Google AdSense is acknowledged as one of the easiest methods to kickstart blog monetization in the ordinary wisdom.
It has been the defaulted choice of many aspiring bloggers like you as the gateway to blog monetization.
Now scenario has changed as many bloggers and content creators are re-evaluating the value and worth of Google AdSense on their blogs.
Although monetizing a blog is an essential pursuit for many dedicated bloggers and content creators, there is rising sentiment among them that the financial returns may not match the effort invested in Google AdSense.
The time has come to ask yourself about Google AdSense.
Is it a lucrative companion or a limiting factor in the journey of monetizing your blog?
Is Google AdSense truly worth having on your blog, or are there alternative strategies that promise both profitability and creative fulfillment?
In this blog post, we will dive into why the power of AdSense is being examined and questioned more than ever by bloggers and content creators.
Join us, to explore the complexities of Google AdSense and dig deep to the root in a unique perspective that goes beyond the conventional wisdom surrounding blog monetization.
Table of Contents
What Is Google AdSense?
Let’s start with What Google AdSense is because to explore from a different perspective and think uncommonly, you should understand first, Google AdSense and how it works.
Google AdSense is an online advertising platform developed by Google. It is designed to enable website owners and content creators to monetize their online content. It allows publishers to display targeted ads on their websites or blogs and earn revenue when visitors interact with or click on these advertisements.
How does Google AdSense Work?
1 Application and Approval
You have to apply to Google AdSense by signing up for an account. Google reviews your website or blog to ensure it complies with AdSense policies. This includes having original content, adhering to community guidelines, and meeting other eligibility criteria.
2 Ad Placement
Once approved, you can generate an ad code from your AdSense Account. This code is then placed within the HTML of your website or blog where ads should appear.
3 Ad Display
Relevant and targeted ads are displayed on your website or blog based on your content and your visitors’ interests. The ads may include text, display banners, or other formats, and they are often contextual, meaning they are related to the content of the page.
4 Revenue Generation
You earn revenue when visitors interact with the ads. This interaction could be in the form of clicks, impressions, or other predefined actions depending on the ad type. Advertisers pay Google, and Google shares a portion of that revenue with you.
5 Payment
Google AdSense has a payment threshold. Once your earnings reach or exceed that threshold, you are eligible to receive payments. The payments are typically made every month through methods like bank transfers or checks.
Why bloggers acknowledge Google AdSense as the first monetization choice of their blog.
There is no wonder that bloggers’ (like you) first choice of monetization is Google AdSense because it is easy, versatile, and free to start.
It offers an uncomplicated way for you to earn revenue by displaying targeted ads on your website. Most of the ads are matched to the content of your blog, making them more relevant to your readers.
You can monetize your content efficiently while focusing on creating engaging and valuable posts for your audience with the help of Google AdSense.
Besides its simplicity and widespread popularity, there are many reasons why Google AdSense is a favored choice when seeking to generate income from a blog.
- It is user-friendly and easy to set up. You can easily integrate the ad code into your website without advanced technical knowledge.
- You can start earning revenue once the ads are live on your blog. That is quick monetization from clicks and impressions soon after implementation.
- AdSense provides a variety of ad formats, including display banners, text ads, and link units.
- It uses contextual targeting to display ads that are relevant to the content of your blog.
- AdSense connects you with a vast network of advertisers from different industries.
- It is suitable for a broad range of niches and topics being the number one ad network on the internet.
- Unlike direct advertising deals, AdSense does not require bloggers to actively seek and negotiate partnerships with individual advertisers.
- It is known for its reliable and timely payments.
In this way, Google AdSense is a popular starting point of monetization for many bloggers. However, it is crucial to consider diversifying monetization strategies over time.
You can’t solely depend on the AdSense. For robust and sustainable income for your blog in the long run. You should explore additional revenue streams, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored content, or selling products/services.
How do bloggers earn from AdSense?
In a simple term, you and every blogger know that after approving the AdSense account, you will place the ad code in your blog website and you will earn money through the pay-per-click or pay-per-impression model.
