Ads publishing as a source of income

[Marco Pontello]

The argument recently come up on PowerBASIC's forum, here.
Don't know how many of you have any real experience about the subject, so maybe this can spark some interesting discussions about the topic. In the end, most of use have at least some web pages with some works (tools, utilities, shareware app, etc.) and the idea to make some bucks with them may have crossed the mind of more than one person.

A software developer (even just an hobbiest) may think that only way to make some money with the internet is publishing a shareware / commercial application, but the net now really offers a lot of additional possibilities that IMHO are at least worth exploring / evaluating.

Here's a very nice (and funny) message someone posted at Digital Point forum's, that sum up some of the basics questions that come up when "starting":

Digital Point Forums > Search Engines  > Google  > AdSense -  How many $$/month do you make through ADSENSE?

Nobody here searches for previous threads about their question. I think they just like to see their posts. Or they think their question is new and unique -- and never asked before.

Here are the TOP TEN questions that get asked OVER and OVER again, that already have thousands of answers:

1. How much do you guys make a day [week, month, year] with Adsense? {my earnings suck and I just want to make sure everyone else is in the same situation so I won't feel so bad}
Answer: $2 a day is very normal for those who are just starting and those who's site is not a good fit for Adsense. It might get better -- it might not.

2. Why is my CTR so low for my forum [blog, game site, celebrity site, technical site]? {I built a site and put Adsense on it and don't understand why my visitors don't all click on my ads to help me out even though the ads don't have anything to do with my visitor's interests}
Answer: Because these types of sites don't typically do well with Adsense -- for a variety of reasons.

3. My CTR is too high. Will Adsense ban me?
Answer: No, there's no such thing as a "too high" CTR -- unless you have all your friends clicking on the same ads over and over.

4. What are the highest paying keywords? {how can I build a worthless MFA site with high paying keywords and get rich from Adsense}
Answer: Forget about it. You'll find it almost impossible to get enough traffic for those keywords in competition with everyone else who is targeting those keywords. Traffic is key.

5. Is my ad placement OK?
Answer: Maybe, maybe not, but you should be worrying about traffic, content, traffic, content and placement -- in that order.

6. Am I being smart-priced? {my revenue sucks and I have to blame it on something}
Answer: Your site probably doesn't generate enough clicks that an advertiser is concerned about reducing bid prices due to poor conversions. Don't flatter yourself. It's your site, not smart-pricing.

7. I just got banned by Google and I didn't do anything. What can I do? {I or my friends/family clicked on my ads too many times and now Google caught me. How can I get my account back if I promise it won't happen again?}
Answer: Your chances are slim. If you have absolute proof of your innocence, Google might listen. But they've heard every story, lie, and promise in the book, and don't much care to hear yours -- even if you are innocent.

8. How long did it take you guys to get to $10 a day? {I've been at $1 a day for 6 months and haven't done anything to my site and wonder why it isn't getting better}
Answer: You aren't working hard enough to improve the content on your site, to get traffic, improve ad relevancy, or experiment with ad format and placement.

9. I got 1000 clicks and only $2 revenue. Why? {my site is about free templates, teen celebrities, myspace add-ons, or rock bands, and I don't understand why advertisers don't pay a lot of money for ads for this stuff}
Answer: Because advertisers don't bid much for ads for this kind of stuff. It's not worth it to them.

10. I made $4 yesterday and only $1 today. What's going on? Is the world coming to an end? Is anyone else seeing this? What can I do? {I make very little money on my site and watch it every day and am obsessed about trivial swings and worry if it signals a terrible downward trend}
Answer: Get a life. Up and down cycles are normal. There's nothing that says your revenue for one day should be the same as yesterday. You have different visitors to your site, different number of visitors, different ad CPC, differert everything.

By the way, for anyone (even remotely) interested in Ads publishing, the Digital Point forums is one of the best source of info & discussion on the net. Off course, there aren't magic wands or instant money tips: as with most things, what it really takes is some learing & time to spend on it experimenting.

Bye!

[Donald Darden]

Maybe if you found something that would really sell on its own, it would make you some money and generate traffic to your web site at the same time.  Then who cares what your lame content is.

[Marco Pontello]

I don't really understand what you mean (please note that English isn't my first language).

There's lot of "legitimate" and interesting sites, from amateurs freeware coders, to bigger players, to services of various kind, etc. that also shows non too intrusive Ads (the text ones from Google are an example, but not the only) and enjoy some earnings.

Sure, there are also some gateway or essentially useless link-farms, but that don't mean that's the only option.

Bye!

[Donald Darden]

Hi Marco.  I was just being sarcastic.  The way I read the complaints, people are apt to want to blame something besides their own poor efforts for poor results.  But even if I visit really useful or interesting sites, I'm not apt to click on any ads there.  In fact, once you get sucked into clicking on one, they often lead you down a trail of additional ads and surveys that go on and on and on and ...

Hey, you want to try to make some money off your site, more power to you.  But the internet is about the biggest giveaway in the world, packed full of all sorts of connnections, useful information, and even worthwhile programs.  You do some searching, and most likely you will find a free version that is as good as that one that someone else is trying to sell.

There are some people that really have to try and make a living from the Internet, and I know that it is tough on them.  But sponsoring ads for things that I have no interest in is not the way to gain my support.  Offer me something that I can use, that fits into my area of interest, and charge me a fair price for it, then you might get yourself a deal.

I have the WeatherBug on my PC.  It puts a lot of ads in my face, and asks stupid questions like which drink I prefer more, Coke or Pepsi?  It promises great rewards for taking surveys, but it is designed to try and get you to buy things or accept future ads from sources that don't appeal to you.  So I just ignore those things.  It tries to get me to sign up a sponsor for continuing to use their ad-based software.  I just close the sponsor page when it comes up.

Don't expect any sympathy from me if you sign up with any outfit that uses your web site as an outlet for their continuing efforts to sell me things that I don't want or need.   

[Marco Pontello]

Hi Marco.  I was just being sarcastic.  The way I read the complaints, people are apt to want to blame something besides their own poor efforts for poor results.

OK, now I understand better, thanks for clarifing.

But sponsoring ads for things that I have no interest in is not the way to gain my support.  Offer me something that I can use, that fits into my area of interest, and charge me a fair price for it, then you might get yourself a deal.

Sure, I think that's true for most people too.
But, that's exactly why the targeted Ads like the ones from Google have changed the scenario quite a bit. Everyone was fed up with the flashing banners, and the little text box with related text proved to works far better and being way less annoying.
Sure, the targeting system can't be perfect all the time (obviously), but it's not uncommon to read a post on a blog about whatever and seeing a couple of Ads from Google that are really interesting in that context.

For me, at least, the fact that some Ads show up on a site don't make me label that site as lame or not worth my time / interest. BTW, all the tutorials & info on the subject (not to mention Google official FAQs) stress the fact that, for the system to work best (and so being successful for the publisher), the quality and the contents of the page is essential.

Sure there are sites that exploit this or that "quirk" of the system and may make some spectacular results for some time, but that's usual is corrected on the next round of ranking algorithms tweaks, and the site is penalized accordingly.

Bye!