Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I've checked all my sites and it seems none of them have been down. I've excluded factors like weekend etc as I'm comparing with similar periods in the past. It's not the end of the month, so it can't be budgets. My impressions and CTR are normal so it can't be the IE problem and/or ads not being seen by visitors. But I've "lost" a three digit sum so far as a result of this reduced EPC.
I know it's a small sample and all that but our daily clicks are in the decent three-digits - so not that small a sample.
Anybody else noticed a drop in EPC?
Spot on Cornwall. In fact, My epc has increased in the last few days. so far today, its the highest its been since I started in July. I'm hoping that the run up to Xmas is increasing demand for keywords in my area as it is a traditionally seasonal sector. However, I doubt it, I'm expecting it to be a blip and epc will return to 'normal' in a few days.
Webmasters not experiencing a drop won't necessarily shy away from posting in this thread for fear of losing a competitive advantage - very few have their sites in their profile anyway.
It's possible that the webmasters experiencing decreasing EPC are just a vocal minority.
Or it is the case that there was a drop for a large number of webmasters at pretty much the same time, and covering a wide range of topics.
I think we can draw the conclusion that there has not been an overall move by Google to cut the percentage share going to publishers, otherwise we wouold all have seen the same thing
In the case of this thread it is inevitable that those that have had a fall in EPC will post, those that have not had a fall are less likely to post, and are particularly unlikely to give the extra information that "blue widgets" are doing extremely well.
He is also right about privacy - why would someone who is doing phenomenally well with AdSense go and post a message "Is anyone seeing a rise in EPC", and draw attention to the fact that his/her site is doing really well running AdSense. If someone has found that profitable niche, he/she doesn't want to tip off others, and suddenly see copycats out there.
And the significant factor if anyone is seeing a drop in EPC is likely more to do with the fact that advertisers are opting out, which would lower the EPC simply because then lower EPC advertisers are moving closer to the top of the list for each individual page's keywords.
I think this explanation is why the drop is happening, not because Google is cutting the % of what publishers earn.
[edited by: Jenstar at 6:30 pm (utc) on Oct. 19, 2003]
And the significant factor if anyone is seeing a drop in EPC is likely more to do with the fact that publishers are opting out, which would lower the EPC simply because then lower EPC advertisers are moving closer to the top of the list for each individual page's keywords.
Do you mean advertisers are opting out?
why would someone who is doing phenomenally well with AdSense go and post a message "Is anyone seeing a rise in EPC", and draw attention to the fact that his/her site is doing really well running AdSense. If someone has found that profitable niche, he/she doesn't want to tip off others
Again, small flaws in the logic ;-)
The above is based on the assumptions that the only ones with good news are in niches, that as soon as someone posts a good news message everyone knows which niche he's in, and further that people will and can jump into that niche/sector and ruin his advantage. I don't believe those assumptions are all valid.
It's surprising how people DO like to shout when they've got a bargain, or they are doing well at something, as a browse thru' Adsense forums over the last few months will reveal.
I think this explanation is why the drop is happening, not because Google is cutting the % of what publishers earn
Just as it's possible for a large number of advertisers to suddenly drop out at the same time it is also possible that Google changed the share in some sectors, perhaps even as an experiment. I hope it's not true; I hope that what we're seeing is some sort of blip or Adsense hiccup - today's EPCs are back to previous norms - but looking at longer term stats and trends I'm convinced something did happen.
The above is based on the assumptions that the only ones with good news are in niches <snip> and further that people will and can jump into that niche/sector and ruin his advantage.
I probably should have clarified more, or not used the term niches, but perhaps subject matter. I have seen others copycat sites pop up based upon what others have said works well for them with AdSense, which is what prompted that comment. It won't ruin the advantage within a month, but after a few months with some optimization and backlinks thrown in, it is quite possible - particularly if that first site does not have stickiness to keep a visitor returning.
Just as it's possible for a large number of advertisers to suddenly drop out at the same time it is also possible that Google changed the share in some sectors, perhaps even as an experiment.
This message thread began on October 12th, with "But over the last 3 days it's dropped". This coincides perfectly with the launch of Google AdWords broad match & conversion ROI tracking. They sent out emails to all their advertisers, and so off the advertisers went to delve further into keyword reports, to see what keywords were performing, etc etc. There are some advertisers that easily go a month or longer without logging into their account, except possibly to check on billing.
And while those people were in checking out their stats, they would have come face to face with the CTR of content ads versus serps ads, along with overall $ spent, and I am willing to bet that Google saw a huge drop in the number of advertisers who do run their ads on content sites.
Perhaps Google did change the share in some sectors, because I have not seen any change. And perhaps it is a sliding scale difference, depending on what that particular ad is worth. Or if you are targeting a keyword such as "mesothelioma", they will only pay out 5% instead ;)
This month:
- CPC up
- Earnings up
- CPM up
Still waiting for the other (or first) shoe to drop.
BZ
This coincides ...launch of broad match & conversion ROI tracking
That's a valid and interesting point.
If some advertisers saw a big drop in traffic/conversions from content sites - and took appropriate action - then we'd see a reduced EPC. It's entirely possible that this could happen in some sectors and not others.
What would be interesting is if EPC returned to old levels in those sectors. Assuming rational action by advertisers who dropped publishers sites in favour of SERPS we won't suddenly see them jumping back into content en masse and causing EPC to rise sharply. Of course any increase in EPC is not something we'll likely see complaints about anyway :-)
I'll keep an eye on EPC/CPM or the one I like best - RPM.
Webmasters not experiencing a drop won't necessarily shy away from posting in this thread for fear of losing a competitive advantage - very few have their sites in their profile anyway.
Webmasters who have seen a decline in EPC but take google's T&C to mean "Don't discuss CPC rates" might shy away from posting in this topic.
But my average revenue per day this month is still down by 38%; I just hope to catch up before the month of October ends.