But in this blog post, you are learning from a different perspective of analysis. So, let’s learn, simply but in detail how does blogger like you earn from AdSense.
Before knowing how you can earn from Google AdSense, you should understand the terms associated with your AdSense account.
CPC (Cost Per Click)
It represents the amount of money you earn each time a visitor clicks on an ad on your website. Advertisers bid for placement in the AdSense auction, and the highest bidder gets their ad displayed. You, as the publisher, earn a share of the revenue generated when someone clicks on that ad.
Formula:
CPC = Total Earnings/Number of clicks
CPM (Cost per mile or Cost per thousand impressions)
It is a metric that represents the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions. Impressions are the number of times an ad is displayed, regardless of whether it is clicked or not. Advertiser may choose CPM if their goal is to increase brand visibility.
Formula:
CPM = (Total Earnings/Number of Impression) x 1000
RPM (Revenue per mile or Revenue per thousand impressions)
It is the estimated earnings you can expect to earn for every thousand impressions on your site. It takes into account both CPC and CPM earnings.
Formula:
RPM = (Total earnings/number of impressions) x 1000
The way you earn from Google AdSense
From the above terms what you should understand is CPC and CPM are both associated with the advertiser more than related to you. But the RPM is directly related to you. As it is directly related to the revenue from AdSense on your blog website.
Google also has updated its Publisher Revenue Share Structure. It has announced that it is changing its pay for AdSense publishers. They are switching from pay-per-click to exclusively paying on a per-impression model.
That means it will be easy for you as it pays per impression model and RPM is the same thing that Google is updating for their AdSense payment.
So, your earning from Google AdSense comes from the Ad impressions on your blog website now. The way of earning from AdSense on your blog website depends on your RPM.
For example:
According to Google
- If you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page views, then your page RPM would equal ($0.15/25) x 1000 i.e., $6.00.
- If you earned an estimated $180 from 45,000 ad impressions, your ad RPM would equal ($180/45,000) x 1000 i.e., $4.00.
There is a significant role of CPC and CPM in determining your overall RPM. If your site has a high CPC, meaning you’re earning more per click, it can positively impact your RPM. Similarly, if your site has a high CPM, indicating good earnings for ad impressions, it can also contribute to a higher RPM.
To boost your RPM, you have to find the right strategies of ad placement, ad format, content strategies with relevant keywords, and the right balance that maximizes both CPC and CPM. Sometimes a site with a low CPC but high CPM might still have a competitive RPM.
How much you can earn from AdSense?
There is no limit to earning from Google AdSense with your hard work, consistency, and patience. If you search on Google the Top earner from AdSense, you will find the blog’s earnings from $70,000 to $10,00,000 per month.
Google also has presented in its revenue share structure that publishers (including you) will get 68% of the total Google Ads spend from advertisers.
What you should note when it comes to earning from AdSense is that there is no fixed or guaranteed amount you can earn from AdSense. Your earnings are dynamic and depend on the continuous interplay of many factors (you are going to learn below). You may earn only a few dollars per month, or you can generate substantial income from AdSense.
Factors affecting your earnings from AdSense
- Your Niche or Topic of your blog website
You should consider your niche of blog website if you are going to monetize your blog with Google AdSense. Although Google has been the market leader in online advertising, certain niches or industries have higher competition among advertisers, leading to higher CPC rates.
Source: 5minuteseo.com
As you can see from the pictures some industries have higher CPL and you have already learned that higher CPC and CPM lead to higher RPM of your blog website.
- Your Content Quality, Traffic Volume and Engagement
You should understand that high-quality, relevant content tends to attract more valuable ads. Advertisers are more willing to bid on ad space on websites that align with their target audience.
Similarly, the number of visitors to your website and their engagement is a significant factor. More traffic generally means more ad impressions, clicks, and consequently higher earnings.
