Showing off Google adsense cheques

One regular reader of my blog asked me why I don't show off my Google Adsense cheques. Apparently, he noticed that unlike the "Dot Com Moguls" out there on the web, I didn't do that. Actually I did write one post showing off "My Google adsense cheque" but that was it.

To tell the truth I don't earn that much from Google adsense but the main reason I don't post up pictures of cheques showing how much I earned this month is because I don't receive any cheques from Google anymore. I have opted to go green by signing up to receive my AdSense payments via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Besides getting my payments faster I save on paper and thus do my little bit for the environment.

On the downside I lose the opprtunity of showing off my cheques. As I have menionted before "No 1 Tip to make money online - act like a millionaire". People want to go to blogs of sucessful bloggers (with loads of Google adsense cheques) because they want to learn how to start earning themselves.

Something to think about.

End of google AdSense Referrals program

Just found out that Google's AdSense Referrals program ends during the last week of August. I used to a few referral ads on this blog but right now the only one is the Firefox with Google toolbar ad banner at the bottom.

The email from Google recommends joining the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate Network, which is now part of their empire.

Do remember to remove the referral codes from your site before the last
week of August.

For more information check out the Google help centre.

Adsense optimisation guidelines

The latest post on the official Adsense blog -"Another look at optimizations" mentions two guidelines for optimising your site for Adsense, namely:

1. Ads shouldn't be placed under a title or section heading in a way that implies that the ads are not ads.

and

2. Ads should be easily distinguishable from surrounding content.

I have noticed a lot of web sites and blogs openly flouting these guidelines. Their intention is clear - to make it look like the ads are their own created content and thus increasing the click through rates.

On my blogs, the ads are either after each post and/ or on the side bar and visitors can clearly make out that they are ads.

I am wondering whether Google is going those sites that flout the guidelines. Will they be penalised in anyway?

Google adsense updates

I had not logged into my Google Adsense account for quite sometime and last week just signed in to see how much money I had earned since I was last paid. When I had initially signed up with Google adsense (several years ago) I had used my old Yahoo email address and have been using it ever since. I found out that now I had to open up a new Google mail account in order to access my account. I tried to use my existing Gmail account but I don't know why, it was refused.

After a few tries I decided to open up a new Googlemail (not Gmail) account. Yeah! There is a difference. Right after signing in with my new account, I was presented with a long TOS or something. I skimmed through it and of course said, "Yes! I agree". There have been other changes including easier management of ads but haven't had time to check them out.

I discovered that my overall earnings have fallen, no doubt due to the Googlespank my blogs received in January this year.

Changed my form of payment from Cheque to Electronic Funds Transfer. Figured that it would be less of a hassle and in the process do my little bit for the environment by eliminating use of paper.

Google plans to stop AdSense referrals

I received an email from the 'Inside AdSense Team' saying that:

If you're outside of North America, Latin America, and Japan, AdSense referrals will be retired.

Now you will agree that "retired" is a nice word for getting "rid off".

This means that all of us guys outside the three regions/ country will have to take down the codes by the last week of January.

The reason given by Google is that Adsense referrals haven't performed as well in regions outside the ones given above.

For more info read their post: "Upcoming referrals changes".

BTW, this is my first post using my new "PayPerPost PC" that came today morning.

Easier management in Adsense coming soon

According to a news coming out from Google, they are going to release a new feature soon that lets us manage ad units from within AdSense publisher accounts without the need for changing the code as we used to do earlier.

From what I understand, we can change colors and channels for new AdSense for content ad units by just updating from within our AdSense account and the changes will be visible automatically on your website or blog.

It isn't live yet and they plan to roll it out in phases.

For more info go to the Inside Adsense blog.

Adsense referrals 2.0 coming to you soon

Adsense referrals 2.0 will soon be available to all AdSense publishers. Listed below are few of the key benefits mentioned on Inside AdSense, the AdSense blog:

- Expanded product inventory: Previously there were only a few Google products to choose from, now we will be able to choose products from thousands of AdWords advertisers.

- Category and keyword targeting: There will be a new option to refer products by category and keyword. Choose by specific category, advertiser, or product and AdSense will figure out which ones will perform best on your site.

- Ad unit optimization: By selecting the Pick best performing ads option, when we create a new referral ad unit, referrals 2.0 will compare the selected ads to other relevant ads, and serve the ads expected to perform best on our site.

- Better targeting for pages with multiple themes: If we have a number of themes on our page, we can now use unique "keywords" for each ad unit to narrow the targeting directly to the theme we want. Hopefully this will translate to higher earnings.

- Greater compensation for high-quality traffic: We will be able to earn more with the referrals, if the traffic through the ads posted on our site translates to completed sales or lead.

- Add your seal of approval: Unlike AdSense for content ads, Google's program policies allows us to add personal reviews of the products we refer.
For example, If you look at the top of my side bar, you will see a referral button for the Google pack. This is a pack of FREE software specifically selected by Google. All are spyware free too.

So how do we start with referral 2.0?

1. Click the AdSense Setup tab in your account
2. Click Referrals.

Don't be worried if you don't see referrals 2.0. I didn't too. Google is gradually making the feature available to all accounts over the next few weeks.

Upto 3 Google link ads now

Just learnt that we are now allowed to place up to three Google link ads on a page. previously we were allowed only one unit per page.

This is really great as I prefer link units as compared to the other formats and they are definitely more user-friendly.

View sample placements here.

Accidentally clicked on own adsense ads?

I accidentally clicked on my own Google Adsense ads recently. Was a bit worried that my account might be disabled because of that. On discussing with some of my blogger friends, found out that I am not the only one and that they too did sometimes accidentally click their own ads.

There were few others who did click on them purposely in the hope of increasing their earnings. That was before I told them about the Google adsense program policies, which state that publishers are not permitted to click on their own ads for any reason. It's quite funny but I found out for a fact that many people who sign up for the program don't read the policies

Quite relieved to learn that Google understands that people do sometimes accidentally click their own ads and won't be penalizing them. Read "
Accidents happen" on the Inside AdSense blog.

However, there's a warning:

However, please keep in mind that we don't ignore the clicks completely; if it appears to us that a publisher has been clicking on his own ads to inflate his earnings or an advertiser's costs, we may disable the account to protect our advertisers' interests.

My Google adsense cheque

My cheque from Google just arrived. It's not much but is definitely welcome.

It was sent to my address in Malaysia. My mother-in-law posted it to me here in the UK. The bank charged me about £8 which is quite a lot but I guess I have no choice.

I have had Google adsense ads on my blog for a long long time but the earnings were pitiful until quite recently. They only increased after I started more blogs and playing around with the placements. Unlike some other people I hate putting my ads inside my posts. I try out of different formats on my different blogs. Still trying to find out which are the most effective.

Would love to hear from other bloggers. Which format of ads are the most effective in generating revenue?

Tags: adsense cheque google

Bye Kontera

I signed up with Kontera some time back and tested it on my ah ok lah blog.

In case you are wondering how it works, you have to insert a snippet of coding into your website html coding. Contextually relevant keyword is identified on your web page and automatically turned into a link to the most relevant ad from among Kontera´s advertisers - Kontera calls this ContentLink™. You earn revenue on a Cost-Per-Click basis.

After the trial run, I have decided that it is not right for me.

A lot of my friends complained that the links were distracting and made my site feel too commercial. I also found out that the money earned was negligible. No even US$2 in 22 days. I earn more from Google adsense and their ads are unobtrusive.

Kontera might be a good means of earning revenue for websites who receive thousands of visitors every day but not one like mine.

Update:
Just found out that it is now known as Amobee.