Whom should you choose? Google Adsense or Independent Link Sellers

Jun 15, 2007

Asks Darren on Blog Republic. Actually, the thing is

Google has been on a remarkable tangent lately concerning a form of advertising that they don’t like. The type of ad is a “Text Link Ad” that is very familiar to almost all bloggers. Google now has a reporting tool inside of “Webmaster Central” where you can turn in your competition for “selling links.”

Does it mean Google may disallow you to use Adsense if you sell link space to other companies such as Text Link Ads? The angry comments on Matt Cutts’ blog post seem to say that but what he means is, links should not be bought for increasing your page ranks, and it makes perfect sense. Links used for page rank should only be voluntary and they should appear for the value of the content not for money.

That said, what if Google penalizes you for selling link ads from other sources? What if the company stops paying you for the Adsense clicks and drops you from its listings? Well, many blogs and websites are making good money selling direct ads. For instance, I don’t see Adsense ads on Techcrunch.com and the last time I read they were selling advertisement space for $10,000 per month. Further, there are many websites that don’t depend on Google for traffic.

Personally, if I ever have a choice, I’d prefer independent advertisers to Adsense because first, with Adsense it’s hard to select what ads appear on your blog or website, and they pay very low. If you have quality traffic, you can earn more by publishing links and ads from link brokers and other online advertising companies.

More links on link advertising and adsense:

Technorati Tags: link advertising, adsense, text link ads, online advertising