Before looking at AdSense, I feel that it is necessary to give a brief description of pay per click advertising. The biggest and most powerful ppc system is called Google AdWords.

AdWords

You will have seen AdWords in action before. They are those little text ads that appear down the right hand side of Google's search results. They are an amazingly powerful method of advertising. The ads you see are 100% related to the keywords that you type into a search. This means, that as an AdWords advertiser you are capable of displaying your ads in front of an audience that is already interested in your products or services. Never before have businesses been able to conduct their advertising in such a highly targeted manner.

If your internet company rented holiday properties in Spain for example, you could set up your AdWords ads to appear ONLY when someone typed in keywords like Spanish, Spain, holiday, rental, villas, apartments, properties etc.

Of course, this all comes at a price. As an advertiser, you have to pay Google every time somebody clicks on one of your ads. Not knowing how to cost their system, the geniuses at Google came up with the idea of letting their advertisers bid against each other for the value of their chosen keywords.

This means, that if I wanted my ad to be displayed the most often when someone types the key phrase Spanish holidays into Google, I would have to out bid the advertiser who currently comes top of the list for this key phrase.

The Internet has matured as a result of ppc advertising. The embarrassing days of the Dot Coms are well and truly behind us. The value of online businesses can now be measured because ppc advertising is a dynamic system that reflects real-world supply and demand.

With ppc advertising, Google has enabled small online businesses to flourish, whilst making tens of billions for themselves.

AdSense

With their follow up program AdSense, Google created an opportunity for everybody to get a share in this lucrative market.

AdSense is an extension of the AdWords program that allows any website owner to place AdWords ads on their site. However, the difference in this system lies in the fact that the ads displayed come not from search phrases, but from the content of your site.

As an AdSense user, Google gives you a piece of JavaScript that has your unique id embedded within it. This enables them to track the performance of the ads on your site. You simply paste this code into the html of your website.

Then, when someone views your site, the JavaScript automatically fetches ads from the Google server and places them on your page. Google does this with its advanced content recognition technology. This technology is so clever, that it knows which country you are viewing a site from. It then places country specific ads accordingly. For example, if you had a site about fly-fishing, people viewing your site in Australia would see ads for Australian fishing tackle retailers, and in the USA people would see ads for American retailers.

When someone clicks on one of your ads, Google charges the advertiser. Google then takes a cut of the money and gives the rest to you. Although Google won't disclose any details about their payout ratio, it is rumored that they take 32% and you get 68%.

Before you start thinking: why don't I just click on my ads all day long and make loads of money? Google has thought of this and takes click fraud very seriously. They want their advertising system to work. They can tell if you have been committing click fraud and will bar you from AdSense FOR EVER!

Making serious money

99% of AdSense users make next to nothing. They stick the code onto their website and sit back. When the money doesn't appear they think the system is useless. This is good for us, because those in the know can make extraordinary amounts of legitimate, Google approved money.

The key lies in finding a niche market and creating a content rich, topical site within this market. You then fill the content of your site with high paying keywords.

Next, through good search engine optimization and advanced inbound linking strategies, you build a high and constant flow of traffic to your site.

Then, only after you have taken steps one and two, do you place the AdSense code into your site. You add the JavaScript whilst employing certain techniques that make the ads look more attractive. This will encourage more of your website's visitors to click on the ads.

This strategy, coupled with careful tracking of ad performance, will guarantee that you are making serious amounts of money with Google AdSense.

If you want to be amongst the 1% of high earners make sure that you follow The AdSense Mint course step-by-step!