Amazon earnings drop???

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years ago

   I am wondering if anybody else has noticed a good sized drop in Amazon earnings this month.  I'm usually at 3 figure per month, but this month it's possible I won't even make payout.  Something doesn't seem right here.  Anybody?

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      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely, I doubt I will either.  So disappointing.

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      theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      All as normal here, TT2. I expect it's that seasonal thing... it'll pick up soon. Have you checked to see what it was doing this time last year?

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         TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Yep...3 figures, as always. Sure hope this changes.  I'm still doing well with Adsense, but if things don't pick up a bit in the next few days, I won't make my HP payout...first time in forever that's happened!  I'm wondering where all this "big money improvement" stuff is that Paul talked about with the buyout.   Certainly not seeing it yet.

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            theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Well, I doubt whether that will make any difference with Amazon. Mine is over three figures, so don't think there's a technical issue.

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               TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

               I disagree. The more views you get the more likely it is that people will buy things...so if the big boys are going to make us more "visible" it stands to reason that the buyout would indeed affect Amazon sales.

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   3. 91

      MelRootsNWritesposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      My sales have actually been improving since November.  I was on a dry spell there for a while.  January was the best month I've had in a long time.
      
      It's made me leery to edit any of my performing hubs for fear of having the Amazon capsules removed.  Now that I understand that there is a preference for links, I'll be doing that instead.  (Thanks for the heads up)

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         Rochelle Frankposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         You are right-- I would let them ride as long as no one complains, but be prepared to change them out if needed.

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      Butterfly67posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi TT2, I didn't see your post when I posted a similar thing a couple of days ago which may or may not be the cause. I have a hub that pretty much gets (got) me Amazon sales every day but from about a week ago I stopped seeing sales. I checked the hub and although the Amazon capsule was there it was not showing up when you viewed the hub. I wondered if it was something to do with the new Google chrome thing where they are stopping some ads. I added it back in as a link rather than a capsule and it is now showing up in my hub so am just waiting to see if that brings the sales back in...

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         lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Interesting. This is something someone should test out. If the capsules are being blocked by the latest Chrome version.

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            EricDockettposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            For a week or so I've noticed my Amazon capsules occasionally don't show up. If I refresh my browser it usually fixes the issue. Sometimes I have to refresh more than once.
            
            It seems odd that Chrome would sometimes block an ad and sometimes not. I'd think it would consistently block if it were going to block at all.
            
            Possibly a bug on HP's end?

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               lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Probably. You should report that to them if it's what you are seeing. I don't have any capsules so I can't test.

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2. 91

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   We are not being made more visible, from the takeover it's mostly higher CPM's so it should have no effect on your Amazon earnings. Is it possible that you have dropped in the rankings for terms that actually convert?

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Don't know.  How do you determine that?  Views are still pretty good, so I have to assume rankings are holding up.  Don't know my CPMs because I use Adsense.  Adsense is less this month but still is doing 3 figures...just not as high as before.

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         lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         HP Ad program CPM's is what the merger is supposed to effect. Since you use Adsense you are probably not going to directly see this affects of this change in any way.
         
         You could determine that by looking at the search terms being used, ideally, you would be keeping track of the terms you think are terms people search for before buying something from Amazon. Since it doesn't seem like you do this, you cannot compare past rankings for those terms with your current rankings. But as others have pointed out, there is no real technical problem and Amazon earnings seem to be the same.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            It's pretty easy to tell by looking at the sales reports.

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         Randy Godwinposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Amazon sales are way down for me as well, as is AdSense earnings. Like you, still have good numbers visitorwise.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            This makes me think that there may well be something going on for some among us because the answers seem to be mixed.  I don't usually have this type of problem and comparing figures from last year, don't see a pattern here.  I usually make really good money on sales, but this month the money has just piddled in a few dollars or cents here and there.  Not much I can do about it but would sure like to know what's going on.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      So how much higher ARE cpms right now, ball park.  They'd have to go up quite a bit to match my Adsense earnings as of the end of last month.

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         lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Mine is 3 times higher than this time last year. But very similar to what it was in December 2017. Just a bit higher than the highest I have ever had from when I joined to before mid-2017. I only say mid as I don't know when the CPMs began to skyrocket last year.

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      2. 94

         Susana Sposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Cpms are around double for me. 
         
         I haven't seen anything odd with Amazon earnings. Unfortunately some months are just slow.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            That's an interesting comment.  On the one hand I'm hearing that the buyout is supposed to be raising CPMS  and on the other I'm hearing things are "slow".
            
            Today I switched back from Adsense just to see what my CPMs are looking like so that I can kind of compare them.  Adsense has been a bit of a disappointment this month...not horrible, but several hundred dollars less than usual.  I'll be interested to see how HP  looks now.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Didn't you say recently that the takeover would positively affect the CPMs?

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         lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Yes and that is also what I said in the message you've replied to?

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   eugbugposted 6 years ago

   My CPMs have dropped back to start of January levels, plus I never really make anything on Amazon. Also the ratio of impressions to views seems to have dropped since last year, maybe because people are using ad blockers more. Anyway on a good note, views are a lot higher than this time last year which somewhat compensates for all the bad stuff, plus lazy readers seem to be starting to getting out and about and doing maintenance which is good news for my hubs!

