Google AdSense is a very established advertising company that is pretty much the norm in online advertising. If you want your ad published, you go to Google AdSense. If you want to publish ads, to make some money, then you go to Google AdSense. The problem with AdSense though is that it is just used way to much.
A question that I got from one of my readers the other day was:
“Why don’t you put up Google AdSense on your blog. If your interested in making money online Google AdSense can make you some money.”
“So why don’t you use it?”
First of all, I would like to say that I do use AdSense on a few of my websites and blogs. However, I do not use it here obviously. I have a few other blogs that I use AdSense on a little bit, but the problem with AdSense on blogs, is that the majority of people do not click the ads.
AdSense is much better suited on a content site. Here are a few reasons as to why this might be true. This is why I think Google AdSense perfoms poorly on blogs.
- RSS Readers - Most readers will read your blog through their RSS readers without actually visiting your blogs website. This way most people do not even get to see the ads that Google offers. You can however, put AdSense ads in your feed, but I highly recommend you don’t. The whole purpose of a feed is to get easy access to updates and new posts. Cluttering it with ads is not going to help. Infact, there is a good chance that you could make things worse by doing so.
- Educated Readers - The majority of your readers are going to probably be other bloggers and webmasters. This is especially true when your blog is relativity new to the blogesphere. Most of your readers are already going to know what AdSense is and simply will just not click the ads.
- Mixed Content - This might not apply to everyone, but the majority of blogs nowadays focus on more then one topic. It’s hard to make a decent amount of cash when your ads to do not match up to what your blog posts are about. This is especially true with personal blogs and blogs that write about multiple topics. There are ways of improving this problem but chances are, it’s always going to be tough.
In terms of performance and ad generating power, content sites are going to make you a lot more money then blogs will with AdSense. Maybe a few years ago, but in todays age almost everyone knows about AdSense and they know not to click it.
Apart from the fact that AdSense performs quite poorly, I personally find that it can give a blog a certain kind of look or feel. When I first come across a blog I look to see what it has for advertising options. Beleive it or not, but if your website looks very professional in terms of advertising you are going to have a better chance at making a good first impression on me. Obviously the cleaner the look, the better it will rank.
When I first see AdSense on a blog, it give me this “Blehh” feeling. I mean, a blog with AdSense to me looks very unprofessional and sticks out like a sore thumb. It simply makes you look almost like an amateur. I’d rather see private advertising in place of AdSense because it makes the blog look a lot more professional in terms of advertising.
I don’t mean to offend anybody with this but it is only my own personally opinion. If you want to make a good first impression on your readers, simply get rid of AdSense. I know for a fact that the majority of bloggers out there that are using AdSense are not making anything off of it anyways. So why keep it there?
If you need more advertising options then check this out. There, now you have no more excuses.
So, I’ve come to the conclusion as to why I do not use AdSense here on IronBlogger:
- AdSense does not perform very well on the majority of blogs, and I don’t see IronBlogger being any different.
- Adsense makes a blog look very unprofessional. In this day and age, people have very low attention spans, if you want to get there attention and keep it, get rid of AdSense. The moment they see it, they will run away.
If you feel that you could add anything or if you feel that I should use AdSense on IronBlogger, then leave a comment.
Have you tried AdSense on blogs before? Did it work for you?
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I would be a loser not to participate in my own challenge, huh? I personally agree with you in terms of the professionalism of a blog v.s. it’s advertising options. (I love how your alternative options list Adsense as the first option, by the way, haha)
On Diligent Design, I use Project Wonderful. I’ve only made a couple of cents (the blog is new, needs more readers, etc) however I think after a few months it might pick up. What do you think about PW?
Problogger has some wicked posts on advertising, especially this one:
Finding Private Advertisers
@Corey - Yea, you can still use AdSense, I’m just saying the disadvantages as to using it :). I have more then one blog.
I make money off of it so I listed it there.
I’ve never used Pw before, I guess I should check it out then?
[...] Why I Do Not Use AdSense On IronBlogger - Google AdSense is a very established advertising company that is pretty much the norm in online advertising. If you want your ad published, you go to Google AdSense. If you want to publish ads, to make some money, then you go to Google … [...]
