For AdSense publishers this just means there are more advertisers who can compete for ad space on your site.

So the ads displayed are not just from the AdWords program anymore.  They can also come from pre-approved, certified networks that are working with Google.

If you have a website that advertisers want to appear on, this can work to your advantage as they outbid each other for real estate on your site.

You can watch the video about this below. (Can’t see the video in your e-mail or RSS reader? Visit my blog to watch it.)

Ever since Google announced this change, my earnings have skyrocketed.  I published a video about my record earnings in July, and October looks to shatter that record by a mile.

Can I be sure this spike is due to the addition of the third party ad networks?

Not really.

Since I have no way of knowing the source of my ads (AdWords or a third party network) and which ads get clicked, of course I cannot confirm that my spike is from this change.  However, it’s hard not to assume this has something to do with it.

The Stats

In my six years as an AdSense publisher, I’ve never experienced an earnings spike like the one I’m having now.   Also, this spike was very sudden. In the past, any upward trend was very gradual.

September’s earnings were up nearly 20% over August, and if my earnings keep this current pace in October, this month will beat September by 5-10%.

Here’s another point I want to make…

In the last two months, both my traffic and click-thru percentage (CTR) have remained the same.  However, my eCPM has gone way up since Google’s announcement.  To put it simply, that just means I am earning more for my traffic (clicks, impressions, etc.)

And if my speculation about the third party networks coming into play is right, it all adds up. (Pardon the pun.)  If there are more advertisers bidding for space, that will drive up the average cost per click (CPC) of the ads and increase the amount you can earn per click.

Of course, I’m doing a lot of speculating here, and perhaps this post is premature.  But my increase in earnings over the last two months cannot be ignored — especially since my earnings trend was pretty flat during the first half of the year.

So now I’m curious.  Have you noticed an increase in your earnings since Google started allowing third party networks to advertise on your site?

In the coming months, you’ll be able to display ads from additional networks.

Google ensures this will give you, the publisher, the chance to maximize profits from AdWords and ads sponsored by 3rd parties.

Some AdSense publishers often complain of poorly targeted ads on certain pages.  Many times it’s because there aren’t many relevant ads to show for certain content.

This new development may alleviate some of those issues and offer more relevant ad possibilities.

Not interested in this option?  No problem.  If you don’t want to show ads from 3rd party networks, you can continue to show AdWords ads only.  You’ll be able to configure your settings in the My Account tab.

This is one of several changes/updates in Google’s ad program this year.  In March, Google introduced interest-based advertising.  This is where your visitors may see ads based on websites they frequent instead of ads related to your page content.

So if your site is about tennis, a visitor may see a Google ad about video games based on their browsing history. And just like the 3rd party networks, you may opt out of this by going to the Account Settings section under the My Account tab.

One of my favorite new features of 2009 is the ability to block certain ad categories.  In case you didn’t know, you can go to the Ad Review Center (under Adsense Settings) and choose up to 5 categories to filter.

Google will even tell you which categories earn you the most (by percentage) to help you determine which categories to block.

Lots of changes for Google’s ad program this year.  Overall, I think it’s a good thing for the publishers and advertisers.

What are your thoughts on the new changes?  Do you ever make changes to the default ad settings in your AdSense account?  If so, how has it helped you?

Unless you have a shopping site, most visitors come to your site because they are looking for information. (Especially if they found you through a search engine.)

Of course there are exceptions to this, but for the majority of the time this is true.  (Searching for information is still one of the most common tasks performed online.)

Pretend You are a First-Timer Visitor

Take a look at your homepage from the perspective of someone who just found it through Google.

What is the first thing they see?

Are they blasted with Google ads?

Do they have to scroll down half a page before they get to your content because you have advertisements yelling at them to click or buy something?

Does the first paragraph of your site have a benefit-rich statement that will quickly tell people how your site will help them, or are you promoting a product?

Instead of asking for money, how about giving away something valuable like a free report, e-book, or good old fashioned help.

It’s little things like this that make all the difference.  As the old saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”  This holds true online too.

On all of my sites, I try to make the first few paragraphs rich with audience benefits and/or give something away.  I want people to realize that they will experience something different than my competition.

