Written on December 11th, 2007 at 07:12 am by Darren Rowse
Why You SHOULD use AdSense on Your Blog
In this post I’ll explore some of the reasons why bloggers should consider using AdSense as a way to make money from blogging.
I recently released a video post which explained some of my reasoning for stopping to use AdSense as a means to make money from ProBlogger. The post got a lot of attention - however some readers thought that it meant I was giving up on AdSense altogether on all of my blogs. A couple even called me ‘Anti-AdSense’.
This is not the case - while I don’t use AdSense any more on ProBlogger - I do use it on some of my other blogs and it continues to one of my biggest income earners.
In fact since I started to use AdSense it’s earned me just under $400,000 USD.
That’s not bad considering that I’ve been using it for 4 years and it started out earning me just a dollar or two a day.
With earnings like that I’d be a little silly to be Anti-AdSense.
Like every method of making money for blogs - AdSense isn’t always the best choice - however there are plenty of good reasons to test it out. In the remainder of this post I’m going to explore when it IS a good option. Later in the week I’ll share the other side of the coin - when it ISN’T a good option.
Hopefully between the two posts we’ll have a good balanced look at AdSense:
10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Using AdSense on your Blog
1. International Traffic - if your blog has a considerable amount of traffic that comes from outside of North America it can be difficult to find an advertising network that will allow you to participate (particularly if your traffic is from some parts of Asia). Some ad networks will simply not accept you as a publisher, others will not serve their ads to non US traffic and others will serve other less relevant and lower paying ads to this traffic. AdSense does none of this. The beauty of AdSense is that they have such a large supply of advertisers using them that there is almost always some advertiser who wants traffic from your your reader’s part of the world. Of course there is more competition for some traffic than others (which drives up prices) but I know as someone who has a large Australian readership of some of my blogs that it is one of the best ways that I’ve found to make money from that traffic.
2. Easy Implementation - when I first started experimenting with making money from blogging just over 4 years ago I experimented with a number of options. The reason that I stuck with AdSense was that even as a complete technical idiot I could get an AdSense ad unit up and running on my blogs within minutes. Of course since that time AdSense have made implementing ad units on blogs even easier (particularly in the last couple of weeks with server side ad management). While other ad networks have followed in the footsteps of AdSense in how they let publishers design and add ad units to blogs - I still find AdSense one of the easiest to use. This makes it ideal for the beginner wanting to experiment for the first time with an advertising network.
3. Massive Advertiser Base - AdSense has had years to establish itself in both it’s back end but also it’s presence in the Advertising community. The result is that they’ve managed to build up a very large base of advertising clients. This increases the chances of them being able to serve relevant ads to your blog (see my next point). There’s no way that an individual blogger would be able to have access to such a wide array of potential advertisers.
4. Obscure Topics - one of the issues that some publishers face when starting a blog on a tightly targeted niche is that it can be difficult to find ways to make money from it either through finding a sponsor for the blog, finding an ad network that is relevant to the topic or by finding an affiliate program that relates. While AdSense is better for some topics than others (read on for more on this) I’m constantly amazed by just how targeted ads can be on even obscure topics. The myriad of advertisers using this system are competing by bidding on millions of keywords on virtually every topic that you can think of.
5. Make it Easy For Advertisers to Target Your Blog - AdSense servers ads from advertisers to your blog in a couple of ways. Firstly there’s one that is completely contextual - they look at your content and then serve ads from their system that they think will relate to that content and have a good chance of earning you (and them) money. The second method is where advertisers specifically target your blog to have their ad appear on. This all happens without you really having to do anything - but it’s good because it is often used by advertisers to test your blog - which can lead to other things. Every few weeks I get an email from a potential advertiser who had been testing ads on my photography blog via AdSense and then wanted to further the relationship (whether by going with private ad deals, sponsorships, affiliate programs etc).
6. Set it and Forget it - many bloggers just want to write content. They don’t have the time or expertise to approach, pitch, negotiate with and then collect money from advertisers. AdSense takes a lot of this work away from you and many bloggers simply add the code to their blogs and then forget it. Of course for best results you should pay it a bit more attention than that and experiment with different design and positioning of ads - but it does take a lot of the work out of things.
7. No Minimum Traffic Levels - if you are just starting out and don’t have much traffic yet it can be difficult to find advertisers or an ad network to take you on board. Some networks have minimum traffic levels before they’ll accept you into their program - but not with AdSense. While your blog may not earn you much - even with small amounts of traffic you can begin to make a few dollars over time.
8. Able to be Used with Other Ad Types - when I first started experimenting with AdSense there were fairly strict rules in place as to what other types of advertising you were allowed to have on a page that had an AdSense unit on it. However in more recent times it has become a little more relaxed and you can run many different types of ads on the same site and page as AdSense.
9. Multiple Ad Formats - one good feature of AdSense is that you’re not just restricted to one type of ad with them. Not only do you have many ad unit sizes to choose from - but you have the ability to serve Text Ads, Image Ads, Video Ads, Adlink units, referral ads (CPA) and use their ’search’ tool which also is monetized. Many other ad networks just major in one or two of these different formats - in a sense AdSense is something of a one stop shop.
