Short answer is on occasion, ads don’t reconcile (process) in time for payment. When that happens, they “roll over” and are applied to the following month. Unfortunately, we had a significantly higher amount than usual for this month’s payment. The good news though is if you look(ed) at your Estimated Earnings, you’ll notice it carried through and is still sitting there.
“Why is my payment amount different than what my ‘estimated earnings’ was showing”?
This is perfectly normal! Sometimes ads do not fully reconcile (“cash in”) before the end of the payment period. So while this does appear in your Estimated earnings in real time, unreconciled funds will not appear in the current month’s payout and will instead be “rolled over” into next month’s payment.