AdSense Bad For Your Business

[janeth]

I’ve just closed my account as being a Publisher and I’m waiting on my last months check. We were doing around $10,000.00 a month with the AdSense type of sites and decided to get out because I felt the business model was really bad.

I was a publisher for a company that has a contract with Yahoo but in the end they are all the same.

To make a site work good with AdSense or Overture the first step is in building a site that is totally useless or close to it.

This is an important first step because you don’t want your visitor hanging around your site, you want them clicking an ad and finding another site. Otherwise you don’t make money.

The second thing to do, that is also important, is trying to blend your ads in the best you can. People don’t like ads and if they look like ads they want click on them. Blend them into the text at the top of the page just under the header as well as on the left hand side of the page just over the navigation.

Don’t make pretty sites, we want to run the people off, not keep them around.

Too really make the money you will need more then one of these sites, as a matter of fact 1,000 is a good number if you’re really trying to make money with them.

A good way to get traffic is to add enough text that the site picks up a good paying keyword, then go to Google and bid on around 10,000 low paying keywords.

You can submit the site to all the online directories, do a little blog spamming as well as forum spamming and get the sites to rank. There are even program’s to help you in doing this.

Now if Google thinks there is something wrong with your account, they will cancel it keep your last two months of money and will never let you use those sites again. You do not get a day in court. But if that happens, chunk those sites and just start over. It’s really no big deal.

So next time you’re looking for information online and all you get is a junk site full of ads and you click those ads and find another site full of ads. You can think companies like Yahoo and Google for creating such a wonderful way to make money.

Don’t forget about all the directories full of dead links for adding these sites that are no longer in business. Nor the webmaster that tried to make money this way and went out of business.

Most people only make 1 or 2 dollars a day with these types of programs, if that.

The people that are doing $10,000.00 a month are spending $6,000.00 a month to keep everything working. If you’re wondering how I know, it’s because I did this for the last year or so and I was making around $10,000.00 per month with these types of programs.

One of the topics I played around with was dating; we have around 5 dating sites all together they were making around $30.00 to $50.00 a day.

We decided to start our own site getting Colombian girls to meet men from around the world; I’m thinking that with a lot less work we can do around $5,000.00 a month with this site.

I don’t have to worry about an account being closed or someone not paying me.

We had also put ads on the GeeksOnSteroids site. We were making around $100.00 a day with the web design ads. I have now removed the ads and we are doing around $2,500.00 a week.

It seems to me there is more money to be made by coming up with a business idea and making a site for that idea.

Of the top of my head ten reason why being a publisher is a bad idea.

1. You have to build a lot of sites to really make it work.
2. You have to host those sites in different places, costing more money.
3. The sites have to be good for nothing.
4. They have to get a lot of traffic.
5. You account can be cancelled at any moment.
6. All your money is coming from one place.
7. You make .05 cents a click when you could make $1,500 a click.
8. Some of the companies you will become a publisher for will make corrections at the end of the month and never seem to pay on time.
9. When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business.
10. You have to blend the ads into the site and try and trick the visitor into clicking those ads to make money.

And a bonus

Most of the people on the forums are not making money as a publisher. I would say I’ve seen over 5,000 people sat they were not making money while only around 10 people that are actually making money.

[davidmg]

My hats off to you! Hopefully your description of the time involved and the cost of maintaining the adsense for profit sites will discourage others from doing it also. I use adsense on all my websites but I don't promote it. My personal opinion is that if I pay for a customer to come to my site and they don't buy something maybe I can re-coup some of the money when they leave through adsense. I wouldn't totally throw it out. There is good money to be "re-couped" we are well into the four figures each month. We do not promote adsense only sites but ecommerce.

[Webnauts]

Hey Janeth, did I ever tell you that you rule? Excellent post! Thanks. :)

[janeth]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

Hey Janeth, did I ever tell you that you rule?

No, but I like to rule (-:

Originally Posted by Webnauts

Excellent post! Thanks. :)

Thank you. (-:

[mike]

All good points.

I would add also that I have always marvelled at the uniqueness of the adsense publisher/Google 'partnership'.

Think about it.

If I approached you and said:

"Hey I'll let you display my ads on your site and everytime somebody clicks one, I'll give you a percentage"

Well, your first two questions are going to be "how much are you making on the ads?" and "what's my percentage?"

Google won't cough up any numbers in either regard.

Yet people don't seem to care at all and will line up for Google to pay them SOME percentage of WHATEVER...

I can't think of any other business model or climate where this phenomenon is repeated.

It's amazing.

[janeth]

This is only an example but here’s my thinking.

Let’s say you have a website about 3ft cables. Every time someone comes to the website and clicks on your ad you make .05 cents.

The cables sell for $6.00.

I’d rather go buy 1,000 ft. of cable cut them into 3ft. lengths and sell them for $12.00 a piece.

Instead of trying to make them click on the ad I just have to explain why my cable cost a little more.

The heck with making a small % for sending a visitor to another site, I want it all.

If your getting paid by the click then you have to build a site to put ads all in someone’s face and hope someone else writes the description well enough that someone wants to click on it.