- Geographic Location and Visitors
The advertisers often pay different rates for ads displayed to users in different countries and regions. Visitors from tier 1 countries or regions with higher advertising demand typically result in higher earnings.
Source: partnerkin.com
This is only an example of how demographics and geography affect your AdSense earnings. You can google the CPC and CRM rates list of all the countries.
- Ad placement and format
This is another factor. Your strategic ad placement within the content, above the fold, or in prominent areas can impact CTR and earnings. Your ad performance may also be influenced by the different ad formats and sizes.
Besides these main factors, the type of devices your visitors use, and the seasonal trends among the advertiser also may affect your AdSense earnings.
In this way, your success with AdSense often involves experimentation, optimization, and ongoing efforts to improve your website’s performance and user experience.
How much traffic it takes to make $100/day from AdSense?
$100/day is mentioned in this sub-heading because it is the threshold of Google AdSense. Until you reach $100 in your AdSense account, you cannot withdraw or Google will not send you a payment even if your month is completed.
This is the commonly asked question among the bloggers. The answer is easy because you have reached up to here learning CPC, CPM, and RPM in this blog post.
The answer to this question lies in the RPM of your blog website. When you calculate your blog website’s RPM, you will know how much traffic you need to earn $100 per day.
So, let’s find out the answers by examples:
Only assume the numbers or think of any number hypothetically because it takes time to find the actual RPM for your site or group of sites.
Let’s suppose, your blog website’s RPM is $10.
Now, you have to divide 100 by your RPM.
The answer will be 10, easy right?
Now, multiply the answer by 1000 i.e., 10×1000 = 10,000
This is the number (10,000) of your website visitors you need if you want to earn $100 per day.
Similarly, if your blog website’s RPM is $5, you need 20,000 visitors in a day to make the $100 threshold of Google AdSense.
When your RPM is higher, the number of visitors you need per day will lower.
Let’s assume, it is $25, then the visitors you need per day will be 4,000 to reach the $100 mark per day.
That’s why it is said above that CPC, CPM, and RPM are interchangeably connected. The higher your display ads’ CTR, CPC, and CPM, the higher your RPM, and the higher your website’s RPM, the lower the visitors you need to reach the threshold of AdSense.
In this way, you can calculate your website’s visitors according to your target earning goal. You can work, optimize, and use your content strategies, ad formats, and placement accordingly.
Is it truly worth Google AdSense for your blog monetization?
While this topic is the main point of this blog post as you have seen in the title of the blog, the decision to incorporate Google AdSense into your blog is subjective and depends on you, your priorities, your blogging goals, preferences, etc.
Up to now, you have learned What it is, how it works, what you need, and how you make money from AdSense. Now it’s time to explore more and know why many bloggers avoid using AdSense on their blogs.
By going through the points, you will be crystal clear and able to decide whether you should go after AdSense for your blog monetization or not.
So, let’s dive in.
AdSense compromises your integrity and blog goal and dilutes your brand equity.
The first and most important point of thinking on the topic is this point because it could dilute your blog’s goals and your brand equity. AdSense can compromise your integrity, originality, and purpose.
The automated nature of AdSense’s ad placements means you can’t control the types of ads displayed on your site, potentially leading to content misalignment with your values or the intended message.
For example: if your goal is to collect subscribers to your blog newsletter, you have to provide your visitors value. But when you incorporate with AdSense, it distracts them and leads them away from your goal. You are competing with AdSense ads.
Your pursuit of advertising revenue through AdSense might result in a prioritization of financial gain over maintaining the authenticity of your blog’s content.
The AdSense ads which are selected based on algorithms, may not always resonate with your target audience. This could dilute the overall impact of your brand and trust.
AdSense’s fluctuating income and dependence on CTR and RPM rates can incentivize you to prioritize clickbait or sensational content, compromising your originality, purpose, and user experience.
Low Payouts
You have learned in this blog post till now how to earn and how much you can make from Google AdSense. What if you found that AdSense does not justify enough your consistent effort and the space you allocated to ads on your site? You will certainly not incorporate it on your blog, right?
