Now I'm not one to blow anyones trumpet but I've got to share this!
Google has launched an affiliate program called Google Adsense. In a nutshell one line of JS will serve paying text ads from Google advertisers and disply them in either 468x60 or 120x600 format. You can't customise the look and feel (if you're site is < 5,000,000 page views/month) but the CTR is mind blowing.
This is where it gets real clever. The code will work out what text is AROUND the banner and then displays the relevant ads making them highly attractive. The T & C forbids me disclosing exactly how much I've made but I will say two things:
1) I've employed the 468x60 banner and the CTR is around 10-12 times HIGHER than the industry average.
2) I'ts a CPC model where you take a share of the cost to the advertiser and so far I have seen between $0.25 and $3.97 per click
I figure that by the end of the month I will have made more with Google than I did with 4 months at FastClick which was primarily a CPM model.
Has anyone else had good experiences or am I just lucky! 
Suzanne posted this at 22:32 — 21st July 2003.
She has: 5,512 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
I haven't employed it except on my blog. It seems to have a reasonable rate of return and others have had great success -- try Googling for "AdSense" to get the reports. The blogs around late June had a number of excellent reports on the topic.
love me, love my brain :: iStockphoto portfolio
The Webmistress posted this at 07:34 — 22nd July 2003.
She has: 5,587 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Do you get a choice of UK or US based ads?
openmind posted this at 08:03 — 22nd July 2003.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
At the moment it looks like it's just serving US ads and the payments are made by cheque once you have $100 in your account.
I haven't checked the UK version yet. Since my userbase is primarily US, it's not really a concern bu I could undersatnd a UK focused site not having the same success.
The Webmistress posted this at 08:08 — 22nd July 2003.
She has: 5,587 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
That's what I thought!!
KeithMcL posted this at 12:46 — 22nd July 2003.
He has: 176 posts
Joined: Oct 1999
Actually, I think they use geotargetting. I'm from Ireland and have Adsense ads running on my own forums. When ever I view my forums it shows ads that are specifically for Irish services as well as others.
My Sites: THD THDF WV TC WDP ES WS IHH
openmind posted this at 19:26 — 22nd July 2003.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
There you go then! Even more reason to sign up!
pbhulipo posted this at 21:05 — 22nd July 2003.
They have: 10 posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Good program, but I am not sure if I can say it's 10-12 times the CTR of other programs. Good payout too, right now I am averaging more than a dollar per 1000 impressions.
Definitely worth a look.
PINYO
GreatNexus.com - a new york web design company
Jokes-Forum.com - a community-based jokes site
openmind posted this at 21:07 — 22nd July 2003.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
The CTR is really dependent on the type of banner used and the accuracy of the ad. I am getting 10-12 time the average. My earnings for 1,000 imps is around $8 so it will vary from user to user
JeevesBond posted this at 21:13 — 22nd July 2003.
He has: 3,711 posts
Joined: Jun 2002
There's a couple of services out now which can resolve IP addresses to the country they are from...I wonder if this is using something along those lines?
a Padded Cell our articles site!
openmind posted this at 21:46 — 22nd July 2003.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
I don't "think" they are using IP location as I am in the UK, my site is in LA, USA and I only see US ads...
But I could be wrong
dmcgill posted this at 05:06 — 23rd July 2003.
They have: 12 posts
Joined: Jul 2003
Hi,
I have two search engines, proudlycanadian.net and webworldindex.com. I use Google AdSense on both and we have done very well. It is a pretty good program.
Kanoodle contacted me and wanted us to push some of their paid listings. We did it on a pay per click through and have made next to nothing. We get close to 30,000 searches a day on WebWorld and I can tell people are clicking on the top 5 results. My click through rate for kanoodle is averaging 0.9 while some days we have had as high as 6.0 click through on the Google ads.
Any other smart ideas we could do with our site?
DMcGill
DMcGill
www.webworldindex.com
openmind posted this at 09:50 — 23rd July 2003.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
I too had Kanoodle contact me, ran their ads for 18 months and made a grand total of $14!!
Nice sites BTW DMcGill
mohd posted this at 21:26 — 13th August 2003.
They have: 101 posts
Joined: Apr 2003
wow... but how many visitors do i need again? 5,000,000?!!! WOW!!! thats almost impossible for my site.
andy206uk posted this at 08:43 — 14th August 2003.
He has: 1,754 posts
Joined: Jul 2002
I think the 5,000,000 was the number you need to get before you can change the look and feel of the ads. wasnt it?
Andyk
Blog of a Web Designer
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.
Suzanne posted this at 15:16 — 14th August 2003.
She has: 5,512 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
They have introduced the ability to adapt the ads to fit in with your site. Assuming we're still talking about GoogleAdSense.
love me, love my brain :: iStockphoto portfolio
openmind posted this at 15:45 — 14th August 2003.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
Yes it is for complate customization of the ad although as Suzanne pointed out, you can now alter certain attributes
visionary posted this at 03:36 — 30th December 2003.
They have: 42 posts
Joined: Oct 2003
Has anyone put their ads on those free discussion forums like yahoo egroups? Is it legal under the rules to put google adwords on yahoo egroups? like the intro page of your forum.
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mrtom-uk posted this at 23:08 — 23rd March 2004.
He has: 43 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
UPDATE:
1) all users can now change the look of their adverts
2) UK is not a problem as the adverts will be targeted by your content
3) there is no minimum number of visitors needed etc
4) lots of new advert sizes added March 2004
What is the www.latest-thing.co.uk?
bsl posted this at 17:34 — 6th April 2004.
They have: 7 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Adsense is good but how long will it be there , putting all your eggs in one basket is dangerous. I think today too many webmasters are wrongly assuming that adsense will be here forever . While I think it will be here in the long term I never like to depend on one source of income. Webmasters should really diversify there income. A good plan would be to sell text links directly to other werbmaster http://www.BuySellLinks.com OK the site is mine but the concept is a good one and it is helping other webmasters so why not you ;0
Buy Text Links or Sell Text Links at BuySellLinks.com
xFrozenxSoulsx posted this at 08:27 — 15th April 2004.
They have: 3 posts
Joined: Apr 2004
Adsense is my number 1 choice. I have been searching for 1 week and its the best one I have found. If you can find anyones better let me know.
Forumfinders posted this at 06:45 — 19th April 2004.
They have: 9 posts
Joined: Apr 2004
adsense definately helps out my websites, I would definately recommend it.
Andrew2 posted this at 17:03 — 21st April 2004.
He has: 6 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
The targeted ads are almost like free content for your site, but you get paid! Can't beat it.