HP Ad Program Issues

1. 73

   KeithTaxposted 13 years ago

   The new HP ad program may reduce Google and Amazon income more than new money gained. My CTR at Google has been terrible since I implemented the program. Traffic is increasing after the Google BS dance, but CTR remained low... very low. eCPM also was lower than normal on the clicks received. I turned the program off this afternoon and within a few hours my CTR returned to normal with a higher eCPM.
   
   I plan on continuing the testing, but I am concerned the new program may cannibalize more than it provides. Anyone else with an opinion? It is too early to determine a lot, but...

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   1. 59

      Mark Knowlesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Pretty sure this is niche specific. Those people who write on mass market, large volume subjects seem to be doing well, but - this is just my opinion based on a few days - those (me included) who tend to write in more narrow financial type arenas are likely to see a loss.
      
      My eCPM from adsense is running at about 35% of previous levels and the income from the HP program is running at around that same level - so a roughly 30% drop in value per 1,000 impressions so far. Coupled with a 40% drop in traffic and around a 75% loss of income from Amazon and Ebay (hard to be certain yet).
      
      But - I will start wring about celebrity break ups and footballers' wives immediately.
      
      Kidding aside - I am sure it will take more than a few weeks to settle out and we have seen a big drop in US based traffic.
      
      Hubpages is implementing some changes at the moment - what effect they will have and how long it will take for the changes to make a difference remains to be seen. I certainly hope they recover their previous authority and I know they are working hard to do so.
      
      It is just too soon to tell right now. As darkside mentioned - there is a lot more going on than just a new ad program. If that was all that was going on - I would probably switch it off, but who knows where the roller coaster will end?

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         ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Indeed, we just don't know.
         
         I suspect that we will see a recovery of some sort, but I think a full recovery is optimistic.
         
         I would take a partial recovery though right now, as I'm sure most would!

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            Mark Knowlesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Well - you better start working on it then. I know I am.

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2. 0

   ryankettposted 13 years ago

   For me the Hubpages Ad Program is currently beneficial, far exceeding AdSense losses. But, obviously it is early days

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3. 71

   Cagsilposted 13 years ago

   I don't know if this is going to help, because I am not as well versed as others...however, I think something Darkside said in another forum thread might apply.
   
   Google is eCPM and the new HP program is CPM. Now, I don't know the difference between those two, but Darkside made a point to point it out to someone else. I'm pretty sure there was a reason, not that I know it.
   
   If anyone cares to explain the difference, then by all means do. So, I am not sure if I helped or not. I guess I'll find out.

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4. 95

   wildernessposted 13 years ago

   My early impressions (impressions, not hard data!) are that adsense has been hurt with the ad program, but that the total income is up considerably.
   
   My adsense was already far down from early February, but with the ad program total income is now about what it was then.  And that is with still pathetic traffic figures.

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   1. 62

      Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      My February is lower than it's been in ages (but I have some Hubs that keep getting stolen, then I'll go through the whole thing about reporting it, and then I'll see earnings go up on them again.  That's something I've had going on for ages now, and I've seen reason to think a whole lot more "duplicate" (stolen) stuff is out there that I haven't even looked into.  Anyway, February was really low, but then, in the last week or so things look like they settled a little higher (but nowhere near as high as they used to be).
      
      Ad program-wise, it looks to me as if I may come out ahead; even if Ad Sense stays on this low side (but that's only as of today).  I haven't been "studying" traffic (I never do), but in the last couple of weeks I've had a few days with little but blue arrows.  Then there'd be a day with a few more reds.  Today, I think, I've had the most red arrows I've seen in a long time.  What I've seen, though, is that Hubs that once didn't get much traffic seem to now be getting at least a little more; and those that did better aren't necessarily doing as well.  (A shifting of what's getting traffic.)
      
      I'm hoping some of the Ad Sense stuff comes back just a little more (or else that I can improve it myself), and either of those happens (and if the new program remains somewhat similar to what it's been), I'll be REALLY happy.   As it is this few days into the new program, and less than halfway through March, it does look to me as if I'm likely to come out better off than before.

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5. 85

   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

   Did you read relache's hub about her analysis so far? There is a blog entry and also one of her hubs.
   
   The HP ads have done much better than adsense for me also, although yesterday I had some very decent adsense clicks which exceeded HP earnings yesterday.
   
