I've used Google Adsense ads for a few years now and they bring me in a steady paycheck each and every month.  However, if you use Adsense you may have noticed that your monthly income has declined a bit.

Now there are several theories for that, in fact Jason Lee Miller over at Webpronews has a few ideas that are definitely plausible but in my opinion, it's probably due to a combination of factors.

The bottom line is that whatever the reason, it's probably not a good idea to rely on Google Adsense as your sole source of income.  We all know Google likes to change things and what seems like a goldmine one month may turn into a lump of coal the next.

But I'm still a fan if Google Adsense and I use the ads on many of my websites because I can get a fair amount of income from them, however it helps to know that there are websites and website topics that can make it harder to make money with Google Adsense while others do very well.      

For example, political sites or blogs can generate tons of traffic but political ads don't generally pay very much.  Also it's hard to get the right ads to serve your site.  Political blogs generally take a political side or point of view and getting the right ads to complement your site's viewpoint is difficult at best. During election season there may be more advertising competition however typically they don't generate very high bids. 

The same is true for religious sites; again it's hard to serve ads that correctly relate to your sites beliefs or views and the ads don't pay well.

Celebrity or gossip sites don't do well either, you would think so since there are so many of them, but even though they can bring in high traffic they don't bring in a lot of high product value. You can associate celebrities with movie tickets, DVD's or concert tickets and try to promote those types of items on your site but as far as advertisers go, most aren't shelling out the big advertising bucks.

Other sites that tank when it comes to Google Adsense are gambling and adult content sites. Google doesn't allow advertising on sexually explicit sites and they are not fond of gambling either.  Not sure about drug sites but Google doesn't allow them for Adwords so they may not allow the Adsense ads either.

Now where Adsense does seem to do well is with Skincare.  I have a skin care site that covers several topics of skin care. The section of the site that gets the most traffic is the anti-aging skincare.  The products sold on that site bring me about 23% of the revenue while 77% comes from the Google Adsense ads.   Kind of sad for the products but the Adsense does very well.

Another top adsense earner are the tech blogs.  Most tech advertisers pay top advertising dollars, so it doesn't surprise me that tech sites do pretty well.  If you own an internet marketing website you may also notice your Adsense Ads do quite well.

I'm sure there are other sites that do pretty well with Google Adsense and I'm sure there are some that don't.

Leave a comment below and let us know about your Adsense experiences 
 
Try this Free PDF guide on how to use Adsense for making the most money on a consistent basis.

Got a blog?  Maybe you want to start a blog but don't know exactly how to get started.  

Well, I have good news for you that's coming up on the horizon.

Alice Seba and Lynette Chandler are about to launch an intensive 4-week "Internet Marketing Blogging Bootcamp".  Alice is one of the premier online marketing trainers and she is teaming up with a Lynette Chandler who knows all about the technical aspects of blogging and can answer just about any question anyone has on blogging.

Anyway, Alice and Lynetter will be conducting a 4-week intensive and personalized "Internet Marketing Blogging Bootcamp". 

Anyone signing up for this bootcamp will receive weekly lessons that will be delivered in a private online membership area.  Each week students will receive printable training guides as well as audio recordings.  You'll also get practical weekly assignments that you can readily apply to your blog.  What's even better is you will also receive personalized feedback from Lynette and Alice directly. 

Registration actually starts on March 3 and classes will begin the following week on the 10th. 

These classes will be an excellent opportunity for anyone to get a blog started and begin making money immediately.  Even if you already have a blog it will teach you how to effectively monetize it.

But you don't have to wait until March 3.  Alice and Lynette have put out a blogging tips and ideas PDF guide that has 31 great starter ideas on what to blog about and how to begin making some early cash today.  
 
Ultimately I think this will be a 4-week course that anyone online will truly benefit from. It's not an ebook you have to push yourself to get through, it's a guided tour, if you will, on how to get a blog started and monitize it to its fullest.

At the very least, pick up your 31 free blogging ideas right now.

Happy Blogging!

While reading Webpro news this morning over coffee I couldn't help but click on the item about 'Adsense Earnings Down'. 

It caught my eye because I've noticed a drop in Adsense earnings myself over the past few months and it appears that many others have as well.

According to Google, how much an ad pays can depend on a number of things such as the advertiser's bid, the quality of the ad, the other ads competing for the space, the start or end of an ad campaign, and other advertiser fluctuations, but what Google doesn't say much about is how much benefit is placed on what happens after the click such as whether there is a buy or if a form gets filled out, etc., …which is something I always wondered about. 

In any event, Google does stand by their 'Content is King", theory stating that the higher quality the site, the more likely the publisher gets high quality, costlier, better-converting ads.  

OK, add good content, yes I can get behind that, it's what I do but, like many things with Google they just aren't consistent with what they preach. What about the sites that violate Google's own rules like sites that have nothing but Google Ads but no content?

And of course, Google uses the old standby 'recession'. They hint that recession in the economy may mean recession in your Adsense payouts as well.

One possible nugget of hope that Webpro pointed out is that if you have many sites with one Adsense account, you could experience a hit on all of your sites, which indicates it may be better to create a separate account for each site.  Will this help, it remains to be seen.

What does all this mean?  It may mean that Google Adsense had a good run but in the overall scheme of things, this may be the start of a wind down. In my experience, what really counts when it comes to making money online is to create content that visitors will benefit from, establish trusting relationships with your visitors and practice good SEO and website optimization.

If your Google adsense revenue has gone down in the dumps have a look at Joel Comm's Google Adsense Secrets, at $9.95 he's practically giving it away.