If you’re an affiliate, you have to hope the site your sending people to is designed well enough that it will convert.

I don’t want to have to depend on someone else and I don’t want a dime for doing the hard part.

[davidmg]

If your getting paid by the click then you have to build a site to put ads all in someone’s face and hope someone else writes the description well enough that someone wants to click on it.

This is true but most shoppers tend to shop before buying. They don't always buy on the first page they land on no matter how well it is written. Placing adsense on the bottom of the page is not putting it in their face to leave. I know that the topic can be debated over and over and having it on our website is just my opinion of a way to re-coup the cost of bringing the customer to the site. Besides with getting a nice check to cash every month it makes you feel that if you didn't get the sale you at least re-couped something. It's better than them hitting the back arrow and searching again and the big G gets it all. As far as the percentage goes who knows it's still better than nothing.

[janeth]

Originally Posted by mike

All good points.

I would add also that I have always marvelled at the uniqueness of the adsense publisher/Google 'partnership'.

Think about it.

If I approached you and said:

"Hey I'll let you display my ads on your site and everytime somebody clicks one, I'll give you a percentage"

Well, your first two questions are going to be "how much are you making on the ads?" and "what's my percentage?"

Google won't cough up any numbers in either regard.

Yet people don't seem to care at all and will line up for Google to pay them SOME percentage of WHATEVER...

I can't think of any other business model or climate where this phenomenon is repeated.

It's amazing.

I’ve not thought about that but it is funny.

And they really go a lot further then that by saying your site has to work within our guidelines and if we decided you have broken any of the rules then we will keep all the money in your account and close the account down.

At that point we will also ignore all your emails and want talk to you anymore about it.

I’ve seen a lot of forum posting talking about how Google will shut your account down.

[davidmg]

And they really go a lot further then that by saying your site has to work within our guidelines and if we decided you have broken any of the rules then we will keep all the money in your account and close the account down.

At that point we will also ignore all your emails and want talk to you anymore about it.

I’ve seen a lot of forum posting talking about how Google will shut your account down.

Adsense cut our account off last November they just said invaild clicks and didn't return any emails. It's funny they don't have a phone either. I contacted adwords and told them that if my adsense account wasn't put back up that I would cancel my adwords account (Which averages very high 5 figures monthly). My account was re-instated and I was paid the due money. I love negotiations!

[janeth]

Originally Posted by davidmg

This is true but most shoppers tend to shop before buying.

Most people usually spend around 3 seconds on a website before leaving. Unless the site is sticky or has the information or product they are looking for.

Not many people go to the bottom of a page to click on ads.

Originally Posted by davidmg

They don't always buy on the first page they land on no matter how well it is written. Placing adsense on the bottom of the page is not putting it in their face to leave.

I've worked with a lot of sites and tested this out on a lot of sites. Some of which are high traffic sites.

I was also a publisher for a guy that showed the clicks as they happened and from what site they came from which made testing a lot better.

I've never seen ads at the bottom of the page perform very well.

But your saying your making over $1,000.00 a month with the ads at the bottom of the page?

How much traffic are you getting?

Originally Posted by davidmg

I know that the topic can be debated over and over and having it on our website is just my opinion of a way to re-coup the cost of bringing the customer to the site.

I don't see the money I spend to get a customer to the site be worth .05 cents.

I'd rather place ads to my own sites down there are try and get them to sign up for an email or forum.

Originally Posted by davidmg

Besides with getting a nice check to cash every month it makes you feel that if you didn't get the sale you at least re-couped something.

I'd be looking more into why I didn't get the sale.

Originally Posted by davidmg

It's better than them hitting the back arrow and searching again and the big G gets it all. As far as the percentage goes who knows it's still better than nothing.

I'd work a little harder at making my site make the sell.

[davidmg]

Not many people go to the bottom of a page to click on ads.

True but on a product page it's not that long and sometimes the ads appear without having to scroll down. They are placed below all our info.

I was also a publisher for a guy that showed the clicks as they happened and from what site they came from which made testing a lot better.

I've never seen ads at the bottom of the page perform very well.

But your saying your making over $1,000.00 a month with the ads at the bottom of the page?

How much traffic are you getting?

The adsense runs over 8 webistes total. We notice that our average adsense click returns .23 I guess it depends what products you sell and what others are paying. We sell in a highly competitive field and customers do shop around.

I'd rather place ads to my own sites down there are try and get them to sign up for an email or forum.

At one time we did have banners at the bottom linking a few of our websites together and some have links through out. Removed all banners to keep the sites different. We changed some of the sites around to where some are mirrored sites offering the same products with different descriptions. This works well because with some keywords we dominate the top 20 positions. I have one keyword that puts 4 of my sites in 17 of the top 30.

[nashville]

Very good post - I love it. This explains why my AdSense sales are going DOWN - people like my site better!!!

My goal is be out of Adsense in a month or two. I have been working on creating revenue on other ways.

[mysticalmaze]

IMO,

So, one more bites the dust. There are so many people
that will stop at nothing to earn cash from sites that
have the opportunity and can be cheated.

I commend you for turning legitimate!

[EdwardHadome]

I like this bit

============

To make a site work good with AdSense or Overture the first step is in building a site that is totally useless or close to it.