10. Reliable Payment - one of the questions that I’m regularly asked about new ad networks coming onto the market to compete with AdSense is ‘how do we know if they’ll pay up?’ The reality is that most ad networks do pay up - but you do occasionally hear stories of publishers who are not satisfied with this aspect of some ad networks. AdSense has had a few problems over the years with individual publishers - but considering the vast numbers of publishers that they must have - they’ve done pretty well. My payments come in like clockwork and the one time that I did have a check go missing it was promptly replaced.
Of course this post has only argued one side of things (and I’m sure others will give more reasons why they love and use AdSense). So to give a well balanced view on whether to use AdSense on your blog - later in the week I’ll take a look at the flipside and explore some reasons why AdSense might not be the best option for making money from your blog.
117 Responses to “Why You SHOULD use AdSense on Your Blog”
cyberfizzle
December 11th, 2007 7:04 am
1st post woot! Nice job on the post.
GangsterVideos
December 11th, 2007 7:20 am
Excellent post, maybe I should consider using it on my blog!
Laura
December 11th, 2007 7:36 am
I use adSense since last month. It’s really easy to set up, but I’m still working on optimizing it.
Andy
December 11th, 2007 7:52 am
Good advise. Unfortunately, when I first started blogging, I didn’t read the adsense TOCs as well as I should have and got banned from its network because while trying to optimize it I clicked on the ads my self. I only did a handful of times, but I guess it was 1 to many - and my appeal was unsuccesful. Any suggestions to get reinstated?
That being said, I have learnt a lot since then. My blog (financeviewpoint.com) also has an Australian focus (finance and investing) and I have used affiliate advertising and other context programs (like Konterra and amazon) to try and monetize it. Nowhere near as easy or succesful as adsense. But its early days still with these programs.
On another note, would you be able to recommend any good affiliate or publisher programs for Australian target blogs?
Andy
Stephanie
December 11th, 2007 7:55 am
Those reasons are a lot of why I do enjoy using AdSense on some of my blogs. It’s something to be used carefully, rather than abused, and you have to work with it to figure out where to place it for the best combination of reader experience and income.
Graeme Mac
December 11th, 2007 7:58 am
Adsense is great for sites that are in the early stages of development. Its a quick win to get ads up and some money in the door. However I have found that as my sites grow, I phase out adsense from the main spots in favor of higher pay outs. Whether this is selling ads direct, affiliate promotions or direct sales of my own products.
Where Adsense still continues to be a solid performer is one visit wonder sites. I find that these sites do not get a high % of returning visitors, the user task is short lived and does not require repeat visits. Also the subject matter is as far from tech, internet industry as possible (less aware of adsense).
Michael Martine
December 11th, 2007 8:04 am
Regular payments are definitely a plus in the sketchy world of ad networks. Now that AdSense has improved the ease of management (and even yet again, today, for those of you paying attention), it’s easier than ever to run AdSense.
If you have a fair number of blogs or other internet properties, it’s a piece of cake to use AdSense across them all. The new video formats are great for people like me who have video blogs.
The Great seducer
December 11th, 2007 8:07 am
Darren
You say that you can request to be on a certain sight via Adwords? How is this possible? I can run an adwords campaingn and choose the sites I want to appear on? Can anyone clarify this? Thanks!
webrunner
December 11th, 2007 8:13 am
I’m curious to try out adsense as a blog rookie but wonder when is the appropriate time to start using it. Should I wait to reach a certain traffic level? And does it have any negative impact on a blog? Maybe this will can be covered in the next post.
Mark Dykeman
December 11th, 2007 8:24 am
Darren: this article is perfectly timed for my needs. I’m changing platforms which will allow me to monetize for the first time. Every piece of information helps!
Kevin Fleming
December 11th, 2007 8:27 am
Adsense works well in some cases, however if you are promoting affiliate offers you may want to think twice about using adsense because you may be sacrificing conversions for 5 cent clicks.
Keith
December 11th, 2007 8:34 am
I think the thing I like about it most is the near instantaneous reporting. I can also label my ad blocks, so I know which ones are performing well and which ones are not.
Rebellious Arab Girl
December 11th, 2007 8:35 am
How did you make that much?? How much traffic do you get a day!! :(
I want traffic too!! :(
David Dunn
December 11th, 2007 8:52 am
Brilliant post you have here. Explores all of the great reasons to have AdSense on your blog. If I didn’t already have Adsense ads on my blog, this post would certainly persuade me to add them!
Nice one :-)
Bush Mackel
December 11th, 2007 8:54 am
@thewebrunner - Even though you didn’t ask me, I’m gonna add my two cents and say it’s never too early to add AdSense, or any kind of add for that matter. I will say though that when first adding ads to your site, you should be mindful that you’re not throwing a million on at one time and clearly detracting from your content or presentation.
Oh, and since it wasn’t mentioned, I use the Shylock plugin to manage AdSense ads on my site. I think it’s pretty easy and straight forward. *nod*
David W Zemens - 1955 Design
December 11th, 2007 8:57 am
Adsense is the only way I monetize my blogs. Although they are really low traffic sites, I at least pay for the hosting fees of my leased server. Better than nothing, but hardly putting bread on the table!
Gab says: Advertising Hits Your PageRank
December 11th, 2007 9:04 am
Darren, if you want to blow your mindshare and not gain any authority, Adsense is the way to go.
Also, consider it from an SEO perspective. Google is founded on the likelihood of someone visiting a particular page. Using adsense makes people likely to leave your site, even more so if you want to make money from adsense and thus position your ads aggressively.
