AdSense Makes No Sense. Or Cents.

You might notice a difference in Rose and The City recently.

Something has changed. Do you know what it is?



That's right...I got rid of the ads. Now, if you know me, you know that money is always tight. I don't write for the money, but I would love to get paid for something I love to do...writing! That's why I initially thought that it would be best to leave the ads up.

That is...until I checked out what Google was paying me for them.

I have had this blog since 2008. I have only been writing on it regularly for the last month and a half or so. During this whole time, my "estimated" earnings from Google Adsense were around $30.00. I thought this was decent for an up-and-coming blog, so I was leaving them there. Till I found out that is NOT what Google is actually going to pay me.

My "finalized" earnings, including everything up until June 1st....was 95 cents. Where did the other $29.05 go? Apparently Google gets to pick and choose what counts as relevant clicks. Meaning, if they THINK you're getting too many clicks for whatever reason...they just don't have to pay you. Meanwhile, they are getting free advertising for the companies they endorse, and they are making money off those companies for selling ad space.

I'm no rocket scientist...but judging on how Google is one of the largest companies in the world...I think this is probably benefiting them more than it is me. I'm not about doing free favors for large corporations. It's not really my style.

Now, I bring up another point: With Adsense, you cannot "cash out" your earnings until you have earned over $100. At my current rate, I will make that $100 in just over seven years. Now think about all the assholes like me who realized this after making even a few dollars, who eventually give up. Free money for Google! Jerks.

So it is with a not-so-heavy heart that I say "so long AdSense." Maybe someday you will make more sense, but right now, you make no cents. And that makes no sense to me.

Do you have ads on your blog? Do you find them annoying on other sites? Do you know anyone that they work out for? Would you consider putting them on your blog? What do you do to monetize your blog (if anything?) Leave your thoughts below!