Earning money online is one of the most searched keywords ever, and rightly so. Everyone wants to make some – in some cases, huge amounts of – extra cash, don’t we?
While the internet is full of options, Google AdSense is one of the very best and by far the most reliable. All you have to do is the proper research, produce quality content and make an AdSense account.
Information over the internet can be misleading, and most often not all available in one place, therefore ProPakistani team has compiled a list of the most important FAQs regarding Google AdSense that everyone needs to go through if he or she is looking to earn money online. From signing up to receiving payments, we have covered every possible topic related to Google AdSense for your ease.
What is Google AdSense?
Google AdSense is free of cost way to monetize your website traffic by displaying pertinent ads on your website alongside the regular content. When ads are seen or clicked, you’ll automatically earn money.
AdSense is the choice of 2 million people. In 2015, Google paid out nearly $10B to their publishers showcasing the power of AdSense that is because millions of advertisers compete for ad space.
Some Alluring features of AdSense are its flexibility and reliant consonance alongside the options of
Choosing where ads appear, block ones you don’t want and change the features of text ads to go with the outlook of your site.
Google AdSense is Mobile friendly which means the ad units have the capability to adapt to various screen sizes, so it won’t matter if your site is being viewed on mobile, tablet or laptop.
The major advantage is that you have a role in adding to your earning by promoting the kind of ads that go along the site context. There are a lot of options to choose the right ad types and formats. Performance metrics are there to view stats and help you with any adjustments.
What are different types of AdSense accounts?
The two types of accounts offered are business and individual.
There’s no difference in service or payment structure, however, payments are made out to the company if you have a business account or to your name if you have an individual account.
You can’t change your account type once your account is activated. In case you do want to change the account type you must start again with a new account.
What are Google’s policies to enable AdSense on websites?
To reap the due benefits while avoiding any mishap is by keeping up with all the related Google policies as they tend to change it from time to time.
This isn’t a full list but following policies are most common and essential to abide by to keep a bona fide account.
Clicks and Impressions
Don’t click on your own ads
To know more about the advertisement, you must follow the standard procedure of typing the URL of the ad into your browser.
Don’t ask anyone else to click either
The policy states that site must not be used for money raising purposes for any cause or for your own through means of encouragement of users in any direct or indirect way, on third-party sites or via email. The only reason they should click is out of their own interest.
Choosing Ads Location
Publishers should make sure that ads are placed according to given standards i.e. not under the misleading heading, away from interactive elements and not blending with site’s content to misdirect the user. In other words, publishers should not try deceptive tricks to get users to click the ads. Publishers can still receive a violation notification even for the accidental clicks.
If you own a website with games the ads should be placed away from the controls so the user may not unintentionally click on them. It is recommended to keep a minimum distance of 150 pixels between flash player and the ad.
Content ads are not to be placed on game interfaces, interstitial pages or sites exclusive to streaming videos but if you want to earn by these means i.e. video streaming, game interface by overlaying ads, in stream or interstitial ads there are further guidelines like AdSense for video, AdSense for games, or the YouTube Partner Program.
Keep tabs on the ads
You must exercise caution while buying and setting up ad campaigns with third parties. They should not display your site in pop-ups or through any software application.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics provides you with a set of analytic tools with which you can even analyze where the most clicks were and this knowledge could lead you to a better comprehension of your site traffic and give you better discretion about improvements.
Content guidelines
Publishers are responsible for their content on any page even if the content was created by someone else.
Content restrictions
If the content being displayed by websites is in violation of program policies then Google ads won’t be displayed next to them. Restricted content could be adult/mature, copyrighted or violent etc.
Your own content
Users are expected to be familiar with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and utilize some useful methods to improve their sites standing. It should contain substantial information with related keywords that would be used accordingly to the crux of your content.
Avoid hidden links and texts and focus on the relative content.
Google will weed out the pages if they don’t add values to users experience so avoid making them in order to rank up your site. It will also take appropriate action against auto-generated content, doorway pages, scraped content and Thin affiliate sites.
Ad Implementation
Ad Policy
Ad placement policies state specific regulations on placement of ads as they should not
be on pop-ups, behind a login button, in software applications or on sites that mimic Google.
Tampering with any part of the code is prohibited i.e. change the layout, behavior, targeting, or delivery of ads unless Google has authorized it.
Pop-ups and automatic software installation is no-go
Impersonating google pages is wrongful. Publishers are prohibited from using Google features i.e. trademarks, logos or web pages etc. without Google’s permission.
Publishers shouldn’t change the home pages via pop-ups and not tempt the user to install any software on their systems.
Disabled ads or account
Google can disable ads to your site or account. To re-enable them, you must be responsive and thoroughly read the notification email.
You must be up-to-date on your AdSense account’s associated email in case of your ads being disabled. The publishers must also attentively read the emails and respond accordingly to any requests. You are to diligently refurbish your entire network of sites to comply with AdSense policies in case of notifications about problems
What is the eligibility criteria to participate in AdSense?
