re:
"Started noticing yesterday that where google was showing ---x90 ads on desktop, they are now showing ---x200 or larger in height ads, this has happened all over my site, has anyone else noticed this on their sites? Whatever happened to a better user experience? I have a gut feeling this is going to hurt my traffic. I'm using the new ad codes (responsive).

Eddy"

yes, I noticed this also. It has made no difference to my Google ads performance, but has disrupted the layout of my pages, they don't fit together as neatly as they used too.

No notification from Google about this change.

Started noticing yesterday that where google was showing ---x90 ads on desktop, they are now showing ---x200 or larger in height ads, this has happened all over my site, has anyone else noticed this on their sites?

Same here. Suddenly went from 728x90 to 728x280 all over my sites. Have to say it's helped the CTR and looks okay, but I won't be happy if I get some sort of penalty since I did not initiate this change. Seeing it on other sites, too.

Same here 728x90 changed to 728x280. Even changed my ad code and 728x280 showed. Seems to be over for the moment - back to 728x90. The larger size made no difference in revenue.

Very low valued traffic here. Very low RPM for lots of countries. US revenue was 75% of my total yesterday with about 30% of my traffic. Hummmm...

Adsense is about 50% of all the ads I'm serving on my website. Affiliate ads only 4% and guess what... earnings today with affiliates 8 times more than Adsense. I'm not even lucky with those affiliates that's daily business but the decline of earnings with Adsense is pathetic.

I think Adsense is not updating clicks and earnings. How can my CTR drop fro 3% to 0.2% ? I have been with adsense for five yrs and have never experienced this.

I'm an old timer with AdSense. I started in 2006. And believe me, I never saw such volatilty, and such a steady decline, with an acceleration in August. August, it will be the worst month since the beginning in revenue per 1000 visitors...
What is happening, and why so sunddendly in August ?

Yesterday it was a delay in reporting and I climbed a bit at the end of the day. Normally September is the start of the good months coming but I'm afraid of it.

I only can advice all of you to use affiliates with Ad Manager and use Adsense as backup. Maybe a 2nd network competing with it like a header bidding network.

Normally in summer times my revenue drop about %20-25.

But this summer is nightmare. July was %50 and august is %70 dropped.

What about your revenues? Hope september will be good.

@jori, the world economy is tanking quickly, mostly thanks to the U.S. and China trade war. Advertisers usually cut back quite a bit when the economy declines. A worldwide recession is coming soon, according to experts. U.S. won't be far behind.

Adsense quit on me, and now I quit on it. An RPM of $0.28 yesterday, which is the new normal and not an off day.

I definitely won't miss the stress of Adsense income volatility and would rather go back to work part-time to fill the Adsense void. At least the pay will be stable.

Time to get back to 100% focus on content, affiliate links, and direct advertising to build my website income back up. Chasing the lost Adsense income this past year was a big waste of time and has left my site, creativity, and ambition very stagnant.

Today Adsense has hit a new low for me. .37 RPM

Advertisers usually cut back quite a bit when the economy declines.

Do you have data to back that up? My best years were during the Great Recession.

Do you have data to back that up? My best years were during the Great Recession.

No data needed. I learned that in my basic economics class in college as a finance major. Advertising budget is one of the first things to go during a recession. It’s a mistake to cut it, but they do it.

You can't compare the years of the Great Recession with now. Those years where good with ads on the internet but the competition is much more now and not at the side of advertisers. More websites and more advertising networks so less earnings for publishers. I know some big publishers that must be suffering, not because I know their numbers but because the low quality of their ads and some using paywall's. A paywall isn't the solution and in my case the biggest jump in revenue through the last years is from affiliate. Find the best affiliates for your niche and even with a general subject of your website there are solutions like Amazon affiliates. I'm using affiliates of banks, brokers, insurance companies and they pay 25 to 90 euro's each lead/sale. I've to serve about 125K Adsense ad-impressions to earn about 50 euro so do the math.

Gatormark, so you have no data.

@ember, I have 40 years of media experience with advertising budgets up to $100 million+ to back that up.

It's common to all media. You just have to look up quarterly financial reports from public media companies to see what I mean.

All media spending grows worldwide at an annual rate of about 3% per year, mostly in line with inflation. Online spending was growing 30%+ back during the recession. The growth rate simply slowed a bit.

I like to look at trends, rather than short term ups and downs.

It's very seasonal for me, and AdSense is always down at this time of year with the northern hemisphere holidays.

I always go for quality rather than volume of traffic.

Traffic and earnings will bumble along for a few months until it picks up again in the new year, and if it doesn't, that's when i'll start to be concerned.

@ember, I have 40 years of media experience with advertising budgets up to $100 million+ to back that up.

+1

I worked in advertising, and in economic downturns I saw big cutbacks in print media to save money.

Gatormark, so you have no data.

@ember, no I always have stats (below). I was just stating that it is basic knowledge.

[economist.com ]

Maybe that’s why I’m still doing well with Adsense, because I don’t pay attention to “what’s common to all media.”

Skaterpunk, I spent 20 years at two large media companies that owned print, cable, broadcast and online operations. All of those segments got hit during the Great Recession, but online got hit the least because it was small compared to the others.

It also had the benefit of being in a segment with a high growth rate. So anyone who worked in online was lucky more than anything. It's still true today because print, cable and broadcast are all seeing steady declines.

Online is still growing 10% a year, but it's maturing quickly. The coming recession will wipe out more businesses like it did the last time.

Yes, I did well during the last recession. In fact, that’s when I grew my business and have been living off of it ever since. This upcoming recession will be different since online advertising is not in the growth phase it was previously. Companies that always have cash reserves do better during a recession and come out ahead when it is over. There will be carnage over the next couple years for those without savings.

This is such a cheery place these days.

This is such a cheery place these days.

When a main source of revenue dries up…and I believe I speak for all…happiness isn't the feeling we're having.

And for the people thinking, "well you're doing something wrong". Well, I would agree years ago when I was still in the learning process, although over the years I have learned from my mistakes and my site design, layout, writing, and information is now at it's best. Yet, I'm now making the same from Adsense that I was when I started with just a handful of mediocre articles.

When a main source of revenue dries up…and I believe I speak for all…happiness isn't the feeling we're having.

It is definitely nerve-racking. I hope it turns around for you soon. I’m trying to figure out where the bottom lies and I’m hoping it bottoms-out soon. This month I am taking in 40% less than last year with a similar amount of traffic...based on my history, my numbers should be increasing during this time of year but they are not. It definitely has me thinking of Plan B.

Maybe if a main source of revenue is drying up, then come up with a game plan.

Five years ago I thought Adsense was done. Huge revenue fluctuations to the point that I couldn’t sleep at night. So I diversified my income, slashed expenses, sold my big house, got a part-time job completely unrelated to tech, etc. Five years later Adsense is still here - surprise - but I would be okay even if it crashed today thanks to the life changes I made. Doing something feels better than worrying and complaining. The best part is that I now can sleep at night.

Five years ago I thought Adsense was done.

That’s weird. 4-5 years ago Adsense was at its peak. Anyway, you are smart for doing what you did; downsizing, etc. I did the same thing and so I am able to absorb these changes. However, I do not want to go back to “real work” nor tap into my savings so I am fighting to keep this revenue going.

@ember You made the statement "This is such a cheery place these days." I simply responded with a "what do expect…" based on years of reading the monthly AdSense Earnings & Observations.

FYI, I stated at the top of this page that I have a game plan and made a shift from relying on Adsense.

March 2014. Giant bot attack that affected a lot of us here, although I don’t see many of those folks here anymore.