Found this story and thought I would post it as it is quite inspiring. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-03-28-googe-adsense_x.htm?POE=TECISVA It also touches on some cultural differences which make adsense quite interesting from an economic point of view. Jamie
As inspiring as the success stories appear to be, I have to question the validity of the click revenues being generated in those circumstances. As an Adwords advertiser, I have completely turned off the AdWords' contextual network because of click fraud. I work too hard for my money to simply hand it over to the fraudsters and click artists. In turn, as an AdSense publisher, I know how hard it is to legitimately generate $1,000 in Google revenues a month. For someone in a third world country to be generating that kind of income from their website, well it just seems hard to believe that paying advertisers are truly getting their money's worth from their PPC campaigns. I think the bubble is going to burst some day soon when advertisers expect, no DEMAND, full accountability from Google for the way advertising dollars get wasted on marginal (or worse, fraudulent) websites.
I've recently realized that too. It's a bit too risky for my liking to depend solely on adsense for income, though saying that one day the bubble will burst comes across a bit too strongly. But maybe we'll see a drop in earnings as advertisers start looking elsewhere for more affordable advertising. It's pleasant though, to read some inspiring stories. Thanks for the post!
In response to debare "In turn, as an AdSense publisher, I know how hard it is to legitimately generate $1,000 in Google revenues a month." Dear friend, what world do you live in? We generate over ten times that each month right her in the US with websites that people absolutely love (great content, helpful information, and easy to navigate). And the advertisers love to publish their ads on our portfolio of websites. Who says that you have to commit fraud to make money off AdSense? On the other hand, what we find is that if you have great websites, everybody wins. No wonder then that the likes of New York Times carry Google ads. As they say, all generalizations are dangerous.
The Author, Carolyn O'Hara was interviewing some DP members for this article, I was one them, she did not mention my name even my site... but was a fun experience...
Well up to 2 months ago I didn't think it was possible to break that $20 a day wall, but after a year of reading, tweaking, and plain old hard work I'm enjoying up words of $150+ a day now. And all within TOS, if ever in dout about something guys, send google an email and ask if its OK, then KEEP that email, in case it comes back to bite you like in my case. Enjoy and good luck.. Oh BTW I still kept my full time job..
Good Story, but unless they're doing something else to monetize their site, putting all their eggs in one basket seems a little risky.
Indeed generalizations are dangerous. That' why I never said one has to commit click fraud to do well. As an AdSense/YPN publisher with several excellent content sites, I know that advertisers and visitors both get value from my websites. However, I also know what it takes to generate good content and keep visitors coming back. I (and the New York Times) also don't depend on AdSense/YPN revenues as my sole source of income. If these revenues dip, I have many other revenue streams that keep on producing. On the other hand, human nature being what it is, the temptation to artificially boost revenues must be very high when a dollar is really a dollar and goes a lot further (like the good ole' days in North America). As someone who also spends thousands of dollars a month on PPC, from personal experience, I simply no longer believe that advertising money is well spent on the majority of AdSense publishers (although the NY Times along with your and my sites are, of course, the exception ). One only has to do a modest amount of research to discover the world of click farms, proxy robots and many other fraudulent strategies to steal my advertising dollars. I know I sound cynical amidst the heart-warming stories outlined in the USA Today report, but a reality check bears out the sad fact that the many bad AdSense publishers are spoiling it big time for the remaining good ones. Just check out this Globe and Mail news report "Click fraud concerns bruise Google" posted a few hours ago today! It represents the very real dark side of online advertising.
I think something other than a burst may be the end result. If Microsofts Moonshot program takes off and tells pubishers more about how their earnings are calculated, Google may find that publishers stop using their service and move to Bill's.
There is some truth to this but there is more to consider about this issue. Have you ever thought about the inherent ineffectiveness of traditional advertising methods and analyzed whether or not contextual PPC advertising is still a better investment, even with click fraud factored in? The shotgun approach to advertising that traditional media affords means that one in a hundred, or possibly far fewer, people that are viewing the advertising have any interest at all in the product or service you are advertising. It is for the most part, completely untargeted. There is no "fraud" as we define it here in the context of a PPC discussion, but that doesn't mean the ROI is better or even as good as a PPC campaign. PPC isn't perfect, but IMO it's still the best advertsing vehicle available today.
Nice Story - Anybody know about any big, US, adsense publishers. Now I'm interested in reading up about this.
Debare I am in Asia - I make well in excess of $1000 a month. WHY do you feel you have the right to assume we are in some way different to you? Are we poorer? Are we stupid? Im sorry to sound angry - I can stomach criticism but overt racism should not be tolerated here.
Google is making much more than advertizer on his or her site/sities. In my opinion that man who makes 1000$ in adsense is worth for google about 3000$.
His post wasn't racist, you misunderstood what he was saying. 50 bucks isn't much money in America so the likelihood that someone will do something criminal for that amount of money is low. In other countries, 50 dollars might pay your rent for an entire month. The payback for the risk invested is very high, so more criminal activity will occur. This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with economic circumstance.