Traffic Up, Earnings Down - One New Possible Cause Identified

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   janderson99posted 10 years ago

   If your traffic is up, but your earnings are down, the new so called 'Related Search' (RSS style) Google  link ads that appear to the right, and at the bottom of all hubs may be a potential cause. These new ads were introduced about 6 weeks ago. Revenue from these ads is NOT shared with authors. They compete with other ads on the page, for which the revenue IS shared. See http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/111781. Why is HP unwilling to share the revenue from these ads?

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      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      A bigger reason is probably the falling revenues from ads, outlined in the HP blog.  Google has changed the rules and payments for those, and it will absolutely affect our earnings.

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         janderson99posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Fine, but why can't HP share the revenue from these ads, like the other ads on our creative writing articles. We all face this downturn together on HP, surely, and we should benefit from the solutions.

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            wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Oh, I'm not arguing with you - I rather think the same.  If HP is going to put those ads on our hub we should share in the revenue.
            
            Not sure how the system works, though.  I followed one of those links and found a set of other links and one ad.  Unless the links are paying per click, the one ad isn't going to generate enough income for a hubber to worry about.  HP maybe with the traffic to the entire site, but the very few readers that would follow the link to the screen with the other links and then click the ad isn't worth fussing about.

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               janderson99posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Look at the URL for the "set of other links"
               http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/aclk?sa=L blah blah blah
               They are ALL Google ads!!! just like the other adsense ads on the articles.

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                  wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I didn't look at the URL, but suspected they were adsense links.  Not surprised, although I would be surprised if they brought in much income.  At least the stuff I write isn't likely to bring readers looking for a retail site, which is what all the ones I found were.  I already provide links to buy the stuff - readers have no need to go anywhere else.

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                     janderson99posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     If the ads did not work they would have been removed after 8 weeks. The ones on the right side go up and down 'in the lift', as you scroll the page - must be very effective - as it catches your attention. I think they work. They are a good idea (if they were more related and were clearly identified as ads and so were less deceptive = 'Related Ads'), but income should be shared!

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                        wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        No, the ads on the right do not scroll.  Only the HP supplied links to the ad page do that.  After clicking the link, one must still click yet another link before anything is earned (I think).
                        
                        And they may work with millions of views per day; for me I might earn 2 cents per year.  Don't know.

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               janderson99posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Writers are doing their part by doubling the amount of time they spend researching topics and writing bigger Stella Hubs. They are also spending more time finding more competitive topics with higher CPM. This is part of the solution.

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      galleryofgraceposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's my understanding that they are  credited on the page they go to.

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      LuisEGonzalezposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      janderson99: The link does not work. It says that it was removed.

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         SimeyCposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Remove the 'dot' from the end...

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         janderson99posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/111781

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            Will Apseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Given that a thread already exists, what is this one doing here? Are the people who contributed to the original expected to repeat themselves?

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      janderson99posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry the Link is
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/111781

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   WriteAngledposted 10 years ago

   And when site visitors leave in droves never to return because they are disgusted by having so many ads rammed down their throats under false pretences ("related" search), income will fall even more.

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3. 76

   carol7777posted 10 years ago

   My earnings never go up so I am not sure about that part. However there was a 20 percent drop this week...One never knows why these things keep changing and happening..However I know it is discouraging.

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   Dale Hydeposted 10 years ago

   My views are okay, however my revenue has fallen and never recovered for the past two or three months.  I simply don't have the time to try and figure it out any more.  Way too many changes on this site to even begin to stay on top of things.
   
   HP certainly would be the winner in regards to what the OP has shared.  Their earnings will have increased and our's will decrease with them getting 100 percent of that specified ad revenue.

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      Will Apseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I doubt if their income will have increased with a shift to related searches. It looks like a rather desperate move brought on by a poor ad market (the part we rely on, anyway).
      
      This is in no way justifies keeping all the income from related searches, of course.
      
      Just as an aside, it might be worth someone talking up Amazon and eBay monetized pages.

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   Beth37posted 10 years ago

   My views are low and my earnings are lower... if you find something to blame this on besides the author, I would greatly appreciate it.

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   ytsenohposted 10 years ago

   This is discouraging to me.  The only other ad outside of related searches is generally something unrelated to the article...previously a writing school and then a zazzle ad...heavy sigh...

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