This is an important first step because you don’t want your visitor hanging around your site, you want them clicking an ad and finding another site. Otherwise you don’t make money

=======================


I've never been a fan of Adsense for that same reason... But at one point I got the fever and rushed to get my site approved, there was so much noise about it, that I too wanted to take a bite out of this

As soon as I got notification that everything is set to go, I was so excited to get it placed in as many places as possible to get clicks and make some money from it... But after looking through all my sites, I just couldn't find anywhere to actually fit it in...

If you run an article site, Newspaper, games site, tv, music etc... Then I can see the sense of adding Adsense...(check out the rhymes:))...

else... There’s no use for me to spoil my site for the sake of a few clicks

Those who make good money from it … cheers to you:)

[sshibad]

Well done Janeth!
Hats off to you for exposing this ridiculous scheme.
They big guys are getting free virtual real estate for nothing.
I am waiting for the bubble to explode.


Sunil
Mumbai, India

[Grokodile]

Wow, I don't know if anyone has said it, but you certainly don't have to sell out to make the maximum dollar if you don't want to.

However, your breakdown of what is wrong with a lot of the sites on the Internet, those that follow the path you have outlined, is right on "the money".

Nice post.

[bj]

I stuck adsense on the blog and directory parts of my site without much thinking about them and don't make money with them at all. I *do* make my living with my website, and I'm not inclined to change it to make money with adsense, since, as you said, I'd have to send them away to do that, and I'm making my money by KEEPING people on my site long enough for them to see what I'm doing.

I may try it out on some other sites I'm developing for myself but I will NEVER build a website JUST to maximize for adsense. I expect I won't make a lot with adsense but in the areas I'll be working in I'll make something. Something is okay.

Since the sites I'll be developing are regional, I expect to make a lot more from local advertising I sell directly once the sites are built and have traffic.

I'd rather have a fun site than an adsense splog. And I'd rather get my linkbacks the easy way by creating content people want to link back to.

Good post!

[MarcGrobman]

Janeth, brilliant post. I think AdSense has a lot to offer, but you certainly outline the pitfalls of basing your business on it. One big point here is not only how stable this is as a business model, but how do you want to spend your life? Chasing clicks by making bad websites can't be a very rewarding career. I've always appreciated your wisdom on WPW -- my only questions is what took you so long?

[tuler]

This is a great post! I'm trying to figure out how to make money with my newest site and this has helped a lot.

[pdstein]

Originally Posted by mike

Well, your first two questions are going to be "how much are you making on the ads?" and "what's my percentage?"

Google won't cough up any numbers in either regard.

Yet people don't seem to care at all and will line up for Google to pay them SOME percentage of WHATEVER...

Google can set whatever policy they want because the have a virtual monopoly on the market. As Yahoo! and MSN get into the market, if they want to compete they will have to offer publishers better terms to draw them away from Google. This should force Google to disclose those numbers to publishers and offer better percentages.

Of course I could be wrong and Yahoo! and MSN could decide that since Google is making big bucks without disclosing that info that its easier to go along with with the same policy and be content to make big margins on a small market share rather than rock the boat.

[ProfessorMoriarty]

I guess I see your point for a publisher that puts adsense ads on his/her own web site business (sole source of revenue), but what about those who do this on the side...like myself? I understand that in the long run it is better to set up a business and sell goods and services, but some people already have a full time job. Those people really don't have time to take an order, box it up, and take it to the post office to ship out. That is an 30min of work right there. Guess it really depends on how much your time is really worth.

With your 10 points:

1. You have to build a lot of sites to really make it work. - I have two that make between $100-$200 per day combined.
2. You have to host those sites in different places, costing more money. - $36.95 per year for hosting. Not really that much.
3. The sites have to be good for nothing. - My sites actually offer products from companies (affiliate marketing). Sort of like a christmasgifts.com. So I do offer a valuable service.
4. They have to get a lot of traffic. - Any site that is going to be successful needs a lot of traffic. Average conversion rates are about 5% online, so you will need a lot of traffic in any business model.
5. Your account can be cancelled at any moment. - I agree here. This is something I worry about.
6. All your money is coming from one place. - It's coming from a reputable company though. I trust Google more than I would trust some of the visitors buying products from sites.
7. You make .05 cents a click when you could make $1,500 a click. - I make between $0.50 and $1.00 per click. My click through rates are much higher than the average conversion rates. I don't have to do any work for those clicks. With a $1,500 service, I am guessing quite a few hours of work are involved.
8. Some of the companies you will become a publisher for will make corrections at the end of the month and never seem to pay on time. - Never had a problem with Google or Yahoo. Always what I expect as far as payment and always at the end of the month.
9. When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business. - That happens with all businesses and sites online. Google, Yahoo, and MSN do not penalize you for just having adsense on your site. I mean look at all the forums, everyone industry complains when Google makes an update and suddenly they are nowhere to be found. You have more to loose if you are business and depend on your site to make a living than just having a side adsense site.
10. You have to blend the ads into the site and try and trick the visitor into clicking those ads to make money. - Sometimes yes, but will all advertising, you need to blend it in with the scheme of the site. Otherwise it really will look out of place.

