Forum Moderators: martinibuster
While everyone around us said we where nuts to continue to put in literally hundreds of hours a week into websites that where making us much less then our college degreed jobs we had a vision of the future and just could not let it go.
Greedy companies came and went by the thousands but still we held on and produced high quality content for our ever-increasing network of sites. Enter Google adsense 4 years later. We quite literally went up 4000 percent in income overnight. We couldn’t believe the amount of revenue Google was sharing with us?
The little guys, the guys that had been stepped upon and backstabbed by every greedy corporate slimebag out there for the last 4 years watched in utter amazement as this company made all of there dreams come true overnight.
I have an autistic son and always wanted to have a swimming pool with a big fenced yard for him and a big house for my family, and Google has given them that.
Yes I worked hard and so did my friends but Google has NOT been greedy, they shared what others didn’t. They rewarded us for our quality users and content with there ingenious method of advertising.
They have changed our lives forever.
So as things heat up in the war with MS and Yahoo who are basically allied at this point against you G, I just wanted to share with you Google and the public how much you have changed our lives. You proved us right, you showed my family and friends we where not nuts all these years and you made everyone I know ask what I do for a living:)
Thank you Google for everything and have a happy holidays!
<added>
PS: Separate fixed payout percentages for standard and premium publishers would be even better because a single figure could obscure a shift of income from standard to premium publishers i.e. some backroom deal with the big boys. Not that Google would do that ... but you know what it's like, people chatter, rumours start!
[edited by: oddsod at 5:48 pm (utc) on Dec. 9, 2005]
However, I do agree with what you say, and I'm not one that says a prayer to Google before going to sleep. I don't expect a personal relationship with Google, though it would be nice if they'd use people, rather than the fortune cookie generator algo to reply to emails :)
Bottom line is that with Google I earn twenty times what I do from Fastclick, and many more times what Chitika pays. Therefore I do feel something approaching gratitude that they have developed this program that works so well, and I've had money out of the program that has helped me out over some difficult financial times the last year or so.
But I reserve my right to whine about Random Pricing(tm), failure to eject scammers etc.
Ummm...Google created/implimented the technology. The intent behind starting adsense was for financeal gain sure. By tapping into the traffic streams of virtually all sites they would be tapping into a HUGE market. The simple law of multiplicity at play. In order to do so and even sustain this HUGE marke they needed a product that would produce GAINS for all parties involved. That means big and small sites. Yes the did it to benefit themselves which in effect benefits large and small publishers. IT is like saying if I were to sell a widget and ask you to advertise it on your site but for free? Why would you do it? If I create a website with thousands of pages that are blank...why would people want to visit? If there is not gain for all parties involved...the program would just wither and die. Just like your site and ours. But the adsense program is alive and well. It has been a sucess ever since it started because of the fact that it is successful for all parties involved. So you see it isn't a false belief.
Now I am earning a decent living and have "extra" money to invest in the stock market... PLUS THE "FREE" TIME to watch the markets to make my swing trades...
NEVER would I be able to enjoy life so much, if I were a slave to an employer... OR having to devote time & effort trying to sell advertisement. Google does this for me & has much better salesmanship & leverage capabilities than I ever had.
THANK-YOU GOOGLE!
it changed my life, because i simply have created my job with its help. i make more money than all of my friends. planning to enjoy my life at some point.
the only critical aspect is, that after two years of adsense there still is no competition (residence outside u.s.), that means no alternatives for a content driven website and therefore dependency.
like all others who were in the game before adsense, i tried other networks and affiliate programs. the payout is a cheek, an insult to every webmaster. yes, i too sell ad space myself with relatively moderate success.
it's unbelievable how google revolutionized the market and gained the market share with their text ads and its comparatively incredible high payout. new big competitors now following, but years later..
clearly, they don't do this in charity, it's a business relationship. but adsense was the first ever advertising network that made sense in the true sense of the word.
Thanks Adsense, it's been a very good year!
its not that the internet dinosaurs create better sites, but rather those webmasters are a self-selecting group of people that got started because they were fascinated. there was little money to be made on the internet back then, so the people that got involved did it for the content and the novelty.
i think the newer publishers can learn something from this. if you are just doing it for the money, and are trying to game the system, google is going to catch up with you eventually. if you make a site for your visitors and you are passionate about your content, then google rewards!
thank you for a great year, google!
