Google AdSense: You suck

Like a lot of Web publishers, I depend pretty heavily on AdSense to generate revenue and pay the bills. A good server isn't free. So imagine my horror when, on Thursday, the numbers dropped between 50 and 80%, depending on the site. Something is horribly wrong.

Nothing has changed at my end, so I'm working on the assumption that they changed something. I haven't yet figured out what. My suspicion is that it has something to do with the async code they switched to recently for DFP, but I can't be sure. Analytics and DFP show consistent numbers, and those are also Google products.

Here's what pisses me off the most though: I can't even contact them. I can make a post in their forums, which no one ever reads, and that's pretty much it. Unless you're in the top 1% of earners, humans are not available to answer your questions. I might be small, but I'd like to think after tens of thousands of dollars in revenue for them over the years, I'm at least entitled to a form e-mail.

I hate crap like this. Google, you suck.

7 Comments

  • +1 mate :). Absolutely right. I just sopped using it.

  • I guess you are lucky your account is not suspended without a reason :)

  • And when they lock you out of your account they take your money you can't contact anyone and there is no explation I think they steal milions that way every year Google is evil

  • If traffic is the cause of your site's dip, usually places like seomoz.org can give you a clue if there was a minor or major change in Google's search algorithm. Excellent blog BTW

  • Traffic has been steady, actually. This is the time of year where we turn the corner (our sites are very seasonal as far as interest goes), so we should see a rise to coincide with the traffic.

    Looking a little harder, I found that a lot of the problem is that Google's fill rate has been awful. Our backups are easing the pain a little.

  • All I hear is you complaining, but you're still using them. So I guess they don't suck as much if you've not managed to find a better alternative... (hint: the others suck even more)

  • You aren't contributing anything to the discussion. I've been at it for 14 years, I'm well aware of what goes on in terms of ad providers. Sometimes it's appropriate to vent and share poor experiences with others.

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