We noticed a drop in traffic the Friday the Olympics started. The site has nothing to do with the Olympics. Traffic has picked up the last couple of days though as others have mentioned.

My traffic is still about 20% below July.

My traffic is still about 20% below July.

Mine too however Monday was back to normal metrics all round including my EPC which has been bouncing all over the place.

My best day since 14th August and before that 6th August.

This time of year (USA) is back to school in most states. End of August, first of September. With the cost of pencils, notebooks (the paper kind) and backpacks, as well as shoes, shopping interest tends to be brick and mortar rather than on-line.

Traffic dropped at the beginning of the month but picked up yesterday, the day after the Olympics ended.

In looking back over my stats of the last several weeks, I can't say that the Olympics had any effect--good or bad--on my traffic. (I have an information site, and it's possible that people who need specific information are more willing to "time-shift" than people who are participating in forums, browsing blogs, perusing news or entertainment stories, etc.)

I can't say that the Olympics had any effect

Definitely it was not just the Olympics, the massive European holiday getaway season has also been a significant factor for me...roll on September to see how much the (unconfirmed) recession is biting!

For what it's worth, I'm seeing an average CPM increase of about 20% for August display ads (non-AdSense) compared to July. That's a little surprising in a vacation month during the early stages of a recession, but who knows? Maybe gutsy (or desperate) advertisers are willing to spend money for market share at a time when more cautious advertisers are cutting back.