As in the newspaper and broadcast worlds, calamities and other such dire news tends to drive web traffic. Gannett's fortunes have improved -- which is, of course, a good thing for my many friends still working for the company.
This has meant no large layoffs or other big cost-cutting moves, the sort of bad news that draws readers -- and the advertising and reader financial support that often follow. That's a long way of saying I'm not making anywhere near what I earned as recently as last spring, when I typically earned close to $4,000 quarterly from ads and donations.
But I never expected to get rich as a blogger, and I'm delighted to continue covering what continues to be a fascinating story: the digital transition of the nation's largest newspaper publisher, and one of its major TV broadcasters.
My income so far is barely 25% of my goal. But there are still 34 days left before the quarter ends Dec. 31!
The breakdown so far:
- Reader donations: $228
- Advertising: $733
I sent over some money, Jim. 2 clicks, 30 seconds using your "donate" button via Paypal. It's not much, but thanks for continuing to keep us informed. I no longer work for Gannett but have friends who do.
ReplyDeleteI'll send a donation today as well.
ReplyDeleteI was curious about your advertising revenue. Do you know why the amount has dropped significantly over the past year? Has your revenue per click through gone down, or is the readership down that significantly?
Thanks for the efforts.
12:44 That's a very good question.
ReplyDeleteIt's a combination of traffic and, even more so, lower revenue per clicks.
I can't reveal actual numbers, because that would violate Google's AdSense rules.
But Google said in its most recent quarterly report that while overall clicks on its customers' ads were up, revenue per click was down. And I'm definitely feeling that.
That's interesting.
ReplyDeleteI've used AdSense in the past to sell products, and experienced a different, near-opposite effect of the on-line sales vehicle.
As clicks went down, the price paid per click went up, and the number of transactions dropped. The Google algorithms squeeze more out for the company, I am sure.
At least in the newspaper, the price for the ad was rather static, even when the circulation dropped. That drop happened much slower, and the ad budget was easier to manage.