/> Let me break this down since I've dealt with similar situations:Ad Revenue Drops - What's Actually Happening: Your traffic stayed the same but RPM tanked. This typically means Google is serving different quality ads to your site. This isn't about your content quality - it's about ad inventory.What You Can Do Right Now:Go to Reports > Ad NetworksOrder networks by impressionsBlock networks giving you significantly low RPM (we're talking under $1) with high impression countsWait 24-48 hours for normalizationImportant: Only do this if you notice a sudden dip in RPM. I monitor mine and only make changes when I see drops from my average (say $12 RPM suddenly becoming $4).About those blank ad spaces, this is actually normal during network transitions. Give it 24 hours before making any more changes. Sometimes Google tests different networks on your site - they'll stabilize.Loan Situation: Consider reducing ad placements that might be causing accidental clicks. Focus on high-viewability spots. This sometimes helps signal better ad quality to Google's system.Things that come fast go fast, but things that come slow tend to last longer. Focus on the fundamentals, and your RPM will recover. | blogcon | Webmatrices
techwizardrino 5 days ago
Continue reading

Hey bloggers, this isn't just another "my earnings dropped" post - I'm genuinely freaking out here.

I run a programming tutorial site that I started in my freshman year. Five years of writing tutorials, building code examples, and helping CS students like myself. It was bringing in around $1.5K consistently, which covered my student loan payments and some living expenses.

Today, I logged in to find my earnings have nosedived to $218. My traffic is exactly the same (about 120K monthly visits), bounce rate unchanged, and I haven't made any changes to the site. The real gut punch? My loan payment of $890 is due next week.

What makes this more confusing:

  • No manual actions in Search Console

  • No crazy traffic spikes or drops

  • All content is original (literally my study notes turned into tutorials)

  • Been running ads in the same positions for years

Analytics shows traffic source percentages are identical to last month. RPM went from $12-14 to barely $2. Either I'm missing something obvious, or something's seriously wrong with ad serving.

Anyone else seeing massive RPM drops recently? Really need some insights here because instant noodles aren't going to cover this loan payment.

Edit: Should mention - no AI content, no autogenerated stuff. Just pure, hand-written tutorials and code examples from my actual study experience.

techwizardrino 5 days ago
Continue reading

Hey bloggers, this isn't just another "my earnings dropped" post - I'm genuinely freaking out here.

I run a programming tutorial site that I started in my freshman year. Five years of writing tutorials, building code examples, and helping CS students like myself. It was bringing in around $1.5K consistently, which covered my student loan payments and some living expenses.

Today, I logged in to find my earnings have nosedived to $218. My traffic is exactly the same (about 120K monthly visits), bounce rate unchanged, and I haven't made any changes to the site. The real gut punch? My loan payment of $890 is due next week.

What makes this more confusing:

  • No manual actions in Search Console

  • No crazy traffic spikes or drops

  • All content is original (literally my study notes turned into tutorials)

  • Been running ads in the same positions for years

Analytics shows traffic source percentages are identical to last month. RPM went from $12-14 to barely $2. Either I'm missing something obvious, or something's seriously wrong with ad serving.

Anyone else seeing massive RPM drops recently? Really need some insights here because instant noodles aren't going to cover this loan payment.

Edit: Should mention - no AI content, no autogenerated stuff. Just pure, hand-written tutorials and code examples from my actual study experience.

blogcon 5 days ago
(current)

Let me break this down since I've dealt with similar situations:

Ad Revenue Drops - What's Actually Happening: Your traffic stayed the same but RPM tanked. This typically means Google is serving different quality ads to your site. This isn't about your content quality - it's about ad inventory.

What You Can Do Right Now:

  1. Go to Reports > Ad Networks

  2. Order networks by impressions

  3. Block networks giving you significantly low RPM (we're talking under $1) with high impression counts

  4. Wait 24-48 hours for normalization

Important: Only do this if you notice a sudden dip in RPM. I monitor mine and only make changes when I see drops from my average (say $12 RPM suddenly becoming $4).

About those blank ad spaces, this is actually normal during network transitions. Give it 24 hours before making any more changes. Sometimes Google tests different networks on your site - they'll stabilize.

Loan Situation: Consider reducing ad placements that might be causing accidental clicks. Focus on high-viewability spots. This sometimes helps signal better ad quality to Google's system.

Things that come fast go fast, but things that come slow tend to last longer. Focus on the fundamentals, and your RPM will recover.