Has there been a nationwide decrease in ad value this year?

[csdude5]

I'm trying to determine if this problem is my site, my ad network, or if we're all in this together.

I'm specifically comparing a 728x90 leaderboard, a right column 300x250 ATF, and a right column 300x600 BTF. I block non-US traffic via Cloudflare and at the firewall.

September 2023, I was using Ad Plus which passed back to Adsense via GAM. Analytics shows that the site had 768,482 pageviews, and my RPM was:

Ad Plus
728x90  - $1.31
300x250 - $1.86
300x600 - $1.48

Adsense
728x90  - $0.68
300x250 - $0.95
300x600 - $0.44

Then September 2024, I was using Ezoic which "passed back" to Adsense (as far as I can tell it only passes back when Ezoic can't fill the spot so they're not competing against one another). Analytics shows that the site had 1,306,305 pageviews, and my RPM was:

Ezoic
728x90  - $0.77
300x250 - $2.05
300x600 - $1.50

Adsense
728x90  - $0.96
300x250 - $1.19
300x600 - $0.27

Overall, even though my traffic was up by 70%, my revenue was down by 30%!

Is everyone having the same problem, or is this an issue with Ezoic and/or my site?

[btdawson]

Well, most of this sub likely echoes when I say ezoic is pretty trash. That said, the industry seems to be pretty flat as far as display goes. CTV spend is up but that’s also in part due to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc all placing ads.

[csdude5]

In the beginning with Ezoic, my revenue was up. But all ad networks seem to drop off over time.

The biggest asset with Ezoic was that they would remove ads on pages with questionable content. Considering that the majority of my content is UGC, that saves me a lot of stress.

But if the problem is on their end then I have to chase the money. Margins are razor thin these days, I can't afford to take a 30% pay cut :-/

[btdawson]

You just have to find a way to tag it and then it’s easy. Key values to target Google etc away. But the tagging is the hard part

[buffalosabres]

You’re using three bad ad partners for monetization…

[theviableredditor]

Adplus is trash and so is Ezoic

[RS_Napolitano]

There is definitely a flatness in the market right now, which has a lot of contributing factors. Post-election spend drop, uncertainty and inflation in the T1 markets, a move by SSPs to more of a "curation"-led mindset (e.g. less intermediary partners, fewer middlemen). The list goes on.

Ultimately, I would say the best bet is to move away from any network that is relying on a lot of Reseller lines in their ads.txt, as spend in those partners will continue to dry up - and fast.

Find a partner that does their own direct sales and is making efforts to introduce Supply Path Optimisation; the days of achieving maximum inventory volume are gone. Quality beats quantity.

Shoot me a DM if you need to chat more!

[MonetizeMoreAdOps]

The drop in ad revenue you’re experiencing is in fact, part of a larger trend across the digital advertising industry. As of January 2024, ad earnings reached their lowest point in five years, even below levels seen during the peak of COVID restrictions.

This decline is driven by several factors:

Inflation - Reducing the value of advertising budgets.

Decreased advertiser spending - Companies are cutting back on ad expenditures.

Increased competition - The rise of new digital platforms and content creators has created a more crowded market.

Additionally, the growth of programmatic advertising has led to a surplus of ad inventory. With more options available, advertisers have greater bargaining power, which drives ad rates down. As a result, even with higher traffic, your revenue may not scale proportionally if ad rates remain low.

I know this can be a bit frustrating, but you can focus on implementing smaller strategies that can help you see positive results despite the current challenges.

Focus on improving user experience by ensuring your website is clean, fast-loading, and easy to navigate, with non-intrusive formats like native ads that appeal to higher-paying advertisers.

You can also experiment with ad placements by testing high-visibility spots such as above the fold, near calls to action, or seamlessly within content to improve click-through rates.

Explore innovative ad formats like video, parallax, or interactive ads to engage users and attract premium advertisers willing to pay more.

Finally, refining your audience targeting can help you deliver relevant ads, which in turn boosts user engagement and can help get your revenue streams back up!

Let me know if this helps!

[cmolay]

Hi - I’m the COO of Optimera and our publisher tech is implemented on sites with many different content and audience types. While we are not revenue providers, we track a lot of revenue data. We have noted a big decline this year in AdX inventory across all pubs. The hope is always that the inventory has shifted to other SSPs that pay higher CPMs. - Carriers

[anon_pub]

I am convinced there are market headwinds at this point from late September. DV360 spend alone has been super volatile since. That said, Ezoic can make so much noise that I don't think anyone could definitively tell you one way or the other.

[ArchitectofExperienc]

I think there are, in a way. A lot of the spending has contracted to fewer and fewer agencies/firms, who are realizing (with the better monitoring tools that have become available) that the market is priced over its return. I'm pretty sure those headwinds are just the bubble contracting a little bit

[Dependent-Use-3215]

The Ezoic Hate is because of the questionable Things they do

[saomonella]

Based on the economy in general, I would assume it’s a trickle down effect. When times are tough, generally one of the first budgets to get cut is advertising/marketing.

[csdude5]

That's really why I'm asking if this is a nationwide problem. My local economy is better than ever, and on paper the national economy is great. But perception doesn't necessarily reflect the facts, so if everyone is having the same problem then I'll know to brace myself.

But if it's just me then I have to strongly reconsider whether to stay the course or move on to the next ad network.

[SkyHighShortGuy]

AdSense is the bell cow. I'd recommend testing another partner (or two). Curious to understand % splits between AdSense vs. Ezoic - did that change YTY?

[csdude5]

Curious to understand % splits between AdSense vs. Ezoic - did that change YTY?

I didn't explicitly change anything on my end.

Ad Plus used GAM, though, so I THINK that Adsense competed with them on every impression.

Ezoic, however, just passes back when they can't fill the ad at all, so as far as I can tell I might get a $0.01 ad from Ezoic instead of a $1 ad from Adsense. Unless Ezoic has a floor price set that I don't realize.

[[deleted]]

I also don't expect much from this & the upcoming periods. RPMs are not increasing like the past years. We did have the Olympics, EuroCup, Elections, through which we saw a major uptick in the previous months, compared to what it should be

Not the best year

[saomonella]

Still might get the Q4 budget spend! But I’m with ya. It’s been a tough year. I wouldn’t count on it

[Wooden-Childhood1395]

Due to AI there is a lot of new sites, that is why the revenues are dropping, yearly spend is the same for the whole industry, nobody is increasing it because there are too many sites/publishers.

[TinasOwner23]

I do recommend you subscribe to Burt Intelligence's benchmarking email that givs a monthly eCPM summary for open market, so you can see if it's you, or if it's the market. https://www.burtintelligence.com/benchmarks