May 2018 AdSense Earnings & Observations

How is May 2018 treating you?

[martinibuster]

Ok... here we go!

How is May 2018 treating you?

[ember]

I just added the ads.txt file a few days ago and my RPM jumped. I didn't expect that.

[MayankParmar]

Yesterday was a good day, and today is also good so far! :D

[Mentat]

Something is really broken on Adx...

[MayankParmar]

Yes, I am seeing backup ads.

[Maximum44]

Adsense +18% compared to same day last week yesterday. Now we're talking.

[keyplyr]

I just added the ads.txt file a few days ago and my RPM jumped.

Ads.txt [webmasterworld.com] file has no relation to RPM. It only declares which ad company platforms are authorized on your properties.

[MayankParmar]

Already crossed yesterday's earning :)

@Maximum44 Maybe our bad days are finally over :D

[keyplyr]

Advertiser budgets are usually higher the first week of the month.

[MayankParmar]

But but the first week of the month has always been terrible :/

[Maximum44]

@MayankParmar We can always hope the Adsensegeddon is a thing of the past. Highly doubt it though :D

[frankleeceo]

@keyplyr

I disagree with your comment that ads.txt having no RPM affects. I believe that it might have effect and it should definitely have "more" impact in the near future, even if your tests have shown none at the current time.

Quite a few demand sources WILL NOT buy inventory without proper ads.txt in place already. It definitely has impact in the header bidding space. I do not know if those demand plugs into adsense via third party buys, but my guess that it does, and more demand sources will probably honor or require ads.txt, (not less).

Since adsense runs on an auction backdrop, less demand will most likely point to lower RPM.

I believe the current flow is such...third party marketplace wants to buy inventory on site via adsense, server checks if adsense is authorized seller. Checked, adsense is NOT a authorized seller. The buy process is stopped. I believe this is happening at this time.

In the future, adsense server checks if site is an authorized seller. Checked. Adsense will not served on site (this has not happened yet I believe). I believe adsense inventory does not require ads.txt "now".

Google is trying really hard to push it across its network. I'd personally take the hint. DFP platform just got a dedicated section to create and validate ads.txt I think last week or so.

[westcoast]

My earnings recovered yesterday + today too. A very weird 3-day plummet and then recovery. Hopefully a bug that they fixed.

[trebuchet]

I'm glad it's fixed for you. My RPM plummeted at the start of April, then dipped further at the start of May, and has flatlined ever since. If it falls much lower I might as well just give it away as uneconomical, despiting having sites with monthly PVs in excess of 2 million.

[Mentat]

I'm in @trebuchet sinking boat!

Also, in the last few days Adx reporting is kaput; they really want us to use the DFP reporting, and I hate that!

[Maximum44]

Our RPM also plummeted on the April 1st. We're only doing ok right now because we had an increase in traffic the last two weeks.

[MayankParmar]

And it dropped today again :(

[MayankParmar]

I can never make good money from AdSense after the #*$!ty AdWords update. The ads are blank for at least 30-60 minutes. And by that time, the viral stories are viewed thousands of time. This is just ridiculous.

The AdSense bot is damn slow.

[edited by: MayankParmar at 8:36 am (utc) on May 9, 2018]

[Travis]

And by that the viral stories are viewed thousands of time. This is just ridiculous.

Say thank you to fellow publishers who abused buzz and viral stories with their clickbait, fake news and touts headlines.

The AdSense bot is damn slow.

Indeed. [webmasterworld.com...]

[NickMNS]

The ads are blank for at least 30-60 minutes. And by that time, the viral stories are viewed thousands of time. This is just ridiculous.

@Mayank use backup ads with another networks ads eg: media.net
or depending on the time line pre-publish the page (url) with a small part of the story. Don't promote it or link to it just make it live go to it and make it available for MediapartnersGoogle bot. Then when you are ready update the page the full content and publish as you normally would.

[Maximum44]

New terms to accept when you login to Adsense!

[MayankParmar]

@NichMNS I will try backup ads. But I just can't pre-publish the page because the traffic is from Top Stories, Google News and Direct readers.

@Maximum I'm not seeing anything like that.

[Maximum44]

@MayankParmar probably on a rotating schedule then. But it popped up for us and I had to approve it before i could do anything.

[Travis]

But I just can't pre-publish the page because the traffic is from Top Stories, Google News and Direct readers.

Once your article is online, you can visit it yourself, then wait an hour before submitting / promoting it. (but I don't know how Google news is working, and how they fetch your content).

[jrpfhc]

I definitely noticed a dip in the middle of last month with the link units. It recovered at the beginning of the month, but every few days they will still throw that "sponsored searches" label on there. It causes about 1/4 of the click through to fall off. I hope they sort it out. So far this month has been better than April, mainly due to high CPC on non responsive box units.

[MayankParmar]

The CTR is low but CPC is much better. CTR is lower than usual apparently because of link ads update.

[Ironside]

If I look at my custom channels for the last 30 days telling me the earnings are £51. Obviously I bounce a lot more than that so I can't understand what has been earning me the money. I know I have some of those ads that only appear on mobile devices, how do I find out if they have been earning money because they are not appearing with all the other custom channels.

[Ironside]

It seems a lot of revenue comes from dynamic ads, what are these exactly?

[ivok]

Anyone experienced ads with blue sky and clouds? Not clickable? What is this?

[NickMNS]

@ironside

how do I find out if they have been earning money because they are not appearing with all the other custom channels.

Exactly how is hard to say because it depends on what exactly the ad units are and what you want to see. But generally you can filter the ads based on ad-units (common-reports) select the ad-units you want to see, click on filter. Then above the chart there is another filter field, click on "+add" and filter by platform. That should show you a specific ad-unit for only mobile users.

dynamic ads, what are these exactly?

I'm not sure, but I believe they are ads that do not have a specific size, they fit whatever the container is, a truly responsive ad-unit. A 300 x 250 ad unit can fit into 1 300 x 250 container on mobile, it the ad-slot resize to say 728 x 90 that ad-unit would not fit the slot, but a dynamic ad-unit could resize to fit it. That is what I think, but I am not sure.

@ivok

Anyone experienced ads with blue sky and clouds? Not clickable? What is this?

Yes, I see it all the time. These are ads that are geo-targeted, if the impression occurs outside of the geo area the clouds are shown instead of the ads. Since you are in BG, and many of your users are in the US, your users will see the ads but in the Ad-Review the ad is replaced with the clouds because you are not in the US. I find this really annoying because you are blocked from seeing the ad. I mostly see these ads from big brands, Disney and Lowes. If they are from reputable brands I let them pass, but if I don't recognize the brand/URL I block the ads.

[ember]

Right, dynamic ads do not have a designated size. They fit the container size.