Is the Euro crisis affecting Google adsense publishers income

It seems so because since the start of this year 2012, the Euro has been depreciating against major world currencies such as the US dollar.

A few years ago Google adsense urged all adsense publishers within the eurozone and some other African countries to swithc to euro reporting within a specified deadline. I was not really optimistic about it then because I still preferred the USD reporting and payment. What Google wanted then was for those publishers to have their adsense earnings to be reported in euro but still have the option of receiving their payments in USD. So this meant that at the end of the month when your income must have been calculated, they would then be converted first at that date to the US dollar at the market rate. This was good news for most publishers as the euro was fairly strong at about 1.4 to the dollar. This simply meant that if the euro appreciated prior to your payments being calculated at the end of the month, you would earn more dollars based on a higher conversion rate at that date.

Now the question is, what happens if the euro depreciates towards the end of the month when your euro earnings are about to be calculated and converted? It simply means that the publisher would be paid less than he actually earned simply based on the market price of the euro.

Now since early 2012 and precisely May, the euro has fallen more than 500 points from as high as 1.32 to as low as 1.24 and this means that payments for May would really be affected by the decline in market value and publishers would actually be paid less despite earning more. This is even worse for those in countries outside the eurozone who are still forced by Google to accept euro reporting despite their preference for dollar reporting and payments.

I think adsense publishers should be allowed to choose which currency they want their earnings to be reported and their payment currency too. Both the publishers within the eurozone and those outside may actually be paid less as the euro keeps declining despite earning more.

For those being paid in US dollars but with euro reporting, they would get less when conversions are made unless Google has a hedging system that allows them to be paid only at yearly fixed currency prices.

One tip to however avoid being paid less due to the falling euro currency is to simply hold their payments until the euro appreciates. This can however not be easy for those not earning much from adsense but for big time publishers.

However if the euro keeps falling, it may not be good for publishers mostly on euro reporting and Google needs to find a way to protect their partners in this case.

It would be nice if Google, in the light of these unexpected euro crisis, allows publishers to opt out of euro or any other currency reporting and choose the currency they want. Publishers outside the eurozone have a more cogent reason to choose the USD or any other currency they want. This would encourage honest publishers to work harder.

1. Re: Is the Euro crisis affecting Google adsense publishers income Posted by Jide Ogunsanya on Wednesday June 6, 2012 at 9:23:32:

   It is really affecting me too but I can't risk holding my earnings just because of the decline in market value of Euro. Very risky

   
   

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2. Re: Is the Euro crisis affecting Google adsense publishers income Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday June 7, 2012 at 11:36:9:

   Yeah Jide, holding it would be far worse if the euro fails to appreciate.

   
   

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3. Re: Is the Euro crisis affecting Google adsense publishers income Posted by Christophe on Monday July 16, 2012 at 8:22:21:

   Am I missing something?

   I'm an european publisher but most of my AdSense earnings are made in the US. As the Euro depreciates, I actually get paid more Euros for the same amount of Dollars earned in the US. So for me the Euro depreciating is actually a good thing.

   
   

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4. Re: Is the Euro crisis affecting Google adsense publishers income Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday July 16, 2012 at 8:22:21:

   You get paid in euros? Then it's good for you. I'm talking about non-european publishers who still get their daily earnings calculated in euros but eventually get paid in US dollars. So most publishers in Africa eventually get paid in US dollars even though their daily earnings are converted to euro. In the end they get shortchanged due to the depreciating euro. It would have been better if they had the option of getting their daily earnings and final payment in US dollars.
   

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5. Re: Is the Euro crisis affecting Google adsense publishers income Posted by Christophe Keller on Tuesday July 17, 2012 at 10:23:39:

   Now I see I wasn't aware that you were located in Africa.

   Why do they calculate the earnings in Euros? That's strange...

   
   

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6. Re: Is the Euro crisis affecting Google adsense publishers income Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday July 17, 2012 at 10:23:39:

   I guess most countries outside the US, Google prefers crediting them in euro. Many would have preferred USD only
   

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