Why have the CPM values halved over the last week?

1. 53

   janderson99posted 11 years ago

   The CPM values have dropped to less than half, this week compared with last week and are about 60% in January compared with December. In the past, low CPM values occured for a day of so, usually on the weekend. But this sustained drop has not occurred previously.
   
   Has HP lost contracts, or has there been a change in policy for when the impressions are shared, or so other reason for the decline? This decline obviously affects earnings, and has been noted by many people on the forum. Will the CPM values improve, and when?

   replyreport
   1. 89

      wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I believe that most HP contracts are for a month or less, so yes there have been contracts lost since before Xmas.
      
      Last year, CPM's fell after Xmas but I did not find CPM's recovering until well into summer and not back fully until the next Xmas season.
      
      Not sure what you mean by "when the impressions are shared" - they are shared every day, all day. 
      
      You would better off asking advertisers when will they decide to pay more than asking either HP or hubbers.  Neither can answer that question, except in the most general way based on history.  History that is re-made each year.

      replyreport
   2. 81

      Marina Lazarevicposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Until earnings are certified (uncertified earnings have an asterisk next to them), they may be adjusted to correct problems that can arise from ad network reporting problems, or other technical issues. Apart from 1.22 and 1.23 (which are not yet certified), this week's CPMs are not far off from last week's. There haven't been any changes to the impressions sharing policy.
      
      As for December vs. January, December is one of the most, if not the most, profitable months of the year in terms of advertising spend. January tends to be the opposite. Much of this has to do with the holiday shopping season. Apart from that, CPMs can fluctuate on their own.  A major campaign can drive up CPMs during its two week duration, after which the average has nowhere else to go but down.

      replyreport
      1. 53

         janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         @ Marina
         Thanks for your response, but there has been a worrying overall declining trend for CPM during January. Any explanation?
         
         

         replyreport
         1. 81

            Marina Lazarevicposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            It's normal for CPMs to decline in January. Advertising budgets are *usually* planned in January, so spend on advertising campaigns tends to be more conservative. If advertisers are spending less on campaigns, CPMs decline. The opposite is true of December. In December advertising spend is through the roof for two main reasons:
            -it's the end of the year and advertisers can dump the remainder of their budgets into campaigns.
            -advertisers spend a lot of money the week(s) leading up to major holidays, so the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas tends to be the most profitable time of year. If advertisers are spending more money on campaigns, CPMs are driven up.
            
            The budget explanation is not true for all companies of course, but it is for many major brands. Some companies make budget allocations on a monthly or quarterly basis, which is why you may also notice CPMs dropping at the beginning of every month and quarter.
            
            I know it's disconcerting to see CPMs drifting downwards, but rest assured that many web publishers are seeing the same trend we are. We hope to see CPMs picking back up by mid-February.

            replyreport
            1. 53

               janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for the explanation
               Cheers,

               replyreport
2. 85

   Len Cannonposted 11 years ago

   Well, I'm just going to go ahead and turn mine off for the next 24 hours to see how it works out.

   replyreport
3. 77

   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   I think the current decline is beyond seasonal fluctuation.

   replyreport
   1. 81

      Sally's Troveposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I checked out my CPM stats from January, 2012. They aren't too much higher (although somewhat higher) from January 2013. I didn't do a math check on averages, just a scan...similar low figures for the month.

      replyreport
      1. 77

         psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         This week my CPM was $3.34.
         The same time last year it was $5.94

         replyreport
         1. 81

            Sally's Troveposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            How do they compare over the month, not just a week?

            replyreport
            1. 77

               psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               $4.13 to $6.37
               
               Still a $2+ difference, and declining.

               replyreport
      2. 53

         janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         The graph below shows CPM for my traffic data for Jan 2012, Feb 2012 and Jan 2013 (so far) Two points:
         => traffic in Jan and Feb 2012 was similar
         => traffic so far in Jan 2013 is down from previous year and trending to lower levels than last year.
         
         

         replyreport
4. 81

   SimeyCposted 11 years ago

   Wow - I'm hoping today is a blip - it's the lowest CPM I've seen since the program opened - barely worth writing if that's all I'm going to earn! I'd probably make more on Mturk!!!

   replyreport
5. 94

   PaulGoodman67posted 11 years ago

   There is a general decline I think across the web for certain sorts of ad.
   
   Google Adsense, which I have on a number of sites, not just HP, has declined considerably over the past year.  My earnings are less than half what they were and I have more traffic than I did.
   
   I guess I'm concerned that the drop in CPMs is part of a wider trend that is outside of HP's control.  I know that Google see part of the problem being that more and more people are accessing the internet with cell phones and smaller devices and they just don't click on ads like they used to, so the advertisers are losing interest...

   replyreport
6. 81

   Sally's Troveposted 11 years ago

   January 2012: 4.18
   January 2013: 4.45
   
   Turns out 2013, so far, is delivering a higher CPM, although not much higher, to my surprise.

   replyreport
   1. 77

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Something interesting just happened today:  I wrote a hub about how dealers value gold, and today, my cpms doubled!  Apparently the secret is to write about something that really draws the advertisers?  Who knew...or is this just a fluke?

      replyreport
      1. 89

         wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Then you must be the gold mine; mine nearly doubled as well.
         
         Please write more about gold....

         replyreport
      2. 82

         eddiecarraraposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         TIMETRAVELER2, the key words you use are very important for the advertising cost, when you do you keyword research on the Google keyword tool, check out the CPC (cost per click advertisers pay) if you look at "gold scrap" it's $5.49 but if you look at "price of gold" it  $2.01 . You get paid on a percentage of the CPC for your keywords, so pick good keywords Want to see something crazy? Look at the CPC for lemon law California attorney hope this helps.

         replyreport