Is The Hubpages Ad Program Worthwile?

1. 75

   Adventure Coloradposted 13 years ago

   Now that the general Hubpages population can join the Hubpages ad program I have to wonder, is it worth it?  I have been with Hubpages about two months and have only gained a couple clicks on Adsense. 
   
   Do I have a better chance of making money from the HP program, or should I stick with Adsense and see how it works out for me?

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      relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I was one of the original nine beta testers back in January and February and if the Panda update had never happened, I'd be heartily endorsing the HubPages Ad program.  My February earnings were up by 37% overall from January.
      
      However, since the algorithm changes that Google applied in late February, I've found earnings on both programs have declined greatly.   Compared to February, my AdSense is now down 80% and my HubPages Ad revenue is down 65%. 
      
      I think it's deceptive of HubPages to use the results the original group were seeing before the changes as the sales pitch to the rest of you to get you to join the program.

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         wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Why do you think it is deceptive?  Do you not think that the relative increase (decrease) in income with/without Ad revenue is about the same before and after Panda?
         
         If Hpads raised revenue before Panda I would expect it to do the same after Panda, and would even expect the percentage increase to be about the same.  Total income may well be down now, but not as far as it would be without HPads.  Or do you disagree?

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         1. 67

            relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I don't have any baseline stats by which to make a comparison anymore.  I'm about to turn off the HubPages Ads for the entire month of May so I can get a clue as to how AdSense does without them.  Ask me that question again in July or August.

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               Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I'm actually thinking about turning them on for the first time.  I pledged not to turn them on until June-the original stated date everyone would be eligible to participate-but now that it's a free for all, I may give it a shot. 

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      2. 75

         Adventure Coloradposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         relache, it's interesting that HP didn't drop as much for you after the change.  It seems like I hear most people complaining about the loss of Adsense revenue, so the HP program doesn't seem that appealing at the moment.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            The problem is that most of us joined the HP program right about the time of the Panda update.  Everyone's Adsense income declined at that time - so for most of us, it's impossible to say how much of the decline was due to the HP program and how much was due to Panda.
            
            The only way to check is to switch it off for a while and see whether (and how much) Adsense recovers.

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               Jason Menayanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               You should also be sure to compare on an eCPM basis, which normalizes your earnings against traffic.
               
               The Panda update might have also changed the distribution of your traffic and not only the total level, so it might not be a complete comparison, but assuming an overall lowering of traffic but similar distribution among your Hubs, an eCPM calculation might give some insights.

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                  Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Jason, if I no longer get AdSense clicks for two months and lose my AdSense account (because Google closes it), that would be it for my HubPages account, too, right?

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                     Jason Menayanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Since I can't speak on behalf of Google, I would contact Google and ask if your AdSense account would be in jeopardy if it didn't get any clicks for a while.

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                        Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Oh, okay. Appreciate this suggestion. I'm also thinking maybe I really need to write some Hubs aimed at Google AdSense ads so that I have *something* coming in again to keep the account viable.

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                        Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Jason, I just heard back from a PeggyK on the Google forum who is a Top Contributer saying, "I've never heard of anyone having their account disabled for inactivity, so that is unlikely to be a problem."
                        
                        This is a relief to hear. Thanks for suggesting I ask!

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                        1. 61

                           Jason Menayanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           I have to admit that I would also find it hard to believe Google would do that, either, but I didn't want to speak out of turn.

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      3. 61

         Jason Menayanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         It isn't, and it shouldn't be. You should be using the right metric, which is eCPM, and not total revenue. Even if you were to look at the latter, February is 10% shorter than January, the Panda update hit February 24th, and you enabled HubPages Ads around January 20th - maybe a per-day average of January 20th-February 23rd vs the first half of January might be more illustrative.
         
         We have no control over how much traffic Google or other search engines send you. We have considerably more control over how much you can earn on each visitor you do receive.
         
         Assuming your traffic is not seasonal, then testing AdSense-only and AdSense+HubPages Ads is probably a good idea. Comparing apples to apples (eCPM) would be the best way of evaluating the relative benefit of each approach.

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      Garrett Mickleyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      My Hubpages program eCPM is 3X my eCPM on Adwords.  Much more successful here.

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      BlissfulWriterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Keep in mind that turning on the HubPages Ads does not turn off your Google Adsense.   Although it might be true that you might have fewer Google ads due to the space taken by HubPages Ads. 
      
      I've turned Hubpages Ads on, so that I can have the best of both worlds.

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      robie2posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      It isn't an either or-- you can have both adsense and Hubpages. I have other blogs that are monitied with adsense  and still get some adsense clicks from Hubs as well.  The Hubpages program is like an added income stream from my hubs and frankly, is nicely making up for the drop in traffic I experienced after Panda.  I'd say you have nothing to lose by signing up and seeing what happens

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2. 89

   wildernessposted 13 years ago

   Tough question and I doubt it really has an answer.
   
   For myself, adsense is down as a result of HPads, but I feel that HPads more than makes up for the loss.  At the same time, however, adsense is also down as a result of Panda update and low traffic figures.  How much decline is due to individual reasons I really don't know.
   
   You may want to continue Adsense only for another month or so and get a better feel for what it will do.  Then ad HPads and see if total income changes.  It is really too early yet for you to have a good feel for adsense, and may be for another few months.  You may even want to wait for your first payout before enabling HPads.  Or you may want to play with it right now and see what happens.  Your call.

