Impressions Doubled and CPM Halved

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   eugbugposted 4 years ago

   Just noticed this in the results for the weekend. Views only increased by less than 10%. (The weekend peaks are smoothed out presumably because normal weekend stuff is being done throughout the week now).

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      greenmindposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Me too. CPM cut by half and (paid) views doubled. Result: I'm making the same, but it looks very strange...

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      OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      My opinion is that the sudden drop in CPM is due to the pandemic.  Companies's earnings are way down so they have smaller advertising budgets.  Additionally, consumers are unemployed or worried about losing their jobs so they aren't spending money. Advertising to people who aren't interested in purchasing is a waste of money.

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         viryaboposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         These are my thoughts too. Who wants to spend or buy at this point in time?

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         Madeleine Claysposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         I agree completely.

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      CYong74posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      The drastic changes look very odd. Could be a bug.

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      davrowpotposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Same here, impressions drastically changed yet the CPM had an inverse effect. It might be something to do with the current situation.

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      CYong74posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, my earnings work out to be around what I've been getting over the last fortnight, albeit slightly more. So, oh well.

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      NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Been noticing an increase in views, not much in earnings. Haven't done any calculating on it but definitely see the discrepancy.

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      charlesnuamahposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, this is strange. I dont know if it's a glitch or Hubpages has come up with a new way of calculating ad earnings. I think it would be helpful to get feedback from staff.

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   8. STAFF

      Matt Wellsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      We are aware of this issue and are working on a fix. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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         Jeremy Gillposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Do we know if it's a glitch or the result of lowered revenue from the pandemic?

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         1. STAFF

            Matt Wellsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            There was a glitch in our reports that caused the impressions count to double in error. The issue is now fixed.

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      NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Finally did a cursory calculation on my stats. Yeah, impressions up quite a bit but CPMs way down. CPMs 4 times less than they were a year ago; something like half of what they were last month.

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         NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Impressions up 3 to 4 times since last month. Doubled since last year though.

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   DrMark1961posted 4 years ago

   I think either there is some kind of bug here or HP has decided to start paying on 100% of impressions and just give half of the CPM.
   My impressions from yesterday were about 88% of page views, but with the low CPM it did not mean any improvement in payment.

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      hclpdposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed. If anything, I'm getting way less.

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   Solarasposted 4 years ago

   Normally we don't see weekend earnings until late Monday or Tuesday, so it is strange for us to be seeing them now anyway.  I think there is a bug in the program.

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   Solarasposted 4 years ago

   I will also note that this is a miserable time to have purchased rights to publish a sports magazine at high interest rates when no sports are happening for the magazine to report on.

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   psycheskinnerposted 4 years ago

   When views go up CPM almost always goes down.  You start maxing out the higher paying adds and so showing the lower-yielding ones

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      wildernessposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Thing is that views did not go up.  Only the impressions did; actual readership remained pretty constant and so did total earnings.  Unless HP has figured out a way around ad blockers, forcing every browser to show our ads, that won't happen - impressions are directly related to page views.
      
      So it really does appear that the 60% figure is suddenly being applied to the earnings received rather than the impressions.  As if we're paid for every impression but at 60% of what was paid by the advertiser.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 4 years ago

   This. ^^^ 
   
   My day job has been hammered the past few weeks by clients canceling their advertising campaigns until further notice, due to the pandemic.
   
   I'm sure the same thing is happening to the advertising sales dept. at HP/Maven HQ.
   
   Earnings are gonna suck for a while, gang. Might as well just accept it.

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   daydreamsposted 4 years ago

   It's frustrating as I have some of my highest ever views and impressions, but I agree it's likely because less companies are advertising.

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   Glimmer Twin Fanposted 4 years ago

   Like some others have said, there aren't many people buying ads right now which means ad space is cheaper and, in turn, people don't get paid as much. 
   
   Just look at YouTube TV.  Often there are blank spaces, with a cute tune playing where ads normally would be.
   
   Sadly I think it will be like this for a little while.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 4 years ago

   People can speculate, but only HP can tell us for sure whether this is a glitch or something else. I hope staff will answer this one.

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      DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I agree that we need HP input here. This looks like a change, and has nothing to do with a change in CPM. (Those that think so need to check the number of impressions for Sunday against the number of page views.) If it is, there is really nothing anyone can say about it since the new Maven TOS say nothing about the 60/40 split. It would be nice to hear that they are changing the way that the earnings are figured from HP though.

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         PaulGoodman67posted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Drastic drop in advertising revenue was expected at the start of this business quarter, so I am kind of relieved that income has held up to some degree, however that's happened.
         
         I have more than one HP account, so I can say with some certainty that effects on the CPM's is very variable, though definitely downward overall, depends very much on topics as you'd expect. Amazon earnings are slightly up for me. The only glint of light in a pretty dismal situation.

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    Marisa Writesposted 4 years ago

    Here in Australia, several newspapers have closed their doors in the last week or so.  They all tell the same story:
    
    People are hungry for news, so their readership hasn't dropped - in fact, some of them have experienced a surge.  However, their advertising revenue has practically disappeared overnight, so they can't afford to print their papers.
    
    It would make sense that the same would apply here.

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       wildernessposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Welcome back, Marisa!  Good to see you.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    Frankly, I don't get it. I can understand why the travel and hospitality industries have put things on hold, but I would think most of the products industries would be advertising their little hearts out; particularly those with retail websites.

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       Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Online retailers are still advertising.  Bricks-and-mortar retailers are not, because their shops are either closed or deserted, and they know advertising won't change that.
       
       Services industries aren't advertising because in many countries, they're not allowed to operate (beauticians, health clubs, massage therapists, dance studios, cafes, restaurants, pubs). 
       
