Making BIG $$ in Publishing

It seemed to good to be true, and it was. After several years of publishing various web pages and blog entries I decided it would be a good idea to monetize my sites. There are costs in running a website and I felt it would be good idea to use advertising to  cover expenses.

I signed up for the  Amazon Affiliate program which exceeded my expectations.  Amazon provided me with specialized links and  widgets that I could use in my postings. When readers clicked on the banners and links to buy an item, I would receive a percentage of the sale. At one point I was seeing about twenty to thirty dollars a month in revenue. 

However, I was running afoul of the terms of the program. I actively encouraged people to click on my links. I even had my sister create some promo videos for Black Friday and Christmas sales on Amazon.

Finally they dropped the hammer on me and banned me from the program.  It was my own damn fault for not reading the contract. I appealed and apologized to no avail. My goose is cooked as far as Amazon is concerned.

I reapplied after a few years, but they don’t forget or forgive. Bezos has banned me for life. No flights into space for me.

AdSense to the Rescue

Google AdSense is an advertising  program for websites and blogs.  By adding a few lines of code to my blog and website, advertisement appear in various locations on my pages. I receive a fee when users interact with the ads. I don’t understand the parameters they use but I figured it was passive income with no work on my part. There are all types of reports and data to sift through. Let’s all hope for a good CTR (click-through-rate) whatever that is.

 

The $105.78 Payout

I signed up for the AdSense account on October 2012. The threshold for payment is $100.  In March 2019 I had passed the threshold an received a deposit of $105.78. It is passive income, but so many ads forced on my readers, My current balance as of June 2022 is $89.89. However I no longer receive income on this website because I have removed the AdSense code. Why?

Spam-A-Lot

This website was my money maker for AdSense. However the money is measured in pennies. For those pennies my readers have to endure pop-up advertisements and intrusive ads for products that have nothing to do with the postings. It gave the entire website a spammy cheap appearance.  As I was writing the posts, I was subjected to the same advertisements. I was so annoyed I installed the  Chrome extension uBlock Origin to quiet the noise.

It didn’t seem fair to force my faithful readers to something I avoided. Certainly for something that pays me 16 cents a day.

 

Leaving Money on the Table

I need to get to one hundred dollars for another payout. I currently have eighty nine dollars and eighty nine cents. I have several Blogger sites which have the code and spammy ads. I’m hoping they will take me over the top in the next five years. You are welcome to check them out.

• Things I Have Seen
• Only a Picture Stops Time
• Poltrack Blog

Forget the ads, I’ll just ask for donations