I am not trying to go against your thoughts on this model, but it's not always that way. I am one example.

[nipplecharms1]

Color me confused but....


If you are selling something, why would want any advertising from a competitor?

We sell Body jewelry... more or less.

WHY WHY WHY would I want a competitor on my site where my potential customer may say..."hey, let me try that one instead." Did I come down with the last drop of rain?

Unless I have it backwards, all adwords on site are links to the same or related industries. Its not like I can have adwords for say..... "Red Bull power drink by the keg." or "Learn to yarn." Am I wrong?

I have to agree with Janeth... Let me sell my stuff the best way I can. It might not be the greatest, and I am sure someone can do better, but until then, I want to be the driver of my carriage!

Michael

[layover]

When I attended SES in NYC this past winter I heard the SVP of Product Management from about.com say that 1/2 their revenue was generated from serving AdSense ads.

Now...that seems like a very high #....gotta believe they generate $30+ million in revenue per yr.

Could they be doing $1-2 million from AdSense?

[jrb@w3f.com]

Originally Posted by janeth

Of the top of my head ten reason why being a publisher is a bad idea.

1. You have to build a lot of sites to really make it work.
2. You have to host those sites in different places, costing more money.
3. The sites have to be good for nothing.
4. They have to get a lot of traffic.
5. You account can be cancelled at any moment.
6. All your money is coming from one place.
7. You make .05 cents a click when you could make $1,500 a click.
8. Some of the companies you will become a publisher for will make corrections at the end of the month and never seem to pay on time.
9. When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business.
10. You have to blend the ads into the site and try and trick the visitor into clicking those ads to make money.

Janeth, you are the bomb!

Most all of my customers refuse to have ANY link that goes off their site. It's like a store with a big open welcome arched doorway to the competitors store. Why?

If your site is there to sell your product/service, then it is DUMB to have ANY link that will intice your potential customers to not complete a transaction.

Then again.... If you share information, of whatever content or format, advertising thru affiliate links makes more sense than AdSense, cause they are usually dollars, where AdSense is just that... cents.

Great words again from Janeth. Kudos.

[SEO Tutor©]

Hello WebProWorld,

I clicked thru from the newsletter and signed up just to congratulate Janeth on her post. I really admire her philosophy and common sense.

Without doubt, the ability to make money off junk sites (encouraged by the search engines) only perpetuates unscrupulous behaviour and produces little creativity.

Thanks Janeth for your viewpoint.

...now if we can just get more people to think like her!

[jrb@w3f.com]

Originally Posted by SEO Tutor©

Without doubt, the ability to make money off junk sites (encouraged by the search engines) only perpetuates unscrupulous behaviour and produces little creativity.

It ruins it for those with blogs, and free information sites that want to help cover their expenses. For those sites, it is a good thing, but I believe a little effort in putting up affiliate links is better for their visitors, as well as their bottom line. (IMHO)

[kneelsit]

Great post Janeth, you have articulated well my own suspicions about Google's advertising strategy. Also hit the nail on the head about the need to treat very carefully those software programs that claim to show you how to boost your ranking by automating your blog/article submissions.

Their sales hype is great, I fell for a couple of them myself but after a time I lost interest since there are far more interesting things to do - even on the net - than working out "how to make more money", which is basically all these characters are offering.

My early experience with Adsense was from the other side of the coin so to speak i.e. looking at it as a way to get more traffic to my own site. When I checked right into it and was told the minimum charge "per click" on the principal keywords I needed I found that I would be paying around $700 for each sale made through PPC - which is exactly what my product was selling for at that time.

To be quite honest I feel that the only party cleaning up big with Adsense is Google itself.

Greg.

[SemAdvance]

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

I guess I see your point for a publisher that puts adsense ads on his/her own web site business (sole source of revenue), but what about those who do this on the side...like myself? I understand that in the long run it is better to set up a business and sell goods and services, but some people already have a full time job. Those people really don't have time to take an order, box it up, and take it to the post office to ship out. That is an 30min of work right there. Guess it really depends on how much your time is really worth.

With your 10 points:

1. You have to build a lot of sites to really make it work. - I have two that make between $100-$200 per day combined.
2. You have to host those sites in different places, costing more money. - $36.95 per year for hosting. Not really that much.
3. The sites have to be good for nothing. - My sites actually offer products from companies (affiliate marketing). Sort of like a christmasgifts.com. So I do offer a valuable service.
4. They have to get a lot of traffic. - Any site that is going to be successful needs a lot of traffic. Average conversion rates are about 5% online, so you will need a lot of traffic in any business model.
5. Your account can be cancelled at any moment. - I agree here. This is something I worry about.
6. All your money is coming from one place. - It's coming from a reputable company though. I trust Google more than I would trust some of the visitors buying products from sites.
7. You make .05 cents a click when you could make $1,500 a click. - I make between $0.50 and $1.00 per click. My click through rates are much higher than the average conversion rates. I don't have to do any work for those clicks. With a $1,500 service, I am guessing quite a few hours of work are involved.
8. Some of the companies you will become a publisher for will make corrections at the end of the month and never seem to pay on time. - Never had a problem with Google or Yahoo. Always what I expect as far as payment and always at the end of the month.
9. When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business. - That happens with all businesses and sites online. Google, Yahoo, and MSN do not penalize you for just having adsense on your site. I mean look at all the forums, everyone industry complains when Google makes an update and suddenly they are nowhere to be found. You have more to loose if you are business and depend on your site to make a living than just having a side adsense site.
10. You have to blend the ads into the site and try and trick the visitor into clicking those ads to make money. - Sometimes yes, but will all advertising, you need to blend it in with the scheme of the site. Otherwise it really will look out of place.

