Huge drop in HP revenue

1. 77

   TeriSilverposted 2 years ago

   Wondering what's happening here, I've noticed it for a few months, now. December will be my worst month in years.  Any insight? I was making well over $100 a month for some time but it's been a steady decline.  I'll be lucky if I get half of that this month.  HP, can you help?

   replyreport
   1. 68

      eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Sites have been hit hard by Google algorithm updates that have reduced traffic, especially one in June 2021, September 2022 and November. CPC has also fallen a lot. So we're all in the same boat. There doesn't seem to be any letup and Google won't give the sites a break. Excessive advertising and slow page load time because of ads we speculate are the cause. Something we haven't discussed on the forums is whether the sites have penalties imposed by Google.

      replyreport
2. 69

   PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

   Another Google update hit us in December. It wiped another 20% off my traffic and took my earnings down to record lows.
   
   As far as I can see, HP's response is to edit articles and change the page that readers encounter. It feels like they're playing catch-up, though.
   
   It's been going on for 18 months and things have been getting worse and worse.

   replyreport
3. 77

   TeriSilverposted 2 years ago

   Thanks for the info.  I do think ads are a problem, because they break up written content to the point where it's distracting to the reader.  I don't mind the ads -- they're revenue, and part of the plan -- but they way they're presented does more harm than good.  People get tired of having to search for the info on the page they're reading.

   replyreport
   1. 68

      eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      The break up of text thing is a technical problem that's "complicated" to resolve according to Hubpages. This suggests that the mechanism that controls autoplacement of ads can't easily be adjusted so that they are limited to being placed between text modules. As far as I can make out, ads just "look" for any place there's a new line and place themselves there, spacing themselves at regular intervals, every so many lines.

      replyreport
   2. 69

      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I think that ads are always a balancing act. HP's goal is really always to maximize income.
      
      It's certainly true that the majority of forum commentators believe that the ads are the root cause of HP's SEO problems.
      
      However, I suspect that HP have so far calculated that they'd lose more than they gained by ditching lots of ads and are looking to improve page loading times through other means.

      replyreport
      1. 68

         eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         They did hint at that in another post about suggested articles being removed.

         replyreport
         1. 69

            PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            So far, they've got rid of the intro vid, the author bio, and the suggestion links.
            
            At this rate, we'll eventually end up with just text and adverts!

            replyreport
            1. 68

               eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               They use Say Media for hosting, which is an Arena Group Company. I wonder how it compares speedwise to other webhosts? I wish all of an article could be loaded first, including photos, instead of waiting till ads load. That would remove some of the white spaces, but maybe it's not technically possible to do it.

               replyreport
4. 93

   Ekcedeonposted 2 years ago

   Ads are not the problem, I see sites loaded with ads (exist only to make money) and yet they are doing exceptionally well; even featuring for high volume "featured snippets."

   replyreport
   1. 68

      eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe, but pages load much faster when ads are disabled. Also ads load before writer's images which generates long white white spaces if multiple images and ads coincide. Maybe other sites use faster servers. Loading is slow on some mobile devices. I'm not sure if this because bidding is slow or it's the type of ad or whatever. Also loading might be faster on 64 bit mobile devices.

      replyreport
5. 93

   Ekcedeonposted 2 years ago

   Also, what we need to remember is that topical relevance plays a big role in a website's ranking these days, this being the case, it is hard to maintain high ranking in the SERP writing on hp niche sites where authors writes about many things (even though they may be some relevance, it isn't enough in Google's eyes).

   replyreport
6. 93

   Ekcedeonposted 2 years ago

   My best advice is to start your own website in addition to writing here on hp and you surprise yourself if you know what you are doing. If you are an established writer on hp and Google knows you, then even better yet. Your personal blog can rank even faster thanks to E.E.A.T

   replyreport
   1. 68

      eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I have tried that and the DIY articles on my blog got virtually no traffic. I guess it takes time for backlinks to be established and ranking to be boosted. Google now says that backlinks aren't as big a ranking factor as they used to be.

      replyreport
      1. 69

         PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

         I think that for a big site with people who know what they're doing (not me), the entire site architecture can be geared toward both internal and external links. They can also do other stuff, too, such as influencing what the Google spiders do and don't see.
         
