Forum Moderators: martinibuster
1) First and foremost...where's the money honey? You have to earned at least $100.00 in the previous month(s) to qualify for payment. Methods of payments have been expanded in April 2005 to include direct deposit, special delivery cheque or regular mail. Which is quicker, more reliable or better is up to the individual. Be sure to look at currency exchange, check cashing rules at your bank and which countries direct deposit available in.
Checks are processed between the 20th and 28th of most months. Earnings for the month are posted in the first few days after the end of the month. There is really no need to post anymore that the earnings have been posted or payments calculated or that you have now recieved your check. This is becoming routine for Google and the publishers, happening every month. <my suggestion for Brett to keep bandwidth usage low> Also note that stats and adsense log in normally slow down when this is being done. It is not that they have cancelled the program, only that they are attempting to pay you.
2) Read the Terms of Service that Google puts in front of you, to agree to, when you sign up. Members are not being rude when they suggest that you do this, only frustrated over how many people have time to post the question rather than read the TOS.
3) I've clicked on an ad on my site...what should I do? Although the best answer I have read on the board was.."unplug your computer, bar the doors and hide...the men in black are coming to get you", this is probably not the best advice. Suffice it to say a quick email to google explaining your guilty action, pleading for mercy, asking for forgiveness and offering your first born as colleteral will be sufficient. In other words few if any get booted from the program for a <one> mislocated click and the advice usually given on the board is a quick email to google pointing out what happened.
4) Repeated clicks from your computer on your own site will probablyy result in expulsion from the program. Other actions such as "slightly modifying the code", use of click on my ads promotions and other items included in the TOS <yes again read the thing> is a quick way to bring the rath of the Google police down on you.
5) I've been booted from the program....what do I do now? Well although the cases seem few and far between, it is possible to get reinstated. Please note that the members on the board cannot do this. Only the powers that be at Google have the magic wand to correct the issue. Time would be better spent, politely asking them the reason and attempt to reach a resolution. It should be noted that in "most" cases of websites being booted, there has been a violation of the TOS <again read the thing>. Certain trends always seem to be present in these postings....new user....fairly high revenue out of the blocks....TOS violations.
6) Taxes are a sure thing in the world we live in and the proper forms must be filled out online before payment will occur. As a side note Google defined last year the definition of US based business. Rental of website space in the US by non resident does not mean you have to file US tax. For all those questions regarding the "new" PIN policy, it does not affect publishers in the program before January 2005. Postings on the board in relation to these questions should be taken with a grain of salt. Ask Google, your tax accountant or a laywer for the real answer.
6) Some of the interpetations of Googles TOS have been discussed previously on the board. That's why Brett thought of putting a search function into the board. We would recomend you use it before posting, as previous posts are better than the local library.
7) Smart pricing....or as as we like to call it "the smoke and mirrors" of adsense. No one outside of the creative minds at Google have any idea what this means. According to many it is the way Google adjusts the $/click based on conversion of the advertisers. Some believe it is tied to the type of information on your site. Some believe it is the method that google uses to adjust their monthly revenue to please the shareholders. Whatever it is, we as publishers have to live with it. We have yet to read any magical solutions to "beating" smart pricing. in fact we have yet to read a definitive explanation of what it is.
8) How to increase revenue? Now isn't this the real reason you have joined the board? Be honest about it:). Although we sometimes find the hypothetical discussions about the inner workings of adsense to be stimulating it's really about how to fend off the bill collectors. So lets look at some of the most re-ocurring threads.
- ad placement? Skyscraper, rectangles, top of page, bottom of page, which side to put them on? Well there are some standard answers to this...first experiment on your own site. Google has opened the vault and allows placement of more than one adblock now <guess what..read the TOS> Real time, or something close to this reporting allows you to judge the impact of changes. Most members here will tell you to ensure that you look at enough data to ensure that your changes are really the cause. If you cross refence the previous threads on this issue you will find the links to page "hot spot" studies you can try.
- expected CTR or revenue? Pat answer on this one everytime it is posted is "different for every site or topic". Publishing rates (earnings per click EPC) vary by topic and click through rate (CTR) vary by website. So the real question becomes one of what money can YOU generate from your website. Not an easy one to answer by the members and even when it is, is only basewd on their user experiance. Time is better spent on creating more pages for the site.
- best paying keywords? These posts always get my interest. Nothing like running out and creating a new website to attract the best ads. <ignores that part of the TOS> There are many ways of getting this information of the net, try google search. You can also join the advertisers forum and ask them about this, just be sure to note that the purpose of your post is to create a site that will generate high paying clicks.
- driving traffic to your site? Well this is one of the underlying basics of this board. Read...read...read. The wealth of information here will result in this happening when it is applied.
9) The Chicken Little syndrome....my revenue is falling post. These are informative to see what other webmasters are experiancing in terms of adsense revenues or to spot trends in payout policies. Posts that ocurred when Google implimented broad matching in November 2003 or smart pricing in April 2004 were key to seeing the effect on the adsense revenue. Posts that exclaim that at 9:01 AM my stats were 46.5% less than normal really mean nothing. Google some days goes into what we refer to as the "sluggish west coast syndrome" updating stats at their liesure. <perhaps that why they stae that stats may lag by 24 hours?> Information regarding drops in CTR's. EPC's etc should be over a sufficient timeframe to ensure the stats are complete and the information is indicating a trend.
10) What alternatives to adsense are available? <posted many times with I've been kicked posts>. There are numerous programs avauilable as alternatives to adsense. Search through any search engine to find them. One of the best pieces of advice on the board is that revenue for any business should be diversified including websites. Alternative revenue streams via other ad networks, affiliates or direct sales should be complimentary to adsense. In regards to other ads there has been some confusion over the "text ads" definition Google applies in the TOS. Contact them directly to ensure it is okay.
So there's my top ten asked and answered posts for adsense. Add as you see fit to the list.
But this won't stop the same questions about AdSense IMO. People love direct support other then reading those long FAQs, TOSes... :)
It has been reported by numerous sources that Overture is planning to roll out a similar product later this fall.
have we really been waiting that long?
It has been reported by numerous sources that Overture is planning to roll out a similar product later this fall.have we really been waiting that long?
Looks like we have and it wouldn't surprise me if we wanted another year and a half.
