AdSense in the News: "'Gray Googlers' strike gold"

[ken_b]

USA Today has an article today about AdSense and older website publishers. Though why they refer to publishers as "Googlers" is beyond me.

Gray Googlers' strike gold [usatoday.com]

They make it sound so easy I'm reminded of the old saying...."If it sounds to good to be true.... :)"

[netmeg]

Yea, as I mentioned somewhere else, there was also a feature on Good Morning America this morning; they interviewed a couple of seniors, but that wasn't the focus of the piece. It was more like "Look how easy this is, and anyone can do it!"

[buckworks]

Any article could make life on the web sound easy if it neglects to mention the challenges of building traffic.

[koan]

I hate articles like that, not only it is kind of belittling the amount of efforts and skills required to make a decent revenue, it just throws more newbies into the pot, looking for that pot of gold with their MFA sites, which dilutes earnings for the rest of us and degrade the adsense brand for visitors.

[ann]

That really Pi*** me off!

They just told the world to click on the ads to make money...I have been keeping that a very dark secret from everyone I know...boy! Google will be sorting a lot of invalid clicks over this one!

Ann

[unreviewed]

SO YOU WANT TO START A SITE WITH GOOGLE ADS

"1 Start with a great topic. Search for it on Google and see if others have a similar idea"

He must be joking. I remember when a million pages seemed like stiff competition.

[frakilk]

They forgot to mention to visit the WebmasterWorld AdSense forum, that's the most powerful tip of them all.

[potentialgeek]

The article is going to help some folks over 65.

"Take Jerrold Foutz. The former Boeing engineer, 75, started a website a few years ago devoted to one of his passions . . . He put Google ads on his . . . site four years ago. After just one month, the first Google check was for $800. The second check totaled $2,000. "I thought, 'Wow,' " he said. "This was the most amazing thing that ever happened to me. Something I thought would make $50 a year now equals my Boeing retirement check."

There are a lot of wise seniors who can share their wealth of knowledge and experience online. This is a good thing.

Of course if you have something valuable to say, don't wait till you're 75. I was just thinking the other day how nice it would be to get solid Google checks every month when I retire.

p/g

[mslina2002]

They just told the world to click on the ads to make money...I have been keeping that a very dark secret from everyone I know...boy!

My same thought. More people wanting slices of the google pie...

[europeforvisitors]

Seems like a reasonable article to me. It says some people are making a lot of money from AdSense and others are making a pittance, and it provides some examples from both camps. Anyone who got a different impression needs to read the whole article, not just the headline!

[farmboy]

I hate articles like that, not only it is kind of belittling the amount of efforts and skills required to make a decent revenue, it just throws more newbies into the pot, looking for that pot of gold with their MFA sites, which dilutes earnings for the rest of us and degrade the adsense brand for visitors.

The more immediate consequences will be for those interviewed in the article. How many times in the past few hours do you think content has been lifted from their sites and placed on another site alongside AdSense displays?

Loose lips sink ships.

FarmBoy

[ann]

Amen, Farmboy!

[europeforvisitors]

The more immediate consequences will be for those interviewed in the article. How many times in the past few hours do you think content has been lifted from their sites and placed on another site alongside AdSense displays?

On the brighter side, that handyman may be getting calls from investment bankers.

[annej]

We have a number of seniors here but I suspect most of us were building sites well before retirement age. Is there anyone here who didn't publish a website until after retirement?

[IanCP]

We have a number of seniors here but I suspect most of us were building sites well before retirement age. Is there anyone here who didn't publish a website until after retirement?

Well I retired almost 10 years ago at age 56.

I started my first site principally as a teaching aid for explaining some complicated technical stuff to friends in a news group [2,000+ members world wide] where you couldn't include schematics, photos etc. in an email.

Just went from there, I had no intention of actually having a web site as such. Just added more material as time went by. Unfortunately I eventually started receiving additional accounts from my ISP for "extra bandwidth".

I looked to Amazon back then as a way to monetise the site in a modest way to pay for my expenses which were getting quite out of control financially on my limited retirement means.

At that point, around 1999 - 2000 I saw I had two choices:

a) give it away or;

b) get serious.

I chose the latter and as the saying goes - the rest is history.

[edit addition]

I can truthfully say that since day one I've assisted the further education of over 14 million people world wide.

That folks, remains one of my most proudest "personal bests" worth more than the money since.

[edited by: IanCP at 10:01 am (utc) on Oct. 27, 2007]

[ann]

I was 61 when I got my first computer and got books to learn how to make a website...Dummie books :), and the rest is history.

Ann

[annej]

I agree that the article makes it sound too easy. It's only easy if you already had a huge site that had become popular. And even then if you want to keep adding it's a lot of work.

I think articles like that create a misconception of "If you build it they will come".

But I will say that while in my case my sites aren't making me rich they make me feel rich. For the first time in my life I feel like I can just enjoy spending money on things I want.

[shallow]

If "building traffic" is key as buckworks points out, then how can someone make $800 the *first* check and $2000 the *second* check as mentioned in the article? This certainly doesn't sound like a site that had time to build traffic.

How much this individual is making per click is the real question for me.

[HuskyPup]

Anyone who got a different impression needs to read the whole article, not just the headline!

I agree and it's worth going back to the article since Jerry Alonzy has just posted a follow-up mail explaining all the hours and effort he's actually put in making it very clear that it's not that easy and taking one small quote from him:

However, in my opinion, the article does make the whole process seem a little easier than it is. In fact, making serious money with any website, whether you simply offer free content OR sell a product, requires tremendous amounts of time and energy. It is not easy but it is possible.

[danny]

I'm with Ian (though I'm a long way from retirement). The non-financial incentives - helping to inform other people, and having other people read what I write - are still more important to me than the income.

[netchicken1]

great .. just what we need on the net another swarm of "how do I get rich from adsense?" people, who will morph into "why am I not getting rich from adsense?" people, and finally self destructing as "I hate adsense, I've been lied to" people, as if being on the internet is their god given right to make money.

[ann]

WTRAM's comment was just too much for words :) Typical surfer thinks Google pays for all those ads with no income of it's own, poor Google, soon to be no more...Why does he think Google asked for that article? (At least asked the 250,000 dollars a month guy to do an interview for it)? To spend even more with no return?

That's our future posters talking there folks.

Ann

[annej]

I really appreciate Jerry Alonzy's response. Unfortunately only a few people will see it.

[ann]

Unfortunately that article will also bring out the flim flam artists.

TV commercial just a few minutes ago: "get your website for just 1 dollar. Reserve your space now. We will even build it for you and have you up and making money TODAY!"

I really feel sorry for those older people...(being old me self but got mine by hard work and long hours.) :)

Ann