]

[engine]

Can I suggest we start an AdSense technical tips and ideas thread? I'd be interested in participating and learning.
No posting of personal stats or complaints are permitted in that thread.

[Maleda]

@engine Yes... great idea! This is why I joined this forum!

[trebuchet]

I suspect that Adsense publishers are either (a) quietly raking in the money, or (b) quietly contemplating bankruptcy. Either way there's not much to say.

Personally, I lose interest in my Adsense sites from mid June to August because my traffic dies off during that time of year. I still work on creating content but I check earnings much less and never stress about numbers. September is when it all kicks off for me.

@hannamyluv might also be right. A lot of posters are probably getting tired of the same old complaints. And with no new issues emerging there's not really much to say.

[tangor]

I also think that the quiet right now might be due to folks hitting the vacation trail. It is that time of year for some countries. :)

[ember]

I quit worrying about Adsense once I diversified. I got a part time job and started another online business. I sleep much better at night now knowing I won't lose my house if Adsense tanks.

[coachm]

Wonder if the phenomenon is the same that is hitting a lot of boards and social media. Seeing posts and commenting dropping for the last year, particularly on professional type topics. My theory is people are plain bored with online conversations, and its hitting every platform.

[teaandbiscuits]

I think people browse the net more on their phones now, I myself don't like logging in and commenting from my phone, so I tend not to bother, just read the topic and leave. It's easier to post stuff to facebook and the likes as you have the facebook app, are already logged in, and posting is usually a few lines or a pic.

Overall I think the adsense forums are quieter / busier based on how well people are doing, if across the board it's bad, the forums get busy, if people are doing OK to well, then they have less reason to post.

[Ebuzz]

Overall I think the adsense forums are quieter / busier based on how well people are doing, if across the board it's bad, the forums get busy, if people are doing OK to well, then they have less reason to post.

Yes, this is the most likely reason. People are doing well again. Most of them anyway.

[MrSavage]

To anyone who wants to be an apologist and claim that oh it's the negativity that keeps people from posting or being active. Here is a thought: give me a break. It's about posting what you see. If it's positive, it's positive. If it's negative, it's negative. If you can't deal with reality, then go find a "positive winners only" type forum. Elitist mentality. Webmasterworld is the pulse of what is going on. If you can't deal with that because it's too negative, then there is an expression for that. Something about a door and rear end.

Fact is this. The Google forums, as a whole, are abysmal in terms of participation. If you think this forum is bad, check the SEO section and ask yourself when is the last time you have seen a handful or less of updated threads.

New reality? Google isn't the friend. If there was collective hope, then there would be excitement, there would be solutions, there would be positivity. There is only one common thread and it's not a bunch of webmasters talking to each other and trying to be negative. The posts here are reflective. That is the reality.

Has Adsense died? I dunno. Has organic traffic died or is it on its way out? I would say it's not in a growth phase and it's not going back to growth until there is another means of getting organic traffic that doesn't involve Google SERPS. Adsense is not dead, but as a long term investment or a worthwhile investment of time and effort? That's call the crossroads that may be reflective in forum activity. Let's be real. A post like, "Need help. Just starting out with a new website and new Adsense account". How is that conversation going to go? Positive (fake) or real? Why disillusion people?

[tangor]

Change is the "keyword" to take away. G is doing it all the time--change. As noted, the evidence is in the serps! We need to either keep up, anticipate, or lead the way if we want to stay in the game, regardless of what game (commerce, info, entertainment, etc) we are in.

And sometimes that means only hints will be shared, not blueprints.

[NickMNS]

MrSavage I get your point, but there is natural bias that people have a greater tendency to post negative feedback than positive. You do not want to be seen as gloating, so it takes an unusually large positive move to get someone to post a positive post. Then, once you have a few people confirming each other's negative states you are reluctant as one person to post in the forum how great things are going for you. Also, people have a tendency to attribute positive outcomes to their own actions (here it would be great site design, awesome content, newly acquired links and other seo tricks) so a boost in traffic or Adsense earnings is not reported here because the boost is not due to the algo's but to their own actions. Whereas, when earnings are headed the other way it is almost always the result of the outside factors (Google, Adsense, Competitors, negative seo) so in turn it is reported.

If you take this bias into account, then the overall drop in the number of posts can be viewed as positive or at least a neutral signal.