Articles that are too comprehensive earn less on adsense

[crick]

If people find all information they are seeking in your article then they are less likely to click on an ad.

[JuniorOptimizer]

You are correct sir.

[crick]

I know some people who deliberately ensure their articles are written in a way that leaves the readers to seek just a bit more, which leads them to click on adsense.

[nonni]

In some cases, that may be true. But if your most excellent page on tin foil hats convinces the reader that they need one, and equips them with the ability to discriminate between quality TFHs and cheap imitations, they just might read your article and click on an ad so they can buy one.

[gendude]

More importantly, they might just email or post your site to other people and other websites who are also interested in tin foil hats, thereby driving in lots of traffic, and getting good backlinks.

[jema]

It is sad but true, I have a lot of excellent content articles that were not written to make money, and the basic reality is they don't. If people search and find them, I think they find what they are looking for and read it.
crap sites are I am sure the ones that make money, just optimise some gibberish around some keywords and so long as you are not so crap you get binned by google you will do well :(

I'll come right out and say that I was considering writing web sites for adsense as I can write good content, but I could not bring myself to do so.

[ronburk]

Counter-example: if the information they were seeking was "which product is the best?", your article supplies the answer, and the ad for the corresponding product is right there, then they're more likely to click on an ad than if you hadn't answered their question.

Counter-example: if, in giving them the information they seek, you also alert them to the (need for ¦ benefit of) a related product/category, and the ad for the corresponding product/category is right there, then they're more likely to click on an ad.

While information-incomplete articles can produce good earnings in some situations, the exact same thing can be said of information-complete articles.