HTTPS impact on Adsense

[puente]

most of us already know the devastating impact of https on adsense, 50% or more drop in revenue. happened to me too about 6 months ago when i went https. sure it helped my rankings, but adsense $ got a severe pounding.

i stayed the course for more than a week hoping it would pick up. finally had to revert to http when the pain got unbearable. now that chrome will start blackballing non-secure sites, does anyone know what the https impact is today?

the link below used to include a passage, "ads on your HTTPS pages might earn less than those on your HTTP pages". now it says, "switching your site to HTTPS will have no effect on the ads most users see". anyone with decent earnings can confirm or deny this?

[support.google.com ]

[levo]

Moved a week ago, early to tell but no drops so far.

[RedBar]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld puente

now that chrome will start blackballing non-secure sites

Have I missed something, if so, when?

[keyplyr]

@RedBar

[webmasterworld.com...]

You posted in it :)

[Libre]

I like to know that also, because this is the reason why I don't move to https!

[RedBar]

You posted in it :)

Under what name? Not me, ah ha, no sir:-)

Google are about to force payment / login web sites to use SSL Secure HTTPS

I wondered if it was that.

[keyplyr]

Google has now said that in January 2017, if any page is not HTTPS, Chrome will add a warning to the address bar that indicates the site is unsecure.

In the months to follow (exact date unknown) if a page is not HTTPS, the warning will change to a more severe looking version in red letters.

This is for *all* pages, not just those with forms, log-in or credit card transaction.

[robzilla]

In the months to follow (exact date unknown)

Well, they said "Eventually, we plan to label all HTTP pages as non-secure" [security.googleblog.com]. While that is also technically in "the months to follow", I expect it could take a few years still. It's a relatively drastic measure.

[keyplyr]

Since they haven't said, then we're all speculating but rather than "a few years still" I tend to think it will be a matter of months. This seems to be something Google is intent on doing, not just considering.


<back to topic>

I recently switched to HTTPS and I have not seen much of a difference. I did notice one ad unit empty (no advertiser available at the moment) but that was only once.

[netmeg]

I flipped all my money sites to https in March and April. No effect on earnings (they were already somewhat down before that) and I didn't even notice any dip in traffic (in fact, it was way up for all but one of the sites in as little as two weeks after the flip)

[robzilla]

Then, for the record, let's please call this nonsense:

most of us already know the devastating impact of https on adsense

A 50% drop in revenue cannot be explained by a switch to HTTPS unless the implementation is incorrect.

[mack]

My main site went https less than a month ago so, it really is a bit hard to determine much. My data suggests that the switch to https did result in a dip in earnings as a percentage of page views, but my page views increased a lot more so in real terms my income increased. I really need a bit more time to fully understand the specifics.

Mack.

[keyplyr]

but my page views increased a lot more so in real terms my income increased

My page views also increased after HTTPS.

[puente]

calling a post nonsense without even a modicum of sleuthing probably gives one's ego a boost of grandeur and superiority. so be it.

but why would google even mention this phenomenon, even if couched as a possibility, if it weren't happening? see below link from march 4, 2016 for this so-called "nonsense": (specifically, the first bullet point)

[web.archive.org...]

thanks all for the helpful responses

[keyplyr]

@ puente, can you show us exactly where Google says "HTTPS will have a devastating impact on adsense" because I don't see that anywhere on the page you cited: [support.google.com...]

[Libre]

@keyplyr Maybe you need to look around on the internet and search for it, many has reported big losses and returned so fast as they can back to HTTP. Also google has always reported it, like you can see in the link from puente (if you remove the '.' from the url). I found it really strange that they not now about that on webmasterworld!

Well,... now I know for sure. My site stays on HTTP

[keyplyr]

@ Libre, no I don't need to do anything.
Adsense is doing well on all HTTPS pages I have ( as I said above.) Sorry it's not working for you.

Yes I reviewed the pages puente cited and no where does it say "HTTPS will have a devastating impact on adsense."

I don't know what citing an archaic version of Google Support has to do with today. Most advertisers now do build thier ads secure.

I suspect eventually you will need to switch to HTTPS to continue to publish Adsense. You may not like it but that seems to be the ultimate direction Google is headed.

[edited by: keyplyr at 8:42 am (utc) on Sep 22, 2016]

[robzilla]

I'm not saying it cannot happen, just that it's nonsense to claim HTTP>HTTPS will have a "devastating impact" on Adsense. As you can see in this thread, and in other threads, there are plenty of claims to the contrary. What the Google help page used to state is that a portion of third-party ad networks that are normally part of the auction did not support HTTPS and would therefore be removed from the auction process when ads are requested from a HTTPS domain. The fact that they removed that part suggests to me that the number of ad networks that do not support HTTPS has decreased significantly, and it is now no longer an issue. Unless those HTTP-only ad networks are/were responsible for 50% of your ad revenue, which seems unlikely, the revenue drop cannot logically be attributed to the switch to HTTPS. If you still feel the problem is on their end, and have ruled out problems with your implementation of both HTTPS and Adsense (check/renew your code), you should contact them obviously.

[mack]

Today, putting a massive drop in Adsense revenue down to switching from http to https does seem very unlikely. Maybee there are other factors at play.

Correct deployment of https? Is a site showing certificate errors causing people not to stick around? Has the redirect from http>https been correctly implemented? Did the switch over cause a re-crawl? there are so many factors to take into account that we can't simply say https will reduce your AdSense income.

Mack.