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   1. 75

      Adventure Coloradposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the quick reply.  The fact that I am new to Hubpages is what makes me hesitant to try it out.  Adsense is still slow for me, so I wouldn't really have any basis to compare the two. 
      
      It's too bad you can't enable it for certain hubs to compare those with hubpage ads vs. adsense ads.

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         Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I just asked Jason a question above. If he says my assumption is right, then you *have* to have a steady income from AdSense to keep that account viable. Without it, then you lose your HP ads account, too.

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   sunforgedposted 13 years ago

   Adsense/HpAds didnt balance out for me - so I went back to just adsense, but I enjoyed a higher average click than most...
   
   BUT ...a very clear drop in amazon/ebay sales accompanied my personal trials with hpads. The flashier ads either
   
   a) drive away traffic due to the unattractive, unfocused ads
   b) attract exits to the ads
   
   
   Either way, HPads decimated my amazon, sales came back the moment I turned it off.
   
   Using HpAds or any rev program will be different for each user based on what type of traffic they attract. There is no blanket truths on how to monetize. Certain styles and topics will benefit more than others.

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4. 59

   Randy Godwinposted 13 years ago

   I've never enabled the HP program and my Adsense is almost the same as it was before the Panda squatted digested bamboo shoots all over HP.  My Amazon sales are slightly higher, as a matter of fact.  I don't know what to think! 

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      Adventure Coloradposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting, unfortunately as a resident of Colorado I am not able to use Amazon, I wish I could.

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         BRIAN SLATERposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         In my experience if you can't use amazon because of where you live, then write articles purely aimed at Adsense. If you do that then I think you may do well with the new ad programme.
         The reason I say this is because I have written over 95% of my hubs aimed at Amazon sales. And although my revenue has dropped I continue to reach payout each month with it. My Adsense pre-algo change was just over the min. payout each month so it was never really that great. Since I joined the new ad programme my Adsense is less than half what it was from Hp's. This leads me to think that the new ad-prog doesn't work with Amazon based hubs and will only work on hubs specifically aimed at Adsense. I aim to continue with the ad-prog until I make payout, then revert to just using Adsense.

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      Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That's great to hear, Randy!  Must be the type of traffic your hubs draw?

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         Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I don't know, Ms Dee.  There seems to be many different experiences by individual Hubbers.  I'll find out something when I enable the HP ads. 

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            Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            OK, thanks Randy for your response

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5. 39

   Ritsosposted 13 years ago

   mmmm what to do .. what to do ?
   
   I was looking forward to adding HP ads but there does seem some doubt. That said, I'm still only earning a few pence here and there so in for a penny ... here I go !!!

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6. 68

   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   I just switched off HP ads, at least for the remainder of the month. It will be interesting to see if/how my AdSense/Amazon are affected.

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7. 74

   Richieb799posted 13 years ago

   I experienced steady earnings I just decided Id rather put all effort into Adsense at the moment even if they have some low paying ads

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8. 59

   stuff4youposted 13 years ago

   I'm not concerned about my Google Adsense revenue on hub pages going down because I haven't really made squat with it to begin with.
   
   I just signed up for the hub pages ad program yesterday, it sounds interesting.

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9. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

   "Is The Hubpages Ad Program Worthwile?"
   
   Yes!

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   1. 75

      Barbara Kayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      My Adsense money did go down, but the HP ads program is making more than I received from Adsense. If I add the 2 together, I am now making more.
      
      A note to this though is with 60 hubs, I was only making $15/mo with Adsense alone previously. I wasn't a high earner with Adsense.

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         janderson99posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Adsense is now dead on Hubpages
         You may as well get a few cents out of the ad program i.e. about $4 per 1000 impressions.

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            Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Speak for yourself!  Mine is slightly down but nothing major at this point. 

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               janderson99posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Deleted
10. 61

    carpesomediemposted 13 years ago

    Overall, I haven't lost a dime joining the HubPages ad program.  I am making what I did with AdSense having enabled it, despite traffic being down.  I'm tinkering some of my hubs, and I, too, will most likely switch the program off for a month or so down the line to see how things stack up once I go through the chances to my hubs to make them better after the Panda update.

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11. 70

    Hauntyposted 13 years ago

    I would say, for people who earn little from AdSense or just here and there, the HP ad program is worth trying. It takes away from AdSense, but is a steadier earner.

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       Garrett Mickleyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I wasn't earning much from Adsense at all, and I started using the HP ad program 2 days ago and I'm making 3X more each day for the last two days than I made on any of my BEST days on Adsense.

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    thejeffriestubeposted 13 years ago

    Since joining the ad program, I have not seen much actvity on my Hubs. Granted, I do not have many, and I was not seeing traffic much before anyway. I don't think my topics are all that popular, and the SEO I tried to do didn't do much at all.
    
    I might be a bad writer, I don't know. This is the first time I've tried to publish my own stuff.

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       kmackey32posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Its because your new to hubpages.

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13. 75

    LuisEGonzalezposted 13 years ago

    I was not making much on Adsense, however, since I enabled the HPAds, I've seen it grow. Within three days I had made as much as I had with Adsense in the last month.
    
    My humble opinion is that if the hubs are of quality content and visitors like them, over time HPAds will prove to be the better of the two.

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14. 75

    LuisEGonzalezposted 13 years ago

    The only thing that I don't like is to see my HPads earnings when I sign into my account, it may be childish, but I like to check on it every few days.

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