The Old "Earnings" Gripe Revisited....

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  1. DzyMsLizzy profile image85
    DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years ago

    It took me YEARS of being here before I began earning a payout about once a quarter.  Then, new hope sprang up back around the end of December and into January:  I finally hit $1. or $1. and change on a daily basis.

    However, that lasted only about 2.5 weeks; I am now, and have been since then, back down to under $1. a day....

    I don't get it.  I really don't have many, if any particularly seasonal hubs that could have accounted for that.

    Has "The Big G" made another algorithm change????

    1. janderson99 profile image54
      janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      CPM values are very low at the moment and Google search traffic has fallen. I have a theory that Google has a quota for HP that is adjusted periodically with algo changes. HP traffic has been steady over the last 3 months, as shown below. But hundreds of pages are added every day. If the traffic does not rise despite adding more pages, then it means there is internal competition for the gigs in the quota. Some of this may be due to loss of freshness. The 'Related Search' ads rake off potential earnings that should be shared with authors. Add to this the decline in CPM, it means that earnings to authors have declined despite the overall traffic remaining steady. The changes to the 'Related Hubs' display which makes them much bigger than the author's 'Next' and 'Previous' will also have the effect of reducing the flow-on-effect for an author from one article, to other related ones they have written. Not sure why HP has done this, but it will mean less traffic for an author and less earnings.

      Related hubs
      http://www.wotheheck.com/toosmall.jpg

      Traffic over last 3 months
      http://www.wotheheck.com/3month.jpg

      1. RachaelOhalloran profile image83
        RachaelOhalloranposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        I'm not happy about that, especially since I was doing so well at almost - don't laugh - 30 cents a day and now down to about 11 cents.  I say well because anything over a nickel for me is good.  I still haven't gotten my first payout yet though it is very soon since I started my own account. At the rate I'm going, it will be another 4 to 6 months to hit $50  sad

      2. DzyMsLizzy profile image85
        DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        Agreed-janderson99;
        That is not cool at all.  The "related hubs" for the author's own should, indeed, be at least as large as the ads for the others' hubs; in addition, it should be worded differently, such as, "More hubs by this author" to better distinguish from the others'.
        As far as the CPM--that's an area I've never understood well--I'm no web techie, and much of the search/SEO stuff is beyond me.  Two factors come into play:  1) I just don't have the  time or energy to devote much to learning it in great depth,  and 2)  I just don't grasp the full concept well.
        I have a general working idea, and do the best I can.  I have done a lot of title-tweaking and judicious editing, which has helped some, so I am still in the range of 70 - 90 cents per day, which is better than the 50 cent range where I was before, but ... I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles.

        1. janderson99 profile image54
          janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

          In simple terms CPM is what advertisers are wiling to pay for an ad displayed on your pages. It depends on the topic - being higher for legal and medical topics for example. It also depends on the reputation and marketing of the host site. CPM varies from about $2.50 to $7 for 1000 views. Obviously changes in rates dramatically affects incomes for the same number of views. CPM has been on the low side for the last two weeks.

          1. profile image0
            calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            My CPM has been steady for a long time, but my traffic is down. Dips in CPM and traffic vary from account to account because people write on different subjects, so one person's decline isn't indicative of anything.

            The question for MsLizzy is  whether her earnings are low because of low CPM or low traffic.  If her traffic is down then she can improve it, but if her CPM is down there's really nothing to be done.

        2. Marisa Wright profile image86
          Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          This doesn't surprise me at all.  It's consistent with HubPages' quest to minimise the importance of Hubbers as individuals.

          Do you remember when we had a large picture at the top of our Hubs, with a "more Hubs by this author" link?  When the only other Hubs displayed at the end of a Hub were our own?

          Now we have a tiny picture, no obvious link to read the rest of our Hubs, lots of other Hubs displayed - and now they are bigger than the two Grouped Hubs.

          I wonder how long it will be before HubPages makes our image even tinier (which was their original intention, until we all howled in protest).

          1. janderson99 profile image54
            janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I agree! I simply don't understand why HP does not herald its authors and showcase their articles, especially the established ones. There appears to a strong push to showcase the 'stellar' crowd, that is to promote the high hub score pages. This smacks of favoritism or bias. You get the sense that HP is deliberately trying to draw readers away from related articles written by the same author, to others which it regards as better or more worthy. It is very disappointing. I simply don't understand why the author details are so tiny and now the related hubs details ('next' and 'previous') have been made so tiny in relation to the 'Related Hubs'. There is a strong message in all of this!!! It promotes the feeling the authors are being used, and that their articles are regarded as basic landing pages for higher ideals. All authors deserve a fair go and equal treatment.

            1. Nell Rose profile image91
              Nell Roseposted 9 years agoin reply to this

              Couldn't have put it better myself!

            2. Marisa Wright profile image86
              Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

              It's hard to read it any other way.

              1. Jean Bakula profile image90
                Jean Bakulaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                True. I'm coming around to your way of thinking about Bubblews too. The writing is so bad, most people (not the ones from here) don't even write in sentences with punctuation. I write a literate paragraph and am lucky to get 25 views and 3 comments. But the illiterate Bubbles that say nothing get 100 views and 25 comments. Now I feel afraid being associated with the site will ruin my rep on other sites, and am unsure if I want to continue.

                It seemed to go downhill when they made the payout $50.00. I made that a few times, but had to be careful not to waste too much time on it (any site can be a time waster). I think a lot of people left, and the worst writers or people who need the money most stayed. I've been online less the past few months, but have been shocked at Bubblews, it used to have more people who did try to write interesting little blurbs. I'm so sick of hearing how someone "Got up, ate breakfast, took a nap, meant to write a few Bubbles, didn't bother, and fell asleep." Then they get so many views and comments. It doesn't make sense.