See my thoughts further developed here:
Ad Publishing Cuts Your PageRank
Sly from Slyvisions.com
December 11th, 2007 9:05 am
I have actually removed AdSense from my blog about a month ago, but after reading this, I think it’s time to revive it.
And Darren, what do you mean by you “only making $400,000 from it”?! People drool over that kind of number!
Nancy
December 11th, 2007 9:12 am
I like AdSense for most of the reasons you list, but one of my favorite features is the competitive ad filter — that I have the power to block ads from certain advertisers. I appreciate that AdSense gives this sort of control to individual publishers.
Mark Gibson
December 11th, 2007 9:14 am
Does anyone know if having Adsense on your site means that Google crawls your site more thoroughly or more often? To match the ads to your site it would seem that they would need to know more about your site than others.
Just a thought.
Anthony Lawrence
December 11th, 2007 9:37 am
And you forgot this:
Because Adsense does (usually) do a good job of picking appropriate and relevant ads, you can actually add value for your readers.
The Opinionated Blogger
December 11th, 2007 9:52 am
AdSense was nice back in the day until I got banned for people clicking on my ads.
Rainmaker
December 11th, 2007 9:57 am
I’m soo bummed that adsense makes no cents for me.
I’ve been building a blog for about 4 months and have some steady traffic. I finally decided it was time to add adsense. I was thrilled to be making about $1.00/day and rev was increasing. Then ZAP! Google did their tweak a few weeks back and I had a week of $0/day. I sadly pulled all the code.
Maybe I’ll try again later after they tweak the algos a little more.
Michael Cruz
December 11th, 2007 9:57 am
once again, a great post, especially for those just starting to blog. I think once people understand that even if you arent bringing in 400k there are other benefits to having adsense on there sites they can began to think of creative ways to analyze the data that adsense provides. And even more importantly, the inclusion of adsense on your site probably wont scare visitors away thinking they have just been sucked into a site that is just a glob of affiliate ads.
sir jorge
December 11th, 2007 9:58 am
Traffic is probably the best way to gauge the adsense question for your blog.
FSK
December 11th, 2007 10:29 am
How many readers do you need for Google adwords to be worth the effort? How much Google adwords revenue do you get per reader?
If it’s under $5/day, I’m going to wait until I have enough readers to get $5/day of adwords revenue.
jhay
December 11th, 2007 10:40 am
AdSense is my biggest earner yet, but not the most consistent since it still dependent upon traffic. Still, I’m sticking with AdSense, just need to develop traffic and come up with really good content.
Holli Ronquillo
December 11th, 2007 10:50 am
While I agree that adsense will allow you to start making money immediately on a blog with little traffic, I also feel that it isn’t very great for new blogs. Mostly, it’s just free advertising for them, because with payout set at $50, some blogs will never get to that payout level.
Maybe I just didn’t give my blog enough time…
Prince John
December 11th, 2007 10:59 am
What Sir Jorge, JHay, said is true.
Though Adsense doesn’t require bloggers to prove ‘any’ traffic, it is going to make a few cents a day, only if the blog has at least 200 visitors a day. Any less than that, it is a waste of time.
Again, blogs with that low levels of traffic really don’t have any real other option to monetize their blogs.
After building considerable amounts of traffic, bloggers can probably get away without using Adsense at all, just like you did here :D
Veronica
December 11th, 2007 11:07 am
I liked adsense, but I had my account terminated for ‘posing a financial risk to their advertisers’. I was only earning a dollar or so a day, but once I had earned $80 they seemed to think that terminating my account was okay.
I’m still annoyed about it because there were no invalid ad clicks or anything.
Dan Solis
December 11th, 2007 11:34 am
i hate adsense, NO ONE clicks on ads! does anyone agree?
btw i like how you used adsense in your post.
Mike Smith
December 11th, 2007 12:10 pm
I don’t use it on my main blog (bootstrapping blog) but I do use it on other blogs that I have setup due to the fact that adsense clicks are so high for the terms.
Adsense is definitely a good choice for the beginning blogger, and experienced blogger. Easy to setup, easy to target your visitors, tons of advertisers, ect. Definitely a great post here
Planet Apex
December 11th, 2007 12:30 pm
I love adsense, it’s a great program. For the first two months for more than 3000 pageview I got only 2 dollars. But since I change the ad position to within the content (300X250 panel) earnings have gone up dramatically. Last month I got nearly 25 dollars. That’s a lot of money in my country Sri Lanka.
RobG
December 11th, 2007 1:49 pm
At first I did not like it but as time has gone on and I have been able to tweek it I have been getting a fairly reliable level of clicks. Now it is my top revenue source.
Rob
Jeremy
December 11th, 2007 2:03 pm
I’ve never used AdSense before. Can it be added to a blog on wordpress.com?
Darren Rowse
December 11th, 2007 2:33 pm
Andy - I’ve not ever had much luck with Australian affiliate programs - sorry!
Graeme - yep you’re right. Many sites grow out of AdSense - although once a site hits a certain level of traffic and can command ‘Premium Publisher’ status it can become lucrative again as they can get better rates.
The Great Seducer - there’s a feature that enables Site Targeting. I’ve not really used it much but I know I’ve been on the receiving end of some targeted campaigns.