Firstly, you must own the website and in clear technical terms, you must have the ability to access its HTML code. In case of submitting a website, you don’t own (ww.youtube.com) your application for AdSense won’t get approved.
Secondly, the following policies set by Google must be followed to utilize AdSense services. In case of failure to comply with them, Google has right to disable ad serving to your site or/and disable your account. If your account does get disabled you are then ineligible to participate in AdSense program any further.
It is required in some locations that your site has to be active for at least six months before consideration. This step is a quality check for their advertisement network and to protect the interests of our advertisers and existing publishers
Only applications from applicants who are over 18 as stated in Terms and Conditions are eligible.
The websites Blogger and YouTube have different criteria as they enable you to create host partner accounts where for eligibility of these accounts you have to meet certain other criteria for your blog to be eligible for monetization. You can link your products in a non-host partner website even though you have initially signed up as a host partner, all you have to do it submit a one-time application form.
What are the Most Common AdWords Display Ad Sizes?
Advertisers can use image Ads on their Google Display network. This can greatly help draw attention to your product or service from Google’s 2 million websites and apps.
The requirements for Google display images are the following;
GIF, JPG, PNG, SWF and ZIP formats are supported only.
The file should have a maximum size of 150 KB.
You can choose from 20 different ad sizes which are categorized in four size types.
Square and rectangle
200×200 – Small Square
240×400 – Vertical Rectangle
250×250 – Square
250×360 – Triple Widescreen
300×250 – Inline Rectangle
336×280 – Large Rectangle
580×400 – Netboard
Skyscraper
120×600 – Skyscraper
160×600 – Wide Skyscraper
300×600 – Half-Page Ad
300×1050 – Portrait
Leaderboard
468×60 – Banner
728×90 – Leaderboard
930×180 – Top Banner
970×90 – Large Leaderboard
970×250 – Billboard
980×120 – Panorama
Mobile
300×50 – Mobile Banner
320×50 – Mobile Banner
320×100 – Large Mobile Banner
There is no specific answer to which are the most common sizes, different sizes can be used for different purposes.
However, here is a list of some sizes that are being used commonly in different categories
250 x 250 – Square
200 x 200 – Small Square
468 x 60 – Banner
728 x 90 – Leaderboard
300 x 250 – Inline Rectangle
336 x 280 – Large Rectangle
120 x 600 – Skyscraper
160 x 600 – Wide Skyscraper
300 x 600 – Half-Page Ad
970 x 90 – Large Leaderboard
HOW TO MEASURE AD PERFORMANCE
Generating money from Google Adsense depends on three important factors: the CPC, CTR, and RPM.
CPC, also known as cost per click, refers to the amount of money you will receive if your visitors click on your ad.
As publishers, you have no control over how much you will receive for each click on your ad. It ultimately depends on the competition in your domain's niche that dictates the pricing, which could also change over time. Nonetheless, you can attract the best possible ads for your site using tactics that will be discussed in a different section below.
On the other hand, CTR or click-through rate refers to the percentage of visitors clicking on your ads while on your site.
CTR is important if you want to earn from Google Adsense truly. While CPC determines how much you will earn, you have very little control over the variables that determine the costs of the ads that will appear on your site. Your CTR is highly dependent on controlled variables or tactics that you can use to increase your ad performance which will also be discussed later.
Both metrics help you make sense of your RPM or revenue per 1,000 impressions. Impression describes the activity that takes place on the site and server every time an ad is fetched.
To compute the RPM, you need to divide your estimated earnings by the number of impressions (how many times an ad was seen on your website) and multiply the quotient by 1,000.
Measuring your potential earnings through RPM reveals to you the bigger picture that CPC and CTR can't show. Essentially, RPM is showing how much money you make per visitor. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if your site is showing low-paying ads. The important thing is that you optimize your ads for increased performance and higher revenue.
DIFFERENT AD OPTIONS
Since you need to get people to click on your ads to make money, Google Adsense offers different ad options that you can show on your pages.
Text – Also known as “sponsored links,” the ads will appear as one or two lines of text format which may include the title of the ad and the physical address (for local businesses).
Display ads – The ads will appear in graphic format. You can choose from different sizes for your display ads, which will depend on where you wish to place it on your page.
Rich media – The ads will appear in HTML, Flash, and video format.
Animated image – The ads will appear as dynamic images. To show this on your site, you need to enable image ads.
Link units – They will show a list of topics related to your content. Once your visitors click on them, they will be directed to a page of Google ads related to the topic. You can only make money from this ad type if visitors click on the ads after clicking on the list of topics.
Among the different ad options to choose from, Google confirmed that the best performing units are the following:
336×280 large rectangle
300×250 medium rectangle
728×90 leaderboard
300×600 half page
320×100 large mobile banner (on mobile)