       All public events are cancelled, so no advertising for conferences, retreats, parties etc.
       
       Real estate sales have collapsed - some people don't want to visit properties, some are hesitant to move during such an uncertain time.  So no real estate advertising.
       
       Look around you and I'm sure you can think of plenty other examples.

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    Marisa Writesposted 4 years ago

    It's interesting to research this.
    
    You might think that while some businesses have stopped advertising because no one is going out, other businesses would take their place. But it's not happening.
    
    For instance, women aren't buying party dresses or workwear right now, but retailers are reporting an upsurge in orders for pyjamas and sweats. So why don't retailers just switch their advertising to those products instead?  Easy - they don't have enough stock.  Why advertise if you can't even satisfy existing demand?
    
    The same goes for gadgets, books and homewares. I wanted to buy a piano keyboard but I'm on a waiting list.  The supplier tells me they're inundated with orders for musical instruments.  Why would they need to advertise?  With distribution channels disrupted, they can't get the stock.

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       Solarasposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Howdy Marisa - Nice to see you in these parts again!!

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          Solarasposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Same thing with toilet paper over here.  Residential TP runs at capacity 24x7. So with people home and not pooping at work,  there is a 40% increase in Residential TP demand corresponding with a 40% decrease in  commercial product, which is vile and thin and arrives on pallets in big rolls.  Manufacturers are not able to switch over as they use different resources in manufacturing, and happy TP is from virgin fluffy wood. Sad. We are running low here.

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             wildernessposted 4 years agoin reply to this

             Now that's something I hadn't thought of.  You could very well be right - coupled with hoarding it makes too much sense.

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    Marisa Writesposted 4 years ago

    I wish there was a "like" button on these forums, as there is on most other forums.  I don't want to clog up this thread by saying "howdy" back to everyone who's said hello, but please take it as read!

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       fcmosherposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       As interesting as this thread has certainly become (40% more poop!), can we return to the original question about views and CPM? I'm still seeing twice the views and half the CPM. The outcome is about the same, so for me at least it's not a red-hot crisis. But is there any messaging from HP/Maven that I have missed?

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          theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          No.

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    Kain 360posted 4 years ago

    I am in the same boat. My views on older articles from 2-3 years ago have tripled, but CPM is extremely low. I'm trying to stay positive, but even if I publish new hubs & get a lot of views, the CPM will likely be so low that a lot of it will be in vain.
    
    People are home searching certain topics,but companies have less money to spend on advertising. Or they simply don't want to spend much now.
    
    My height of success (on my original account) was back in 2011-2012. Seems I will never reach those glory days again. I could get published faster back then, views were super high, and CPM was better.

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       OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       CPMs are breathtakingly low but I keep writing because this won't last forever.

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          CYong74posted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Breathtaking ... I had the wind whacked out of me when I saw yesterday's CPM.

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    lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

    Most companies plan quarterly, this is a new quarter and we have the crisis going on. My CPM is at the lowest I ever recall while my traffic has begun to surge as people get to their gardens. I've had a 62% increase in traffic week-on-week as per the HP newsletter while my CPMs have dropped to a third of what they were the end of last month. This is the time they usually climb if I compare year on year.

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       Solarasposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Matt Wells says that there is a glitch causing impressions to count double, and that it has been "fixed." My account does not reflect a fix. If the correction causes impressions to halve and CPM stay the same...I don't know what I will do with that.
       
       Regarding the CPM change being a quarterly update, Why was it normal on April 1st and 2nd? Only on the 3rd did it drop to less that half, for me.

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          lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          My impressions are not wrong, at least they are not wrong now based on my traffic data. It makes sense if it is already fixed.
          
          Good point, I had only noticed the last few days. I checked for the last 40 days now and it was mostly stable throughout March with a 20% drop on April 1st with a 50% drop then on the 4th (compared to March) and the 7th of April is even lower than the 6th definitely making it the lowest I've seen.
          
          Do you see something similar or did it suddenly drop on the 3rd with the 1st and 2nd being similar as in March?
          
          I'm wondering if it could be some sort of lag with companies having paid a certain amount for the first quarter who did not renew or not to the same extent for the second quarter while the carry over from whatever was unspent in the first quarter was spent in the first few days of April.
          
          I recall something like this has happened when I once tried paid advertising to my website on Reddit. I had set up a budget of a small test amount and told them to distribute it over a month. The whole amount was not spent, a few dollars of the 100 I spent were left which they spent on the first days of the following month without trying to spread it out, most was spent on the 1st.

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             Solarasposted 4 years agoin reply to this

             My impressions are still doubled starting on the 4th, and CPM cuts in half on April 4th.
             
             It makes sense that left over budgets would get used up quickly in the next cycle.

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                lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                Okay, I guess we have to wait and watch what happens.

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                Jeremy Gillposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                My impressions seem steady, which is almost more worrisome since that indicates terrible CPM. But I doubt it'll change until the pandemic fades.

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          DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Do you have data yet for Apr. 8 (yesterday)? I think that is when it was fixed.

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             CYong74posted 4 years agoin reply to this

             Has this been fixed? Cos my impressions are still displaying very erratic numbers.
             
             While CPM has further PLUNGED.

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                DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                My impressions for that day are reported normal, so it looks fixed. My CPM is up a little but is not as much as even Apr 1.

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                   CYong74posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                   The drastic differences began on Apr 4 for me. At the moment, my recorded impressions are still way higher than what I was getting up to Apr 3; while my traffic hasn't changed.
                   
                   CPM is, down in the dumps and still there as of yesterday.
                   
                   I'm really hoping this is all a temp glitch.

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                   Solarasposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                   So for yesterday impressions are now half of pageviews and CPM slightly up, but 1/3 of the same day last month. awful.

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                      DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                      My CPMs are down too, about that bad.

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