Google AdSense Affiliate Links Program

Google recently launched the Google AdSense program. This affiliate program is very convenient, because Google gives you your choice of a horizontal or vertical box to include on any webpage you choose. You cut and paste the code into your source code and they select sponsor links that are related to the topic on the webpage.

Your website must meet the eligibility requirements to be accepted. You must agree to the terms which include your promise not to alter the links. (I hope they change the links to open to a new window.) They do allow you to filter specific web addresses to up to 200 websites that you do not wish to advertise. There are a few web addresses of unscrupulous businesses that I will include on this list.

There is no way of predicting how much money you can make, but if you simply wish to include useful, relevant links for your visitors, this is the easy way. This is not recommended as your primary source of income, but it may be a means of supplemental income. This is a free program, so you have nothing to lose for trying.

There are other affiliate programs where you must sign in, select each affiliate and get a confirmation email if accepted. Then you have to select the banner or text link of your choice and update these links. Sometimes your links are no longer valid and your visitor clicks to something different. These programs are often altered or discontinued and you get cheated out of your commission.

Google keeps track of impressions and your commissions, but at this time, you cannot tell which links earned you the commissions. But Google does give tips as to the most popularly searched terms. If your website is related to those terms, you should benefit the most with this program. That does not mean that you should include a webpage about debt consolidation to get commissions from the sponsor links. Unless, of course, this topic is related to your existing website.

Learn more about the Google AdSense program and if your website meets the eligibility requirements, apply. You should get a response fairly quickly. Then add the code and see what happens. It is that easy, providing your visitors have Javascript enabled. Okay, there had to be a catch. But most users do and if they don't, they don't see anything where the ads would appear. What do you want for free?

Yvette Kuhns, Power Pages Web Design, August 4, 2003

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