My payments have been stable - but nothing to write home about (biggest revenue comes from other networks). The telling sign will be from those who get $5,000+ / month consistently. If traffic is consistent, the change would be:
1) advertisers pulling campaigns (unlikely to happen so quickly)
2) google changes rev share (likely? unlikely?)
Another lesson in email marketing that's not discussed in the article is around email frequency. One key to powerful emails is getting the timing right. Sending weekly emails is for some companies too much... and for others too little.
It's imperative to track your email campaigns:
views
clicks
activities / goals
session length
then return sessions
It's also important to give users the ability to set their own timing. Some users want emails with every update (ie on Facebook). Others want daily summaries.
I actually like that Arrington is expressing opinion in his articles... the other authors on his staff mostly give the news in black and white. When Michael writes, at least it has an op-ed type feel to it and gets you thinking (whether or not you agree with him is a totally a different matter!).
1) advertisers pulling campaigns (unlikely to happen so quickly) 2) google changes rev share (likely? unlikely?)