[iamlost]

What Robzilla said, an excellent summation.

When Google first pushed the change to HTTPS I was quite adamant I wouldn't be changing as I run strictly info sites, however the realization that the browsers were all going to require it for HTTP/2 changed my mind.

I switched my sites to HTTP/2 during June and July. There was an initial low double digit percentage Adsense drop but had full recovery by end of process. And I'm now almost at a double digit AdSense increase. How much due to the little lock and how much to the 64% site speed increase I don't know.

So it's not just a matter of secure for eCom or secure because bigG may do something sometime but also secure because of a new transport protocol that has many benefits for many sites.

As always it's a business model risk assessment decision.

[netmeg]

Maybe you need to look around on the internet and search for it, many has reported big losses and returned so fast as they can back to HTTP. Also google has always reported it, like you can see in the link from puente (if you remove the '.' from the url). I found it really strange that they not now about that on webmasterworld!

WebmasterWorld is not your typical AdSense Forum; most of us are highly technical minded and many of us have been doing this since AdSense started (and at large scale - I myself have quite a few websites, some with very significant traffic at different times of the year) so we tend to base our conclusions on our own observations and those of fellow members whose opinions we have come to hold in high regard.

[Libre]

@netmeg I know WebmasterWorld from the time there was a monthly pagerank update, topics going that fast you did not had the time to read it, perl the only real choice was, and adsense not even existed! I have learned a lot from webmasterworld,... but the mentality some long time users has with newbies really sucks.

My personal conclusions and observations.
Changed my ads to responsive ads... 2 weeks without a problem and in one time most ads on my site where blank ads... a week later I returned back to the old ads!
Want to remove the ad in the header (wanted to do that for years) and directly my other ads turned blank, in 3 days I did put the ad back!

I have spend a month to change my site in a responsive site (no change in urls and content), with the great result that I have been from alexa ranking 8000 to 17000 and the same 5% mobile traffic. At least my site is now html5, and that was the only good thing. I am still recovering from from that. Never wanted to go to responsive, but after all the good experience from some long time users, in a topic more or less the same like this one I did it!

And with this topic comes again some long time users around, and again all those experience are fantastic, but I don't trust things when I hear only great experience, because it sounds more like google propaganda. And thats one reason more not to change to HTTPS.

Ask your self WHY want google everyone on HTTPS... and when you know the real answer you also know thats only self interest and noting more! But I think most does not even know what google win with this!

HTTPS... to give visitors the feeling that they are safe, while there info got shared on any other way!

[kindle44]

@Libre If you are having such problems with responsive ads and https, I would suggest you have a careful look at your theme and how it behaves on mobile devices. Over the past year, our mobile traffic has increased dramatically to the point where it accounts for about 80% of all traffic. Having responsive ads and a good responsive theme was an important part of that.

We stitched to https in March this year and it was a bit scary. You have to check that pages are working properly and create a new https site in your Google Search Console. Follow all the steps and soon you will be so happy.

Remember the average consumer today is not on a desktop, they are on their phones or tablets. You need to be comfortably where they are and look good on their platform.

[netmeg]

Responsive is not necessarily a good solution for AdSense, if your theme pushes all your ads below the content. I had to make some major changes to inject the ads higher up on the page (but not at the top, for obvious reasons) There's no one size fits all anymore.

(And it's not just Google pushing https, not by a longshot)

[keyplyr]

" the realization that the browsers were all going to require it (HTTPS) for HTTP/2 changed my mind"

Good point iamlost. The speed increase that comes with HTTP/2 is another reason why any site should upgrade to HTTPS.

[zdgn]

most of us already know the devastating impact of https on adsense, 50% or more drop in revenue.

Speaking for myself, all my sites now HTTPS. Have actually seen considerable improvement not only in traffic & user-engagement but also AdSense revenue. And surprisingly, affiliate sales have also gone up, which I attribute to higher traffic levels and probably improved user engagement/quality... perhaps Google sending better convertors... Not sure how long it will last... But I'll take it! :D

[Libre]

@kindle44 The blank ads had the size they supposed to have and it has been working fine before, the adsense support and a technical have been looking at it and could not find the problem.

I know that many sites has more mobile than desktop visitors, but probably most webmasters (my visitors) does not use mobile for their work... and I think that is going to stay for a long time. If you have only a few visitors on mobile before responsive became a ranking factor, you can not hope that it is going to be 50% after you have made your site responsive!

@iamlost HTTP/2 would be a good reason for to go HTTPS, but that is going to happen when I am going to a new server.

[keyplyr]

@ Libre - My mobile users tripled almost immediately after I launced the site responsive. I've seen similar on other sites, depending on niche.

Social media activity is important for mobile traffic. Instead of waiting for them to come, I went out and got them.

[mack]

Just because most of your current users are on PC does not mean a lot of potential users are not on smaller screen devices. When you go responsive, and mobile friendly you become a lot more visible within the serps to people on mobile devices and tablets.

Mack.

[Libre]

@keyplyr with the most high traffic keyword that I have I am on the top 3 position, in the time responsive became a ranking factor I had also for mobile those top position. But I think that the webmasters who use my program to work on their sites does that not on a mobile (also I never work on my site with a mobile).

I have never really used social media for promoting my sites, mainly because I don't write articles and the tools are the only thing the visitors use. But I get some decent traffic from facebook. I have one of the few site that not attracts mobile users.

@mack I am happy that my site is responsive now and it was time to update my site because I did still used tables for my site!