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One or two weeks ago I submitted an article[1] I posted to my blog to both HN and Reddit. I also added a Google Ads block hidden in the sidebar (admittedly not

by aerique 16y ago

One or two weeks ago I submitted an article[1] I posted to my blog to both HN and Reddit. I also added a Google Ads block hidden in the sidebar (admittedly not the best spot) to get some experience with Adsense since I had never used it before. So far I'm on 6000 page impressions and 5 clicks with the estimated earning of a pack of chewing gum. So extrapolate from this what you will if I had plastered more ads in more prominent places. [1] http://aerique.blogspot.com/2011/01/baby-steps-into-genetic-programming.html http://aerique.blogspot.com/2011/01/baby-steps-into-genetic-...

jasonkester 16y ago
Conventional wisdom is to drop the ads from a piece when it first goes live so that Reddit/Digg/HN/Stumbleupon can jump on it without distraction. Those sites come with a 0% clickthru anyway so you're not losing anything. Then, a week later, you can put the ads back in place. All the linking has been done, so now you get people flowing in thru organic SEO. Those people are more likely to stick around and possibly click ads. Done right, everybody is happy.
- sovande 16y ago
  > Those sites come with a 0% clickthru anyway so you're not losing anything On the other hand most users from these sites will not see the ad in the first place because the use adblock
  - DougBTX 16y ago
    The only reason I would click on an ad like in the example is by accident. (I'm not using adblock by the way.)
  - jasonkester 16y ago
    Percentage of people that people using AdBlock think are using AdBlock: 100% Percentage of people actually using AdBlock: Much less than 100%
    - coderdude 16y ago
      I've never heard that put so elegantly before. I just quoted you on my Facebook. I've never used AdBlock and I never have, but I've always wondered how many people actually use it because the people who do use it would have you believe it's the majority of people on the net (from our demographic, at least).
      - aerique 16y ago
        I'm curious about the numbers as well. I couldn't imagine surfing without it (or Privoxy or Junkbuster in the days of yore) although I do disable it for a few sites I support.
acangiano 16y ago
A few thoughts: * AdSense is commonly known as blogger welfare. There are a few people making huge money from it, but they use techniques you would probably never want to adopt (content farms, keyword arbitrage, etc...). Generally speaking, you use AdSense to supplement your main monetization strategy that should be something better. * Boxes, like the one criticized in the article, tend to convert very well. * Programmers are the worst demographic to monetize, particularly with ads, and even worse with the often not-so-contextual ads from AdSense. * ProgrammingZen and Math-Blog used to receive similar amounts of traffic when I used to have ads on both. I make 4 figures a year from AdSense ads placed on Math-Blog. ProgrammingZen on the other hand generated a few dollars a month at best, much like your experience. Keep in mind that Math-Blog is still fairly technical, so I wouldn't discount AdSense a priori, but the less technical the better (in general). * Having a programming or very technical blog I'd suggest that you try to monetize/support it through affiliate links to reputable merchants like Amazon. I make 4 figures a month from the Amazon Associates program alone (albeit not from ProgrammingZen alone, of course).
- aerique 16y ago
  Thanks for the points. One of the reviewers of the article (Hi Marijn!) made most of these as well. It was never my intention (or expectation) to make money with it, I just wanted to see the other side of AdWords since I might have a need for those in the near future.

by aerique 16y ago

jasonkester 16y ago

Conventional wisdom is to drop the ads from a piece when it first goes live so that Reddit/Digg/HN/Stumbleupon can jump on it without distraction. Those sites come with a 0% clickthru anyway so you're not losing anything. Then, a week later, you can put the ads back in place. All the linking has been done, so now you get people flowing in thru organic SEO. Those people are more likely to stick around and possibly click ads. Done right, everybody is happy.

sovande 16y ago
> Those sites come with a 0% clickthru anyway so you're not losing anything On the other hand most users from these sites will not see the ad in the first place because the use adblock
- DougBTX 16y ago
  The only reason I would click on an ad like in the example is by accident. (I'm not using adblock by the way.)
- jasonkester 16y ago
  Percentage of people that people using AdBlock think are using AdBlock: 100% Percentage of people actually using AdBlock: Much less than 100%
  - coderdude 16y ago
    I've never heard that put so elegantly before. I just quoted you on my Facebook. I've never used AdBlock and I never have, but I've always wondered how many people actually use it because the people who do use it would have you believe it's the majority of people on the net (from our demographic, at least).
    - aerique 16y ago
      I'm curious about the numbers as well. I couldn't imagine surfing without it (or Privoxy or Junkbuster in the days of yore) although I do disable it for a few sites I support.

acangiano 16y ago

A few thoughts: * AdSense is commonly known as blogger welfare. There are a few people making huge money from it, but they use techniques you would probably never want to adopt (content farms, keyword arbitrage, etc...). Generally speaking, you use AdSense to supplement your main monetization strategy that should be something better. * Boxes, like the one criticized in the article, tend to convert very well. * Programmers are the worst demographic to monetize, particularly with ads, and even worse with the often not-so-contextual ads from AdSense. * ProgrammingZen and Math-Blog used to receive similar amounts of traffic when I used to have ads on both. I make 4 figures a year from AdSense ads placed on Math-Blog. ProgrammingZen on the other hand generated a few dollars a month at best, much like your experience. Keep in mind that Math-Blog is still fairly technical, so I wouldn't discount AdSense a priori, but the less technical the better (in general). * Having a programming or very technical blog I'd suggest that you try to monetize/support it through affiliate links to reputable merchants like Amazon. I make 4 figures a month from the Amazon Associates program alone (albeit not from ProgrammingZen alone, of course).

aerique 16y ago
Thanks for the points. One of the reviewers of the article (Hi Marijn!) made most of these as well. It was never my intention (or expectation) to make money with it, I just wanted to see the other side of AdWords since I might have a need for those in the near future.