Why I Don’t Use AdSense
Over the weekend, Ognjen of Ioncenter dropped me an email that I thought would be great for this week’s Reader Question Session. Ognjen asks,
“I was wondering, why don’t you use Google AdSense in your blog?”
Well, to be honest there are a few reasons. The first one being that my AdSense account was banned more than a year ago for reasons still unknown. Now I realize that if you ask the inmates, there are no guilty men in prison, but in all honesty, I never broke their terms of service or participated in any type of click fraud or anything like that. I simply logged into my account one day and poof, it was gone. I of course appealed but Google would not provide me any information (even such basic things such as which domain the fraud occurred on, or a date range for me to pull my log files) about why I had been banned and denied my appeal. Now it appears publishers often receive warnings before being banned but I guess I just wasn’t that lucky.
I guess the silver lining of getting banned was that it opened my eyes and for the first time I looked more critically at the AdSense program. When I did, I saw several things I saw that would keep me from running AdSense ads on this blog, even if I hadn’t been banned.
Vulnerability
Obviously the first issue that would worry me about using AdSense is the vulnerability factor. If my account could be banned for actions that I had no control over (and if you do some searching you’ll find I’m not alone), why would I want to put my earnings at risk? When Google bans you, they don’t pay you the balance you’re owed minus whatever clicks they have decided were fraudulent. They keep every dime that’s left in your account, whether it was earned honestly or not. Luckily for me, I had only a few hundred dollars in my account. While that most certainly wasn’t a pleasant experience, it could have been MUCH, MUCH worse.
No Accountability
How about this, you send me as much targeted traffic as you can, and I’ll pay you for it. How much? Oh, whatever I think is fair. And actually I’m going to resell that traffic at a profit. How large a profit? Oh, whatever I think is fair.
Now how many of you are going to sign up for that offer? When it’s presented like that, probably not many. However, when you sign up for Google AdSense, that’s essentially what you’re doing. You’re agreeing to let Google determine how much they should pay you for each click. Of course, they don’t disclose what percentage they pay you, so they can actually change your share at any given moment. If they’re paying you $1.00 a click, the next day they could pay you $0.50 for that same click and you’d never know it.
As if that weren’t enough, Google also get’s to decide which clicks they pay you for! Think hitting the front page of a popular social media site will increase your AdSense earnings? Not so fast. Steve over at Ramblings of the Marginalized has some pretty solid evidence that Google is discounting any clicks when your site gets a surge in traffic. That’s on top of the fact that Google could count only 8 out of every 10 clicks and you’d have absolutely no idea and no recourse. So, after all that, if you’re still interested in running Google AdSense, I’ve got one final reason you shouldn’t.
Poor Earnings
The best reason NOT to run AdSense ads on your site is a simple one. You’ll be losing money. Over the years webmaster after webmaster has realized that they could earn more money by running affiliate ads, offering private ad sales, or even running ads from other programs. One sports site I developed used Google AdSense (preban obviously) was doing pretty well and earned an average of about 35 – 40 cents a click. I thought that was just dandy until I came across an affiliate program that would pay me a flat fee of 50 cents per click for running their ads on my site. Now I don’t know about you but I’d take a 25% raise any time I can get it. The worst part of it was when I realized just how much money I had thrown away over the time I had been running AdSense. While that’s just one story, I’m not alone on this either. John Chow recently gave up on AdSense, and it’s no coincidence that none of the top dogs run AdSense on their sites.
To sum it all up, I don’t use Google AdSense because not only could you be banned at any time, you also have no idea how much you’re going to be paid per click, or how many of the clicks you generate will be counted and, last but not least, you’re probably not making as much as you could be off those clicks in the first place! If you’re currently using Google AdSense on your blog, I’d challenge you to take some time and research a few other ad sources. You’ll thank me for it later.
Comments
Derek Eugea October 1st, 2007
Ben,
As usual another great article. My buddy and I just started our site 2guysandablog.com and use Google Adsense and have a banner ad for Snorg Tees (which I am sure is against Google’s policy, oh well ban me), and the only reason I used Adsense was because honestly I had heard about them and kind of knew how they worked. After reading your article I am defiantly going to look in to some different options.