Webrunner - good question and one that there is debate on. The way I’ve always done it is to start monetizing from day one. I wrote a bit about the different options here.
Kevin Fleming - spot on, and I’ll cover that in the ‘when you shouldn’t use AdSense’ post later in the week.
Keith - great point
Rebellious Arab Girl - it’s taken years and a lot of traffic on multiple blogs. I’d guess tens of millions of impressions.
Sly - there was no ‘only making $400,000′ in the article - I said ‘just under $400,00′ - don’t worry, I’m not taking it for granted!
Nancy - yes the comp ad filter is handy - although not perfect (wait for the next post as I’m covering that too)
Anthony - yes it does - although only for some topics (stay tuned for more of that too)
FSK - I don’t think there’s any ‘rule’ on how many readers you need (see the link above for Webrunner). In terms of revenue per reader - it varies so much from blog to blog (or more accurately topic to topic).
Holli - yes the minimum payout is frustrating (it’s actually $100 not $50 last time I checked) for small publishers - it took me months before I actually was paid for the first time. But I guess over time the earnings per day grow for most publisher and in theory the payments should come faster.
Prince John - yes, blogs with small traffic don’t earn much with AdSense - but I guess that is the same with any ad network, affiliate program etc. My point wasn’t that they’d earn much - but that AdSense will at least allow small blogs in. I should also say that many small publishers overcome this by having multiple blogs - none of which earn heaps, but together which can earn more than a single blog in some cases.
Mark Gibson - it’s not likely that having AdSense on your site impacts it getting crawled any more thoroughly or regularly. There was some talk a while back that Google search were using the data to help find pages that were not previously indexed - but it didn’t actually help your ranking at all.
66tx
December 11th, 2007 2:55 pm
On another note, would you be able to recommend any good affiliate or publisher programs for Australian target blogs?
tantowi
December 11th, 2007 3:10 pm
If you have 100,000 unique visitor a day, there are many option to monetized your website including adsense. So..I think the key is MORE TRAFFIC=MORE MONEY
coldhitz
December 11th, 2007 3:28 pm
I’ve been putting content up on my blog for about 2 weeks. It’s had Adsense , widgetbucks and Amazon on it from the beggining ( 3 weeks) . The impressions are up , but there are no clicks. I’ve been driving traffic to it and gotten a few positive comments on my posts , situated in different spots , with different more relevent add content , and written promotional material drawing attention to the adds. Still nothing. I’m sticking with it , but would like it if someone further along in blogging could look at it and advise. Tank you.
Leon
December 11th, 2007 3:34 pm
Well done Darren. Still waiting on my first Adsense cheque after two years.
Advice Network Writing contest
December 11th, 2007 4:20 pm
I’m with “Rebellious Arab Girl”. I need traffic.
vineet
December 11th, 2007 4:34 pm
I have been blogging for a month or so now. My experience is the same as most new bloggers here. I haven t had much luck with traffic and consequently I m not getting any clicks on my ads.
One big negative that I see in adsense is that they will not release check until it reaches 100 bucks. I m not sure if your earnings less than 100 bucks are carried forward to the next month.
I m also putting affiliate links on my site but its too early to comment their performance. but I m sure abt one thing. Traffic is the king. Any tips on how I can work on getting more traffic will be helpful..
gr8 article btw..
I feel u Leon.. and all other newbies out there..
all the best.. never quit.
Vineet
http://internetbusinessjunkie.blogspot.com
Olaf
December 11th, 2007 4:59 pm
I use Adsense on most of my websites and have also good earnings with this publisher.
Darren you’re absolutely right with all your points but I don’t thing that Adsense is good for most of the weblogs.
Blog reader use ad blocker or just ignore adsense ads. I think it’s much better to use the “Ad space” for other purposes like related CPA offers or related links to their sites (from you or your “friends”.
I tried on my blog different Ad placements and never got that CTR than on other website.
Linda Zhao
December 11th, 2007 6:11 pm
I just started blogging, and using google adsense, I ain’t that familliar with everything here, I’m looking around, learning how to do things better.
However, my blog is just like dairy, I don’t think it will get that much traffic…
Dave Starr --- ROI Guy
December 11th, 2007 7:25 pm
Interesting post, Darren. I wonder if you had already written it before I saw acomment here just yesterday, I belive, from a blogger questioning why you mentioned AdSense but didn’t run it on problogger. he, like a few of us, has made the mistake of only reading part of what you had read.
I am an AdSense fan since my own ‘day one” nearly 3 years ago now … and in particular because of your pints 1, 3 and 4.
I first started blogging on a narrow commercial sector and a great deal of my traffic was international, because the technology was used world-wide. Yahoo, for example, won’t even touch me, even though my server has always been in the US and I’m an Amrican … there’s no way to restrict the non-US visitors from my audience … and why on earth would I want to? … Google knows the world is not flat.
Again, I am in some other high-tech niches as well. No other advertising network even comes close to the breadth of advertisers Google attracts. If you write about say digital cameras (hmm who do we know in that niche? loL) there are many worthy competitors to Google … but if you write about GPS-disciplined network clocks or air-operated lathe chucks then Google will have an advertiser available while likely no no else will. And the advertisers in that narrow space won’t be paying pennies per ad, either.