I realize I only have a few seconds to grab their attention so, I’m OK with forging an AdSense click or two in exchange for a lifetime visitor.

I am looking at the net effect.

It’s easy to believe that it’s best to get the ad click before a person leaves your site, but what if they never come back?  Why would they?  You haven’t given them anything to chew on except ads or a sales pitch.

Wouldn’t you rather sell them on your brand and information, hoping this will encourage them to come back again and again?  This could ultimately result in multiple AdSense clicks down the road and even more earnings from products you might sell or from affiliate commissions.

Trust and credibility are two factors you must have if you want long-term success online.  And you can’t gain either through an AdSense ad or a flashing banner.  But you can gain them by helping or giving away something of value.

I have nothing against ads, of course.  But I do have something against sites where ads seem to overshadow the content.

Remember, some of the highest earning affiliate sites, initially appear as if they don’t have much to sell at all.

Ponder that one for a minute.

Gone are the days where you can throw up a quick Blogger blog today and get accepted into the AdSense program by tomorrow.

According to their policies, you must adhere to the following guidelines…

1)  Your website must sit on a top-level domain (yoursite.com not yoursite.host.com).

2) Your domain must be active for at least 6 months

3) Your AdSense application info must match your domain records

Due to the fact I am already a member, I was not aware of some of these policies until I began getting more emails from people who were getting rejected because their site didn’t adhere to one or more of the guidelines.

One blogger was quite upset, saying he believed his Blogger blog had very well written content that was unique. Another lady complained that the guidelines were just too strict and should be relaxed.

Take note that both of these blogs were created with the free Blogger service and neither had their own domain name to redirect to their blogs.

Here’s My Take…

If you want to make money online, understand that you are setting up a business.  Businesses require investments and work.  If you are not prepared to fork over $3-$10/month for hosting then maybe this is not for you right now.

I personally don’t think the criteria is overly strict, and it will eliminate many of the low-quality sites throughout the network.  If you ask me, this is long overdue.

What people need to understand is that Google must protect their advertisers — the lifeblood of their business.  And because Google started out with such a relaxed acceptance policy, things got out of hand.

Worthless blogs and websites with plagiarized content were going up left and right.   Numerous people tried to cheat the system by inviting friends to click their ads or using other computers to click their own ads.

Instead of treating AdSense as a monetization model for their business, people behaved as if this was some way to get-rich quickly with Google ads.

What Publishers Should Know

If you’re an AdSense publisher, understand that being a member is a privilege, not a right.  Some webmasters seem to feel they are entitled to get paid by Google because they have a website, but as I stated earlier, Google’s top priority is the AdWords advertisers.

We the publishers are helping Google advertise and Google is paying us a percentage of what they earn.  If the advertisers complain about the quality of the sites or click fraud, then it’s in Google’s best interest to rectify the situation.

Now of course, the AdWords advertisers can choose NOT to display their ads on the publisher websites, but that’s not the point.  Publishers need to respect and understand how the AdWords and AdSense relationship works.

I applaud Google for their policies.  If you think about it, everyone wins in the end.  If the overall quality of the publisher sites improve, more AdWords advertisers may opt in to display their ads on our sites, thus giving us publishers the opportunity to earn more.

In the last two months my AdSense earnings are up quite a bit.  Some analysts speculate Google’s cleanup and stricter policies are causing more AdWords advertisers to opt into advertising on the publisher sites.

There’s no way I can know this for sure, but I wouldn’t doubt this has an impact.

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Note:  After this post was published, I was informed that people are still able to get accepted prior to owning their domain for six months.   So it appears that Google may take the quality of your content into consideration.  Nevertheless, it can’t hurt to wait.  You aren’t going to make much with AdSense unless you have the traffic anyway.

I’m not really sure where this noise is coming from.

Yes, many people have reported their earnings have dropped this year, but it’s still a great monetization option for many sites and blogs.

I personally think “dead” is too strong of a word.

I certainly prefer AdSense over many of the other CPC programs available (Kontera, AdBrite, etc.), and have no plans of dropping them anytime soon.

Watch the video below for my view of the current state of AdSense.

If you’re viewing this post via email, click here to view the video.