Donald Mckenzie Jr October 1st, 2007
That was a good post. I dunno, I still kinda like adsense. I might look around and try some others.
Ben Cook October 1st, 2007
@ Donald, if you only “might look around and try some others” then the post wasn’t as good as it should have been
Ok, ok, that’s a little harsh. There are people who have done really well off Google AdSense but I’m willing to bet those people could have done even better if they’d have gone with other types of advertising. Hell, at least use Yahoo Publisher Network or Adbrite or something that doesn’t have a track record of banning people without any recourse.
Neil Duckett October 1st, 2007
It`s also difficult for those of use living outside the US, for instance we can`t sign up for `Yahoo Publisher Network` so Google Adsense is a good option, among the many others aswell.
Ben Cook October 1st, 2007
@ Neil, that’s a good point. If you’ve considered all the options and looked at all the alternatives, and decide to stick with AdSense, that’s a reasonable choice. If, as is often the case in my experience, you’re just sticking with them because they’re the biggest or the easiest, that’s when I’d emphatically suggest you reconsider.
Also, it deserves mentioning once again that you should never rely to heavily on any one source of income. I’m sure it’s been said many times by many different bloggers but it’s true.
The Monetizer October 1st, 2007
Ben, well put about Adsense and their unknown policies. I think it’s one thing I constantly consider as well, but then realize there are several other programs available. In fact I’ve seen some top bloggers using other programs besides Adsense, which makes me feel like there are some fall back plans available. Good for you to find alternate ways to provide income, it’s a smart idea.
Sandra October 1st, 2007
I have taken Adsense off all my sites this weekend. I used to make $250 – $300 per month with it no worries, but the last couple of months the earnings were going down and down with the same amount of clicks and traffic. September I only earned $60. With a 2 cent average per click it just is not worth it..
Chris Jacobson October 1st, 2007
I’m in the same boat. Google banned me in 2005 for no reason given. Oh well.
Caroline Middlebrook October 2nd, 2007
Also I think that if you have regular blog readers they will become accustomed to the layout of your blog and will phaze out the ads. Thus the only people you’re likely to get clicks from will be new visitors. Now i dunno about you but when I get a new visitor to my blog I want to do everything I can to make him into an RSS subscriber – I want him to read my stuff, not click on some $0.03 ad.
Ognjen October 2nd, 2007
I was assuming that you will say something like that cause I also have heard a lot of bad things about Google AdSense.
Anyhow, very good article with well pointed facts. And thank you for responding to my inquiry.
HMTKSteve October 2nd, 2007
@Sandra,
That is what prompted me to remove AdSense. Up until August it was a big money maker for me and then something happened and it just tanked. I have tried contacting Google about this but I could not get a response. In return I did the only thing I could do, drop them!
I don’t mind only earning $200-$300 for giving them 750K Adsense impressions but I’m not going to give them the same amount of impressions if they only give me $20-$30 a month!
I temporarily switched over to AdBrite and the revenue began to climb back up to pre-August levels. The problem with AdBrite is their limited selection of advertisers. Google is very good at sending targeted ads, more so than AdBrite.
I have not been able to get into YPN yet and I have not tried the new MSN network either. I have been heading more in the direction of aff ads.
Like Ben my goal is to make a living off of blogging. I have multiple websites and some are good while others are not so good. I do not have the time and resources to let a bad program run on my sites.
Ben Cook October 2nd, 2007
For anyone interested, on one of those abandoned blogs I’m so adept at creating, there’s a long list of Google AdSense alternatives. Might be worth taking a look at.
@ Steve, I’ve heard reports that YPN can be tough to get into. I guess I was lucky on that front. Have you dropped NonSense on your entire network or just on a few?
Fiar October 2nd, 2007
Ben, I think one of the issues here is that people don’t know how to find affiliate programs. All I ever see with respect to it is do “search” for them. That seems like pretty useless advice to me. That would be like asking for help in a support forum and being told, “google it.”
Gee, thanks. I never thought of that.
Ben Cook October 2nd, 2007
@ Fiar, you’re probably right. I hadn’t really thought of that but that would probably make a great post. I’ll see if I can’t whip up a list of my favorite places to find aff offers. The AdSense alternative link in the comment above has some of them in it but it couldn’t hurt to list them here.