I’m not writing this just to restate the obvious, I’m just pointing out some of the complexities in the overall advertising model that many haven’t thought through yet. Don’t be frustrated by the system, study the system … it’s a bit of a science this advertising stuff, and you’ll have more success … it’s worth climbing the learning curve.
And @ Rainmaker and others who feel like throwing out AdSense when you’ve already had some small success … I know the frustraion of “0/0″ days but believe me, the longer you run AdSense and make incremental improvements the better your luck will be. Taking off the ads completely for no other reason that some disappointing days only assures you go back to square one … hang in there rather than quit … it doesn’t cost anything to run the ads, and you _can_ make them perform in time …. remember, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Before & After
December 11th, 2007 7:30 pm
Thanks for the points in this post. I was debating for a while whether to add Adsense to my blog…and after reading, decided to add today. :-)
Caitlin
December 11th, 2007 7:58 pm
At what point should you put it on? Is there any point when you are just launching a blog? Should you wait until you’ve actually got readers? Or should you get them used to the idea from the start?
Pay Per Play
December 11th, 2007 8:41 pm
One of the things that I do not like about AdSense is fluctuation in earnings. One month I do very good, next not so good. And then my earnings rise again. This can be really frustrating. This also happens on a daily basis.
analogstuff
December 11th, 2007 9:16 pm
I started blogging around 6 months back. Initially my experience with adsense was i used to get around 10$ per month for the first three months now things have changed considerably and i am making around 150$ per month. I have never used any other monetization methods. One thing i have realized is that if your traffic increases your revenue will increase there is no other secret.
building traffic doesnt happen over night (Unless you are lucky enough to get digged and on front page) so i feel that its only over the time that you can make more money with adsense.
Darren Rowse
December 11th, 2007 9:24 pm
coldhitz - my initial impression is that your ads are too far down the page. In fact so’s your content. When someone has to scroll…. and scroll to get to something other than a picture it’s unlikely that they’ll stick around too long - let alone click ads. I had to hit page down 10 times before I saw the first AdSense ad - it’s all about positioning.
Abhijeet Mukherjee
December 11th, 2007 9:29 pm
Its true that when it comes to monetization adsense still rules….some people might not consider adsense to be a good option but as amit argues here,it can be a source of decent living!!!
DefogMyBlog
December 11th, 2007 10:34 pm
@Gab:Advertising hits your page rank
Did you mean to tell us more because when I go through to your site I get “Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.”
Rome
December 11th, 2007 10:55 pm
I would partially agree to saying that higher traffic = higher earnings. yes, this could be a factor but there really is more to it.
This is a nice post for all the newbies like me. We tend to get caught in the online advertising frenzy today. A little snap to send the rookies (me included) into reality.
Modaro
December 11th, 2007 11:04 pm
hmmm…
I’m not so lucky like you all guys
im from Indonesia and if my blog use Indonesian languange the AdSense would show the google public service ads check this.!
Ben
December 11th, 2007 11:11 pm
Great post about Adsense. Very informative and lists most of the reasons why I use Adsense on my blogs.
For you newbies, I have used Adsense for over 2 years and had many 0 days and weeks in the beginning. Continue to post and promote your blog and the money will follow. Also, position and an attractive layout also help to encourage CTR.
I visited quite a few of the commenter’s websites and frankly some of these blogs just don’t have “saleable” content. It would be like me trying to sell digital cameras on my blog. It just doesn’t work. I know because I’ve tried it with other affiliate programs and had no sales over month of testing it.
Adsense is still the easiest way to make money. Hang in there, and have some patience. Things will work out.
theblackactor.com
December 12th, 2007 12:32 am
I’ll consider using it on my blog.
theblackactor.com
December 12th, 2007 12:32 am
I’ll consider using it on my blog.
MG
December 12th, 2007 12:33 am
Great post,tnx!
theblackactor.com
December 12th, 2007 12:33 am
Oops. Sorry.
Y. S
December 12th, 2007 12:35 am
Well written article ;)
I started a new blog. My problem is that adsense is not showing relevant Ads., which made me change from using 160*600 format to the other smaller squares with only two ads in them.
Can someone please have a look and let me know if I’m doing something wrong? That would be highly appreciated.
David
December 12th, 2007 12:37 am
No matter which ad network you use the important thing is the amount of traffic to your site. no traffic = no $
Peggie
December 12th, 2007 1:47 am
I had adsense on my blogs, but it got so they were putting ads for things I was totally against or opposite what I was saying on the blog, so I cut them out. I wish there was a way to regulate what they put up.
MY Camera World
December 12th, 2007 2:59 am
The problem I face has to do with my own perceptions about advertising on Blogs.
When I visit blogs that has too much advertising I tend not to return unless there is a huge pressing needs. The main reason for many blogs is that it is too hard to find the content.
Since my blog now has a reasonable reader base (300+) subscribers I have been toying with the idea that some revenue would be useful, but how due I do with a tastefully and not alienate my readers.
Initially I though that I would be ‘pure’ whatever that really is, but now I am leading to the other sides.
Your articles have helped better understand some of the issues with ads.
Thanks
Niels Henriksen
Open English
December 12th, 2007 3:04 am
Great post. I think adsense probably is the easiest and fastest way to start making money from a blog. After that you could probably get more complicated and sophisticated but I think probably for beginners it is the best option.
akshay
December 12th, 2007 3:13 am
well for some keywords google is still the best .like forex and finance will always give you 1$ min and also their is more competition for advertisers in google.since it is the solo market leader in search engines.