Yup, you guessed it.  Now you can display AdSense ads right inside your Feedburner feed.

You probably knew this was coming because there were rumors about Google testing this out on certain accounts.

Well, now it’s available to all AdSense account owners.

Before you can activate this long-awaited feature, you need to migrate your Feedburner account over to Google by simply emailing adsense-support-aff@google.com the following details…

1) Your Feedburner username

2) The email address you used to sign up for AdSense

After this, Google will follow up with migration instructions (I’m still waiting on my e-mail.)

Once activated, you’ll be able to choose your ad type (text or image), frequency, post length and position of the ads.

This is pretty exciting.  It’s always great to have additional ways to monetize existing content.

Happy feeding!

While some of the information in the video is common knowledge to most publishers, there are also some very useful tips.

Create Channels

Pay close attention to the part about creating channels so you can track and compare different ad units.

Most people don’t do this. They just create different sized ad units and slap them all over their pages, then focus on their overall earnings without tracking the results of each unit.

However, when you learn which ad units perform the best, you can maximize your earnings from the program.

Blend, Blend, Blend

I was also glad they pointed out that blending the ad background with your site’s background has proven to generate higher click-thru rates.

Many people still think it’s best to make the ads stand out by using outlandish or contrasting backgrounds. Mel Ann and Tim explain that it’s best to make the ads look as if they are part of your content.

So without further ado, watch the video below to learn how to maximize your earnings from AdSense…

Note: This list is from all my sites combined.

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1. Domain and Web Hosting Reselling

This program is a great example of why you should look for affiliate or reseller programs in your niche that pay residual commissions.

If my site got wiped out today, I would still be able to live off the residual income I’ve generated since joining this program in 2002. If you have a site that targets Webmasters, reselling domains and web hosting is a great way to build a long-term income that continues to grow and grow.

As a reseller, you receive your own customizable website that allows you to set your prices and determine your profit.  The parent company handles all the customer and technical support, so all you do is promote your own reseller store.

It would be hard for any other affiliate program to bump this from the #1 spot.

2. SiteSell

I’ve been receiving checks from SiteSell’s affiliate program since 1999, but nothing like the ones I started getting when I bought Site Build It! and displayed my own success story.

(See the post about my February 2008 check)

This was my biggest lesson in the importance of knowing and actually using products you refer from your site.

SiteSell’s affiliate program pays a generous $75 per Site Build It! sale, plus residuals on all yearly renewals.  I really wish more affiliate programs would put the same amount of time and energy SiteSell does into helping affiliates.

I’ve never known another company to offer so many tools to help their affiliates make sales. From videos with your affiliate links embedded in them to over 60 audience-relevant landing pages, this program has it all.

3. Affiliate Networks (CJ.com, ShareASale.com, etc.)

I promote a variety of products that I find on some of the larger affiliate networks. From web software, web hosting, HTML editors, to anything I can find that’s useful and related to my audience.

Belonging to an affiliate network has its advantages…

1) If you’re looking for a specific product to promote, you can do a search to see if there are any relevant affiliate programs that offer the product.

2) You can join multiple programs with a few mouse clicks.

3) All of your earnings are tracked in one place, so you have one-stop reporting instead of multiple affiliate account logins.

The downside is that many companies who run their affiliate programs through large networks tend to have sub-par customer support.

There have been many occasions where I’ve sent an email to a company I’m affiliated with through CJ and never received a response. Companies that run their own in-house affiliate programs seem to have better customer support over all.

Nevertheless, large affiliate networks are definitely worth exploring, particularly if you’re looking for a specific product to promote on your site or blog.

4. AdSense

I hate using the term “easy money”, but if you have enough traffic, AdSense has got to be one of the easiest ways to generate an income from your site or blog.

AdSense performs much better on my sites not targeted to Webmasters and Bloggers – which is a big reason why you don’t see many AdSense units on this blog.

Bloggers and Webmasters tend to be immune to Google ads so they ignore them. However on my fitness site, my click-thru ratio has been much higher.

Even though my main site, 2CreateAWebSite.com targets Webmasters, it does OK with AdSense because it gets enough traffic to make displaying the ads worthwhile.

Watch a video about my record Google AdSense Earnings.

