Google Lets AdSense Publishers Donate Earnings to Haiti Relief

Google has launched an AdSense feature that lets AdSense publishers donate their earnings to Haiti earthquake relief efforts.

"We're currently accepting donations from AdSense publishers with an unpaid account balance through January 31, 2010," says Google's Elizabeth Ferdon. "To see what your unpaid account balance is, please visit the 'Payment History' page within your account. Your January earnings will post in the next few days, so feel free to refer to your 'Advanced Reports' page for an earnings estimate until those are finalized."

Publishers can donate either a portion or all of their unpaid balances as of the end of January. "As you may expect, there are certain restrictions to donating, and all our normal policies still apply -- so even if you're donating, please don't ask others to click on your ads in order to increase your earnings," says Ferdon.

Google will not process donation requests from publishers whose request to donate more than their unpaid balance through January 31, or if they are subject to tax-withholding, their account has been disabled for invalid activity or other violations of terms and conditions, or if their accounts display the messages: "please submit your tax information", "please enter your PIN", or "please verify your phone number".

Partners in Health is the organization that will receive the donations. They will go to proivde medical aid.


Have You Read This?

> Google Launches Relief Site To Help Haiti

> Twitter Helping Haiti Earthquake Victims

> BusinessWire Offers Free Haiti-Related Press Release Distribution

A Convenient Content Truth

Big businesses with huge pageviews fueled by Google have emerged in recent years that exist only because of a unique SEO / Adwords relationship with Google. Google gives them a huge presence in the long tail SERPS and they in turn give Google increased revenue by being a Google Adsense partner. Not just any Adsense partner, but a Google partner that turns Google search generated traffic into billions of Adwords clicks totaling tens of billions of dollars. 

Demand Media, for instance, was created with this business model. Figure out what people are searching for, create somewhat unique content in bulk that matches the title tags and other keywords in the search terms, place Google ads all over this content and  voila ... Demand Media's eHow.com articles rank on the first page of Google search result for hundreds of thousand of searches. By the way, Demand Media is reportedly going to generate $200 million in revenue this year and may be worth a billion dollars in large part because of these Google Adwords clicks.

It is a fascinating business model; A content assembly line creates content specifically for Google searches and Google then pays millions for Google ads clicked on that content. Unfortunately, it does raise questions about whether Google has a conflict of interest in being both the main supplier of traffic and revenue for these bulk article sites while also earning substantial revenue for itself? After all, if these articles didn't result high in Google searches this mass content production model wouldn't work.

I have followed the SEO industry for years and our WebProNews reporters have interviewed countless Google product managers on the subject of ranking well in Google.  Google's mantra has been for publishers to make quality content for their users and not for its search engine. Google's position is that quality content will rise to the top of its SERPS. 

However, Google seems to be sending content creators a mixed message. Demand Media is creating as many as 5,000 articles and videos each day for the purposes of ranking in Google. If Google's message is for publishers to create content for their readers, not just to rank in Google, then why is Demand Media's content ranking so well in Google? 

The answer could be that for thousands of long tail searches, Demand Media's content is quality enough. The vast majority of Google searches on any given day include a search term that will get less than a hundred searches a day. What content farms such as Demand Media do is provide articles and videos that are optimized for these rarely searched terms. The content is often mediocre, but it is unique and it has a title tag and other keywords that match these targeted searches. 

The problem as I see it is that while Google is highly ranking the content of these mass production publishers it also has a financial incentive to do so. Almost all content farms use Google Adwords for their revenue. So while Google on the one hand encourages publishers to make content for their readers and not just for search ranking, it is in partnership with sites that do just that. 

This should make publishers wonder about their business models. Should they spend thousands paying reporters and editors to create quality content for their users or should they simply create a content farm that pays little for bulk quantities of articles and videos but gets lots of Google love?  

I guess if you can make content for the purpose of ranking in searches ... but make it targeted, unique and not horrible, then you might find that Google well reward you quite well.

Is this the future of online publishing?

Google Changes Wording for AdSense Earnings

Google announced that it has made some messaging changes in the AdSense interface. The changes concern users' earnings.

Google has added the words "Estimated" and "Finalized" next to "Earnings" throughout users' accounts. The company says the move was made to be more transparent. The changes in messaging do not reflect any changes to the way finalized earnings are calculated. The company says they're simply intended to give users a clearer idea of Google's estimations of earnings and what is actually finalized.

"As you may have noticed in the past, the earnings on the Overview and Advanced Reports pages may sometimes differ from the earnings listed on your Payment History page," says Elizabeth Ferdon of Google's AdSense Payments Team. "This is because earnings on your Overview and Advanced Reports pages reflect initial estimations based on our records."

"We aren't able to provide finalized earnings on these pages because they still need to be verified for accuracy, a process that takes place a few days after the end of every month. The finalized sum is then posted on your Payment History page by the 10th of the next month," adds Ferdon.

Google says it can't say how much amounts would differ for any specific publisher, and that most publishers won't see a significant difference anyway.

Earlier this week, Google introduced the ability to search for ads in the Ad Review Center. The option is currently available to only a limited number of publishers who are using the new AdSense interface (launched a few weeks ago). The company said, however, it will be rolling it out more widely as they invite more publishers to test the new interface.


Have You Read This?

> Google Launches AdSense Product Ideas Page

> Google Ignoring Its Own Policy on Desktop AdSense?

> YouTube Videos in AdSense Could Drive Clicks

Google Launches AdSense Product Ideas Page

AdSense is an important fixture in a lot of people's lives; it can represent anything from spending money (hey, little splurges do the heart good) to what pays the mortgage.  And now, individuals have a chance to shape it more to their liking, as a new Product Ideas for AdSense page has launched.

Try not to get your hopes up; as word spreads and more people contribute ideas, the odds of any one suggestion making it in front of an important Googler will decrease.  Also, there's no guarantee that any of the recommendations will be implemented.

Still, a post on the Inside AdSense blog stated, "[W]e can guarantee that we'll take the top ideas (as voted by you), and bring them to the AdSense Product Management team for review.  By submitting an idea, you agree that Google may use the idea to develop and enhance Google's products and services."

So sign into the Product Ideas for AdSense page with your Google account, make a suggestion, or vote for an existing one that you like before the end of December 15th.  Just about everything's fair game, from simple tweaks to entirely new features.

Then just maybe, as a result of participating, you'll be able to upgrade "spending money" to "mortgage payments" or "mortgage payments" to "retirement package."

Have You Read This?

> Google Ignoring Its Own Policy On Desktop AdSense?

> YouTube Videos In AdSense Could Drive Clicks

> Google Tests New AdSense Interface

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