Am I getting rich?

Am I getting rich from my online content? No

I thought this topic may interest some. It is a little geeky, but may address what you wonder about the ads that appear on the web content you view.

The material I generate does contain ads. The system I use (Blogger) is free and ad revenue is one reason Google provides this resource for free. I also include ads on my content because I am interested in the topic of ad-supported publishing and have the same questions as many others about how much money one can generate by offering free online content.

There are two general types of ad systems - one is based on views and one is based on clicks. The system based on views should be familiar to anyone who sees ads on television or in a newspaper. The individual who purchases an ad in one of these outlets pays a price based on the viewership or readership of the content. The idea, in this case, is that the provider (the newspaper or television station) puts the ad in front of a certain number of people - the more people, the higher price for placing the ad.

The Internet offers a different opportunity. The viewership for a newspaper is only generally known and there is no way to know how many people even read page 7. Internet providers know how many times a given page has been accessed.

Views only pay off when someone has a patron. Someone must agree to pay for views. In contrast, clicks only pay when a viewer clicks to access content. The advertiser knows that someone has looked closely at the ad. Google offers this type of agreement brokering deals with advertisers and this is the system I use.

Our trip blog has been up for about a month so I am providing the data from all my blog content for the past month (see the image appearing below - click to enlarge). My content generated 1476 ad impressions and 7 clicks. I made $2.10. So this total addresses the question of whether or not I am getting rich. All but 8 cents came from our travel blog.

For the most part, the other content I generate (not the travel blog) is fairly serious. I generate content for educators. I understand that my travel comments are likely more entertaining, but I think less useful in the long run. I attribute much of the interest in our travel comments to Facebook. I have included a few links to the travel content from Facebook and this generates a significant amount of interest and more clicks. I have no idea why this is the case.