@ian_D, it looks like some sites are more prone to bots than other.

@AlexB77, thanks for the tips. I'll look at my stats.

I was a little carried away with all the bot discussions. Sorry for dragging this thread away from the topic.

it's entitled January 2015 AdSense Earnings and Observations

I've observed that I earn more when I use effective bot blocking, and that I don't get the clawbacks and other problems you're all constantly complaining about.
Honestly, some of the drivel and nonsense I see repeatedly posted in these threads... and you complain about this?

@MichaelP, glad I could help.
There's more to it of course. Google should have more examples but PM if you need help, I can share my setup with you.

I've observed that I earn more when I use effective bot blocking

Yep, I have no issue with that whatsoever however this thread has always been more about the generalities and vagaries of what is occurring.

IMHO the bot blocking issue, observations and effects actually deserves its own thread so that members can refer to it specifically when they need help and advice instead of having to trawl through all the monthly on-goings.

It's easy enough to start your own and the subject certainly deserves it.

Today, Saturday, has gone crashing through the floor to the lowest levels ever, if it weren't for a few tablet clicks AdSense may as well not even be in existence for me...absolutely appalling, nothing less.

I concur, the same problem here. eCPm dropped like a rock :(

In the last 2-3 days the RPM has improved for me, but still - in the entire month of January I didn't have even one day with RPM that reaches the all time average RPM.

Again, only one page of Upcoming ads on Adsense and 80% of upcoming Ads in Adx are Realtime-Bidding.

So, the connection between Adwords-Adsense is strangled again...

Hmm after a couple days off, the inflated bot clicks and clawbacks are back.

I did not notice any clawbacks today, but the day is not over yet, in fact last couple of days was very very good both in revenue and CPC and today is not exception.

I wanted to add, January has been an awful adsense month for me, CPC is horrid. I am getting steady page views and clicks, it's just the CPC that is brutal. January is typically bad being right after the holidays, but I'm on pace to do half the revenue of any previous January.

Is this similar for others? I was getting a lot of those Flash redirect ads, but they seemed to have cooled off.

Crapola.

AdSense is absolutely fubard for me with Sunday setting loads of new records.

1. Desktop clicks average.

2. Desktop lowest-ever clicks.

3. Desktop lowest-ever CTR.

4. Desktop lowest-ever CPC.

5. Desktop lowest-ever RPM at 16.8% of average. My next lowest RPM is 234.2% higher.

6. Desktop lowest-ever earnings at only 17.1% for the day and 17.8% of average. My next lowest earnings' day is 212.7% higher.

Come on G if this freakin' thing isn't broken what the hell is?

Just a quick idea, probably not only mine, but here we go anyway, what if instead of serving adsense add in those countries that are not making a dime for already over a year, I will ID them by IP and serve some other adds, such as one that pays per impression or similar? The real question is I guess, has anyone tried this at all? Or is this going to be like hunting 2 rabbits at the same time without actually catching at least one of them?

Today so far seems to be good, but US RPMs could make you wish for more.

I got one click this morning worth several dollars. And no clicks since so Google's "temporary hold" is obviously on my account till later today.

Alex, I think if you could efficiently replace adsense with CPM for third world countries that would be awesome. Let us know how you are doing it if it works.

CPM sounds like a good test to me too Alex.

Low pageview count, payment OKish... low on clicks, lower than Sunday!

Making crazy money today. Looks like another record high.
The weekend was better than normal too. If the next 4 or 5 days are like this, it'll be my highest earnings month yet. :)

ian, don't you realize this is a pity party :D

Yeah, ;)
I sometimes wonder if you all are just trying to scare away the competition... ?

Hell, even my old broken sites seem to be doing quite well with adsense as long as they aren't mucking with the ad styles.

Searching for pennies in my pockets right now. Abysmal.

Here are some horrible statistics:

1. Every day in my last five days have had well above average PVs.

2. Every day in my last five days have had well below average Clicks.

3. Every day in my last five days have had well below average CTR.

4. Every day in my last five days have had well below average CPC.

5. Every day in my last five days have had well below average RPM.

6. Every day in my last five days have had well below average Earnings.

For me everything went pear-shaped after Wednesday 21st January which was, coincidentally, my best day of the month.

