Friday, September 29, 2006

Top AdSense earners: the biggest "Google whores"

Trying to make money using Google ads or similar ads on one's Web site has, for many people, become the gold rush of the early 21st century. Since I'm trying to earn a little folding money this way myself, I was intrigued by an article I saw on Digg.com a few days ago. Entitled "The Internet’s Biggest Google Whores" (link below), the article claimed to show the top eight individuals who were earning the most AdSense income–and how much they were making.

The article appears on the blog of John Chow, who calls his site "The Miscellaneous Ramblings of a Dot Com Mogul." The interesting thing is that Chow was looking exclusively at individuals, not big corporate publishers like Time Warner or the many big-name news sites. He says that he assembled his rankings from interviews and articles, and in some cases the individuals sent Chow a photo of themselves holding up a check from Google.

So who's number one? According to Chow it's Markus Frind, founder of PlentyOfFish.com, a free dating site. Frind earns $300,000 per month in AdSense income, Chow says. And yes, he runs the Web site from his home–an inspiration to all of us who dream of working in our pajamas and having a 30-second commute to the office.

Number two is Kevin Rose, one of the founders of Digg.com, who Chow says earns $250,000 a month from Google ads. (For the complete list, click here .)

Comments on Chow's site suggest that the rankings may not be entirely accurate. Some people mention blog publishers who should be on the list, while others point out that folks making big bucks from Google ads may not want to publicize the fact.

Whether the rankings are precise or not, these eye-popping figures make it clear that some folks are reaping the huge income potential from ad-supported blogging–an area that didn't even exist a couple of years ago. As for me, these findings are interesting in themselves, as well as a possible learning tool for helping me make more money from AdSense.

No comments :