by Lynette Alice

Created on: April 07, 2009

Google Adsense has become one of the most popular forms of advertising to generate revenue from the casual blogger right up to the high end writers that are trying to make a living on the web. Adsense is in many regards very simple in the way it works, but also wildly misunderstood by many which prevents them from taking advantage of a great opportunity. The easiest way to learn how Adsense works is to go step by step.

Adsense is like tripod in that it takes three different entities to stand up and work. The first is the writer who produces content to be posted on their blogs or websites. The second entity is advertisers looking for a venue to get more exposure for whatever it is they are trying to sell or drive traffic to. The third is web surfers. With visitors that read the content and click ads the above two entities gain absolutely nothing.

Once a writer has their content ready to go live on the web they place Javascript which is provided by Google on the page which is going to go live. The writer (Assuming it is a blog or website they own) has the option of choosing from various color schemes, formats, and a host of customization options which are available to control how the Adsense ads will appear on the page. Google Adsense also provides tracking tools so the writer can see how their schemes are performing and make adjustments to maximize potential earnings.

Once this is set, the writer/owner has the ability to filter ads which will appear on their site if they choose the "publisher option." If not, they can opt for the advertiser option which allows advertisers to choose where they want their ads to appear. The initial process of this works through Google's filtering system which matches keywords that appear in articles with keywords advertisers have requested their ads be associated to. Usually these fit quite well, sometimes however the ads seem nonsensical in comparison to the context a word is used in.

Once the article or post has gone live is where the web surfer comes into play. It is through them that you are dependant on revenue being generated. Revenue is earned in one of two ways; CPM (Clicks Per Thousand Impressions), or PPC which is pay per click. Each has their advantages and disadvantages depending on the type of traffic you draw and the keywords you are targeting. PPC advertisements are text ads that appear on your site in which you are paid for each time a visitor clicks on them. The amounts paid for this can vary wildly, and the revenue is split with Adsense. In the case of CPM these are text or image ads which appear on the page, Each time one of these ads appears on your page that is an impression and the advertiser pays out a varying fee which you gain share with Adsense. In the case of CPM, the advertiser chooses where their ads will appear, not the writer/owner.

As Google Adsense explains their algorithm, it is based on nothing more complex than simply matching the right ads with the right content to provide as much revenue as possible for for writers/owners, advertisers, and of course them self. None of this matters however if you don't keep quality content on your blog/site which attracts regular traffic and is compelling enough to make people want to click ads which are related to the topics discussed in your post. It all seems easy enough, and in reality it is. Some people have made quite a bit of money using Google Adsense and others have struggled. It is a good strong revenue generating program for anyone that dedicates them self to making work, and a final precautionary note is that Adsene does employ an excellent click fraud program which prevents people from inflating their stats.

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