Forum Moderators: martinibuster
This may sound cynical, but I'd wager those bloggers weren't earning very much with AdSense (but I could be wrong about that).
Anyway, I'm curious what would cause others to drop AdSense - when do your principles trump the paycheck?
What if Google cooperated with the search data request made by Uncle Sam?
What if you found out Google was accumulating your personal search history and selling the information to marketers?
What would it take for you to dump AdSense?
FarmBoy
What AdSense has going for it is that it is simple - stick a chuck of code on your site and earn a few bucs a day.
I wouldn't dump AdSense for higher earnings unless its 15% or more, and even then, I would not swap inventory fully, but gradually give more percentages to the higher earning network, and still keep AdSense.
Privacy and disclosure issues does not worry me much, and I am not likely to join a mass activist hysteria to punish Google, my privacy is my responsibility, what Google sees is what I allow them to see, no government surprises me because I don't expect anything good from them in the first place, and Google's right to defend its own survival should be foremost to their protecting my privacy anyway, such is life in the big city.
What AdSense has going for it is that it is simple - stick a chuck of code on your site and earn a few bucs a day.
You might be making few bucks a day, but many people make a living out of adsense.
There are far more profitable ways to earn advertising dollars from companies don't take most of your advertising profits.
But Google's payout is higher than many other advertisers is. There have been many discussions here about the payout percentage, and we know what it approximately is from their published reports from income and traffic aquisition costs. We also had a recent thread with quotes from Google via one of the papers in the US that came up with somewhere on the high 70% area. OK - we don't know if that's premium publishers or everybody, but I'd say that they still pay well. I earn twenty times my Fastclick earnings with adsense.
Would I dump adsense? Well, if all the ads were MFA's then I would consider it. But currently there is a good inventory of ads that work well with the site, and filtering the MFA's is fairly easy. I don't really see that situation changing, but it would be good if Google gave us some decent tools to block MFA's.
I might consider moving elsewhere if the money was going to be better. Even then, I'd probably share page views between #*$! and whoever.
I honestly don't think that one company is going to be better than any other ethically or morally. Therefore I don't exactly lose any sleep over the issue.
...the blogger claims to be dropping AdSense because of the news about Google's cooperation with the Chinese government.
So it bothers him that Google respects China's laws when operating within China, but it doesn't bother him that he was earning money from a country that is an abomination to human rights. Interesting.
Sounds like a confused hypocrite. Oh well...
I read a couple of blogs today where the blogger claims to be dropping AdSense because of the news about Google's cooperation with the Chinese government.
I really wish I could drop them for this reason. If I could find at least 50% of what they pay me from someone else (roll on YPN for the UK) I'd drop them straight away.
What would REALLY do it would be purchasing adwords for China with various anti-government-policy texts in the ads. If every adwords advertiser purchased such ads, then Google would have to stop running ads in China and in doing so would have lost their motivation to enter the market.
[edited by: vincevincevince at 11:21 am (utc) on Jan. 26, 2006]
I really wish I could drop them for this reason. If I could find at least 50% of what they pay me from someone else (roll on YPN for the UK) I'd drop them straight away.
For me, it is all about the $$.
If another program comes available that pays more, the decision is simple.
We would become hermits if we decided not to deal with anyone who acted unethically. What we do is a balance of what we can achieve vs the personal cost involved, hence the serenity prayer ("God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference").
Leaving Google Adsense in protest against the Chinese deal won't achieve anything, and may even be unwise. As I've said in another forum, history may judge Google's current action as one of the most significant steps in promoting openness in China, so perhaps ought to be supported.
And if I dont get a bigger ad filter to get rid of the MFAs and other garbage sites.
<rant>So far as I'm concerned, what China is doing is immoral, and that makes what Google is doing the same. Quite why China hasn't been hit with international trade sanctions years ago, for human rights abuses which are both enshrined within written law and happen every day, I will never know.</rant>
I am spending the rest of the day looking for alternative methods of funding my website (other than Adsense).
