Has anyone "split tested" Adsense alone against using HP Ads?

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   Bendo13posted 12 years ago

   I'm curious if anyone has tested by a month to month basis whether or not you make more with Adsense alone or with HP Ads?
   
   It's impossible to do a true split test, since each month will be different, but I'm curious to hear your results...
   
   Some of us won't get a lot of traffic so Adsense might be better...
   
   But even for people that get a lot of traffic, have you stayed with Adsense only after testing out HP Ads?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I know several people who've tried it. 
      
      I switched off HP Ads for April.  My Adsense improved, but not enough to compensate for the absence of HP Ads.

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         Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yeah... I wanted to make sure because I didn't want to switch it off and not make as much.  I guess I'll just have to slowly crawl my way back to hitting that $50 spot with HP Ads... and then maybe someday I'll hit that $100 spot in a month with AdSense...
         
         I was so close to doing that with AdSense before they changed everything!

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            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Bendo, if that's the case then I would stop worrying about switching on and off ads, and go back and do some basic research.
            
            I hate doing keyword research, I don't think about keyword density or SEO when I'm writing, and I don't promote much.
            
            I started cashing out $100 a month about two years ago.
            
            That says to me that you're doing something wrong with your Hubs, given the number you have.  Maybe you're choosing the wrong subjects, maybe they're too short, maybe lots of reasons - but you need to identify and fix it, because there's clearly no point continuing your current habits.
            
            Take a look at your Adsense or Analytics data and see which Hubs are making money and which are not. Sometimes you simply have to stop writing and spend some time analysing and revising. I think it's that time for you.

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            1. 76

               Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I only wrote a handful of hubs when I first started out... then I quit for like a year.. then would only write here and there.
               
               Then like two years ago I wrote for a good two months... stopped.. then last year I started at the end of the year and have been going steady... I write two hubs a day now (that's why I have so many) and is probably why I was close to making that $100/month during the beginning of this year.
               
               I now do research on my keywords I choose (I didn't really do that before) and a lot of the ones I write now are 1,000+ words.  But since I'm in the HP Ads programs and since Google made the change I can't really see what Google would be capable of now can I?
               
               Thankfully I made $2 from impressions yesterday but I ask questions to see if it's worth it... since I hadn't made $2 in a day the whole month.
               
               You have twice the followers in less time than I do, which makes me think you've been writing pretty steady since day one?  maybe not every single day but I don't know if you started out all choppy like I did.  Twice the followers really brings in a wave of traffic and they end up doing promotions for you too.
               
               Are you still making $100/month with Adsense even though you're in HP ads?  Is a $2 day from impressions a joke to you?  or is it along the lines of what you get too.
               
               I can't see your badges so I have no clue what kind of traffic you're getting.
               
               But yes, without the backstory, it would appear that my results are pretty crappy with being here so long haha

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                  Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Just a thought, but isn't it possible that I give away so much information that a lot of people don't see the need to click an ad to get more information?
                  
                  Then just read it, comment and are satisfied...

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                  Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Aha, that explains it!  I was assuming you'd been writing pretty steadily, so your Hubs would be old enough to be doing well.   I've heard it said that a Hub takes about two years to reach its full potential.
                  
                  
                  
                  That's the frustration we're all having - HP Ads happened about the same time as the Panda debacle so it's hard to tell what's affecting what.  At least we can turn HP Ads on and off easily so testing is possible. 
                  
                  
                  
                  I wrote 55 Hubs in my first three months, then I slowed right down to one or two a month.  In early 2010 I did a 30 Day Challenge, then dropped right back again. 
                  
                  So I haven't been steady, but a good third of my Hubs are pretty old, which makes a big difference to earnings.
                  
                  I have a lot of followers because I've always been very active in the forums.  However, I don't consider traffic from my followers relevant - I'm sure most of them never visit my Hubs.  Over 90% of my traffic comes from search engines.
                  
                  
                  
                  That's one of the problems I have with HP Ads.  The combined Adsense/HP Ads income is better than Adsense alone, but I'm not hitting payout for Adsense every month like I used to.  $2 a day isn't a joke, I have days like that too!

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               Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Noticed that with most of your hubs your first AdSense ad is right up top on the right... instead of having a picture there... Maybe I'll try moving things around because that's usually the spot I have a pic... maybe I'll drop it to the next capsule down.

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                  Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, that's an old trick - that top right-hand slot is THE prime spot for an ad, so you should always make sure your first capsule is long enough to allow room for it, and don't put a photo there.

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                     Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I heard that before but never did anything to change my hubs... going to go through them all and change them!
                     
                     Hopefully that boosts my earnings a bit through AdSense

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2. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   I did to the extent that I was of the very last group to get access to Hubads well post-Panda, the second I started using it my earnings quadrupled.  I haven't done an ABA return to baseline because the different was a bit large and coincidence or confound seemed unlikely.

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   1. 76

      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Sounds awesome!
      
      I'm just concerned with how things are going because I'm getting back up to like 700-900 hits a day now but yet the impressions rarely ever break 400... they're staying around the same numbers from start to finish, even if I have 300 more hits in a day.
      
      So I dunno... at first I was amazed but now it's like meh, can't even hit that $50 spot in a month.  Only did that my first month.

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3. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   I am on a pretty low income either way and so probably in no way comparable.  My personal approach is to write what amuses me and hope for the best

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4. 77

   Marina Lazarevicposted 12 years ago

   Bendo13,
   This might help answer your question about paid impressions through the HubPages Ad Program vs. Hub views: http://hubpages.com/faq/#hpads-paid-impressions

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   1. 76

      Bendo13posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah I've read that before but I've had quite a few days now where I'm getting 800-900 hits... so my impressions should have increased.
      
      Unless all my new hits are hub hoppers or something... I don't really get it.  But I haven't had a $2 day from the paid impressions at all this month...
      
      It's not a question of hub views vs impressions... it's a question of why are the impressions or earnings not rising at all when my traffic has skyrocketed?
      
      In reality the purpose of this post was to see if anyone has any insight on whether Adsense alone or HubPages Ads with Adsense is the most profitable way to go for someone who gets a lot of traffic.

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         Marina Lazarevicposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         There could be a couple of things explaining this:
         
         -not every visitor is the same; non-US visitors, especially those from developing countries, don't pay nearly as well. This is true for both the HubPages Ad Program ads and AdSense.
         -visitors that browse a lot will have diminishing value, as many ad networks "cap out" per individual user. For example, network x will only pay a CPM of y 3 times to reach z visitor. After that, they may not even want to show an ad, so another, lower-paying network might get the chance.
         
         These issues aren't necessarily the case with your traffic, but they can explain why a spike in traffic doesn't necessarily results in a concomitant spike in revenue.

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   wheelinalloverposted 12 years ago

   Since starting hub pages ads my adsense has flatlined. Not that it was making any great waves before. I removed adsense from a website I have because it stayed flatlined.
   
   Right now I don't have enough time to do much but am staying with the hub pages ads because they are bringing in more money and I do recommend this for the newer hubbers unless they are getting over 500 hits per hub. None of mine are over 500 hits so really have no point of reference above that.

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