5. Thesis (DIYThemes)

This program just bumped Amazon.com off the list and beat out Clickbank and Adbrite.  So in August, 2009 I had to update this post.

I make most of my money from affiliate programs that are tied to products and services I own.  It’s so important to build credibility and trust as an affiliate, and one way to start is to buy and use what you recommend.

As soon as I learned how to use Thesis and realized the sheer power, I added a page here that illustrates how it works.  Since this site gets a lot of traffic from Bloggers, it’s a perfect fit and the earnings started coming in right away.

Thesis has a very generous affiliate program and if a person buys the Developer’s option, you can earn over $50 for one sale.

6. ClickBank

With ClickBank, you really have to feel it out and see what works for you. Even though it’s on my Top 7 list, I must admit there is a lot of garbage on ClickBank.

Many of the eBooks you can sell are a bunch of recycled facts you can find anywhere on the Web.

They are usually promoted by an over-hyped landing page with a loud sales pitch that promises you to either get rich quick, lose weight tomorrow, or get out of debt in seconds.

However, if you really comb through the ClickBank marketplace, you can find some winners. I was able to find a few good e-books to promote that convert very well on my sites.

The great thing about ClickBank is that the commissions are extremely high since product development and delivery costs are low. You could earn up to $75 on certain products in their marketplace.

7. AdBrite

Many people use AdBrite’s cost per click program (similar to AdSense).   However, I use them to manage my own flat-rate ads.

I have various advertising spots on 2CreateAWebSite.com where I charge a flat fee for the week, month, etc. and AdBrite manages the payments, ad rotation, etc.

If you’re looking to offer advertising on your site, but don’t want to deal with collecting the payments and setting up an ad rotation script, you may want to check into AdBrite.

They still have some kinks to work out (support response time, ad rotation options, better targeting for network ads, etc.) but they are getting better with time.

Note: OIO Publisher is a much better ad management program because you keep all your earnings.  However, you cannot install OIO Publisher on static/HTML websites.  It only runs on dynamic websites (blogs, forums, etc.).  I own it and used it on my forum.

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These aren’t the only programs I earn money from, but these are the highest paying by far.  The rest of my income comes from a collection of other affiliate programs.

This post was not created to encourage you to join all these programs.  Quite frankly, if your site does not target the same people and does not have the same kind of traffic, your income will be drastically less.

But hopefully this shows you what is possible if you build a website that allows you to become the “expert” in your niche, and you recommend quality products that you use and are relevant to your audience. You can apply this strategy to any niche.

The fear is pretty valid. I’ve heard of people getting pulled from the program for “no apparent reason” (according to them).

Of course there are two sides to every story, but it reinforces that Google’s #1 interest is protecting their advertisers, not you, the publisher.

And rightfully so.

Google watches AdSense accounts like a hawk, especially if you’re a new member.

They track IP addresses and monitor for fraudulent clicks on a regular basis. A friend of mine clicked her own ads and was removed from the program within 2 days of joining.

While I have no fool-proof way to ensure your account won’t get dinged, here are some tips to keep you in good graces with Google.

1. Report Accidental Clicks

If you accidentally click on your own ads (and people have done this), the best thing to do is report it to Google immediately. In fact, Google even advises you to do this.

If you’re honest and upfront about it, Google probably won’t remove you from the program. Your account may get flagged temporarily and/or you may lose some revenue, but it’s better you report it than having them find out about it.

Just make sure this doesn’t become a habit.

2. Stop Telling Your Friends & Family to Click on Your Ads

Some people join Adsense with the intent of getting rich by having their friends and family click on their ads. While you may think this is pretty fool-proof idea, it’s not very smart or ethical.

First of all, advertisers pay for those ads through the AdWords program. So when you tell people to randomly click the ads, you are throwing their hard-earned money down the toilet. In a way, it’s stealing.

Second, what if Google notices the multiple clicks from the same IP address. Yes, maybe it’s not your IP address, but is it really worth the risk? Plus, I would imagine Google would eventually ignore those clicks anyway.

3. When Google Calls…. Answer… And Keep Your Records

Some thieves are not too bright. Once I caught someone who literally ripped off my entire site. Not only did they forget to remove my AdSense code, but they violated the AdSense T&C’s by calling attention to the ads.