So it bothers him that Google respects China's laws when operating within China, but it doesn't bother him that he was earning money from a country that is an abomination to human rights. Interesting.Sounds like a confused hypocrite. Oh well...
I didn't indentify the bloggers, the blogs or the subject of those blogs. So evidently you are assuming they are earning money from a particular country.
So which country is the abomination they are earning from? Do you earn any money from the abomination?
FarmBoy
The question, as I read it, was 'what ethical boundaries being crossed would make you leave adsense'...
The thread is open to any reasons.
- Ethical/integrity related
- Political/idealogical concerns
- Business considerations
- etc.
FarmBoy
Adsense sucks compared to a lot of affiliate programs. I have some that pay me anywhere from $30 to $86 a lead. Even with $0.50 a click on adsense the affiliate pays a lot more. If it takes me 30 clicks to get $30 that is double the payout of Google.
I have some affiliate programs that pay higher commissions than that. But they're unlikely to generate income from completely unrelated pages. That's why AdSense complements affiliate programs so nicely: it fills in the gaps. (It also helps cash flow by generating revenue during the season when most people are looking but not yet booking.)
Getting back to the topic of "What would cause you to dump AdSense?", I suppose the most likely reason would be if earnings declined to the point where I could use my screen real estate more profitably in another way. But my earnings (and eCPM) have been growing, not declining, so at this point--and for the foreseeable future--the question is academic.
So far as I'm concerned, what China is doing is immoral, and that makes what Google is doing the same
I don't think this is a sustainable argument. There are many things that the US and UK governments have been doing that are immoral, but that doesn't make everyone who live in those countries immoral for dealing with them, eg: paying their taxes. I don't leave the country because of what the goverment is doing, though I have argued strongly and campaigned for a change in government behaviour.
You are entitled to take your ball home, of course, or to take an uncompromising stand. But take a look around your desk or home, and see how many items are "made in China" (start by looking at the base of the Google mouse, if you received one). We all "support" the regime in China in some ways. There seems something ironic in that Google are opposed to censorship and this agreement will probably lead, ultimately, to much greater openness in China. It's not the final destination, but a step on the way.
What if you found out Google was accumulating your personal search history and selling the information to marketers?
What if you found out Google was accumulating your personal search history and selling the information to marketers?
If that ever occurred, wouldn't it be more logical to protest by switching search engines?
If that ever occurred, wouldn't it be more logical to protest by switching search engines?
To keep them from obtaining more of your personal information to sell, Yes. Stop being a customer.
If one objects and wants to stop helping them earn income, it would make more sense to drop AdSense. Stop being a partner.
FarmBoy
There seems something ironic in that Google are opposed to censorship and this agreement will probably lead, ultimately, to much greater openness in China. It's not the final destination, but a step on the way.
FWIW, a similar point was made to one of the bloggers in a comment. His response was that just days before the news was full of reports of Google standing up and saying "No" to the U.S. government.
Now here were reports of Google agreeing with the Chinese government - not saying "No."
Why wait for an ultimate openness with China - why not force it now by telling the Chinese government that information will be available to anyone who can access it?
That's my paraphrase of his response.
FarmBoy
let us know when it actually happens. Right now, it's a fantasy scenario
I assume you were referring to my comment about this being a step towards greater openness in China?
I don't think it is fantasy. In fact, it is the ultimate result of extrapolating the current trend. Eg: when SARS broke out three years ago, China buried it; but they were much more open with the recent outbreak of bird flu. The openness train has already built up some momentum.
why not force it now by telling the Chinese government that information will be available to anyone who can access it
It's a question of power. You can only 'force' something if you have the capability to do so. And even if you have the power, wisdom only chooses to use it if you are happy with the consequences of using it.
Arguably, Google don't have the power to force the issue. Even if they tried the consequences would probably not be pleasant.
