Blogging with Adsense – Does it Really Make Sense?
A couple of weeks ago I posted about putting Google Adsense advertising on my blog to offset hosting cost. I am now reconsidering having the ads. It isn’t a matter of being an activist, as one stumbler accused me of on my personal blog, it is more taking up room with useless clutter. Although, the announcement of Adsense changing its commission polices does make it more appealing.
I tell the ads are appear as clutter by the total number of clicks as the ads have been received. The click through rate (CTR) is about .25%. The return on investment (ROI) of having the clutter is very small at best. The postage of mailing a check would cost more than I would actually receive in the check. So for my loyal visitors you will be happy to know that I will soon be removing the sponsored Google Ads. I have looked at other options and non seem worth the investment to have that much clutter. I hope to pursue other advertising methods such as my hosting company. Until I find a better alternative I will let you enjoy banner and advertising free reading.
If you noticed I put up a banner ad for Search Engine College. I guess it is out with old in with the new. At least there are now in post ads for the moment.
AdSense is a horrible decision for any small business and all but a few bloggers. This is especially true if you’re actually making money from it.
There are several reasons why small companies should avoid doing business with Google at all costs:
1. Google won’t talk to you. In fact, your company isn’t even important enough for them to provide you with a phone number.
2. Google reserves the right to ban your account and keep all your earnings for any reason it sees fit and/or no reason at all.
3. Google doesn’t differentiate between you fraudulently clicking your own ads and your competitors fraudulently clicking your own ads. In either case, your account will be banned and your money withheld – and that includes anything revenue generated by legitimate clicks.