A word of caution to Adsense users

I see it a lot in forums, and I would like to warn you to be careful about posting the stats from your earnings reports. Here's the text from Google's Adsense Terms of Service, section 7.

"Confidentiality. You agree not to disclose Google Confidential Information without Google's prior written consent. "Google Confidential Information" includes without limitation: (a) all Google software, technology, programming, specifications, materials, guidelines and documentation relating to the Program; (b) click-through rates or other statistics relating to Property performance in the Program provided to You by Google; and (c) any other information designated in writing by Google as "Confidential" or an equivalent designation. However, You may accurately disclose the amount of Google’s gross payments to You pursuant to the Program. Google Confidential Information does not include information that has become publicly known through no breach by You or Google, or information that has been (i) independently developed without access to Google Confidential Information, as evidenced in writing; (ii) rightfully received by You from a third party; or (iii) required to be disclosed by law or by a governmental authority."

Now there's a lot about this that I kind of find confusing, but one thing in particular that I see is that you should NOT disclose your click-through rates. My personal policy is to not disclose any of the other information given in my Adsense report. As it says though, you may state your gross payments.

I've seen a lot of people complaining about Google terminating their account for "no reason." It wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of people that have had their accounts banned for disclosing confidential information. So, don't start threads asking about what everyone's highest paid click is, it just might get you in trouble.

Google Adsense-avoid the scams.

In searching for ways to make money online, you've probably seen those sites claiming that you can make hundreds of dollars a day, by posting links for Google. A lot of them are set up to look like some newspaper site and say that their method has been shown on news reports. They say they know the secret to making money online and that they can send you some trial software for just the price of shipping. Now, if you read the fine print, you will usually see that once the trial is over they will start charging your credit card monthly, anywhere from $60-$80. Sites like this are a SCAM. You should NEVER pay to post links for Google.

Why? Because this "secret" program is callled Adsense, and it is in fact free to sign up for. No one should ever have to pay for it. You will need a website or blog so they can review to determine if your content is appropriate. This can take a couple days to several weeks. Once you're accepted you can generate codes for the ads. Do this by clicking the "Adsense Settup" tab next to the "Reports" tab. There are multiple Adsense ad formats and you can customize their size, color, font and style them to fit your site. You are limited to three ad units, three link units and two Adsense for Search boxes on any page.

The ads you display on your site come in two flavors:Cost-Per-Click(CPC) and Cost-Per-Mille(CPM). CPC simply means that any time someone clicks on an ad you display you will be paid a certain amount. CPM is set up to where you are paid 1/1000 of the price that the advertiser bids for a certain ad. If someone visits your page, an impression is generated and you earn that 1/1000 for it.

So how exactly do you earn money using Adsense. Well, it's all about advertising. Basically, people and businesses sign up with Google's Adwords program, they pay to have ads in the system, and Adsense publishers display those ads on their sites. Google gets paid, the publishers get paid and the advertisers get their product or service displayed all over the internet.

So there you have it. Hopefully this has been a helpful introduction to Google's Adsense program.