         HP has always generated more traffic for me than my own attempts, even if the site's nowhere near as effective now as when I first joined. It seems weird to think that there was a time when you could just publish a fairly mediocre article and it would be in the Google top ten a week later.

         replyreport
7. 93

   Ekcedeonposted 2 years ago

   *will*

   replyreport
8. 93

   Ekcedeonposted 2 years ago

   I agree with the slow server and many ads. The more reasons to have our own websites because at least we can control the seed of our sites using tools to optimize for seed.

   replyreport
9. 93

   Ekcedeonposted 2 years ago

   And as I said, if you're a half decent writer with good research skills you can start your own blog and rank fast. Topic cluster with less competitive keywords is key to do this at the start. Once your blog gains authority you can target more competitive  keywords

   replyreport
10. 77

    TeriSilverposted 2 years ago

    I used to have my own website.  Not sure why it's not active now (I had a guy running it) but it still was a serious hassle.  Same issue for me with trying to get my book published. I want to write, not, not do the back end.

    replyreport
11. 69

    PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

    For most of my time at HP, it's been fun to sign in and see my earnings each day. Nowadays, my heart drops when I see the low figures.
    
    People tend to complain on here about the Arena Group, but without outside support, the site would be in real trouble. Look what happened to Squidoo.
    
    I'm still hoping that HP can recover, but when that's going to happen is anyone's guess. I never thought that things would get this bad when we first got hit by Google two summers ago.
    
    My feeling now is that it's going to take major changes to turn things around, not just a little tinkering. I guess we'll see.

    replyreport
    1. 82

       Solarasposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       I am curious why you think TAG is supporting HP.  From my perspective they are leeching HP to support their "Premium Properties," as they get them more profitable.
       
       When I look at Sports Illustrated, they insert ads every 17-25 lines, while on Pethelpful we get ads every 7-15 lines.
       
       That tells me they know how many ads are too many, and they don't mind killing this site to get the short term earnings that will bolster The Street, Sports Illustrated and a few other select properties.
       
       Sure, the staff here wants HP to succeed and keep their jobs, but everything TAG is doing is for short term earnings here at the expense of the future of HP.
       
       And they take from 30 ads in one article they take the earnings from  29.4 impressions and we get .6 of the impressions on a full read.

       replyreport
    2. 82

       Solarasposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Oh - and if anyone is going without payment when there is a cash crunch - that would be the HP writers.  Banks and institutions expect their money on time or there will be hell to pay.  HP writers can go to...until the money is available for them.

       replyreport
       1. 69

          PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

          As far as I'm aware, HP does not make a profit. Like the vast majority of tech and media companies, including many big names, they're reliant on investment.
          
          Both the Maven and Arena deals were primarily about securing investment. Without investment, HP would have gone the same way as Squidoo.
          
          That's what I meant by "support."
          
          It goes without saying that securing investment in the current situation would be extremely challenging if done alone.

          replyreport
          1. 82

             Solarasposted 2 years agoin reply to this

             From the writers' perspective, HP properties are headed the way of Squidoo, if income is how we ultimately measure our success.
             
             So, who put us in that position?  Who has abandoned every lesson ever learned about SEO: writing quality content, minimizing spammy aspects such as a profusion of ads, some of which obliterate the screen, unrelated videos (now removed), "News" which is not news.
             
             Ross Levinson states in recent shareholder meetings that pageviews and revenue on HP have doubled.  Who is seeing that on their niche sites?
             
             Speaking hypothetically, if your pageviews are the same or down, how can revenues be doubled?  Well if you change the revenue sharing rate, you can double your share of the revenue by giving your writing partners a fraction of what you paid them a year + ago.
             
             I suspect that the go-forward solution will be to pay staff and one or two authors a small sum to write content, with no meaningful revenue sharing to go forward.  See Pet News, Behavior, the failed Product Reviews, etc... 
             
             Those of us who like to write for the pleasure of it can continue to contribute articles and add bulk to the current and new niche sites (for free). Those who need or expect to be paid a trailing commission will get less and less for their works.
             
             Google hates a revenue sharing site or content farm.  The logical step would be to convert the site from a content farm to a site with a small number of qualified contributors, and then all revenues belong to the parent company going forward; content creation is then a tiny percentage of the expenses.
             
             Sorry to be so glum.

             replyreport
12. 81

    MariaMontgomeryposted 2 years ago

    My earnings took a nosedive the last 2-3 months. I thought during the holidays they would improve. December was my worst month in years.

    replyreport
    1. 82

       Solarasposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Which niche sites are you mainly writing on?

       replyreport
    2. 85

       jansharesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Same here, Maria. Awful.

       replyreport
13. 86

    Jodahposted 2 years ago

    Yes, despite a lot of red arrows in the last few days, my December earnings are also the lowest in months. Only about half of what I got in November in fact.

    replyreport
14. 69

    PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

    This last Google algo update hit was perhaps the most brutal of all of them.

    replyreport