Okay, so its quite obvious that Chitika is having some problems. There are threads all over this board and Chitika's board about it. The message on everyone's Reports page says the same thing, or so I can figure: So I am going to assume that this means that they will fix the drop as they have done in the past. However, that doesn't change the fact that everyone who has contacted their Support has not received any kind of reply. Chitika seems to be replying to everyone's questions, EXCEPT for the ones about the CTR drop. This is ridiculously unprofessional. There's nothing I hate more than companies that claim professionalism and can't even communicate properly with the clients that they claim can trust them. What I suggest is that everyone (yes, you, and everyone reading this) contacts their support on a DAILY basis. Meaning every day you send them the a message explaining your concerns with this and with their lack of communication. They need to understand that if they don't go back to being the old Chitika that the publishers like, then we will leave them and they won't even have any publishers at all. I think the reason this problem isn't being solved is because they think us publishers will stay with them no matter what. And unfortunately, they might be right. So I think if we don't start bugging them now, then this drop may be permanent. I don't know about you guys, but if they aren't going to fix the problem soon, then I at least want an explanation so I can trust the problem will be fixed at all.
Yes, very unprofessional. I have sent them 2 tickets and not a single one answered. If they aren't replying about the CTR then that means they have no good way to say it. The admin in their forums briefly, but probably unintentionally, addressed the CTR rates. These are not his exacts word, but he mentioned something about the "Old Chitika Advertisers" being picky due to the conversion rates of the clicks. Apparently some of the old Chitika advertisers are having doubts about Chitika. That is the reason behind why they have implemented the Chitika| Premuim, as a cover up. Which may be the reason everyone is getting very low costs per click. What would happen is if these guys don't settle into a good arrangement these cpc rates might become permanent.
The problem is not that advertisers are having doubts about Chitika. It's that they're having doubts about the entire internet advertising industry. Adsense went through major changes late last year because advertisers were complaining, and now Chitika is going through the same thing. Let's face it, most people do not surf the internet with their credit card sitting in front of them. They surf the internet looking for freebies. So when someone clicks on an ad on your site, often times not realizing it's an ad, and they end up on some company's site trying to sell them something, what do they do? They leave. Of course, publishers don't care. A click is a click, right? Where's my money?!? Unfortunately, that sort of mentality is why we're in this mess, and filling message boards with complaints and accusations won't solve anything. There needs to be a way for advertisers to start seeing results, otherwise this whole internet advertising business is going to die. It's certainly headed that way. By the way, Ryan Travis, the "admin in their forums" you referred to, is the Director of Client Services at Chitika. He's also the guy who came up with the idea for the RPUs, and to his credit, he's replied to every single email I've sent him.
You seem to be looking at this the wrong way. The internet industry is not dying as an exclusive result from the internet advertising community, it just so happens that the place where most of the sales are coming from is in a recession. Due to the rising gas prices, and a lot more things, the economy is very slow, and people are less likely to spend money on the internet. Of course a click is a click and sure publishers just want their money, but you can't expect thousands of strange publishers to go all soft and mushy and supportive on an advertiser program if they are not communicating. The interesting part of your reply is the fact that you found his email. I have searched Chitika's website and forum for a single email address in order to contact even one staff, but I couldn't find any. I'm just curious as how you obtained the email.
All I know is, Adsense had to make drastic changes to their ads late last year because so many advertisers were complaining that they were not getting value for their money. Also, a friend of mine who runs a high traffic website received word from Shopzilla that none of the clicks from his site were resulting in sales for the advertisers. And now Chitika is making big changes, again because the clicks are not resulting in sales and advertisers are not happy. Is the economy to blame for why people are not buying anything? Could be, but it doesn't change the fact that people are not buying anything and advertisers are tired of paying for clicks that don't earn them anything. I don't remember where I first got his email address, but I've had it for almost as long as I've been a Chitika publisher, and he always replies to my emails. In fact, he's always telling people to contact him if they have any questions. If you click on his name in the Chitika forums, his email address is plainly listed (as long as you're a registered user).
Well let's not make this particular problem bigger than it is. The message is still being displayed on the revenue page. Meaning that it could still possibly go back to normal. And I think a little pressure from us would help move things along.
I've already received confirmation from Chitika that things will not be returning to normal. Contact Ryan Travis, the Director of Client Services at Chitika and ask him why your earnings are so low. He'll tell you the same thing he told me, that it looks like the new ad formats and new advertiser base aren't working out too well for you, that unfortunately there's not much he can do about it, and that you should definitely try the new Premium ads because they're working out great! I've tried the Premium ads. They don't work at all. As much as I believe there is an industry wide problem with advertisers being unhappy with their ad performance, I'm not defending Chitika's actions. At least Adsense had the decency to admit there's a problem when they cut everyone's earnings in half last year. Chitika is deliberately misleading their publishers into believing the recent earnings drop is nothing more than a temporary reporting problem to buy themselves time to recruit new publishers before their existing ones figure out what's going on and abandon ship. Look how many people have been receiving invitations lately to join Chitika, yet they can't seem to get that darn reporting problem fixed. Hmm. Contact Ryan Travis at Chitika and ask him yourself why your earnings have dropped.
Like I said, though, this is not a final situation. The advertisers weren't happy, the complained, and got their situation changed. We can do the same. Eventually they'll have to find a nice medium between the two of us rather than just screwing one of us over. Maybe we won't see the same payouts we used to, but its much better than a few pennies per click! If they know they lose us publishers, they won't have a business at all. They need to know that. And I have contacted them. And I will continue to do so until the earnings are better than pocket change. When the situation seems hopeless, I'll leave as I'm sure most of us will. They will need to sink or swim.
It would be stupid to stay on a sinking boat, otherwise it will suck you down with it. When it becomes clear their their costs per click wont go above 6 to 4 cents a click, its a waste of time and effort. Time to move on.