Has anyone else seen more or less the same?

@RedBar, I have very much the same pattern on 3 of my sites, but others are in completely different situation and follow completely different pattern. They actually made money all through with only minor downfalls.

Here is what I have noticed: I have monitored the referral and direct traffic pasterns on all of the sites including those that were not impacted moneymaking-wise, so what I have found is the list of sites that are not in anyway related to either of my sites niche and even more they do not even provide referral links to my sites, but somehow impacting my referral traffic and my AdSense (this is according to HitMaps). I have blocked them all via .htaccess and Analytics. Now today is worst than ever in terms of referral traffic, but sites that suffered earlier performing much, much, much better in terms of revenue and CTR.

Here is the list of all referrals all of which have either 100% Bounce rate or 0 visitors or 0 time per session or all three together:

You can take it an place it to your .htaccess files, but I recommend checking your Analytics first, also block them all off in Analytics via filters.

#Deny access to SPAM Referers
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer buttons-for-website.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer lax1.ib.adnxs.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer forum.topic2988964.darodar.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer ilovevitaly.co spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer priceg.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer blackhatworth.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer hulfingtonpost.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer semalt.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer ilovevitaly.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer priceg.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer cenoval.ru spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer sprtkw.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer xvideos.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer dansmovies.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer i-part.com.tw spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer t007.uee.ly200.net spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer 18avday.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer 141jav.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer cs600.wpc.edgecastdns.net spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer dongtaiwang.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer funny#*$!.tv spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer gm99.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer lichaozheng.info spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer plming.tistory.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer ticklingtv.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer dualshine.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer hcomicbook.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer nicovideo.jp spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer jamo.tv spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer eyosup.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer fatstube.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer aboluowang.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer gayteentwink.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer offers.bycontext.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer 40maturetube.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer able-hd.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer blog.naver.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer clicrbs.com.br spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer epochtimes.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer tap2-cdn.rubiconproject.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer dualshine.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer paisleyanne.com spambot=yes
SetEnvIfNoCase Referer cartier.cn spambot=yes
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
Deny from env=spambot 

If the stats ain't stuck today I'm absolutely fubard ... 4 clicks so far, yep four freakin' clicks resulting in a CTR that's as close to zero as it can possibly get...banjaxed Google, uttely banjaxed!

RedBar, my stats have nearly flat lined starting on the 21st. Traffic is normal. Something seems fishy.

Traffic is better today, but RPM still in the ditch

Something seems fishy.

I'm assuming an over reaction to the bots epidemic to protect the advertisers.

If this is correct then I hope that after it has been resolved that Google will tell us rather than keeping quiet so that the next time it happens, and it will, then as publishers we can try and bite the bullet knowing that it is necessary.

If they keep totally stum (silent) about what has happened they'll only frustrate and annoy publishers even more since it is plainly obvious something is not "normal".

they'll only frustrate and annoy publishers even more

We're really not their priority, so I doubt we'll hear anything from them. This is just part of being an Adsense publisher. It is not for the faint of heart.

We're really not their priority

I'm well aware of that however IF they want to attract more publishers to the programme then even Google has to admit when something's gone pear-shaped and has not been the fault of the publishers.

I've been in business a lot, lot longer than G, customers can be very understanding and forgiving when things go wrong when it hasn't been their supplier's fault and Google is our supplier, a bit of genuine feedback can go a long, long way rather than having many, many people complaining and not knowing why.

I'm seeing dreadful results. I'm just curious, for some of us, do you get the feeling the ads are showing, but is Google disregarding all clicks or most clicks out of the sake of advertiser safety? I mean I don't expect to see a reimbursement. For the amount of income, it's essentially dead space on my sites. Ads may be off relevancy, I have no idea. I just know that I had been doing very nicely, but at this point it's really dreadful.