I'm also glad that we've all agreed that Lord Google is Infallible and Omnipotent and if anyone's unhappy with Google it must be because they are trying to game the system - shame on them! Newer webmasters will all be smitten! How dare you be new?
I agree with the post above about not having to deal with all the individual advertisers. That means a lot to some people. Some of us would gladly give up 50% to not deal with this (me included).
AdsenseAdvisor wrote: "You'd be surprised how many Googlers read the WebmasterWorld forums"
NOT AS MANY ANYMORE I WOULD GUESS.
But, getting back to the original post.....
Adsense has made a huge impact on me.
I sell a product, and the amount I make every month with Adsense is just about the amount that I lose in profits from people leaving my site(about 15%). So, the money is a wash. However, the time saved not shipping all that extra product has been HUGE. So, Adsense has given me much more time to spend with my family, even if it didn't increase the bottom line.
Before Adsense, not much left from the PPC type. The EPC went to the bottom, and the rampant clicks fraud keep reducing it to a mere 2 or 1 cent / click. Back then, I would be so happy if advertisers paid me more than 6 cent / click. And now look where we are.
My biggest complain is the increasing entry of MFA sites and those blatant-get-rich-quick-site advertisers. If Google really check every new publisher and advertiser entries, it should be easy for them to spot those sites.
I don't know if you care,
I don't know if you feel,
I don't know if you know,
But thanks. Thanks for the ride.
Hope to stay on board for a long time!
Personally, I'm running a web business and AdSense is a big part of the revenue, but I'd still rather thank myself for all the effort it took to run a business on the web, and I'll keep a wary eye on my bellicose "partner" in this one.
But let's also get our facts straight: Google bought the AdSense technology, and GoTo.com pioneered the whole PPC movement.
But google CREATED ADSENSE with whatever technology they bought, developed, combined, and advanced. THAT IS A THE FACT I WAS POINTING OUT. THEY created the advertiser base along with it. Who cares who pioneered the PPC movement! That part of your statement is rather pointless.
"Personally, I'm running a web business and AdSense is a big part of the revenue, but I'd still rather thank myself for all the effort it took to run a business on the web, and I'll keep a wary eye on my bellicose "partner" in this one."
Sounds like you are the "bellicose" partner of Google! Try running a business without appreciating your visitors, customers, advertising partners, affiliates, or whatever... Remember Google has employees that are also putting all this effort into this program to ALLOW YOU TO HAVE that opportunity to tap into their advertiser base.
"But if you dig a little deeper, maybe you should temper your contentment. If they pay you $200, how much are advertisers paying for ads? Let's say $1,000. So in other words, people who are not you can find over $1,000 per day advertising to people on your website. That means they must make significantly more, maybe even double. So now we see the truth: Google is handing you $200 out of $1,000 they were paid by someone who made $2,000 out of your website!"
Your post implies that Google is ripping us off. What is funny is that you still use it. Here is some of your own advice you should follow:
"If you're getting paid a lot by Google, rather than contentment, you should assess the actual value of your sites visitors, IMHO."
If not then it is a hypocritical statement.
You proved us right, you showed my family and friends we where not nuts all these years
WORD!
As someone who started in '97, I feel the same way as Drall.
Back then I had a volunteer staff of 10, and 30 writers. We made waves, but no money.
Now there's a paid staff of just 2, but over 200 authors and growing. And there's great upside potential we're just beginning to tap. Hell, we just bought a house thanks to this income, and that's only the beginning.
Like the poster above said, I have no reason to switch to Yahoo or anyone else, and no plans to do so unless something drastic happens. The Big G has been a great partner.
G isn't taking 70% - more like giving us 70% or so if not more. It lets me focus on what I'm best at. I'm happy to give up that amount for peace of mind. And we're growing faster because of it, too.
Thank you G, and ASA, wish everyone there a Happy Holidays for us.
It allows me to make income from a location where opportunities are some what limited.
