Where Did My Page Views Go? YCN Payouts and PVs Explained

If you write for the Yahoo Contributor Network (YCN), you probably know that scheduled payday is normally the second Wednesday of the month for page view (PV) bonus earnings accumulated during the previous month. You have probably also been confused by the amount you have been paid and the disappearance of PVs from your content page.

Yahoo Contributor Network calculates your payment from the first day of the month to the last and pays out the amount earned for that month no later than the second Wednesday of the following month. Whatever you have earned after the update on the 1st of the month (which includes updates for the last day of the month) is what you will be paid the next month (provided you have earned the minimum payout amount of $1.50).

Example: If you have accumulated 2500 PVs for the month of December and you are Clout Level 6 or below, you will have earned $3.75 (2500/1000 x $1.50) and can expect to receive that amount on the second Wednesday in January. (More about Clout Level here).

The amount of page views and the associated payment amount will continue to accumulate until the payout is actually made, so make sure that you write down your earnings after the update on the first of the month. If you look at your account page on payday and see an earnings amount of $5.25, don't expect to see that amount in your PayPal account later in the day. That higher amount is the total that you've earned for the previous month as well as what you've earned from the first day of the current month.

On payday, the amount in your earnings page will be deducted by the amount you are being paid that day, with the resulting amount being what you've earned so far for the current month.

Example: If near payday in January you saw $5.25 but know that you earned $3.75 for December, that figure will drop on payday to the $1.50 you've earned so far in January, and you can expect to be paid the $3.75.

Some writers panic when they see $5.25 in earnings one day and then it drops to $3.75, and they want to know whyYCN is taking their money. Yahoo Contributor Network hasn't taken away any of your earnings, they are paying you what you were owed for the previous month and recalculating the current month to date.

The page views on your account page are calculated in the same manner as the earnings. Whatever you have accumulated for PVs as of the update following the last day of the month is what your earnings will be based on. AC is not taking away any of your page views.

Remember to write down your total page views and earnings amount after the update on the first of a given month and don't worry about the rest of the numbers until after payday.

While numbers are being calculated in preparation for payout, the numbers in your account and on your profile will often say n/a or otherwise alter or disappear entirely on payday. This is a normal monthly occurrence on payday and the data will correct itself shortly.

Don't be alarmed if your account shows that a payment has been made or is pending and you don't have it in your PayPal account yet. Yahoo Contributor Network will submit the payments, but PayPal processes the payments in batches and the payment often doesn't hit until early evening (U.S. east coast time).

More help at YCN FAQ