all he really needed was a hug

Do you think that would work with AdSense too? Maybe she is just in a funk since Oct 1st. ;)

Maybe she is just in a funk since Oct 1st

Is Adsense in a funk or are people just not paying attention to the changes (and reacting)? Our operation is having it's best month this year, knock on wood with a rabbit's foot and stick a pin in a voodoo doll, that's what I say. I recommend a voodoo doll that looks like your favorite congressperson.

It's been about a week and my earnings are steady (which is surprising). Earnings are "slightly" above average but still not the usual WAY above average I've been enjoying prior to the govt shutdown.

I read this has happened In the past  during the Clinton years which was followed by unprecedented economic prosperity. Correct me if I'm wrong.

However, I feel that  this time it is different. I am convinced the GOP is determined to destroy Obamacare with the backing of big pharmaceutical/insurance companies and will result of the US defaulting, which in turn would be catastrophic to the global economy -- and so, less Adsense earnings. I don't want to talk about politics here but in Canada, we value our universal healthcare and it's not something we argue about.

Ps. Sorry about my English, I hope I have conveyed what im trying to say clearly. And thanks for the intelligent discussions here.

Is Adsense in a funk or are people just not paying attention to the changes (and reacting)?

I am having a hard time judging because this quarter is traditionally not a focus quarter for my sector. That being said, as jbayabas indicated, last two quarters were record breaking for per visitor earnings due to some successful ad placement testing. This quarter so far (and it is early) is well below the per visitor earnings we have seen for the past 6 months.

In past years, while the site's earnings fluctuated due to traffic changes, the per visitor earnings did not. But maybe in the past the ad placement was optimal year round and now it is only optimal during peak - or maybe advertisers are holding back money due to economy concerns.

As with most "media events", I likely won't know till it is well past, done and over. But it will help for (heaven forbid) next time it happens.

But it will help for (heaven forbid) next time it happens.

Seriously wondering what kind of steps you might consider taking to prepare for a media event in the future other than build a site or section of a site that caters to to topic of the event. I sense you're hinting at subtleties like how deep into your content you might place ads based on anticipated reader engagement with any given subject or perhaps employing different revenue streams more predominantly i.e. increasing exposure to a particular affiliate program based on the current climate but that's just a guess and I'm always interested in how good minds work.

Also, it's obvious that this climate is impacting different niches differently (nothing new there) so I agree that it's very difficult to reach a consensus on the subject here and now and it's most likely going to come down to how this fiasco impacts webmasters on a site-by-site basis. There are a lot of variables at play here and definitely some things to be learned as we plod though this.

My CTR and earnings are on the same level as last month. No change really.

Nevertheless I feel like banner blindness kicked in. I don't recall my ads. So I switched to one of the new AdSense fonts PLUS changed the color so it pops out of the page. Shaking things up a little, so to speak. ;)

So I switched to one of the new AdSense fonts PLUS changed the color so it pops out of the page. Shaking things up a little, so to speak.

I'm beginning to believe this is the key for now. Not that the current formats are ideal by any means but hey, work with what's available, right?

so what are we saying....... gov employees surf the web lots at work?

non essential right?

so what are we saying....... gov employees surf the web lots at work?

non essential right?

Not sure what I'm seeing agrees with your first conclusion at all. Seems like they're doing more surfing off work if anything, at least from my perspective. Then again, you don't know my target audience which might go a long way to explaining the difference I'm seeing from what others are seeing.

Your second conclusion is harder to argue with though. ;)

Seriously wondering what kind of steps you might consider taking to prepare for a media event in the future

It is more of a planning thing. I maintain a P&L report for myself to help with planning for hiring contractors for the site. Right now, I am flying partially blind on what I can expect to make this month (which affects my hiring for next month). I have no historical data to match this media event to in order to be able to predict how this will affect the site. Now I will have historical data to apply to the site projections for this event, if it occurs again (hopefully not).

I maintain a P&L report for myself to help with planning for hiring contractors for the site.

Ah. That makes sense.

As for this kind of event happening again. Does anyone really think the government is actually gonna permanently solve this or the debt ceiling issue or that they're not gonna pull this same kind of a stunt over some other issue in the future? Us little folks can use all the contingencies we can come up with I think.

