Encouraging clicks for Adsense Income

AdSense Program Policy document addresses the kinds of things you shouldn’t pull in an attempt to encourage people to click on your ads. I know this is a little negative, but it’s important that you pay attention to these no-nos because ignoring them could have dire consequences.

Invalid clicks and impressions

“Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest.”

That’s the first line of the most highly debated section of the program policies.

This section of the policy lays out the guidelines for what constitutes a valid click. If you click your own ads, those clicks are invalid. If you program (or purchase) some piece of software to click your ads, those clicks are invalid. And these types of invalid clicks are click fraud. Click fraud is fraudulently clicking your own or someone else’s ads with the intent of affecting AdSense revenues or AdWords costs and is enough to get you banned from AdSense completely, no questions asked — and please don’t re-apply.

A valid click or impression has these qualities:

Google’s Policies for Adsense

If you’ve read anything at all online about AdSense, you’ve probably seen the phrase “familiarize yourself with the AdSense Program Policies” at least as many times as you’ve seen the moon. There’s good reason for that.

Google is very strict about AdSense users (publishers, in their jargon) following the guidelines set forth in the AdSense Program Policies document. If you don’t adhere to the program policies, Google reserves the right to disable your AdSense account. And Google will — faster than you can say “What did I do wrong?” They’re that serious about the guidelines because the appearance of your site and your adherence to their guidelines determine how people view the advertisements. Google wants to be in users’ good graces, and your cooperation helps to accomplish that. The program policies aren’t filled with quite as much legalese as you might find in other policy documents, but you’ll encounter ten-dollar words like pursuant.

How to make Adsense Account

One misconception that I had when I wanted to start using AdSense was that it would be difficult and time-consuming to set up. Boy, was I wrong! Setting up the account doesn’t require your first born child or your signature in blood. Setting up the account takes only a few minutes and a minimum of information. But how you set up the account is determined by whether you already have a Google account.

AdSense account, here are the steps for setting up the account:

1. Point your browser to the AdSense Web site at www.adsense.com.

2. Click the Sign Up Now button.

3. Fill in the requested information on the form that appears and then click the Submit Information button. The information you’ll be requested to enter includes

• Your Web site URL: Google will check the site to ensure it’s appropriate for ads to be displayed.

• Your Web site language: To ensure that AdSense is available to your site visitors and that any ads placed are properly targeted to the main language of your site.

• Type of account: Use this drop-down menu to select whether you’re creating a personal account or a business account. (If the account is for you, it’s personal, and if you plan to use it as part of a business that you own, it’s a business account.)

• Country or territory: You do know where you live, don’t you?

• The payee name: This is the name under which you want your payments issued. If you’re creating a personal account, it should be your personal name. If you’re creating a business account, it’s best to use the business name, but you can also use your personal

name if you prefer.

Payments are made electronically or by check, but you set that information up after you’ve created your AdSense account, so for now all you need to know is to whom and where payments should be sent.

• Address and telephone number: Use the address where you would like to have your payments sent, and be sure to include a working telephone number in case the good people at AdSense need to contact you concerning payments. You also need to select the I Agree that I Can Receive Checks Made Out to the Payee Name I Have Listed Above check box. This just ensures that you’re aware that the name you have selected in the Payee Name portion of the form is the name your checks will be made out to.

• Email preferences: If you want to receive the AdSense newsletter and surveys about AdSense, place a check mark in the In Addition, Send Me Periodic Newsletters with Tips and Best Practices and Occasional Surveys To Help Google Improve AdSense check box.

• Who referred you: Use the drop-down menu provided to tell Google how you heard about AdSense. This information is likely used to help them effectively market the AdSense service.

