Ads by Google

[scrivener]

Feel free not to answer, Admin, but I'm curious. How does this work? Obviously, the point is to generate some revenue, but is it doing the job? Does HawaiiThreads make more money if we actually click on an ad, or does it only make money if we click on an ad?

What was the decision-making process that led to the inclusion of Google ads? Did you debate it at all, or was it a no-brainer? And was Google the only option, or did you consider other ad-services?

[Miulang]

Re: Ads by Google

Another revenue site is Amazon. If you become an affiliate, they will give you money every time somebody goes from your site to theirs to order stuff.

Miulang

[admin]

Re: Ads by Google

Or, occasionally, "Ads by Goooooogle."

Lots of questions, but I'd be happy to answer. Over the years, I have definitely tried a number of odd advertising affiliate programs on several of my sites in an attempt to offset some of the costs of developing and hosting them.

Most of my sites have no ads, and I resisted for a while. In the end, trying them out was more a curious geek exercise than any serious attempt to generate income. Sister site HawaiiNews.com was the main guinea pig, and so it has a whole hodgepodge of programs running... but it's also my favorite implementation because I also found a way to mix in include ads for friends' sites and other sites I just like.

From the "geek" standpoint, Google's program, AdSense, is among the easiest to implement, and is a neat technology to boot - if the page is about cars, the ads are about cars. If the page is about music, the ads are about music. I can only imagine that they're more interesting to visitors as a result, and of course more likely to get clicked out of curiosity. And yes, in all cases, it's the click that counts, not the mere fact that people see them. (Of course, don't start clicking them madly as a result of this thread, as Google's fancypants algorithms will flag any sudden jumps as suspicious!)

Sadly, none of my sites "make money," and that's fine... I do this stuff for fun, so if anything I'm just trying to make running them a less expensive "hobby." (My wife is rolling her eyes again.) The little checks do buy me lunch now and then!

[scrivener]

Re: Ads by Google

Does it bother you at all, though, that you have no real control over the ads that appear on this site? Because of its content, TalkStink features Google ads that are predominantly about sex, though sex itself is seldom the topic there. I'd find that not only annoying, but borderline offensive. What will be your response when some thoroughly reprehensible ad shows up in that space?

How often do you get paid by Google, and is that reportable income?

[1stwahine]

Re: Ads by Google

Eh, Ads by Google? To confusing to know how it works. If not because of you Bro...I would be dead or in Kaneohe State Hospital! I'm not rich but I would like to show my support and appreciation to the man behind these wonderful sites where we can ventilate,get mad,laugh,share,etc. and still remain one big OHANA! Mahalo for all you've done and especially putting up with my wacky and confused ways! So, where do I send the check?

[admin]

Re: Ads by Google

TalkStink uses a very different ad service, and while I'm not familiar with it, I don't think it's anything like AdSense (i.e. live context sensitive), and further, I imagine the sex-focused ads appear most frequently because they're the most purchased, and probably the most lucrative for the ad program (if not TalkStink itself). You'll have to ask them (or check out the service site) for the details.

Google AdSense, in addition to having very good ad review and filter standards, does allow subscribers to block certain ads, ad types, even specific sites. Sure, you'll get ads for helicopter tours on pages about helicopter tour crashes from time to time, but every time I've seen iffy positioning like that reported, they've tweaked it to make it right.

I've had no complaints. I love that there are quite a few Hawaii-based - or at least Hawaii-themed - clients of AdWords (the advertiser side of AdSense), so most of the time, my Hawaii sites have very relevant ads.

It is reportable income, and is reported to the IRS (the web is chock full of horror stories of unexpected AdSense 1099 filings). I won't be crossing any expensive thresholds, fortunately. And, you get a check every time your balance surpasses $100 (similar to Amazon's referral program, I think) -- not surprisingly, that doesn't happen very often.

I'm not an AdSense expert by any stretch of the imagination (webmaster forums, by contrast, are always abuzz with folks trying to deconstruct and explain everything). You can probably find all your answers at the AdSense site.

[talkstinkDotCom]

Offensive AdBrite Ads

I wish I could say I was making buko bucks running AdBright sex ads, but that's not the case. (Ugh. Painful but true, I just ran the numbers a moment ago.) "Sex" ads from AdBrite are running "network" ads. When there are empty ad spaces available these ads run to take up space. They aren't content sensitive.

I've changed the settings to run "PG-13" ads. As stated on the AdBright website these links include "ads for Viagra, gambling, etc." It would be interesting to see what ads run under their "PG" setting and whether those links are clicked more often.

To Summarize, the smillie points:
Those ad links were never meant to offend as I prefer to let our content do that job.
Google AdWords are cool and my experiences are similar to "admin."
I'm still waiting to hear from those folks at BlogAds.
Does anyone know how I can do homemade screen printed t-shirts to keep the cost of my shirts down?

[admin]

Re: Ads by Google

I've split off the T-shirt discussion here.