one of my two main pop networks cut my effective cpm by a lot midweek, no email, no notice, geo mix on my side didnt change. the other network held steady on the same traffic so its not me. before i move budget around i want to know if this is a network thing people are seeing broadly or just my account getting squeezed.
seeing it too on pops this week, mostly tier 3 geos got gutted. tier 1 held. feels like an advertiser pulled a big campaign and the network didnt backfill. give it a few days before you rip budget out.
this is the seasonal dip plus end of quarter budgets drying up. happens most years around now. the network that held is probably just carrying a direct advertiser that doesnt flex with the spot market.
split your traffic by geo and device and look where the drop actually landed. nine times out of ten its concentrated and you can reroute just that slice instead of panicking about the whole account.
yeah its basically all mobile tier 3 on my side, tier 1 desktop untouched. so raj and tina are probably right. annoying but at least its explainable.
if the slice thats dying is mobile tier 3 you might do better pushing that to a smartlink than a fixed pop buy. those geos monetize so thin that a dynamic router usually beats whatever fixed rate you were getting anyway.
can confirm the dip, been in pops a long time and october always does this. november usually recovers as christmas budgets come in. dont make permanent moves off a one week window.
moved the mobile tier 3 to a smartlink like rhys said, early numbers look better than the fixed buy was doing. keeping tier 1 where it is. thanks all.
good call. report back in a week, curious if the smartlink holds or if it was just the novelty of fresh rotation.
smartlink on thin tier 3 almost always beats a fixed pop rate, the router finds a buyer you never would have. just watch the smartlink isnt skimming more than it tells you, some of them take a quiet cut on top of the spread and the effective number looks better than it is.
had the exact same drop the exact same week, one network gutted and the other flat on the same traffic. ended up emailing my rep and they admitted a big advertiser paused a campaign and they hadnt backfilled tier 3 yet. so nates read was right, it wasnt the traffic going bad.
quick follow since you asked. early read the smartlink is holding and even ticked up a bit as it learned the geos. the fixed pop recovered maybe a third on its own. leaving tier 3 on the router now, no reason to drag it back.