NetBusinessBlog

It’s not just that you can’t rely on Google not to ban you or the fact that you can’t rely on how much you make.
It’s simply the fact that there are quite a few methods that can be implemented, and for some Adsense makes just 20% or less of their total revenue. It’s crazy to make just $2000/month when they could be doing $10,000.
Text link ads, sponsored reviews, affiliates, kontera, cpm banners, direct ads, the choices are too many to ignore.

Couldn’t agree more. While adsense is nice for certain types of sites, it isn’t especially good for blogs, I’ve always been more of a fan of direct advertising.

Interesting post, considering that for the most part people think automatically of adsense when thinking of monetizing their websites, but the points you make are definitely valid. I have heard many horror stories of people getting banned and losing a lot of income. But what do you suggest as an alternative to adsense? I know there are many options out there, but what do you think is a good reliable way to monetize a website?

Does anyone know what percentage Google takes from each click?

I don’t think anybody knows how much Google gives a publisher per click – it’s hard to determine. Because a well performing Ad can have a CPC of 0.05 whereas they may be actually bidding like 0.15 on their keyword. So I guess it’s determined on a advertiser to advertiser basis. Maybe I’m wrong – who knows.

@Ali
Surely, someone would have done some research on this. How about industry standards?

Has anyone here tried directly contacting the advertisers and ask them to advertise on their website rather than go through Google? If so, any success?

AdSense is great for beginners. For me 2 other programs outperform AdSense every month. It is nice to know if AdSense goes away I still have income.

BeachBum

Few notices:
AdSense earnings are unpredictable – Generally I agree, but when you do have AdSense on a site filled in good niche CPC might be very nice
internet users get smarter – I totally agree, the geek smells AdSense afar off. If your target is smart, direct advertising and affiliate marketing simply works better. Problem is the fact that without thousands of visitors monthly you won’t find direct advertisers, also many affiliate programs are geolocalized so it’s not easy to monetize traffic from different countries
Good luck trying to monetize your graphic design blog with AdSense – Yeah, that’s right. By luck there are rounded corners. You are always forced to choose: to be ok with your design and get small CTR, or to make the ads invasive and start earning money (unless your audience will simply go away haha)

IMO one of the biggest advantages of using AdSense is the fact it’s international – no matter where the user lives he always get geolocalized ads.

Kontera totally sucks. Why did you placed that crap between affiliates and CPM banners? ]:->

I think I’ve heard it’s something about 40 percent.

Usually when companies are interested in direct advertising they do ask on their own, it enough to place “advertise here” link and provide good info about visits, users, pricing, requirements etc

Oh I’ve just got the biggest disadvantage – I do HATE the way of AdSense payouts, one month delay is DEFINITELY too long period of time…

I’m now trying to reduce the number of adsense ads on my site. Some say the lesser the number of ads, the higher the payout. For me, it makes no difference as earnings are minimal. I wouldn’t take it out completely though…as it is still money afterall. So, why waste? ;)

Good point. As the saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Good points. Thanks!

I replied with a new blog entry.

I definately don’t check my Adsense every 30 mins, because I know it will still have big fat 0’s.

I like the point the John Chow made about getting .07 to 1.50 per click. Many sites get most clicks from 1 cent to less than a dollar. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten more than a dollar for a click.

[...] the most popular network. However, many bloggers have AdSense as their only income stream. This is not a good strategy because you can add income streams that can earn as much money as [...]

Great post! Of all the startups/websites that use Google Adsense as their main revenue model (according to Bizak.com) their earnings per visitor (EPV) is just $0.06. That’s not what they earn per click but rather based on the number of visitors they have. In order to make $1,000/month they need over 16,000 monthly visitors – not an easy feat. Better to monetize with services ($1.67 EPV) and/or subscriptions ($1.02 EPV).

Even with these poor earnings 22% of startups/websites rely on Adsense as their main revenue source. 17% services and 8% subscriptions. Source: Bizak.com