Another great comment, thanks!
HMTKSteve October 2nd, 2007
Ben, I left it up on a few but they will all be gone today. I just wanted to squeeze out a few more pennies before I dropped them so as to be sure I get paid!
Pops October 2nd, 2007
I wonder how many people just keep Adsense on their site hoping to hit $100 so they can get that first check and cash out. I know I’m one.
Ben Cook October 2nd, 2007
Dang, I must be psychic! Darren at Problogger just made a video answering the same question.
Zane Dickens October 4th, 2007
I’m thinking of tanking Adsense along with most of my other ads. Simple reason is I am spending way too much time fiddling with ads, optimizing, checking stats, blah blah etc.
I’m sure there are a few newbies out there that have done the same. So I am killing most of my ads, in an effort to lift my credibility a bit as well as reduce my focus on immaterial rubbish and refocus on core competencies like actually posting.
My current problem however is that I am a visual person (Filmmaker and Graphic Designer), so if I don’t like the look of something it bugs me. Long and short, does anyone have a designer or resource site to get pretty but functional design/template.
@ Ben sorry for the mini-rant. I am taking your advice though and reducing the ads. And possibly making an ‘advertise here’ page. When I get some traffic. [The stumble stream died - hence the morose tone]
Zane Dickens October 4th, 2007
@Pops – I’m one too… sad but I can’t let ‘money earned’ go
LucidAdmin October 6th, 2007
I currently just use Adsense because it’s convient for a starter like my self. On top of that I’m only planing on using the revenue to further promote my site.
hitesh sahni October 7th, 2007
ok , enough of these good arguments against adsense. I fully agree.But please advice me another alternative which I should choose.Most of the alternatives demand a certain high amount of traffic for your blog to qualify.My blog is comparitively new and traffic is low.
I also want to know , isn’t there a damn thing a blogger can do when adsense bans his account ?
Ben Cook October 7th, 2007
@ hitesh, I’ve got a post set to be published tomorrow that should help you find some alternatives.
Also, AdSense does allow you to send in an appeal form. But they tell you they only allow you one appeal and in my experience, they send out a canned denial almost every time. There have been stories of people getting their accounts back but they are few and far between. Also, these days some publishers are getting warnings before they get banned but that’s hit or miss as well.
hitesh sahni October 7th, 2007
Please also include the eligibility conditions that each alternative demands from the blog in your coming post.I am waiting.Thanks for the reply.
Scott October 13th, 2007
Thanks for the post, I have been working on a few articles about who to use and why not to use adsense… the why to use was much harder to write as my list of why not is larger
analyst October 16th, 2007
1. I must compliment you for a beautiful write up.
2. I sacrificed Adsense in favour of Bidvertiser and found that its clicks is generating more revenue for me than Google Adsense in my blog for free Indian share tips and am much satisfied because of transparent policy of Bidvertiser.
Regards
InvestorBlogger November 14th, 2007
Of course, there are OTHER reasons why Adsense isn’t a good bet for your website: I listed ten reasons, some of which Ben dealt with, but some of which he didn’t… One of which is that Clicking on Ads takes readers away from your blog…. Don’t you want your readers to stay?
Kenneth
Lisa January 19th, 2008
Ben and Repliers – I wish I’d seen this blog a little earlier. We are launching a new site that provides site revenue sharing for independent digital publishers like musicians, film makers, writers and so forth.
We put AdSense on our info page and planned to put them on our beta site. The info page received a lot of traffic and we were up to nearly $100 in Google earnings and then bam – one day we were banned. Unbelievable, we have no idea why we were banned but we learned our lesson. AND we used their PPC service to generate a lot of that traffic and I know we paid more than we were earning!
I caution against using AdSense, not only can you be left without ad inventory at anytime – you do not get paid for the money you accrued in the month of the ban.
We are exploring alternatives ad options. Part of the genesis for the new site was the idea of creating an aggregate traffic flow thereby allowing individual publishers to profit from the higher ad fees of the publishing co-op. I am thankful we learned our lesson before we let our supporters down.
BTW – Keep up the good work on your blog!
Games February 26th, 2010
Adsense is very reliable.
Oster June 2nd, 2010
I still believe adsense is a good way to earn money.