Creator Monetization Triage Flow

# AdSense RPM Drop Investigation Packet

An RPM drop should not be diagnosed from the RPM chart alone. RPM is a result, not a cause. A useful investigation packet separates traffic quality, ad serving, ads.txt and crawler state, policy status, content mix, and measurement timing. The goal is to create a record that another publisher or support reader can inspect without guessing.

## 1. Start with the time window
Write the exact comparison period. Same weekday versus prior week is different from this month versus last month. Ad demand, traffic sources, and content mix can change by season or campaign. A vague “recently dropped” note is not enough.

## 2. Separate traffic from monetization
Check whether page views or sessions changed before RPM changed. If traffic fell, the issue may not be ad pricing. If traffic stayed stable but ad impressions or matched requests fell, ad serving or crawler issues become more likely.

## 3. Check serving blockers
Record ads.txt status, crawler errors, policy center status, ad serving limits, and recent layout or blocking-control changes. The point is not to assume any one cause. The point is to mark each cause as checked, changed, unchanged, or unknown.

## 4. Watch finalized earnings separately
Estimated earnings and finalized earnings can differ when invalid traffic adjustments occur. Do not infer invalid traffic from a chart alone, but do note whether finalized adjustments are part of the timeline.

## 5. Content mix and geography
If new traffic came from a different country, device, page type, or short-lived referral, RPM may change even with no technical error. Add the top traffic source and top page group for the comparison window.

## Packet template
Period, traffic change, ad impression change, matched request change, policy/account status, ads.txt/crawler status, recent site changes, content mix change, unknowns.

This packet does not promise recovery. It makes the next check concrete and avoids unsafe advice like clicking ads to test them.

AdSense RPM Drop Investigation Packet

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