CompuWorld
December 12th, 2007 4:20 am
AdSense “must” be used by bloggers…
Very true Darren on point that it is easy to implement and people can set it and forget it. Although there are few friends of mine who log into there adsense accounts daily I think that dosen’t help a lot. I prefer checking my adsense account once a week and that is fine. I have done some testing with adsense and as I said before I would be doing more testing soon after my exams.
The policies like AdSense has no traffic restrictions to become registered member of adsense is real bonus for new bloggers who find it hard to attain even the $1 mark.
AdSense should be used by people but they should be careful on its placement. Bad ad placement can easily kick back your readers.
I got no ideas left as to why else people should use adsense. You got all of them there..
DefogMyBlog
December 12th, 2007 6:01 am
You must have an excellent 6th sense. I am just thinking about AdSense and it is useful to have this information. So I look forward to reading part 2 and then making a decision.
Skruples.com
December 12th, 2007 7:28 am
When you are new to blogging, what else is there? I am focused on building a better blog so I don’t care about the money right now. I hope to get more options once I prove that I can create a blog worthy of being monetized.
Wag the Dog
December 12th, 2007 12:28 pm
This is my second blog. Learning a lot about Adsense ad placement. Write about Hurricane Katrina you get public service ads. Write about a hotel get hotel ads. Write about what is hot today get good ads. If your blogging for money pick a hot topic.
Madlab Post
December 12th, 2007 12:51 pm
Adsense has been a consistent earner for my one blog although the revenue has not been very significant. While it would be great to use other ad networks, many of the ones that I tried out have brought in 0 dollars, which makes it not worth the time, effort and even blog space to add them.
Even if I make a few cents each day on the low end, that is still higher than other ad networks that I have used so far. So, adsense seems to be a keeper and a reliable source of revenue for my blog. Now, I just have to work on trying to increase the CTR with the current traffic levels while also trying to increase the traffic in that process.
hotdogman
December 12th, 2007 3:32 pm
When I started out nearly a year ago it took me 4 months to draw an adsense check ($100 pay out limit). I drew my next check 2 months later. Since then I’ve received a check every month and the past 2 months were near $200!
The key is eyeballs. The more there are looking at your site, the more clicks you’ll get. I am making over $1000 per month with my blog now and adsense is a significant part of that total. By this time next year, I hope to be doing $1000 a month in adsense alone.
I have a friend who writes a “local news” type blog and he’s anti-adsense. We have a constant argument about whether it’s a good thing or not. My answer: Open any newspaper and what do you see? ADVERTISEMENTS.
People are conditioned to seeing advertising in written media, why shouldn’t I provide it and make a few bucks while I’m at it?
Steven Bradley
December 12th, 2007 4:38 pm
Good points Darren. I think AdSense profitability can be very dependent on topic given the difference in payout and the higher CTR from a less tech savvy audience.
Tom @ The Home Business Archive
December 12th, 2007 7:27 pm
You need lots of traffic to earn a real income with Adsense.The payout per click is depending on the niche, and so far the income has been quite modest for me.
money maker
December 12th, 2007 10:01 pm
Ultimately it all boils down to TRAFFIC again. If you have the traffic, chances are you will have better income whether it’s AdSense or direct advertising.
Provided of course you use some common sense in choosing the right ad programme for your type of blog, eg. product ads for product related blog
Always it’s CONTENT=TRAFFIC=MONEY
cheers
mbm
Sangesh
December 13th, 2007 2:36 am
Sure, each point that you have pointed out is why people like have stuck with Google adsense and still will be with Google for a lot of years to come.
Google has now become a brand name and it has put a strong name for itself in the global marketplace.
Cheers.
Sallie Mae
December 13th, 2007 3:33 am
Being a part time blogger, ease of use makes AdSense my first choice. Like others have said, you better stick to a profitable niche topic to get the correct ads targeted.
Glen
December 13th, 2007 3:57 am
using adsense on my blog has been like going to the ATM the money is easy and almost automatic. recent changes have seen my income increase every month
coolthought
December 13th, 2007 6:53 am
If the banner is CPM, Cost per thousands. Ads has the potential to earn even more for the blogger than what a sponsor might be willing to pay for. Especially, if the internet traffic to the blog is still growing exponentially.
Linette
December 13th, 2007 3:01 pm
When you’re new to blogging, it’s a great first step to monetizing your blog. It’s easy to get approved for Adsense, Most other advertisers and affiliates require your blog to be at a certain level of traffic, or established to run their ads.
Adnan Ashraf
December 13th, 2007 8:17 pm
It is Adnan here and i belong to Pakistan recently started work with google adsense programme and applied for registration. I personally advised to every Pakistani for making money in easy way; should join Google Adsense because it is very popular among the people because of its features like, easy use, sing in blogging, reliable for payment, simple use, Honesty, Advertising community and better than others.
I really appreciate of all staff members of google for introducing this programme in Pakistan and all over the world. It is fact that is new for me but i am fully hopeful for better result.