I am not trying to go against your thoughts on this model, but it's not always that way. I am one example.

Dead On!!!!

And

You don't have to make shite sites to make money.

Got to love waking up doing nothing but checking YPN and Adsense revenues

As for Google banning...I have heard of it but never experienced it. I own http://www.toolsforadsense.com which tread all over them and their only response was to stop ad serving on the site.

Ergo why you now see Yahoo Ads appearing on the rebuild.

I think there is a mid point where you can take from one and make the other work as well.

As for playing with automation and websites and the search engines I say it time and time again...slow steady and ethical is the way to success with Google.

Many have not the patience for such but in the long run it pays off handsomely.

[SportsFan]

Originally Posted by davidmg

Adsense cut our account off last November they just said invaild clicks and didn't return any emails. It's funny they don't have a phone either. I contacted adwords and told them that if my adsense account wasn't put back up that I would cancel my adwords account (Which averages very high 5 figures monthly). My account was re-instated and I was paid the due money. I love negotiations!

So, for a price, Google is willing to allow abuse and violations of their guidelines??? That's just a little bit scary.


...

[costaklaus]

Thanks Janeth, great post. That explain my website www.costaricaweb.de makes no money. Google should think about the target="_top" politic.
Saludos from Costa Rica
costaklaus

[NameCritic]

I agree with everything you said there. We used to call outbound links "traffic holes". I still do.

Better to find something to sell to those customers in my opinion.

[pauliii]

I spend about $60K/year advertising my site with sdWords/Overture/MSN nickle ads. I have loads of stock market investing content and sophisticated products to sell.

My pages attract somewhat expensive ads (I get 20-30 cents/click). I get about 2% CTR and a few folks/day buy my complicated investing services for $400+

I essentially run a $0/cost advertising campaign. Seems like a good deal BUT . . . I have many keywords that get first page search placement in Google (much less popular in Yahoo and MSN).

I have always attributed my Google placement to my adSense. maybe even adWords, ads and I am reluctant to remove the ads for fear of being demoted by Google's search engine.

Should I stop being such a chicken and just drop the ads all together? I admit I've loaded up my pages with somewhat useless info to expand keyword coverage.

[123Racing]

Well thanks all for totally scaring us off from signing up for the Google AdSense program!

We were just considering options to add revenue generating options for our recently launched free horse racing game sweepstakes competition, and obviously AdSense sounded like an obvious choice, but after finding this forum and this particular post, we're not so sure.

In situations like ours where we are giving away over $5000 weekly (over $40,000 so far, with NO RETURN). It's important to find appropriate and easily implemented revenue streams, so that we can continue offering these free competitions.

Given that we are NOT selling a product, we'd appreciate any suggestions anyone has for an AdSense style alternative, that they've had good success with.

[TrafficProducer]

you could make $1,500 a click.

