Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I've been using AdSense 3-4 years already. Basically more like as a hobbyist than really a serious business in mind. But I've got nice addition to my normal salary each month which is fine. However I've been now noticing sudden and very deep drop in revenues during past two months which raised a question and need for further investigations.
I exported a CSV from Jan 2007 to Jan 2009 and made some graphs. I was able to see that earnings are almost same as Jan 2007 right now and my page views are increased 50% during this time.
Also if I calculate cost per click, I see that CPC has been going down whole time! This is what confuses me a lot. I'm thinking why this really happens? If I get more visitors, is my CPC actually lowered? Any ideas?
If I get more visitors, is my CPC actually lowered?
I wouldn't assume there's a causal relationship there--though there could be if there's very limited ad inventory in your area. More likely is that CPC is down due to the economy and that coincides with an increase in traffic.
My traffic has held steady or risen only slightly over the past three years. From spring to summer of last year, my CPC almost doubled and has stayed at that level ever since. A number of things could explain it--something I did is not one of them.
AdSense is really a black box. If you want to increase your income you should try out different layouts, ad positions, colors, use of adlinks, etc. etc. You may find something that works better but it's unlikely you'll know for sure why that is. IMO, of course.
Are we correct to assume it's just after-Christmas deflation? Our CTR and pageviews are up it's just CPC that's causing us to earn less. Or perhaps it's the foreign exchange?
Anyone else out there with a similar problem?
Exchange rate may have an effect (clicks earn dollars, bids are in sterling) but I haven't done the arithmetic. I just hope that a good exchange rate when I get paid will offset some of the loss.
I've been having trouble with CTR over the last year. The other metrics seem good, though (and maybe this is smartpricing related) I have noticed I get more EPC whenever CTR falls.
Same result though - page views up by 60% and earnings steady. Look up glass ceiling on this forum for people in the same boat. The effect is well known, but there is not necessarily a glass ceiling.
