Dirtydog - I accept part of your point but my dis-approval is that his comment was too "generalist" and assumptive about "3rd world countries". I dont want to preach but I live in a 2 bed fat and my rent is well over $1500 a month - my buck is the same as your buck. I dont want to fight with YOU because you talk from "reason" but he is not. I believe his comment to be racist because of the generalisation of the statement not from the economic practicalities of the issue.
Can't you do that now? You should be able to track all of your AdWord clicks and see if they truly are valid by doing your own analyisis.
Of course his is talking from reason. His generalisation was to make the same point Dirtydog reiterated. The fact you are insinuating he is a racist from this is more then likely offensive to him - but unlike you, he probably can't be arsed to react like you have. Deal with the generalisation - there's nothing wrong with it. That is all it is. Pete
You can specify where your ads are shown. For whatever your reason, you can choose which country to advertise in. Although I may have read into something the original reply hasn't said, I don't see the validity to his "No Affiliate Ad" statement.
naa ! im living in a 3rd world country too ! and i can easily pay my rents with 50$ !! so i absolutely agree with DirtyDog with wat he said ! Adsense can prove to be really great for ppl from other countries where the money value is less !
Who’s to say that a webmaster located in a third world country is targeting consumers / visitors in the same country that they live in? Many webmasters, regardless of their location, are truly embracing the internet for what it really is – a global marketing tool. The internet is only country specific if you really want it to be. There’s absolutely no reason why a determined webmaster in a third world country couldn’t produce more interesting content for a site aimed at US consumers than a webmaster actually based in the US could, meaning that any revenue earned from Adsense clicks would be just as legitimate and valid as anyone elses. Besides, the advertisers themselves can specify which countries their ads will be shown in. Any advertiser that is going against Googles recommendations and isn’t taking the time to carefully target their campaigns is asking to get ripped off, as such they can only blame themselves when they end up not getting their moneys worth from their campaigns.
Thank you Dirty Dog for doing a much better job of explaining my point of view then I did. Nice, concise and precise. I obviously need an editor! It doesn't pay much and the benefits suck ... but please forward your resume to Sorely Misunderstood!
The flip side of this story is for U.S. publishers. We should all be thinking about the benefits of relocating to other parts of the world. There are retirement communities in Mexico and Honduras for aging Americans -- perhaps someone will build a web publishing community in Mexico for ex-pat SEO's.
Given the sheer number of clicks I pay for every month, the ability to track the source of each one and then analyze its legitimacy is a huge task beyond my capability. Moreover, even if I was armed with the data, I then need to fight with Google for a refund. Possible? I guess so. Reality? I don't think so. Ultimately it's up to Google to prevent fraud by better policing of its network of publishers. To date, it's pretty clear to me that Google's standard for acceptance as a publisher into the AdSense program is simply owning a URL. All of us see examples everyday of websites designed in clear violation of the TOS, like this puzzle site, these morons, or numerous other sites that exist for NO OTHER PURPOSE than publishing AdWords. Google needs to tighten up its standards and enforcement rather than leave it up to the crime victims to be vigilant. That's why it remains easier to simply turn off the contextual network and just publish my ads on Google itself.
Hi guys That a great story. I wish I could leave my day job for adsense but I can break the $3 a day, any tips for the starter adsense? Thanks
I think Google needs to take the time to certify every publisher and limit ads to sites that have been reviewed and verfied for TOS compliance. This would solve a lot of the fraud problem and honest webmasters with good sites would make more money.
In the developing countries, the average web surfer will perhaps be less inclined to avoid the ads, simply because, he/she has not had the exposure to it. Thus it would make sense to focus on content which are dominated by local content, since this will help to ensure that the site will have decent traffic. Also, in developed countries, word of mouth tend to spread faster than say in LA, thus a localised site should have a higher chance of having a greater return
I believe, although I have no evidence to support this belief, that Google uses smart pricing to make clicks from India, China, etc... less expensive to the advertisers and less profitable to the publisher than clicks from the United States, Great Britain, etc...
it would make sense to do so, although having said that, when you factor in economy of scale, then actually, it will be much better in terms of earnings