How, where, who!!! $1,500 a click is a weeks pay.

~~~
With all the website competition, quite a lot with the same or similar AdSence links it's a wounder anyone makes any cash at all.

And AdSence never get clicked on, (so we are told by Organic Search users),... Is it all fraud click ?

Good Post :)

[jrb@w3f.com]

Originally Posted by 123Racing

Well thanks all for totally scaring us off from signing up for the Google AdSense program!

...

Given that we are selling a product, we'd appreciate any suggestions anyone has for an AdSense style alternative, that they've had good success with.

If you are selling a product, why send prospective buyers off to someone else with any links off your site at all?

If you have a page that offers free insights, with no product to sell, then by all means, affiliate links, or AdSense ( or yahoo, etc. ) seems reasonable.

[larry12468]

Originally Posted by janeth

I’ve just closed my account as being a Publisher and I’m waiting on my last months check. We were doing around $10,000.00 a month with the AdSense type of sites and decided to get out because I felt the business model was really bad.

I was a publisher for a company that has a contract with Yahoo but in the end they are all the same.

To make a site work good with AdSense or Overture the first step is in building a site that is totally useless or close to it.

This is an important first step because you don’t want your visitor hanging around your site, you want them clicking an ad and finding another site. Otherwise you don’t make money.

The second thing to do, that is also important, is trying to blend your ads in the best you can. People don’t like ads and if they look like ads they want click on them. Blend them into the text at the top of the page just under the header as well as on the left hand side of the page just over the navigation.

Don’t make pretty sites, we want to run the people off, not keep them around.

Too really make the money you will need more then one of these sites, as a matter of fact 1,000 is a good number if you’re really trying to make money with them.

A good way to get traffic is to add enough text that the site picks up a good paying keyword, then go to Google and bid on around 10,000 low paying keywords.

You can submit the site to all the online directories, do a little blog spamming as well as forum spamming and get the sites to rank. There are even program’s to help you in doing this.

Now if Google thinks there is something wrong with your account, they will cancel it keep your last two months of money and will never let you use those sites again. You do not get a day in court. But if that happens, chunk those sites and just start over. It’s really no big deal.

So next time you’re looking for information online and all you get is a junk site full of ads and you click those ads and find another site full of ads. You can think companies like Yahoo and Google for creating such a wonderful way to make money.

Don’t forget about all the directories full of dead links for adding these sites that are no longer in business. Nor the webmaster that tried to make money this way and went out of business.

Most people only make 1 or 2 dollars a day with these types of programs, if that.

The people that are doing $10,000.00 a month are spending $6,000.00 a month to keep everything working. If you’re wondering how I know, it’s because I did this for the last year or so and I was making around $10,000.00 per month with these types of programs.

One of the topics I played around with was dating; we have around 5 dating sites all together they were making around $30.00 to $50.00 a day.

We decided to start our own site getting Colombian girls to meet men from around the world; I’m thinking that with a lot less work we can do around $5,000.00 a month with this site.

I don’t have to worry about an account being closed or someone not paying me.

We had also put ads on the GeeksOnSteroids site. We were making around $100.00 a day with the web design ads. I have now removed the ads and we are doing around $2,500.00 a week.

It seems to me there is more money to be made by coming up with a business idea and making a site for that idea.

Of the top of my head ten reason why being a publisher is a bad idea.

1. You have to build a lot of sites to really make it work.
2. You have to host those sites in different places, costing more money.
3. The sites have to be good for nothing.
4. They have to get a lot of traffic.
5. You account can be cancelled at any moment.
6. All your money is coming from one place.
7. You make .05 cents a click when you could make $1,500 a click.
8. Some of the companies you will become a publisher for will make corrections at the end of the month and never seem to pay on time.
9. When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business.
10. You have to blend the ads into the site and try and trick the visitor into clicking those ads to make money.

And a bonus

Most of the people on the forums are not making money as a publisher. I would say I’ve seen over 5,000 people sat they were not making money while only around 10 people that are actually making money.

Thanks for taking the time to write this very informative post.

It is one of the most interestng comments about adsense that I have seen.

I recently removed adsense myself because of some of the same reasons.

Larry

[effisk]

Very interesting post Janeth. I was just blaming a friend today for putting up a site with absolutely no content just for the AdSense money.

Now, back to serious matters: I just can't find Soraya's profile on your site! :-<

[123Racing]

Originally Posted by jrb@w3f.com

If you are selling a product, why send prospective buyers off to someone else with any links off your site at all?

If you have a page that offers free insights, with no product to sell, then by all means, affiliate links, or AdSense ( or yahoo, etc. ) seems reasonable.

Sorry my bad...I should have written: we are NOT selling a product.. ;)

BTW someone in the office had applied to Google yesterday for an account, but actually got turned down as our site relates to GAMBLING! Not sure why they would take that approach as in fact we offer a FREE sweepstakes competition...I mean do they ban free lotto or sweepstake sites??? I don't think so.

[SEO Tutor©]

Like anything else, responsible use of Adsense comes down to the individual. From the publisher's perspective, using Adsense is acceptable as compensation when the ads compliment a website's useful information. People want facts, information, reviews and great content. Accommodate people's needs, interests and desires and you've earned the Adsense revenue.

Advertisers wanting to promo their sites would do well to understand that Adsense should be only a single channel of their overall marketing plan - there are lots of other options to explore.

Some alternate promotion options:

* writing articles
* press releases
* affiliate programs
* other website advertising
* niche directories
* reciprocal linking
* viral marketing
* newsletters
* email marketing
* online classifieds
* joint ventures
* sponsorship & contests
* provide product reviews & testimonials
* forums / blogs / newsgroups
* email signatures
* add to favorites script
* solicit reviews from others
* magnetic vehicle door signs, hats, t-shirts, pens & giveaways
* local television & radio
* trade publications