• Agree to AdSense program policies: The last part of the form is where you register your agreement or disagreement with the AdSense program policies. Be sure to read these policies completely (a link to them is provided on the form). If you don’t agree to the program’s policies, you will not be approved for an AdSense account. Two of the four check boxes on this list are the most important points in the program policies. The third check box is your agreement (if you agree) and the fourth check box is just confirmation

that you don’t already have an AdSense account. (You’re only allowed to have one, so don’t try registering another because it will be refused.) All four of these check boxes must be selected. Don’t blow off the Policies section. You need to read the policies and

make sure you understand them because Google strictly requires that publishers (AdSense users) adhere to these policies. Slip up, and Google will strip your AdSense capabilities so fast you’ll wonder if there’s some capability-stripping super power out there that you’ve never heard of.

4. In the new page that appears, confirm your payment information, and then choose either the I Have an Email Address and Password (Google Account) option or the I Do Not Use These Other Services option. If you select the first option, you can jump right to the next section. If you select the second option, a new form appears.

5a. If you select the second option, choose a new e-mail address for the ccount, designate and confirm a password for the account, and then enter the verification word. When you’re finished, click Continue. A Gmail account will be created for you, using the e-mail address you select.

5b. If you choose the I Have an Email Address and Password (Google Account) option, then you have to choose one of the other two options on the page: I’d Like to Use My Existing Google Account for AdSense or I’d Like to Choose a New Login Name and Password Just for AdSense. If you choose to use your existing Google account for AdSense, in a form. Enter your active e-mail address and password and click Continue.

The other option you have is to set up a new login name and password just for AdSense. If you select that option, a form. Create a new e-mail address for your username, add

a password (and confirm it), and then enter the verification word and click Continue.

6. Wait. First you have to wait for an e-mail confirmation from AdSense. That should arrive in your e-mail Inbox within a matter of minutes. After you’ve confirmed your e-mail address, you have to wait a little longer for approval of your account. But don’t wait too long. Google should only take a few days to approve or deny your application for an AdSense account. One question you may have is whether you really need a Gmail address to complete the AdSense application. The answer is no. I can sing the praises of

Gmail — Google’s Web mail program. I’ve had an account since the program was in beta testing, and it’s the best Web-based e-mail program you’ll find. But it’s not necessary to have one. Any e-mail address will suffice. Just be sure it’s an e-mail address that you have access to because that’s where Google sends your communications from AdSense, and you must be able to access those communications to verify your account.

Getting Started with AdSense

AdSense is ad space on your Web page or blog that you lease to advertisers.) Now, I think definitions are all well and good, but it’s time to get started using AdSense to generate a little income from your Web site, don’t you know? Before I get too deep into the hows, though, I need to address a few whys.

Having more than one AdSense account?

Having more than one account might seem like a good idea in certain situations. For example, if you run multiple Web sites, you might want to have a different AdSense account for each of those sites. Google doesn’t think that’s such a great idea.

Using AdSense on more than one Web site?

Sure you can, and here are a couple ways to do it. First, you can use the same AdSense code on all your sites, and the metrics — the tracking measurements, like number of clicks and payment for clicks — are all collected in the same report with no way to differentiate the Web site.

Adsense Ad Selection

Ads that show on your site are determined by the content of your site. Google uses a search algorithm to determine what ads are best suited for your site — an algorithm that’s quite similar to the one Google uses when you run a search query from the Google search pages or through a Web site-based search box.

How much money You can make with AdSense?

There’s just no easy answer to this question. Well, okay, there’s an easy answer — it depends. But that easy answer isn’t really useful. The problem is that several measurements impact your daily revenue from AdSense ads, such as

Unique visits: A visitor is considered unique when she visits your Web site the first time during a given period of time. Depending on the metric — the measurement used to track visitors on your Web site — that’s used, a visitor might be considered unique the first time he visits your site in a 24-hour period, the first time in a week, or the first time in an hour. For AdSense, the unique visits measurement is used to help determine the click-thru rate for ads.

What is Adsense?

AdSense is an advertising program that anyone who publishes a Web site can use to generate income for their Web site. But there’s one small condition — Google must approve your site before ads are shown on your site.