Impressions, Earnings, CPM Graph

1. 94

   eugbugposted 2 years ago

   
   Just out of interest, I graphed daily figures from 2012 to 2022. I haven't put any numbers on it, but the variation over time of the different parameters is what's more important. This is daily data for the last 10 years, graphed in Excel, based on an exported Hubpages CSV file. I have to figure out how to get the dates/years on the x-axis. The bottom of the y-axis has a value of 0.

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   1. 84

      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I don't understand the graphics, Eugene, but HP is not the same as it once was. I'm discouraged and have no desire to post anything new on this site. It's become cumbersome to read the ads and block our work. I'm done fighting.

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      1. 94

         eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         If ads were presented better and didn't split up text, it would help a lot. I started another post about the possibility of the ad placement code using using different delimiters, so they could be placed other than wherever there's a new line. The ad layout is terrible, whatever about the quantity of them. The video for one thing isn't left aligned with ads and frequently overlaps them when it shifts to the right. Either technically it's extremely difficult to make changes to the site, there aren't the staff resources to make code changes or TAG bureaucracy makes things difficult for Hubpages to alter anything and everything has to go through them. Maybe it's a combination of all three.

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         1. 84

            bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            We've been complaining about these issues for two years now. Nothing has changed. The new Google algorithm will knock even more of our articles out of SEPRS as long as TAG continues to inundate its sites with the intrusive videos and ads. I see HP on its way out the door. Has been for several years now. Wake up and smell the dying roses.

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         2. 83

            Brenda Arledgeposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            I totally agree that these ads should not be breaking up texts.
            
            It's the author's words readers want to see.  Satisfy them first and they might be more willing to look at those ads.

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   2. 100

      DrMark1961posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I would expect the CPM to be going up about 2-5% a year just based on inflation. Is it as low now as it was in 2012?

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      1. 94

         eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         50% now of what it was then, but there's also the effect where CPM is high when impressions are low. So I might have been getting a few impressions back then which were for articles with high value ads. Then if I'm correct about the previous day's CPM in stats being an average for that day, increased impressions may have been for low value ads and that would have pulled down the average. Everyone's stats are different though I presume.

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         1. 100

            DrMark1961posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, stats are different for all of us. My CPMs are better now than back in 2012, although it is difficult to say if it is because of subject matter (and the ads displayed) or some other reason.

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2. 94

   eugbugposted 2 years ago

   I think if they were layed out better and looked neater, without interrupting the flow of text and images, it would help tremendously. The variation in size, aspect ratio and alignment is what irritates me the most.

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   1. 99

      chef-de-jourposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I emailed TAG some weeks ago and told them openly about the facts with regards to views and earnings and ad placement. No reply, as expected - but I felt better for sending it.
      
      Your graphics reinforce everything I said.
      
      
      
      Hi Arena Group,
      
      I'm writing to you because you are the owner and operator of Lifestyle brand HubPages. My query concerns page design and the placement of ads on HP niche sites such as Dengarden, Owlcation and PetHelpFul.
      
      I hope you'll hear me out - basically I'm concerned about ads interrupting text which in my experience leads to viewers leaving the page early, resulting in:
      
      i) decrease in time spent on your pages.
      ii) decrease in potential earnings.
      iii) likelihood of viewer not returning.
      
      My name is Andrew Spacey and I'm based in the UK. For the past 10 years I've been writing online, making most of my money I have to say through HubPages and their excellent niche sites.
      
      Over this time I've built up a large following on Owlcation of mostly school and college students, younger people from around the world studying English literature, fiction and poetry.
      
      In one month in a good year 500,000 - 800,000 visitors choose to read any one of the 460 articles available for research.
      
      I want to maintain this strong bond with my readers but am finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to former loyal and satisfied clients. Viewing figures are down, earnings low, for both myself and HP, owned by TAG.
      
      Why is this? Well, to be frank, decreases have followed a change in page design and specifically placement of ads, ads that interrupt the text. This fact is indisputable.
      
      I recognise that business models must change when a smaller company is taken over by a larger one. It's evolution of a kind. But in my mind, evolution means better chances for survival, for thriving. What I and many other writers on the HP platform are discovering is that viewing figures and earnings all round are lower than ever; survival isn't guaranteed.
      
      Some long-term writers are shutting up shop. I won't, I'll carry on writing fresh material because I enjoy what I do and I'm still attracting 300,000 - 450,000 visits per month.
      
      I'm no tech expert but I am experiencing all time poor figures and the feedback as to why points to ads placements disrupting the reader's experience on page. Readers need clear, uninterrupted text or they become annoyed and leave early. The general consensus is that ads could be placed successfully either side?
      
      Thanks for listening. I feel that some good could come out of a re-evaluation of the ads issue and with it more viewers, readers, earnings?
      
      sincerely

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      1. 94

         eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         I have contacted them previously too, but they just said to take up any issues with Hubpages. I presume they don't want to micromanage things. Unfortunately Hubpages has to conform to using TAG's website template when their own was perfectly good and could have code changes modified easier. Maybe any requests we make for changes or fixes have to be sent to TAG and their engineers then do the necessary repairs. Or is there no Hubpages as such as a separate entity any more? It's hard to tell.

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