After all, you are incorporating the AdSense on your blog for monetization. If you couldn’t make enough as per your goal, what is the meaning of letting AdSense ads occupy your real state (blog space) in AdSense’s terms and algorithms?
As you have already learned the AdSense payment model is based on cost-per-click (CPC), Cost-per-mile (CPM), and revenue-per-mile (RPM). It is also already discussed that CPC, CPM, and RPM can vary widely depending on the niche or industry and country. The CPC starts as low as 0.01 depending upon countries.
Besides that, the blogging business is saturated and the online advertising competition is very high, resulting in lower CPC rates.
So, making a significant amount of money from AdSense is very difficult. It is more difficult if you are incorporating AdSense from Asian countries.
Another pitfall of AdSense in terms of payment is it has a threshold. On one hand, you will earn less amount of money compared to other alternatives, on the other hand, until you reach the threshold i.e., $100, you can’t withdraw your money.
More Negative impact than Positive on your Site Performance
There is of course more negative impact of AdSense than the positive impact.
Monetization opportunity, displaying targeted as based on the blog content is the only positive impact of AdSense on your blog.
If you count, you will find many negative impacts of AdSense. The first one is page load speed and user experience.
The poorly designed code or script of Google AdSense eats up about 60% of the total loading time of your page. AdSense ads, especially if not optimized properly. It can contribute to slower page load times, leading to a poor user experience. Slow-loading pages may result in higher bounce rates and lower search engine rankings, affecting your overall blog site’s traffic.
The automatic placement of ads by AdSense might interfere with the visual and structural integrity of your blog, making it look cluttered or distracting for your blog visitors. That leads to reducing your content quality on your blog website.
Although it is said that display ads are targeted, the relevance of the ads displayed is determined by algorithms, and occasionally, they may not align with your blog’s content, potentially confusing your audience.
You can’t rely solely on Google AdSense for your blog’s earnings. It will limit your blog’s income potential, as CPC and varying CPM rates can lead to inconsistent and unpredictable earnings.
No Control over Ads placement and content
When you integrate Google AdSense into your blog, one of your primary challenges would be the lack of control over ad placement and content.
Yes, AdSense provides you with a convenient way to monetize your website by displaying targeted advertisements, but the downside of it lies in having no control over the specific ads that appear on your page.
You may find yourself sometimes in situations where the displayed ads do not align with your content or brand image, potentially leading to a mismatch in your audience relevance. It can sometimes result in inappropriate or conflicting with your blog’s values.
If your prioritization is maintaining a certain aesthetic of your blog and ensuring the content and ads complement each other, then the lack of control can be frustrating.
Therefore, despite the financial benefits of AdSense, you will often struggle with finding a balance between monetization and preserving the integrity of your content.
Ads are Too intrusive and annoying to visitors
How do intrusive and annoying ads make your visitors click on the close button of your blog website?
You have the answer.
You won’t visit such a website where you have to turn off the sheer number of ads while you are learning something, right?
That’s why, nobody likes too many ads on a website.
Although AdSense aims to deliver targeted advertisements, the automated nature of ad placements may result in an overwhelming number of ads, disrupting your user experience.
Intrusive ads, such as pop-ups, interstitials, or those placed too close to the main content can distract from the overall enjoyment of the website. This is the reason one in four internet users in the US block ads. In other words, that’s more than 70 million people blocking ads, and that number is on the rise.
Your careful consideration of ad formats, placements, and frequency matters a lot to prevent your visitors from feeling bombarded by intrusive ads.
Therefore, it could be your big challenge to find a way to balance generating revenue through ads ensuring a user-friendly environment, and preserving your blog’s credibility and user satisfaction.
It takes a lot of time and traffic to earn much
It is not that easy; you integrate AdSense on your blog and the dollar roll right in.
AdSense often takes a substantial amount of time to generate significant earnings. Building a substantial readership and attracting a consistent flow of traffic is a gradual process. It may take months or even years to accumulate the level of engagement with your hard work on creating high-quality, engaging content.