Digital Imageer
December 13th, 2007 11:58 pm
We’ve got a lot of learning to be done with Adsense. I barely started and it’s lean season for me. Probably lack of traffic? But I’m getting a considerable traffic. Or is it that a growing number of site visitors are ad-blinds now? And that, Google Adsense has saturated every niched here and there.
zainuri
December 14th, 2007 1:00 am
Just started a blog. Great advice I must say. Really appreciated it.
mcangeli
December 14th, 2007 4:03 am
The biggest problem I have with AdSense is that once accepted, you have to walk on egg shells around it in order to not be called on “Click Fraud”. Yea, excessive click fraud is an issue, but if there’s an ad for an item on MY page that I want to know more about, I should be able to click it with out fear of retribution.
That and once “let go” for any reason from AdSense, you should be allowed to reapply. This ban for life is absurd.
Deb Ng
December 14th, 2007 5:43 am
Adsense continues to be my biggest money maker. It took a dip in November but is starting to rise again, and nicely. My readers are more clickers than buyers and I haven’t found another form of advertising that compares to Adsense so far.
Hectril
December 14th, 2007 12:05 pm
Generally If you don’t have a lot of traffic going to your blog then your Adsense wont really work. Have a lot of visitors to your site and double your epcm ratio for that big whammy of a click on your ads. Also have your own adwords that could easily attract visitors to your site.
EarnBlogger
December 14th, 2007 4:39 pm
I love Google AdSense because of it’s flexibility. You have given the best reasons to go for AdSense. It should be the first option for every new blogger, who wants to earn some money! Thanks.
Adnan Ashraf
December 14th, 2007 8:37 pm
REALITY OF GOOGLE ADSENSE
I really appreciate Google Adsense programme as we know that unemployment ratio day by day increasing not only in Pakistan but also all over the world but i want to draw your attention that there is no actual concept of Google Adsense in Pakistan. There are number of people have cheated by some person who offer get money online to noble people. I personally advised to Google’s ( Country Manager) please publish a book on this topic in URDU language which is accessible all over the Pakisan then i think it will be better for your marketing. In other words i can say that Google Ad sense programme can decrease the ratio of Unemployment especially for those who have knowledge about computer with high school atlest. I assure you Google will be founder of decreasing unemployment especially in Pakistan.
Antonio Licon
December 15th, 2007 2:11 pm
AdSense is one of my favorite tools. It is a great source of stats, an easy way to monetize, and being Googly, it is a trusted partner to work with.
I highly recommend signing up for an AdWords account if you are planning on making the majority of your income from AdSense ads or similar. It gives you a deeper insight into search word popularity, info you can apply to tailoring your content to maximize traffic (and maybe revenue!)
Other fav Google products you may find useful: Analytics and Webmaster Tools. Both help you manage the indexing of your site and track statistics.
Antonio Licon
December 15th, 2007 2:28 pm
Just wanted to clarify, I don’t think you should necessarily use AdWords to bring traffic to your site if your main reason for doing so is to gain revenue from AdSense.
The search trend information available in AdWords is possibly the most valuable and compelling aspect of the AdWords product for professional bloggers and the like.
Mathew Packer dot com
December 15th, 2007 10:15 pm
I’ve been using Adsense on my Mathew Packer dot com website for about 12 months now and basically made the best part of $8.
I think I need to do a little optimization work to get a few more conversions..
rjs1138
December 16th, 2007 2:10 pm
I started using AdSense this mongth with a brand new blog. It’s funny, but I was thrilled when I made a $1.00. For now, I’m hosted on blogger, but my goal is to move to a new domain at some point in the future. I’m just wondering if staying with a blogspot domain will hurt my chance for more revenue?
m07
December 16th, 2007 10:55 pm
adsense is gr8 and better than its peers
Emma
December 17th, 2007 12:15 am
I was especially interested in your point on Australian bloggers and advertising as this is where I live. I have been deliberating on whether (or not) to use google adsense both on my website and blogs. So, (after waying up the pros and cons) I have decided to use it! Thanks to a great article!
Greg
December 17th, 2007 10:00 am
I am just now implementing AdSense, but like most bloggers I am still struggling with getting TRAFFIC!
Personal Development for the Book Smart
December 17th, 2007 5:10 pm
Adsense is good if you get targeted traffic. However if you are getting a lot of traffic from stumbleupon or digg, it can work against you by lowering your quality score and subsequently earnings..
ridwan
December 17th, 2007 9:24 pm
i just started using the adsense.i’m a newcomer and not an expert in this field.But then,i’m building and optimizing my blog as best as i can.i believe that good income comes from a good work.:)
sham
December 17th, 2007 9:24 pm
New to adsense. Not get enough traffic.
Justin Dupre
December 18th, 2007 7:02 am
“Why You SHOULD use AdSense on Your Blog: Problogger, one of the top blogs on the net, doesn’t use Adsense, but they provide good reasons why it is useful. Just to counter themselves they make sure to publish why you shouldn’t use Adsense as well.”
http://www.moneyandblog.com/2007/12/blog-links-of-day-december-18th-2007.html
CP @ Speedvine
December 18th, 2007 7:19 am
When I first started running these ads I used Google. After a while the clicks became cheaper and cheaper. I have since switched to Yahoo! ads and have tripled my income just from text link ads like that of Yahoo! and Google.
Lenard
December 18th, 2007 7:54 am
I have signed up for the adsense but have yet to fully implement it.. I am just getting my blog up and going, have domain but not much else yet, just setting up wordpress so I can go live very soon. I like your ideas as to why use adsense, for me ease of use and setup are key.