                1. Marisa Wright profile image86
                  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  That's because the quality of your writing has nothing to do with how popular it is.  You have to play the game on Bubblews to get views - if you don't like and comment on other Bubbles, they won't comment on yours.

      3. davidlivermore profile image91
        davidlivermoreposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        I don't mind this change.  It hasn't hurt me, in fact, it's helped a couple of my hubs out.

        Besides, the author's related hubs sometimes have little to nothing to do with the topic being read about.

        1. DzyMsLizzy profile image85
          DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Aren't the author's related hubs selected from the author's own "groups," ergo, they should be on related topics???

        2. Marisa Wright profile image86
          Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          If that's the case, then it's entirely the author's fault because they come from the author's Groups.

          1. DzyMsLizzy profile image85
            DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Now and then, I forget to place a hub in a group, and end up with "orphan hubs," but not super often, and when I discover that, I fix it pretty quickly.

            I'm also pretty careful with my groups--I have a more detailed subset than is available in the HP topic selection process.

      4. Mark Ewbie profile image82
        Mark Ewbieposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        That traffic is amazingly steady.

  2. WriteAngled profile image73
    WriteAngledposted 9 years ago

    My CPM is currently at the higher end of the range I experience. Of course, with only a tad over 20 hubs, it does not make much difference to me. Unfortunately, even at their best, earnings have never been anywhere near high enough to encourage me to write more hubs.

  3. Nell Rose profile image91
    Nell Roseposted 9 years ago

    Mine has gone down too, not to badly, but enough for me to have a grump about! its a bit like treading water, then sinking occasionally!

  4. catgypsy profile image72
    catgypsyposted 9 years ago

    I've been with HP over three years and have never had a payout...I still need another 8 bucks and some cents to get one! smile

  5. Greekgeek profile image77
    Greekgeekposted 9 years ago

    Yeah, I just dropped below the daily average that ensures I get paid every month. I should still be okay for this month, since i'm more than halfway to $50, but I need to get off my tushie (or rather, step away from other projects) and create a few more hubs to ensure I don't drop below payout threshold for next month.

    It's possible that Hummingbird has taken Hubpages down a peg. Or else it's just the summer sag starting a little early. I don't know about you, but  my traffic always dips between May and August, thanks to all the school kids NOT looking things up for school and/or college students home, supervised so they can't goof off online quite as much, and/or trying to get summer jobs.

    Also, I'm stuck at 499K lifetime visits on my main account. I should've tripped over the 500K mark last week, but traffic's down a bit. Grumble feh.

  6. Sherry Hewins profile image92
    Sherry Hewinsposted 9 years ago

    It seems like whenever my traffic rises my CPM falls, so I end up making about the same money. All things considered I'd rather have the higher traffic, it just makes me feel better.

  7. Mark Ewbie profile image82
    Mark Ewbieposted 9 years ago

    My traffic has dropped gradually since third week of March.  Now 30% off its highs - maybe worse.

    As Janderson points out earlier, the Quantcast graph has remained steady - so it is my share that has dropped.

    Hitting payout monthly is my minimum for 'feelgood' factor - may not make that this month.

    I continue to edit and improve in occasional bursts - reasoning that these pages still make a little money.  If the visitor likes them they might make a little more.

    Although I also contribute to Bubblews and my own blogs - HP is still... somewhat sadly... my major passive earner.  That said I like the formatting, the site, the support and although I kind of expect it - earning money for a few words and some cartoons ain't bad really.

  8. Baby-Boomer-58 profile image71
    Baby-Boomer-58posted 9 years ago

    Just a question because I am puzzled by this thread. Isn't it against the ToS to discuss earnings? (I wouldn't want to be banned so early in my time on hp for discussing specific $$.)

    1. DzyMsLizzy profile image85
      DzyMsLizzyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's why everyone is stating 'general ranges' and not being specific. You would not want to copy your earnings chart into the forums, or state your day-to-day actual amounts.  But saying, "Halfway to payout," which everyone knows is $50. anyway, or saying, "under $1 a day, in general" is pretty safe.  this is not the first thread where such discussions have taken place, and we've not been banned.....

  9. Baby-Boomer-58 profile image71
    Baby-Boomer-58posted 9 years ago

    Oh, and my other question ... Isn't it a good thing if our hubs are featured at the bottom of another hubber's hub if they get heaps of traffic and some of their visitors might come to us?

    1. janderson99 profile image54
      janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Of course. But if a hubber is successful in attracting a visitor to their page then surely their own related articles in the 'Next'  and 'Previous' boxes should be presented at the same size as other Related Hubs. Isn't it reasonable that a reader may want to read other articles by the same author? Isn't reasonable that the author gets some of the flow-on benefits from their own articles?

      1. Jean Bakula profile image90
        Jean Bakulaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        My earnings have dropped below the minimum and I am at the point where I sometimes don't even come on more than once a week anymore. I don't feel like HP does anything to help us promote our work, and it's simply not worth the time. Plus all our work is getting stolen anyway.

        It always got a little slower in the summer, but I began dipping already in February. I feel like HP is over.

        1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image86
          TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

          I'm finding this thread interesting because for the past 6 or so weeks my CPMs have been quite high and my views have been as good or even a bit better than they have ever been.  I do not get hundreds and hundreds of views daily like some here, but it is clear that I now have recovered from the last big Panda thing.  I do not understand what is going on, but for as long as it lasts, I'm happy.  I do believe that much of what is happening is the result of my main niche..but may posts in my other mini niches are doing well also.  Frankly, I think it is next to impossible to ever know what is going on with the big G, so I just take what I can get and do the best I can.

 
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