I started IM from google adsense. I purchased a few domains and performed SEO. Only of the domains made a few bucks for me then it went down with penguin update as well. Its a failure but I'm not disappointed and I need to continue with the help of some sincere guidance about how to proceed successfully.
So you have had a learning experience. You will only fail if you give up and do not try try again. Learn more and adapt your methods. People are still making money online, why not you? Go for it.
Once you have been slapped by the google panda You need to take a look at your web site(s) and modify them slightly . You will need more original content. Less duplicte content on the pages , Not quiet so many Keywords inbedded in your articles and more backlinks coming to your site Use your failure as a learning experience pick your self up and try again NEVER QUIT
If you want to make money read Steve Palvina's post on How to Make Money From Your Blog and apply it to your websites. I wish you all the best!
Congratulations!!! Most people never even get their first failure. Without failures, you won't find success... I can't comment on Adsense blogs - I've never tried that more than as a side income stream.
As the others have said failures are not something to hide or get discouraged by. If you're going to stick with your existing sites you need to look into your link profiles. lower your keyword anchor text percentage and get rid of any bad links. Also you might need to do some more keyword research to target other similar long tail keywords in your niche. I dont make a lot from adsense these days. I focus largely on other forms of monetization. Depending on the amount of traffic you are still getting you might find that you can actually make more by putting other offers on your site.
I too lost a lot of websites due to the Google updates. Thank goodness I didn't lose all my income. Create a blog and start building relationships with your readers. Don't forget to focus on your email list. That seems to be working for me now. I am no longer 100% dependent on Google. Find other traffic sources that don't rely on Google.
That means you are one step closer to succeeding. Also, don't rely on SEO for all your traffic, make sure to promote through social networks too.
It's another reason to implement list building on your sites! Create as much as possible highly targeted, unique and helpful content on your site! People usually don't realize how bounce rate is important to get good positioning on Google! Go in direction to decrease your bounce rates and increase average time visitors spend on your site! I've noticed that if you're using social media the right way, you can expect very low bounce rates from people who come from sites like Twitter, G+, Facebook! It can have a huge impact on the general bounce rates of your sites!
use your first failure as an inspiration to achieve greater things in the future. a lot of people have been hit by the panda, but not most of them have quit after losing their page ranks and the earning opportunities that come with it. work on making your site better and keep on building those great content. you may not get your pr back sooner than you expect, but you are definitely gearing up towards that goal!