January earnings looking low? Advertiser spending usually follows a similar trend path from year to year and it’s typical to see RPM and RPS dip in January, right after the holiday season comes to a close.
Advertiser spending is at its highest mid-November through just after Christmas, when advertisers allocate a huge portion of their yearly budget to reach holiday shoppers.
After the holidays are over, advertiser spending decreases significantly, with the beginning of January typically being the lowest point of the entire year. Advertisers pull back their ad spending as they plan budgets and allocate funds for the year ahead, and that has an impact on RPM (ad earnings per 1,000 pageviews).
The chart below gives a good visual representation of how ad spending changes from Q4 to Q1:
The good news is that ad spending generally increases as the year goes on. You can check out typical RPM trends throughout the year right here.