If you can retain your patience till then or until you have the readership and engagement to earn from AdSense, then only you can earn from AdSense. You can learn from the illustration below how much it takes time to run a successful blog.
Source: Podia
Another reason why you should take into consideration while monetization through Google AdSense is Traffic. You need lots of traffic as AdSense pays you based on the Model CPC, CPM, and RPM.
You have already learned that if you have accurate data (Which also takes time to get), you can get an accurate RPM of your blog. With the right RPM, you can calculate how much traffic you need to reach your desired income goal from AdSense.
But in the RPM formula, there is no mention of ad blockers. So here is another formula including ads blockers to calculate how much traffic you need to earn your desired amount from AdSense. (This formula was invented by the Freelance writer and entrepreneur, Paul Maplesden)
Formula:
Number of visitors needed = desired income/ CPC / CTR / % of people without ad-block / average pages per session.
Example:
- Desired revenue = $10/day
- CPC = 30 cents per click
- Average pages/session = 1.5
- Percent of visitors without ad block = 70%
- Average CTR = 2%
Number of visitor needed = 1000/30/0.02/0.7/1.5 = 1587 visitors
Hint: Because CPC is in Cents, the desired amount also is mentioned in cents in the formula. That is $10 = 1000 cents.
Now, you see that to earn $10/day without ad-blockers, you need an average of 1,587 visitors/day on your blog site. Ad-blocking makes you bring more traffic to your site.
It is easier to get your account shut down
Your AdSense account can be shut down or put on suspension because it has strict policies and guidelines to maintain the quality of the advertising network.
Even when you make any intentional violation of these policies can lead to consequences such as suspension or shutdown.
The most common reasons for account shutdown include engaging in click fraud, displaying prohibited content, or attempting to manipulate ad impressions artificially (it doesn’t matter to Google whether you bring the traffic with the paid method or any other method).
You will face frustration when your account is suspended without your clear understanding of the violation. This happens because the automated review processes employed by Google to monitor compliance can sometimes lead to incorrect decisions.
Therefore, you should always be well-informed about AdSense policies, and create high-quality content to avoid disruptions in your AdSense revenue.
The Alternatives of Google AdSense
Because Google AdSense doesn’t pay you well according to your time and effort, you need to diversify your blog monetization.
After reading up this much, if you still insist on ad networks then there are many other ad networks besides AdSense. You can use them as one of the alternatives to Google AdSense.
There are many options for blog monetization. However, for any alternatives, you should have high-value quality content, well-optimized content, and readership that comes only with your hard work, dedication, patience, and consistency in your blog. Then you can earn substantially enough from your blog.
Some of the popular alternatives of Google AdSense are:
- Affiliate Marketing
- Growing Email list and implementing email marketing
- Selling your digital products
- Membership or Subscription model
- Native Advertising
- Direct Ad sales
- Selling Merchandise
- Sponsored Content
- And more
Final Words
You have seen both advantages and challenges by diving into the complications of Google AdSense in this blog post.
Why it could be the first choice of monetization among bloggers, you understood that. You also understood that the road to substantial earning through AdSense requires lots of time and a significant reader.
On one side, the automated ad placement can be intrusive and has a risk of account shutdown in AdSense. On the other side, it is also appealing among bloggers because of its convenience and earning potential.
However, the question remains: Is it truly worth it for your blog’s monetization?
Your blogging goals, content strategy, and the potential impact on your user experience are the essential factors you should take into consideration whether AdSense aligns with your unique blogging journey or not.
That’s why you should think uncommonly, consider the pros and cons of AdSense, and make an informed decision that suits the target readers’ needs of your blog.
Lastly, what do you think about Google AdSense? Are all the points mentioned in this post valid?
By going through this blog post, will it be still your first choice of monetization?
If you were using Google AdSense, how was your experience?
Share in a comment section and tag your friends so that they can also know your experience on Google AdSense.
