I need to preface this training by saying that I don't use Adsense and I haven't in years. I have one rouge ad out there somewhere that's making me a few cents each month, but other than that, I don't touch it. In fact, I can pin-point the exact date I stopped using Adsense. It was August 25th, 2009. I had PM'ed Kyle asking for advice on one of my sites and he warned against Adsense on a site like mine and said this line:
Kyle: Why give away a prospective customer for $0.50?
Ever since that conversation, I've constantly evaluated the audience that reads my content and tried my best to pair them up with advertisers I think would best suit their needs. Adsense has yet to make sense for me. Adsense does have its benefits however. I'm not against the program entirely, but Adsense should not be your only source of income online.
This training covers the recent string of Adsense bannings, how Google treats their publishers, how I got wrapped up in a "Google banned me :(" story, and alternative ad-networks to join.
Let's get to it!
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Ty Johnson
Premium
Great training here Steve, I was wondering if you might have some advice as to how to find private advertisers, I have a cooking site called Filipino Recipes Nook and adsenseless, will not allow me to put their adds on it, not that I want to after reading this lol, but I could sure use some help finding private advertisers.
One of the biggest questions I have is how many monthly visits do you need before private parties will be interested?
One of the biggest questions I have is how many monthly visits do you need before private parties will be interested?
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slayton1s
Premium
Hey Ty, that's weird you can't advertise it via your blog. I wonder how they even notify you you can't do that.... You have the option of using Chitika or Kontera ads if you want. At the least, you could try doing Info Links. I don't know how info links works, but I know some people have it setup to where it automatically is put in articles all over people's websites. If you can't put it in "certain articles" within your site for info links, I'd forget about that. INFO links looks bad if you ask me.
Of course you could monetize your site with other ads too, but that would kind of ruin the idea of using any clicking based advertising where you get money solely based on clicks & not sales. I think this is a least a "good thing" to use via info articles & not your sales pages, especially if you're not already making hundreds of dollars from that site.
Then at the very least, you could just try using Ebay or Amazon links. I haven't delved into Ebay much yet, but I know I like Amazon.
Of course you could monetize your site with other ads too, but that would kind of ruin the idea of using any clicking based advertising where you get money solely based on clicks & not sales. I think this is a least a "good thing" to use via info articles & not your sales pages, especially if you're not already making hundreds of dollars from that site.
Then at the very least, you could just try using Ebay or Amazon links. I haven't delved into Ebay much yet, but I know I like Amazon.
Ty Johnson
Premium
So are you saying make a banner that says "Place You Ad Here" on the site and see if anyone responds to me? and if that is what your saying, can you give me some idea as to how much to charge people?
Do you make a decent amount of money with Amazon? it didn't seem to me like they paid very much %
As for info links, I can't use it because all my content on that site is published through a plug in designed for recipes, and it takes a certain code, which basically does not work with there automated process, plus it looks way to spammy for my taste
Do you make a decent amount of money with Amazon? it didn't seem to me like they paid very much %
As for info links, I can't use it because all my content on that site is published through a plug in designed for recipes, and it takes a certain code, which basically does not work with there automated process, plus it looks way to spammy for my taste
slayton1s
Premium
Hey Steve, thanks for making this training. I was making about $20 a month from Google Adsense. But after reading that, I'm going to switch all my ads to Kontera. Not sure about Info Links though, LOL. Thankfully I use a type of strategy that doesn't mix these ads up with my important content, so it's all good.
morlandroger
Premium
The whole Google thing gets more bizarre. Banning adwords accounts is one thing but adsense?!? Fine tutorial though, I am sure the other advertisers will not be so anal.
IveTriedThat
Premium
One thing I've noticed is that other ad networks give you affiliate managers you can actually TALK to. Google has the discussion boards, but that's not nearly the same as having a contact within the company that you can ask questions, get feedback, etc.
Eventually their whole "no customer support" angle is going to come back to haunt them.
Eventually their whole "no customer support" angle is going to come back to haunt them.
Kyle
Premium Plus
It has already haunted them, I don't know a single person that feels as though they can get proper help from Google when they need it. If they weren't so good at what they do (providing relevant search results), people would have moved on a long time ago.
Goes to prove that advertisers and publishers aren't really their customers, their customers are the people actually searching.
Goes to prove that advertisers and publishers aren't really their customers, their customers are the people actually searching.
Kyle
Premium Plus
Excellent piece here Steve.
We have always emphasized that using Adsense is working for pennies when you can be earning dollars. The reason that we have always stated this is because the people that are advertising (the Adsense) on your site are the actual people benefiting from your content as they are generating the sizable revenue chunks (the $).
The cool part is that when you own your own site, you have full control...you can do whatever you want. If you want to try Adsense, you can. If you want to promote Amazon products, you can. If you want to run relevant affiliate offers, that is an approach as well.
There are much better alternatives to Adsense so for those people out there that are frustrated by a suspension or feel they are earning pennies, try something else!
We have always emphasized that using Adsense is working for pennies when you can be earning dollars. The reason that we have always stated this is because the people that are advertising (the Adsense) on your site are the actual people benefiting from your content as they are generating the sizable revenue chunks (the $).
The cool part is that when you own your own site, you have full control...you can do whatever you want. If you want to try Adsense, you can. If you want to promote Amazon products, you can. If you want to run relevant affiliate offers, that is an approach as well.
There are much better alternatives to Adsense so for those people out there that are frustrated by a suspension or feel they are earning pennies, try something else!