You blog has helped me greatly on what to do and what not to do. Keep up the good work, I don’t miss a day without checking to see what you have to say.
Dan
December 18th, 2007 8:08 am
great post, thanks, i’m new to IM and adsense seems the way to go.
Abdul Basit
December 18th, 2007 8:13 am
Nice one, but the thing is the newly started blogs cant use Adsense because they dont have enough traffic. I am using it, but Darren trust me i am not making any thing.
I do respect of opinions, but at the moment its not working for me. I will wait hope for the best :)
and the main thing which i like about you is, you dont buy the traffic. People love your posts because of unique vision and approach.
Thanks, for the post.
-abs
Steve
December 19th, 2007 6:42 am
i also enjoy AdSense but i have one complaint: they limit you to three ad units per page.
this means that when you try to put ad units between your blog posts, they will only display after the first three blog postings and then stop. i get a blank box after the fourth posting on my blog.
i’ve read elsewhere that Blogger blogs now have the means of implementing ads between blog posts but lots of folks have complained about the three ad unit limit.
i’m hoping Google will reconsider the three ad limit. from everything i’ve read, you want ads as close to the actual content as possible and having them appear immediately after the blog posts should be a no brainer were it not for the ad unit limit.
thanks for the post, darren.
Maritzia
December 19th, 2007 10:55 am
I have AdSense on my blog, but don’t get much out of it (probably because I don’t post much). However, I have it on my main website, and it pays for both my domain and my husbands every year, and it’s a seriously niche site. I mean, seriously. It’s for women considering religious life in the Catholic Church *laughs*. How much more niche can you get.
Chris
December 19th, 2007 12:33 pm
Off topic: This is my entry to win the Premium News Wordpress theme. =p
On topic: Implementing adsense is as easy as ABC, however, to really succeed at it later is terribly frustrating. It requires a lot of hardwork and time to blend, optimize and test the ads. It took me more than a year to get my first 100 bucks, pathetic. Traffic ain’t an issue for one of my blogs, but low CTR and eCPM are getting on my nerves.
yukitee
December 19th, 2007 8:53 pm
very informative and simple to understand post. i have put up my blog with Adsense for quite some times already, but i have yet to see any income from Adsense.
you did mention about optimizing the Adsense ads, may i know what exactly it means and how to optimize besides changing the position and the color of the ads?
i appreciate your kind advice, thanks.
Young
December 20th, 2007 12:07 am
This post is so good that I will translate it into Chinese in my Essential Blog.
Not John Chow
December 20th, 2007 8:40 am
I just started my first blog in November. So far, my Adsense account is at $0.65. I know that it will grow with my readership, but I think for the small, first time blogger, Adsense and their minimum payout of $100.00 is a bit daunting.
South Bay Mom
December 20th, 2007 10:05 am
Very informative article! I just started a blog a few days ago and, yes, you can add Adsense with no traffic (at least I did). I know your probably very busy, but if you have a chance could you take a look at my site and let me know what you think of my ad placement? I am a newbie and my hosting company told me I could only add Adsense in the sidebar, so that is what I’ve done. Also, if you would be interested in exchanging links I would really appreciate it!
Post On Fire
December 20th, 2007 4:09 pm
I found that it really depends on the niche of the blog. I’ve tried several niches and I found out that the payout per click differ largely from niche to niche. For instance some financial niches and health niches pay way more than technology niches.
Also, the advertisers type…. some niches you’ll find big advertisers that need more branding than sales and they really don’t care how much they pay per click. Other smaller niches have lots of different affiliate offers and they don’t bid much.
It also depends on the content itself. For instance if you’ve lots of high paying keywords in a page that has ads, the system will pick high paying ads that are related to these high paying keywords.
So it’s a good idea to have different alternative ad network including AdSense and test which one is more profitable… you never know which one will work better for you niche.
Jeremy Steele
December 20th, 2007 5:49 pm
$400,000? So that’s probably nothing these days with the weak dollar, right? ;)
Andrea_R
December 21st, 2007 9:43 am
Blogads worked far better for me, a C-list blogger. ;) It’s hard to get into (you need an invite) but you can place as many adstrips as you like, setting the price. It’s pretty consistant, and if you can get people signed up under you, you also get a cut.
A blog such as this would make a killing. :D
BlgoHerAds is also working well, but they are also a niche network, and often close signups. Primarily geared towards women bloggers, they recently opened up to more.
Why worry about CPM or pay per click when you can just get paid to show an ad for a certain amount of time?
Free XBOX 360 Elite
December 24th, 2007 10:56 am
Not a huge fan of ads but this is helpful regardless
EssDub
January 3rd, 2008 12:46 pm
Great article. Just starting to generate some decent traffic and ad views across a few domains. Good times to come.
South Bay Mom
January 4th, 2008 12:13 pm
I am a newbie (my site is a few weeks old) and my latest CTR (click-through-rate) is 3%. Just wondering if this is low, high, or typical? Perhaps we could take a poll: What is your CTR?
South Bay Mom
January 4th, 2008 12:20 pm
One more question (sorry!)…It has come to my attention that I may have to many ads on my site. Does anyone have any advice how you know when you have overdone it?
Justin
January 7th, 2008 5:12 am
I will use it for my travel guide.
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