Another good reason why you’re probably not using Google Ads is because you’re making or selling your only possible ad spots privately! So even if you’re not using Google you could potentially be making more selling privately! You’re 125 * 125* ad spots and half banners would sell well and would simply make you’re blog look bad by filling the access space with Google! Maybe not even bad but it would look too full and crowded.
I agree with your theory that bloggers don’t make much from Google cause I own a few blogs with Google on it and sometimes I wonder why I even waste the space on them.
@ Brian - Google AdSense does take up space! The thing I love about private advertising is that you make a certain amount of money no matter what happens. However, with AdSense you get what people click, which sometimes isn’t very much.
I agree that adsense suitable for content site. I had pregnancy related site and I’m get a few click per day but different from my Belajar SEO blog, I get none click.
I couldn’t agree more with the points you presented. In this (very competitive) niche, most, if not all, of the readers know about AdSense and would not click on any ads. So yeah, AdSense is best for content-rich niche sites.
STUMBLED!
Got me thinking now about taking Adsense off my blog and just sticking to private sales.
Good points.
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[...] Why I Do Not Use AdSense On IronBlogger — Iron Blogger [...]
Got me thinking as well. I will try alternative Pepperjam network instead of it.Good article.
@Geoserv - Private sales are very important. In most cases with blogging it is going to make you more money then AdSense.
Dana - I’ve never used PepperJam that much. Be sure to let me know how that goes for you :p.
That is the reason why I don’t use it either!
In fact right now I am having no ad serving program running on my blog, I’m just looking for the right one!
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Well, I was disabled from adsense dammit! Though I earned $50 in 10 days,(I wasn’t paid though) then I am still disappointed in the performance of Adsense. I will post an article about this if you don’t mind, for I have to agree with you. There are some good things of Adsense though, but overall I am tired of hearing about it. I do prefer private ads, because they usually have a more unique look, and can actually improve the look of your blog.
Another great post, looking for more!
I’ve been using Adsense on some inner pages of my site with some dismal results, but the site is not complete yet and that inner pages don’t get as many visits as the site’s blog.
I am also using PW as both publisher and advertiser and it’s working quite good for me. I’ve reached an stage where I can sustain a network of ads running paying off my earnings, and at the same time whithdraw money 3-4 times a month.
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@ Anthony- Thats really great to hear that! I’ve yet to try PW but I recently signed up and am going getting used to it.
Good article. I still don’t understand why people go AdSense crazy on their blogs. If I’m searching for something and come across a site that is mostly AdSense I immediately checkout.
I am slowly moving all my blogs to private ad and links sales!
Generates a lot more cash, for a little more effort!
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well i agree with some of them but for me adsense is not bad so far
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I agree with your Bleh feeling about Adsense on blogs.. If they already have ads sold (Banner, 125×125, etc).. do they really need that extra $xx(x) per month?
I dunno, I just think it would pay off later (when readers are scraping your content because of the popularity type of later) rather than as soon as you start a blog/website.
Subscribed to your site, will be reading your terrific content.
Brad.
Looks like there’s Adsense on this blog to me unless you aren’t counting the 250×250 blog right under the “Share This” link?
IMHO, every little bit counts so why not throw a few Adsense ads in on your blog. At least you’re not overdoing it. Nice blog design btw.
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I have to agree with you that Adsense is not suitable of a mmo blog, will take it down to the minimum on my blog soon.
Do I spy a 250 x 250 Adsense unit in your posts?
Adsense must be performing well for you now that you have put it back. Congrats!
@ QuickPWN - Haha, yes you caught me red handed! I’m running an experiment for October with AdSense so that is why I have put it back up.
I read your other post later and noticed that. Good luck with this experiment! Instead of aligning your posts to the left you will need to start aligning them either in the center or positioning them wherever you want. If you align your image on the top left then part of your image will be covered by the Google Ads. (Example of this can be seen on this very page)
I noticed that too
. I wish there was a more easier way but I’m trying to work something out.
Thanks for pointing that out.
ur very much right frd … majority of blog readers are bloggers and webmasters … so less chances of clicks on ads
but affiliate links can get some …like of ML or some other