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   Rochelle Frankposted 6 years ago

   I'm anticipating an Amazon drop.  I have one article that accounts for about 600,000 views -- half of my total. This article recently received an Amazon capsule removal, which probably brought in more than half or more of my total income .
   Well, it was nice while it lasted.

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      Randy Godwinposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Since HP eds started removing Amazon capsules the sales are rather thin. I'd think it's hurting them as well. Doesn't make sense at all!

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         Jean Bakulaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         December earnings were exceptionally high in 2017, so January seemed low by comparison. But I'm about where I usually am.

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         Susana Sposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         See my answer above. The editors prefer Amazon links over capsules so a quick edit with a short explanation about why you recommend the product is usually fine.

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            lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, I do this too. Never had a link removed since. They prefer links to capsules.

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               Sam Montanaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               How do you put links in? I just read your article and see the amazon link. Last I remember, there was some HTML code involved, but now I cannot remember.

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                  theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  You highlight the anchor text, which should be the name of the product. Then click on the link icon on the toolbar. When the box comes up, select the Amazon tab and, with any luck your item will be there. Click it and the link will be added automatically. No HTML necessary.

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                     TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     ..,.and if your product i not there, look it up on amazon and post the link in the regular link box.  End result will be the same.

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                     lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     Yup what you say is right, but you need to use the name of the product then. The other way is to edit the link in HTML, like this:
                     
                     <a rel="nofollow" href="AMAZON:ASIN">Anchor</a>
                     
                     Replace ASIN with the ASIN of the product and Anchor with the text you want to link out with.

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                  3. 78

                     Sam Montanaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks everyone, this sure helped. I have gone through several articles now, and added the Amazon links and taken out the Amazon capsules.

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         2. 91

            MelRootsNWritesposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I did not know this about the preference for Amazon links over capsules.  It explains why almost every hub I've edited lately that's gone through QAP has had the Amazon capsules removed even though they fit the hub.

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      Susana Sposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Replace the capsule with an amazon link and write a sentence or two about why you recommend that product. If it converts then it's meeting your visitors needs and should be in there.

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      DrMark1961posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I would put it back in there and add some info to the capsule so that it is not deleted again. Marisa has an article https://hubpages.com/community/How-to-M … ed-to-Know about how to use the Amazon capsules correctly. TimeTraveller2 also has some good examples on her AxleAddict hubs.
      If you were making sales with it, the capsule should not have been snipped. If it is snipped even after you improve it you should send an email to the HP staff and let them know that one of the new moderators is messing up your article.
      Edit: I just read Susana´s comment. Is making it a link instead of a capsule an option?

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         lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, see my hub on Range Hoods or the watering tomatoes hub.

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         Rochelle Frankposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, everyone. I think I will replace it with a link and comments as suggested.

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   Rochelle Frankposted 6 years ago

   My item wasn't in the Amazon tab-- but I was able to get it by entering the URL from Amazon in the URL box. Thanks again for the help.

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      Sam Montanaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Something I came across with Amazon links. This was for a book, and one word in the title had an 's. On my HP article, I took out the apostrophe and then the Amazon box found the book. I then linked it and put the apostrophe back in.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 6 years ago

   My Amazon earnings have declined dramatically over the last 14 or 15 months. But I've seen nothing unusual in recent weeks, other than the normal seasonal dip post-Christmas.
   
   I've actually been wondering about getting rid of the Amazon ads altogether on some hubs, and switching the Hub ads back on.
   
   Amazon earnings have slumped a few times for me over the years and each time I've recovered well, but I'm less confident of a recovery this time around. The only silver lining is the improved earnings from hub ads.

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   eugbugposted 6 years ago

   Is there anything at all we can do ourselves to improve dismal CPMs? Maybe somehow change the demographics of readers?

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Write about topics that lend themselves to selling popular or necessary products that people can't normally buy in a store.

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         Rochelle Frankposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         I live in a rural area and buy a lot of stuff online. Some of us are shopping deprived. We have tourist trinkets, one grocery store, two hardware stores, two gun shops, a feed store,  auto parts store and RiteAid. For anything else it is at least 100 miles round trip.  I Love Amazon.

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            lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Two gun shops? Wow. The American dream I presume.

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               DrMark1961posted 6 years agoin reply to this

               I think we have her beat. My village has none of those stores but does have 4 bars that serve beer. The Brazilian dream!

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                  lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  

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               Rochelle Frankposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               We are surrounded by forests and ranches, so we do have hunters . . . and predators like mountain lions, bobcats, bears, coyotes,etc.

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                  lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  Ah I see. Thanks for the clarification.

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   Sustainable Sueposted 6 years ago

   Usually I use links these days, if I put any product in my hub, but recently I inserted a capsule instead. This was because I needed the photograph to show readers what I was talking about. The editors let it go through.

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      Rochelle Frankposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I think the photo is useful.  Several of mine have gone through, but I guess we have to be discreet about this.

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