decline in traffic and earnings

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   jimmarposted 7 years ago

   I've been a HP member for five years now and have seen steady, but modestly increasing traffic and earnings until recently. My earnings are now close to what I was seeing three or four years ago. I thought maybe it was a just a blip that I could wait out, but it has continued for months, probably since about September last year.
   
   Maybe my content has reached it's saturation level and I that's why I'm not attracting new readers, but it seems that the earnings drop has outpaced the drop in views.
   
   My earnings level is not too significant, but seeing increasing earnings and views does contribute to my enthusiasm. I will continue to write because I enjoy it, but I am dissappointed.
   
   Is the decline due to my content or some changes in HP or Google? (this is probably a rhetorical question, I don't think anyone can provide a real answer)

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      Wesman Todd Shawposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      The traffic sucks because they did away with the sub-domains.  That part of it should recover.  Your earnings, and mine, currently suck because of economic fears.  None of this has jack to do with your content, it has to do with economic realities.  People aren't investing much in advertising just now, and that is just economics.

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         gmwilliamsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Me too.  My earnings haven't been THIS LOW EVER!   Yes, the economic crunch is a contributor but c'mon folks, this is RIDICULOUS.........Readers, show some hub appreciation......really, SHOW IT!

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      gmwilliamsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      It's good that YOU brought the discussion up!!!

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   NateB11posted 7 years ago

   It was September 2014 that everyone lost--the whole site--significant traffic. Google had an algo update and HP acquired Squidoo at that time. At any rate, I think the algo update affected traffic. I recovered somewhat but still not where I used to be; much of my work sunk in the Search Results. Then late last year HP ended the subdomains and I think something else happened with the search engine; traffic dropped again. Noticeably I had a surge during the usual Holiday/post-holiday surge, but earnings lowered afterward. Not entirely disappointed but I'm definitely not where I used to be in terms of traffic and earnings. And I agree with Wesman too; advertisers don't pay as much at the moment.

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      gmwilliamsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      November & December earnings took a NOSEDIVE......Want my earnings to be what it ONCE WAS.........C'mon readers ........SHOW SOME LOVE NOW!!!!

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      Barbara Kayposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Mine sunk September 2014 and has never gotten back to its previous numbers.

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         sallybeaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Traffic good but CPM is the lowest ever so decent traffic does not always equal decent earnings.

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            alexadryposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Same here, traffic is usual, but the CPM is very low, here and on my other sites.

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            kalinin1158posted 7 years agoin reply to this

            I noticed the same trend with my hubs. Why is the CPM so low at the moment?

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               Jason Marovichposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               Gurus are saying CPM will recover by mid- to late-February.

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                  gmwilliamsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  God, I HOPE SO!
                  
                  I simply can't endure this any longer.........

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                  jansharesposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  Good! I hope they're right.

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            jimmarposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            how can I tell what my CPM is?

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            1. 89

               NateB11posted 7 years agoin reply to this

               go to: My Earnings; then under Choose Report Type and Date Range, click box that says, All Programs; on drop down menu choose Ad Program, then hit submit button. Scroll down and you will see a column for CPM.

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   gmwilliamsposted 7 years ago

   Yes, indeed.  My traffic is the same but CPM and earnings took a......PLUNGE....

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      Sharlee01posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Earnings have not been updated in days ....  Very little Google traffic

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   LuisEGonzalezposted 7 years ago

   MY traffic rose since the subdomain's change but earnings have stayed about the same.

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   Chriswillman90posted 7 years ago

   CPM has dived to all time lows since I've been here. This month should've been my highest earning month but thanks to the CPM it's going to fall well short. I wonder why it's been so low and is it going to recover anytime soon. I feel like it's because January is a slow month, ad wise, overall.

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      gmwilliamsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Many have been experiencing a DECREASE in CPM and earnings.  NOT ONLY YOU!

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         Chriswillman90posted 7 years agoin reply to this

         I know it's not only me. I feel much worse for the super talented writers that have been hit by this because they deserve better.

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6. 0

   Farawaytreeposted 7 years ago

   I'm a newbie, but honestly last month's traffic and earnings were double the amount from this month so far. I'm getting a bit frustrated myself. I tell myself to just keep my head down and keep on writing!

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   Adam Harkusposted 7 years ago

   I did an experiment and decided not to promote my hubs at all this week. Obviously the traffic dropped right off, but encouragingly organic traffic has steadily been on the rise since I started back in August.

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8. 0

   calculus-geometryposted 7 years ago

   well, someone's traffic must by up.  A hub of mine that normally doesn't get more than 20 or 30 views a  day is suddenly showing 500, and the referrer is hubpages for most of that traffic, so i guess it's getting some residual traffic as a 'related hub' on another hub's sidebar.  i wish there was a way to see whose coattails i'm riding on.

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   Judy Filareckiposted 7 years ago

   My traffic is skyrocketing but my CPM's are going so low, pretty soon I'll have to pay HP instead of the other way around.

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