Traffic down 80%, AI and websites infringing at the top of Google Search. Is this the end of free content?

Another pullback from AdSense yesterday. The week had been going very well, and then Google said, "No, we don't like you. Let's pull things back again." This has been going on for the past two years.

Ah, I remember when October brought a higher RPM thanks to the beginning of Christmas advertising. No longer.

@ember

Isn’t it sad? What makes it worse for my niche, is that RPM started to increase in September because of School being in session. September through May were the money months for me. Now, those months are worse than what it used to be in the summer.

RPM still dropping

The worst day in 17 years. Next Monday I'll start using alternatives. It's impossible to have this drop without a significant drop in traffic. Google has definitely gone crazy if it despises publishers like this. Down 60% since April, the day Trump announced the customs duties, and has been progressively decreasing.

Same for me, worst day since 2012. Rpm stand at $1.3, with no organic search traffic. Sad but true. Time to move to other income streams. The internet is history

This year has been just so bad in my 5 years so far. 2 years back, I was all dependent on AdSense. Today, it feels like I should just remove all ads from my site.

I am down 60% from October of last year. This is the first time in 20 years that my revenue has decreased in October and is lower than the summer months. The first time in HISTORY!

I've been seeing the October decline for over 10 years now. The Christmas season use to be great on Adsense. Nowadays, not so much.

Things typically dont get better for me until April-May : /

Is anyone else operating a US-based site seen a MAJOR decline in CPC and Page RPM since the government shutdown started? Our travel site has been taking it on the chin in the past week. Our page RPM had been about $50, but has plunged to $37, while CPC has collapsed from 55¢ to 34¢. Our page views are down about 5%, but that's partly seasonal, as this is a travel site; clicks are up 12% and Page CTR is up 19%. It's a weird mix.

Yes, I operate out of the United States. Atlanta, Georgia to be specific. I didn’t connect the government shut down to what I’ve been experiencing the last week, but it makes sense. As usual, things were starting to look up, but then everything has taken a nose dive the past week.

This morning my page RPM is 10 cents. Yes, a whole dime, made of inert base metal. Worth just about nothing. And that's what the almighty Google thinks 1000 page views are worth.

The oddest thing is that page views are up massively from what they had been reporting the past 12 months. So, my question is "why am I suddenly getting double and triple the page views I was just a month ago?"

I think Google's figures are about as accurate as some of the government numbers put out there, like employment or GDP.

I have been calling the last five years the "Age of Delusion" for about three years now. What's my award? A dime.

Good thing I have savings and am pretty good at picking horses :-}

Hello, Gatormark and DTP Rodan and everyone else. I don't think Google or Adsense has anything whatsoever to do with the government shutdown, though my tin-foil hat inner ear has been tingling lately. Keep an eye on the price of silver. It recently broke through the $50 barrier that's been in place since 1980.

The PTB, for whatever reasons, absolutely hate silver as a monetary metal. If it continues to trade above $50, beware. The "great reset" may kick into a higher gear. In case you're interested in why silver (which, BTW, used to be actual MONEY as recently as 1964 in the US), look into the Coinage Act of 1873, otherwise known as "the Crime of '73." The BRICS are heading toward gold-backed currency and silver is related. I call it the stake in the heart of central banks. We shall see. The government shutdown, which was planned by both parties well in advance IMO, tariffs, etc., are all interconnected. Dark ages, anybody?

I inherited a lot of sterling silver flatware. Maybe it's time to sell!

what in the name of God is going on?
1.23 rpm? i used to have like 8? 10? i dont remember

question; more ad clicks and higher ctr brings better rpm? does anybody know? (besides countries- keywords )

[ibb.co...]
[ibb.co...]

The bean counters at g are clearly on the job. Squeezing pennies.

Meanwhile, the US govt shutdown will have IMMENSE effects. ALWAYS keep an eye on the REAL WORLD as that's where the market exists, g as the middleman or not.

As for TRAFFIC, have you checked for authentic? The bot numbers (with human UA's) are off the charts!

more ad clicks and higher ctr brings better rpm?

In my experience, the more clicks, the lower the epc because Google thinks the clicks must be fishy and so lowers the cost to advertisers. And fewer clicks usually means higher epc because Google assumes intent. Overall, the RPM stays about the same. And speaking of RPM, mine used to be half way between 0 and 100. Now single digits some days.

How many ads per page you have? Recently I see that many people who have many ads per page, have lower efficiency with adsense. you dont need more than 2,3 ads per page (on mobile). Anything more destroys rpm.

Your impressions also declined significantly. I think it’s a mix of less traffic and bad ads.

Alex

RPM down in October, was down in September, $3-4 RPM

[ibb.co...]

plz tell me what ad settings should i make?

i removed some things like side rail ads
allowed anchor ads- bottom side only
removed multiplex ads
i have vignette ads every 2 minutes
Minimum distance between ads? how much?
i have recommended display ads- auto ads- Let Google optimize the size of your mobile ads- auto optimize on-

@ninagreece, I have two manual ads per page, vignette set to one minute, anchor ad on the bottom, 40% display auto ads. No side rails, no top anchor, no multiplex, no intent whatever they are. I feel I have too many ads, but if I turn off auto ads, revenue tanks. These days I don't think settings really matter all that much. Adsense just doesn't have enough quality advertisers.

Worst month in years. Not able to earn even hosting charges. 1000$ per month to 100$. Going at this rate, it makes no sense to have adsense on site.

My main competitor, who was an industry leader from 13 years ago, was making $500k+ a year in Adsense revenue. Over 1/2 million. Now, they are making $70k a year. Crazy!

@capulkit
I pay $5 for hosting for OVH VPS with CloudPanel so it's cheap....
I earn $300 from AdSense...

RPM may as well be $0.00. I'm very close to that.Seems to me I am just letting them use all my space for free advertising now. Google should be ashamed of themselves.

Seems to me I am just letting them use all my space for free advertising now.

There's simply too many players and not enough payers.

While it is nickle and dime on our end, on theirs it is still million$---simply because there are MILLIONS of places to display.

Infolinks and Decide have higher RPM than AdSense!