Amen.
Without the net I would probably be stuck on a lobster boat, working at the iron works, or stocking the Wal-Mart shelves. Instead I've had 5 years of school, and haven't needed a loan yet. Someone else said something about the toys. That's nice too. ;)
Kept my day job, but life is just easier. I go on vacations, can buy a nicer car, basically just live a better life.
Thanks G.
To make a long story short. I am currently a university dropout. I skipped all classes, even exams. Instead right now, i am moving over to california next weekend to start a new life. I have spent the last two years trying to get into this field. And so far, i can tell i am successful in some ways.
After all these study life, i have decided to switch my major to web design. I am going to attend a college in california. I am very grateful for adsense because without it, i might collapse one year ago. I am able to pay my own expenses, tuiton, rental and stuff in california. I budgeted that if my account will not be banned, i will have enough money to pay my tuiton for the next year.
So, yea, thanks to adsense a lot. It keeps my life in good shape. Although right now, i am moving full force to ypn. :)
Thanks G!
Farhan
Here's a philosophy I follow and recommend to all those before me who somewhat grumble at the big 'G' who makes this all possible. I embrace the good things that I MAKE HAPPEN EVERYDAY, and I let the negative
stuff fly right by me. The reason is simple. If you grab onto the negative points, you get all gunked up.
They are just things to keep you from making more good things happen. I currently have 751 domain names
(thank you low cost GoDaddy). That means, give or take, each day I can develop another website shell, and place more AdSense units.
My point is, who cares about the points made above. We live in a mostly capitalistic world (i.e., re: use of the internet), so the previous poster is right. Competition will take care of these issues in the long run. For now, we all can enjoy sharing and creating this lifestyle/financial success as pretty unique "rainmakers" out there.
Congrats to everyone for another great year and, yes, THANK YOU GOOGLE!
Drall: Great post, thank YOU for all your outstanding work with WebmasterWorld also!
If you grab onto the negative points, you get all gunked up.
No kidding! :)
each day I can develop another website shell, and place more AdSense units
That sums something up very nicely ;)
ant
After I graduated from high school, I went straight to the army. My site was still online, and I updated it from time to time. After that, I got a job as a C++ programmer in a big international online company. I was 19.
Soon I moved into coding java web applications and databases. I haven't done much of this, so again I used my site to learn doing things. As the result my site started to grow. I put some ads on it, and made a few hundred dollars revenue a month. During this time I also tested AS but the income was too low so I went back to regular banner ads.
After 2,5 years the company I worked for got serious financial problems, and the whole java team was sacked, including me. I started looking for a job. It was hard, I had excellent working history and credits for my age, but no education except high school.
During this time of unemployment I took the opportunity to work on my site. I also got acquinted with a online marketing expert who is now a very good friend of mine. He have me tips and tricks how to get good traffic, which I of course implemented on my site.
Traffic went up loads, and I was making excellent money, still with normal banner ads. But then early this year, yahoo dropped and I lost 1 pr in google. Traffic dived down 4/5, as did my earnings.
To counter the situation I redesigned my whole site's layout, and put AdSense on it again. After 3 weeks of optimizing, I'm back! And even with lowest traffic I've had in the past 4 years, I'm making more money than I did when I had my peak months!
I've worked a lot on my site, and doubled traffic in less than 2 months. The "premium club" is getting near ;)
All I can say is, Google is the best thing ever. THANK YOU.
If I can make progress this way, I can build the "foundation" in the early morning and work on building all sites' content throughout the day/nite.
Cheers, and all the best to everyone.
Afterall, I think it was a good thing I slapped the banners up on my site, it's completely changed my attitude towards business and life in general. Oddly enough, I am no even joking.
I added AdSense about 2 years ago. AdSense has inspired me to make it a top site in my field. It's just more fun to work hours and hours on a site if you get a bit of a reward. So now I am doing what I love and getting a nice suppliment to my retirement income because of AdSense.
I have to say thanks to Google but also a big thanks to Webmaster World for helping me optomize my site well and to this forum where I learned about placing my ads and such.
It's been a lot of hard work though. AdSense isn't a gift, it's an opportunity.