Google discovered this site, and because the person was using my AdSense code, they contacted me because they thought it was my site. I explained to them what happened.

After I replied, I didn’t hear back from Google and that made me a little nervous. So I contacted them again and included the previous correspondence.

This time I received an answer and Google told me they added a note to my file that said I was not the owner of the domain that violated the T&C’s. More importantly, I saved this reply for my own records just in case.

4. Obey The Rules

Even though Google doesn’t seem to be enforcing this much, they recently added a section to their T&C’s that require any site that uses AdSense to have a Privacy Policy. See the end of Section 1 of their terms and conditions.

Many Webmasters aren’t taking this too seriously, but if it’s in their T&C’s then why not take 10 minutes to set it up?

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A lot of people feel Google owes them something or they are doing Google a big favor by being an AdSense publisher.

I have no way of knowing how AdSense affects Google’s bottom line, but I can tell you this. Thousands of advertisers are paying to advertise with Google through AdWords, and we know that’s where Google is making its money.

AdWords advertisers funnel thousands of dollars into Google everyday and indirectly earning you money from AdSense. Google’s best interest is keeping them happy, not the publishers. Remember, AdSense publishers aren’t paying Google a cent.

So the next time you try to sneak a click or encourage your visitors to click an ad or two, ask yourself if the 12 cents you’ll gain is worth losing your account for good.

And in my opinion, many Webmasters overdo it.

Because you want to get as many clicks as possible, it can be very tempting to lace your page header with multiple AdSense ads. After all, the more ads, the money you’ll make right?

Not necessarily…

… especially if your site is in a niche that targets Webmasters or other Internet savvy groups. These audiences are often immune to Internet ads in general and are twice as likely to ignore them.

So instead of AdSense becoming an additional revenue stream, it becomes a sign that may suggest you’re more interested in getting clicks than giving useful content.

Too Many Ads Looks Amateur-Ish

Arial of attackdepression.com told me she immediately thinks “amateur” when she comes across a site where the Google ads take up more real estate than the actual content.

And she really hates the sites where you have to scroll down just to see the first line of real content because the AdSense ads are in the way.

I have to agree. First impressions are everything. And if your visitors first impression of your site is “too many ads and not enough info”, you’ve immediately lost some interest, credibility and perhaps a repeat visitor.

Your visitors shouldn’t have to dig through your ads to find your content.

Maximize But Don’t Overdo It

Don’t get me wrong. I think you should maximize your AdSense revenue potential by using multiple AdSense units – that’s why Google allows up to three.

Just make sure they don’t overpower your site’s layout and you have good content to supplement the ads.

Remember, it’s your content relevance and site usability that keeps people interested and encourages them to return – not your advertisements.

So rather than being so eager to show off your AdSense ads with the contrasting bright yellow background, why not show them why your site is worthy of a bookmark and a return visit. There’s no better way to do that than through useful info and site usablity.

AdSense Awareness

These days Web surfers are much more ad conscious than they were years ago. And with the media stories that have flooded newspapers and news programs, it’s getting harder to find people who don’t know a little something about “making money with Google ads.”

In other words, people are much more aware, and it’s getting easier for the average surfer to spot a greedy Webmaster.

A few years ago, more people would click ads out of curiosity or confusion. These days the only click many surfers are making is the “Back” button because they know exactly what this Webmaster is up to.

It’s all about balance. There’s nothing wrong with using 3 AdSense units on a page. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with having them highly visible to increase the chances of a click thru.

But if your ads overpower your content, and it becomes obvious you’re only out to make a fast buck, is it really worth the loss of credibility and a potential repeat visitor?

AdSense should supplement your content, not BE your content.

It doesn’t matter how you slice it. Content has and will always rule. And I’d much rather sacrifice a few clicks with the hopes they will find my site useful and want to return again.

And should they happen to click an ad in the process of browsing my site, that’s an added bonus!

And who knows, maybe on their next visit they’ll make a purchase that is worth a whole lot more to me in commissions than 8 cents from an AdSense ad click.

AdSense is a wonderful, lucrative program. But don’t let the dollar signs overshadow what it really takes to make a site succeed for the long haul.