How are we supposed to monetize and follow Google TOS?

[Automotive site]

It seems to me everything is against Google's search TOS - affiliate links, Text Link Ads, selling advertising space to non-Google properties. How in the world are people suppose to monetize their information sites? It seems to me Google wants to dictate how much traffic you should receive and then monetize only through adsense.

My site has seen a dramatic drop in adsense revenue because I supposedly had links that were unnatural. I then decided to sell a few links through TLA to counter the huge drop. It hasn't made a serious dent but does bring in a nice couple of hundred dollars monthly without giving away too much space on the site, and I prefer it too something like Infolinks which is too invasive,

I am just wondering how can you make money as webmaster in a serious way with so many Google restrictions in place?

[goodroi]

By TOS I think you are referring to Google's webmaster quality guidelines.

Those guidelines ask webmasters to avoid:

Participating in affiliate programs without adding sufficient value

It doesn't say that affiliate programs are bad, just that lazy affiliates who add zero value are not welcomed. Why would you want Google to include affiliate websites with 99% duplicate content that add no value? Get creative and do something like provide unique product reviews, that is a good value added service and can be monetized with affiliate programs.

Text Link Ads, direct advertising and other paid links are allowed by Google as long as you take precautions. They simply ask that paid links are nofollowed and properly labeled to avoid people from artificially manipulating the rankings (blocking the link juice with an iframe is even better). If you have a strong site people will still directly advertise on your site even with no link juice flowing since relevant ads generate real traffic and sales for the advertisers.

You can also write and sell your own book, launch a consulting service, sell tickets for paid educational seminars and monetize a site many, many more ways.

In case I have not changed your mind about the many legitimate ways to monetize a site then consider my last way to monetize a website - sell it. Internet marketing is much harder than it used to be and it is only going to get harder, it might be time for some people to cash out while they still can.

[jakebohall]

Well stated goodroi!

A few other thoughts: if OP has an awesome content site, he might be able to solicit donations from users, or consider putting a portion of the content behind a pay wall.

If you do well for your affiliates, you might be able to convince them to pay you to be an exclusive affiliate.