Ep 5: Invalid traffic deductions

Your dashboard said two hundred dollars. You were paid one eighty five.

Invalid traffic, or IVT: clicks or impressions that artificially inflate costs or earnings.

AdSense first shows estimated earnings. Around the third of next month, they’re finalized on your Payments page. In between, Google removes invalid activity, like bots, or publishers clicking their own ads, and refunds the advertiser. Say game.example estimated two hundred dollars in March. Fifteen came from invalid clicks. Finalized, one eighty five. Deductions can also land later, usually for traffic from the past sixty to ninety days, as a line item on your Transactions page. They’re final, and Google won’t say which clicks. Third parties can cause it, and you’re still responsible. So watch your sources. A spike from one referrer, or a paid traffic campaign, deserves a closer look.

Today, compare last month’s estimated and finalized earnings, and list your top traffic sources.

Next: the Q1 CPM drop, seasonality, not a penalty.