* company collaterals (letterheads, business cards, shipping labels, etc.)


The idea is to develop a diversified marketing strategy - sort of an "insurance plan" that you put in place so your website receives a steady flow of visitors from a variety of sources -- in order to thrive in both plentiful and lean times.

[tmaster]

Originally Posted by janeth

I’ve just closed my account as being only around 10 people that are actually making money.

Why don't you tell the truth. Google is cracking down on sites like yours and you cant do it any more.

[spronger]

Originally Posted by janeth

To make a site work good with AdSense or Overture the first step is in building a site that is totally useless or close to it.

Wrong. The first step to make a site work with AdSense is to provide useful, engaging content. Visitors who arrive at a site and find it "totally useless" don't click on ads, they click the back button. A successful website monitised with Adsense informs the visitor on a particlar subject. It engages them. After reading your informative content the visitor is then presented with ads from merchants who prodide products or services relevant to your content. That's when people click.

In response to your 10 points:

1. You have to build a lot of sites to really make it work.

I know of publishers making over $500k pa from under 10 sites. Those sites tend to NOT be totally useless. They get high traffic because they are a valuable resource. True, most sites won't earn anywhere near that amount. But even a site that earns $2 a day is earning a profit, unless you're spending thousands to drive traffic to it. Most successful publishers don't spend anything other than hosting and a domain name.

2. You have to host those sites in different places, costing more money.

Hosting is not expensive. $.50 a day in earnings will easily put you in profit.

3. The sites have to be good for nothing.

No they don't. The exact opposite applies. Good for nothing sites wither and die. They don't provide long term success with Adsense or with any other monitisation model.

4. They have to get a lot of traffic.

Any commercial website needs traffic to generate income, AdSense or not.

5. Your account can be cancelled at any moment.

Only if you build sites which do not comply with Google's TOS. Break the rules, you get get cancelled. Don't break the rules, you won't.

6. All your money is coming from one place.

Google's TOS clearly sate that you your site should not exist only to generate Adsense clicks. Sure, plenty of publishers break that rule but eventually they get shut down. I agree, you should not rely on Adsense as your only source of income, on one site or multiple sites.

7. You make .05 cents a click when you could make $1,500 a click.

There are many factors which determine your earnings per click. True, some clicks will earn pennies, but others will earn dollars if you build the right sites and implement AdSense the right way. Even a website with a high conversion ratio needs a lot of clicks to generate that $1,500.

8. Some of the companies you will become a publisher for will make corrections at the end of the month and never seem to pay on time.

If we're talking about Adsense, Google always pay on time, directly into my bank account. Can't comment on other companies.

9. When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business.

Applies to any commercial website. Again, long term success comes with building quality sites which survive algorithm changes because they are useful, unique, frequently updated, well linked and optimised.

10. You have to blend the ads into the site and try and trick the visitor into clicking those ads to make money.

True, you will get better click-through rates if your ads are blended and don't scream "I'm an ad", but if you have provided good content for which your visitor was searching, they will not feel "tricked" by clicking on an ad which provided a product or service relevant to your content.

Obviously Adsense isn't appropriate for every website. If you have an e-commerce, sales oriented site then you don't want to divert visitors from your primary objective. But for content/resource sites Adsense is an ideal way to generate income from your content. Just forget about building "totally useless" sites. It doesn't work.

Steve

[davidmg]

ProfessorMoriarty

When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business. - That happens with all businesses and sites online. Google, Yahoo, and MSN do not penalize you for just having adsense on your site. I mean look at all the forums, everyone industry complains when Google makes an update and suddenly they are nowhere to be found. You have more to loose if you are business and depend on your site to make a living than just having a side adsense site.

Kudos!

nipplecharms1

WHY WHY WHY would I want a competitor on my site where my potential customer may say..."hey, let me try that one instead." Did I come down with the last drop of rain?

Unless I have it backwards, all adwords on site are links to the same or related industries. Its not like I can have adwords for say..... "Red Bull power drink by the keg." or "Learn to yarn." Am I wrong?

If you site is better than your competiters they will come back. We not only track where a customer comes from but we check their IP as well. More times than you think the same IP returns within a few minutes. Personally I feel a shopper looks at several sites before buying. They can use the back arrow and click on another google ad or click on a ad on your page then you are the one they return to when they click the back arrow. Not all adsense ads are industry related. We sell a product called fatwood used as a fire starter for fireplaces. All the adsense ads on that page are related to diet stuff. You can choose to have non compete ads on your site.

layover

When I attended SES in NYC this past winter I heard the SVP of Product Management from about.com say that 1/2 their revenue was generated from serving AdSense ads.

Now...that seems like a very high #....gotta believe they generate $30+ million in revenue per yr.

Could they be doing $1-2 million from AdSense?

Yes and then some. When you look at there site they wite copy on a subject the promote ads and adsense. That's their income. The same as oldhouseweb.com they have done a great job and all they sell is ads and adsense. They are not like the spamers who only do adsense after drawing you in with the right key words.

The ones who are rascking in the money is shopping.com and some of the other shopping sites. The first thing they show you is adsense ads when you search for something, then they show you the advertisers who bid higher for placement then all there regulars who pay .20 per click. Customers sit there and click the the back arrow then click etc just looking at all the products. It's all in the game!

There is nothing wrong with having adsense on your site for extra income. People click away from the best built sites only to see if there is something better before they buy and that's it.

[geoffreygag]

Hello Mike and Janeth,

Mike, you posted points on somebody asking you if "they can place an ad on your site" in which a return is made "An unknown sum"

You can't make those types of comparatives. Google's java scipt is sensitive to every page topic, and GOOG pays on time.

Janeth,