   I think everything is going to need more time. I can see why they limited it to a smaller cross section first. I do wish that we could analyze which hubs are doing better with the HP ads. Almost all of my hubs are informational rather than product/sales based. I'm simply observing traffic, where it's coming from and which search words are bringing google.com traffic, hubs with red arrows.. but so far I can't say that I see a problem.

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6. 88

   Will Apseposted 13 years ago

   Are there any problems turning the program on and off? I can't think of any but I often miss the obvious.

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   1. 62

      Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Do you think, though, that what you're seeing with Google may just be part of the overall "upheaval" - and maybe you should hold off on turning off the new program? It's not my business, of course, but I do seem to be seeing a slow improvement going on with mine.  Sometime within the last week or so, I had a couple of really awful days.  The last few days have been more in keeping with my previous "low" days (as opposed to reaching new lows, the way things did recently).

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7. 63

   prettydarkhorseposted 13 years ago

   I just checked my HP Ad program after four days and wow, I earned more than what I expected, nearly 20 USD. My Adsense is still higher daily comparing to it.
   
   I reviewed my last month daily CTR and eCPM, they are really low. Prior to the G algo change I noticed already a low CTR and eCPM, so I wlll not switch the HP Ad program off. My traffic is back to the pre Google algo change this past three days, but the eCPM and CTR are both low still.
   
   eCPM I think is affected by status of the site plus the bidding among the advertisers for the price of the adverts.
   
   The CTR in my opinion is low for two reasons, either your hubs are good so they don't click anymore or when they see your page, they stay for a second or two then go back to the search engine again without clicking any ads.
   
   I think the CTR for adsense will be affected by the HP Ad Program??? but I don't know how will you know up to what extent??

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8. 66

   darksideposted 13 years ago

   I'll explain later the difference between eCPM and CPM.
   
   But, unless I am mistaken, the new Ad program is CPM. They are paying per impression.
   
   So those ads may get clicked on, which means you are missing out on an Adsense click, but you do get money for the actual pageview.
   
   What that means is that even if no ads are getting clicked, you are earning some money. Even if an Adsense ad is getting clicked, you're ALSO earning for the pageview.
   
   Now I had the benefit of experiencing the ad program PRIOR to the Google Algorithm change, so things are a little out of whack and it may be hard for many to get a firm grasp of what's happening in terms of earning potential, but pre-Google slap I did get to see a huge difference, a positive increase, in overall earnings.
   
   There were less clicks on Adsense ads, but the gains I made more than made up for it.
   
   I will publish a hub about eCPM. For now just completely ignore the eCPM column at Adsense. It is one step away from being completely meaningless. And as such you won't make any sense of it if you compare the Adsense eCPM with the HP Ads CPM.

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   1. 62

      Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Do you know - in general - what an "average" CPM might be?  (In terms of what a person might consider low versus high?)

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         Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Lisa, I read somewhere here the lowest is $1 and the high range is $12. I'm sure someone else can confirm this.

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            Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Ah.  Thanks.   I haven't had a clue about what's good or not good.   

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9. 71

   Cagsilposted 13 years ago

   Thank you Darkside.
   
   I wasn't sure if what you said to Thisisoli on this would matter? But, thought it might have something to do with it.

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   1. 66

      darksideposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I've been seeing a lot of discussion about eCPM and what people should aim for in Adsense for eCPM. But it's not a target someone can dictate or even try to aim at.
      
      Then HP Ads came out with the CPM and it kinda muddied the waters further.

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10. 62

    CASE1WORKERposted 13 years ago

    Having been selected for the programme despite not being a big earner ( perhaps that was why) I do think in my case it is much to early to tell. Yes, adsence is down, but I always seem to make it up at the end of the month anyway. Amazon is right down- 13 sales last month- zilch so far this month- but that could be for other reasons-
    I think time is the solution- if you can afford it , sit back and see what happens.
    Traffic wise, I am virtually back up - I dropped about 100 views a day but am back up there so its not all bad-

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    1. 75

       brandonhart100posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       As someone who doesn't use (or hasn't been "invited" to the special club yet) I can tell you that Amazon sales are down.  I believe this is  partially due to the amount of "google.com" traffic we are getting as my conversion rate is down substantially.

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11. 80

    WHoArtNowposted 13 years ago

    My Adsense is down about 50% since turning the Hubpages Ad program on, but the money I'm making off Hubpages is higher than the 50% lost so I' happy with it so far!
    
    One question though (and it might have been asked already) but how come the impressions are a lot lower. I seem to consistently get 25% less impressions on Hubpages ad than I do on Adsense!

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