Did you know that you could turn the tables on Google and actually use its search engine to generate money?

Google Adsense pays you money in exchange for being allowed to publish paid-for ads on your web site. The clever thing is that the ads are related to what your users are looking for on your site. If used correctly they can both enhance your site and make you money.

So how does it work? Google provides you with its Adsense HTML code, which you place on your web pages. Then, Google automatically ?reads? your pages and decides on the best ads to display.

It uses a sophisticated algorithm that includes such factors as keyword analysis, word frequency, font size, and the overall link structure of the web. It says it knows what a page is about and can precisely match Google ads to each page.

Adsense also uses geo-targeting to serve Google ads to your pages that are specific to a user's region and language, based on their IP address. This means that the ads that are served to a user from Australia may be different than those that appear for a user from Canada.

If a visitor clicks on one of the ads they get taken to the advertiser's web page and you get paid cash ? easy!

Well, not quite. First you must have a site with plenty of visitors; otherwise it isn't worth the effort. Secondly, your page must be set up in such a way that Google stands a chance of working out what you are trying to promote or sell. for more help visit towww.guardadsense.com.In essence, you need to look at your page title, headings and initial copy to make sure that Google matches the right ads to your page.

For example, on my page devoted to digital photography courses, I don't want to advertise rival courses. So what I do is ensure that the first words on the page are ?digital cameras?, not for more detail go to: www.googleincomemachine.com. ?digital camera courses?. That away, Google shows ads for companies selling cameras, not training courses.

Don't expect to earn a fortune. Google is a bit cagey about its ad rates, but you typically earn a few cents per click. Advertisements for casino or other gambling sites could make you up to a dollar or more for each click though.

On the downside, the very nature of Google Adsense means that users navigate away from your site, which may not be in your best interests.

Another word of warning, if Google can't work out what to display it will serve up ads for charities. It will also do this for the first few minutes after putting a page live.

In two months of using Google Adsense on a few of my sites I have made a few hundred dollars. But other canny users, who have specifically targeted high value clicks by setting up portal sites with lots of traffic, have made thousands upon thousands of dollars!