You mentioned publishers, but what I think you refer to are "content creators". Content creators these days are calling themselvees "publishers" (que mentira)

Very few, I mean very few are "REAL PUBLISHERS". Real publishers don't write for Google Adsense dollars. Real publishers write for real magazines..

Both, content creators and real publishers are not eCommerce inclined, eCommerce skilled nor have supportive eCommerce customer service time.

I did understand your point between a real business versus a PPC business.

Many can't swing it, they have real jobs.

I think what can be done is simply being focused. Build prime properties, apply all seo points, passively blend in Google. Once your site gets sufficient category/sector traffic, you can easily remove Google script and roll out a good business. Publishers or content creators can't do that. It requires different skill sets.

Build quality content and Google will never close your account.

[layover]

Originally Posted by layover

Now...that seems like a very high #....gotta believe they generate $30+ million in revenue per yr.

Well..Googled and found they gen'd over $50 mil last yr.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/rec..._id=1001883999

Originally Posted by layover

Could they be doing $1-2 million from AdSense?

FYI..I meant $1-2 million per month. :)

[janeth]

Hi ProfessorMoriarty and welcome to the forum. I had a couple thoughts on your post.

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

but some people already have a full time job.

Yes I understand that but there are also those of us that do this as our full time jobs.

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

Guess it really depends on how much your time is really worth.

Every business does not require taking something to the post office those that do can call UPS they will come to your house.

My problem is I couldn’t afford to work for someone else. So I understand the importance of understanding how much your time is worth. (-;

With your 10 points:

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

2. You have to host those sites in different places, costing more money. - $36.95 per year for hosting. Not really that much.

Add 1,000.00 sites to that and the size of some of my sites and you’ll find it adds up pretty good.

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

3. The sites have to be good for nothing. - My sites actually offer products from companies (affiliate marketing). Sort of like a christmasgifts.com. So I do offer a valuable service.

Your saying you offer the same products and service as another 10,000 sites out there. Not saying it’s not a good service but you have to depend 100% on someone else.

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

4. They have to get a lot of traffic. - Any site that is going to be successful needs a lot of traffic. Average conversion rates are about 5% online, so you will need a lot of traffic in any business model.

This is true but your needing search engine traffic, a lot of businesses will work great with other types of traffic.

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

5. Your account can be cancelled at any moment. - I agree here. This is something I worry about.

We agree on this then. (:

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

6. All your money is coming from one place. - It's coming from a reputable company though. I trust Google more than I would trust some of the visitors buying products from sites.

Yes but I would rather deal with 1,000 visitors then any one person. If one person does not pay and I'm dealing with 1,000 then it's no big deal.

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

7. You make .05 cents a click when you could make $1,500 a click. - I make between $0.50 and $1.00 per click. My click through rates are much higher than the average conversion rates. I don't have to do any work for those clicks. With a $1,500 service, I am guessing quite a few hours of work are involved.

Depends on how it’s set up. My design business employees around 20 people. I go in about twice a week sit around the office, might take everyone to lunch every once in a while but that’s about it.

My Colombian Girls site is being set up the same way.

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

9. When Google or any of the major search engines make a big change in the way they rank sites it could put you out of business. - That happens with all businesses and sites online. Google, Yahoo, and MSN do not penalize you for just having adsense on your site. I mean look at all the forums, everyone industry complains when Google makes an update and suddenly they are nowhere to be found. You have more to loose if you are business and depend on your site to make a living than just having a side adsense site.

Not so. Let’s say I have a really good forum and I charge my members $20.00 per month to join that forum and I have 3,000 members. I make $60,000 a month no matter where my site ranks on the search engines.

Hosting, dating, mail order bride, and so on and so on would work the same way

Originally Posted by ProfessorMoriarty

10. You have to blend the ads into the site and try and trick the visitor into clicking those ads to make money. - Sometimes yes, but will all advertising, you need to blend it in with the scheme of the site. Otherwise it really will look out of place.

People develop banner blindness, they learn to ignore banners without even trying. The reason people blend the ads is to over come this. It has nothing to do with the look of the site.

If someone started getting more clicks with a bright pink banner you would see everyone going to a bright pink banner. (:

[janeth]

Originally Posted by geoffreygag

Build quality content and Google will never close your account.

I bet I could pay someone in India to start clicking on your ads and you would loose that account. (:

[jrb@w3f.com]

Originally Posted by geoffreygag

Build quality content and Google will never close your account.

EXACTAMUNDO!

[bj]

Um, Janeth? Maybe I'm naive about this but-- WHY would you do that? Why would anyone do that to an informational site? I can (almost) understand why (but never endorse) these cutthroat and underhanded tactics are being used on highly competitive product sites, but an informational site?

[janeth]

Originally Posted by 123Racing

Well thanks all for totally scaring us off from signing up for the Google AdSense program!

Some people pointed out the site about.com and it is really a great site. The ads work well for some types of sites. The problem is that those are few and far between.

Originally Posted by 123Racing

Given that we are NOT selling a product, we'd appreciate any suggestions anyone has for an AdSense style alternative, that they've had good success with.

If it was me I would try and come up with something that was unique, interesting and one of a kind.

I would then set up the site to accept members for free but have some special stuff for people that want to pay to be a member.

Take this forum for example, if they turned around and said that anyone wanting to display a signature tag had to pay $10.00 a month and then had a list of other little things they got in addition to the signature tag I would be willing to pay that.

[janeth]

Originally Posted by jrb@w3f.com

EXACTAMUNDO!

LOL you want to post a website URL on here and put that to the test?