How I diversified my website’s income sources:
After I got up and running with Adsense, I thought it would be a good idea to ‘diversify’ with other advertisers just in case Google decided they no longer wanted me or GrownUpGeek.com in their program. One of the Terms and Conditions that we all agreed to when signing up for Adsense is that Google may cancel our account at any time, for any reason, on a whim, whenever they feel like it – and they don’t need to give us any explanation as to why they did so. About all they have to tell you is “you’re out”.. and “goodbye”. And once out, a publisher can NEVER get back in. This does not happen often, but it does happen. It’s also possible that you may accidentally or unintentionally break some rule, and boom- you’re gone.. It is this inherent risk of using Adsense that makes it important to diversify with other income sources.
Other advertisers:
There are several other advertising programs out there. In addition to Adsense, I also use Yahoo’s Publishing Network (YPN), Commission Junction (CJ), Amazon, Kontera, Azoogle, AuctionAds and Adbrite.
Because I have Adsense on the majority of pages, it earns me far more than all the others combined, but the others do make me an extra $1,000 - $3,000 per month (combined). If something should ever happen with my Adsense account I could quickly replace all of the Adsense ads with the other advertisers with hopefully little impact on my overall earnings. I think it’s important to not wait until after something happens to your Adsense account – have a backup plan in place so you don’t have to worry about suddenly not generating income. In my experience, after Adsense the best performing system is Kontera, followed by Commission Junction (CJ). Many website owners report that Yahoo Publishing Network performs very well for them. Although Yahoo Publishing Network has not performed very well on my site I still keep my account open and it earns a few dollars per month. AuctionAds is another program that I’ve used, but due to the growing pains they are going through I’m currently not using them - but I keep that account open “just in case”.
Even though I use several different advertisers I am always careful not to allow the website to look “spammy”. I limit ads to no more than a few per page, I do not display most advertisements to members that have registered, and pop-up ads are a big no-no. I try to not subject my visitors to anything that I myself would not want see on a website. I think this has been a big factor of the success at GrownUpGeek.com. Because the majority of websites on the internet are so jam-packed with ads, banners, pop-ups, and pop-unders, GrownUpGeek is almost like an oasis, and visitors seem to appreciate this. This site is over 18 months old now, and it was only this week that I finally enabled Adsense on every page - up until then many pages had no advertisements at all.
http://success.grownupgeek.com
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