Webcentric, I suspect that it will keep going like this for the rest of this Congressional term. In 2014, the Republicans will likely lose control of the House, and then in 2015 it will be Democrats controlling all of Congress so they will be able to pass most of what they want, whatever that may be.

This is my attempt at a realistic assessment based on polling data. My personal hope would be to have two strong parties, both leaning toward the center (where most Americans seem to be) and negotiating bi-partisan legislation. But I have a lot of hopes I don't expect to ever see realized. ;)

...and negotiating bi-partisan legislation

I share your sentiments. This is what happens when one party shoves their legislation down the other party's throat.

A gentle reminder of the topic under discussion:

US Govt Shutdown and Adsense Earnings

Thanks.
;)

OK, political power plays = government shutdown = nervous Adsense publishers.

Thanks for the nudge. Still waiting for enough data to see if this will actually be a measurable event where earnings are concerned so, some of us were just passing the time chit-chatting around the water cooler. ;)

Everybody back to work unless you're on furlough. :)

Oh and speaking of data, since this shutdown is sort of coinciding with G's rollout of their new text ad formats (along with normal seasonal variables), it's gonna be difficult, if not impossible, to gauge the effects of this shutdown using bottom-line figures (i.e. total revenue). I'm thinking that CPC/eCPM numbers are going to be more revealing on this subject than anything. CTR has been affected by the new ad styles so it's kind of a red-herring where the shutdown is concerned. Might get something out of overall traffic stats if you have stable sources of traffic but our traffic is growing for several different reasons right now so there's not much to go on there from my perspective. This is a tough one to gauge and like others have said, any real conclusions may have to wait until well after the fact.

My belief in my current adsense revenue slip is a combination of both the new format and the new quarter. I've also seen a slump in other networks as well. The trend is starting to turn towards what I've been seeing as the trend for the last 60 days (aka "normal") with adsense moving back up, but slower than the others.

On other projects I work with a number of advertisers and none of them have given any thought to holding back advertising because of government shut down. If the debt ceiling is not lifted there are likely to be wider economic issues and will move us into an "all bets are off" environment where some advertisers will stop spending while others will choose to buy mind-share at a lower rate. How this will impact any specific niche's adsense earnings will vary.

I hope my comment didn't seem too political. As a business owner, I try to assess where the government is going and how that should impact my business strategy. I wasn't trying to lay blame on a party or expressing my personal hopes or fears. Just trying to make a realistic assessment, which may be entirely wrong but OTOH may be helpful.


I do see this revenue slip in other CPM networks (I use several, but not Adsense). They have all fallen since October 1. I personally buy advertising once in a while, but have decided not to bother until something gets resolved... partly because I think some people rein in spending when there's uncertainty, but also simply because it seems to me people are busy reading the news instead of visiting sites like mine right now.

And just to present a point about variables here. For the last two days, we're seeing heavier than normal traffic and clicks centered around the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area of the country. The variable is that the weather in that area for the last two days can be summed up as cold and wet or just plain miserable if you like. Perhaps those furloughed government employees and idle contractors are sitting at home right now in front of their computers, staring out the window at the rain and clicking on ads. It's just a theory or maybe it's the Universe's way of counteracting human insanity. Whatever the case, I'm liking the results.

BIG drop off in CPC/CTR this morning... wonder if advertisers are holding back on their campaigns due to uncertainty.

wonder if advertisers are holding back on their campaigns due to uncertainty.

No.

And what uncertainty?

You should be more concerned if Fedex, DHL, Post Office etc all shut down, THAT would have a more serious affect because sellers wouldn't be able to send their items.

Uncertainty about whether the United States will continue to pay its bills or very possibly crash the world economy.

I'm small potatoes and may not be representative of other advertisers, but I know *I* am holding back on my ad campaigns because it looks to me like my target demographics are all glued to CNN when they'd normally be visiting me and the sites I advertise on. No point running ads if no one sees them.

I'm hopeful Congress will reach a deal and things can go back to normal... ish. Until January. /eyeroll If so, I might run some campaigns this week or next.

The shutdown is finally over!

I don't get it. Reports say this is only temporary. In a few months, Congress will come back to fight the same battles. Does this mean there could be another shutdown?

It sure does! And it's been limping along like this since 2011. The only relief is that we actually did not default.

And now they'll be fighting this all out again through the holiday shopping season. Not cool.