It doesn't look good!

Well it looks as though someone from the U.K. has posted that they have received their "payment in progress" for their google adsense payment. They posted that they get their adsense payment by check.

Usually this is a sign that at least the "PIP" process has begun and in similar situations like this people from the US start to post that they receive their "payment in progress" lines the next day.

It really is quite dissappointing that this process is coming so much later in the month. I really thought that we would be seeing it today at the very least!

Low Click Through Rates Being Attributed To Interest-Based Ads!

I don't seem to be the only Adsense Publisher that is experiencing a low click-through-rate with their Google Adsense sites! I have been browsing some adsense-related boards and there have been many people posting about experiencing the same thing as well.

The low CTR seems to be attributed to Adsense providing interest-based ads. What this means is that - for example - if someone has just visited a site about flowers and then visits your site which is about cars, then the ads that they see will be about flowers and NOT what your site is about which is cars. In other words the google adsense ads that will be appearing on your car-related site will be more about flowers than about cars! Of course this will seriously decrease the number of potential clicks that your site may get.

You would think that interest-based ads would provide more in potential clicks because the ads are being based on the interest of the site visitor but it doesn't seem to be working out that way - at least not for the Adsense publishers who's postings I have seen - including mine!

There also doesn't seem to be a way to opt out of interest-based ads for the ads that are appearing on one's site.

There has also been talk of "ad blindness" meaning that visitors to Google Adsense ad sites are becoming more and more "blind" to the adsense ads that are appearing - meaning that they are not clicking on the ads.

I'm sure that there has got to be some kind of solution to this! I just haven't found out what it is yet - LOL!

Google's Adsense Program Making Changes To Their Log-In Page?

As I normally do, I went to check my adsense numbers tonight and found that logging in to the site was taking longer than usual. I noticed that the log-in page looked a little different and a screen came up announcing that "secure" material was included and asked me whether or not I wanted to proceed.

So I asked myself "What's up with this?" and I immediately went to the message boards to find out what was happening. Here is what I found out:

It seems that Adsense is updating their site. To quote the AdsenseAdviser:

>The AdSense team has indeed been working hard on rolling out new features for you.

However it seems that there were some "bugs" that occurred when people were trying to access their Adsense accounts. Here is what the Adsense Advisor has said:

You're also right about the minor login issue. As soon as we realized it was happening, our engineers rolled back the change and we put out a blog post to explain what was happening (check out the Inside AdSense Blog for details). If you try to log in to your account now, you'll be greeted by the traditional login page.

I logged-in to my Adsense account just a few minutes ago and after a slow start I am able to see my Adsense numbers again (I have earned at least 1/4 of the $100 that I need to get an adsense payment next month - so far).

If you would like to read the message thread concerning this issue, just click here.

A List of High-Paying Keywords

Someone actually wanted a list of the high-paying keywords from me but they weren't willing to pay the price that I am selling it for. So my answer to them was no!

There are just too many free ways to find a list of high-paying keywords online that you shouldn't have to ask for mine if you are not willing to pay for it.

I'm not going to price this list too low and I don't want to price this list too high. But if you're not willing to pay the price that is listed then you will have to find these kinds of lists on your own.

There Has Been A "Payment In Progress" Sighting!

Someone from Greece has posted that they have received the "PIP" line on their adsense account. Another person has also posted that they received their "payment in progress" line also. They are posting from the Middle East!

While I am happy for them I can't help but remember back in December of 2007 when people were posting that they received their "PIP" lines on their accounts but all of them were located outside the United States!

I also keep an eye out for that first posting of a "payment in progress" line (since I never seem to be the first person to post that I got it) because when someone from the United States posts that they have gotten their "PIP" line then that means that my "payment in progress" line isn't too far behind.

The fact that someone outside the US has posted that they received their "payment in progress" line first has me a little worried about seeing my own "PIP" line!

I will keep you posted!

I'm Still Waiting On That Adsense Payment!

Well it looks like Adsense is being true to their form when they state that they can't give an exact date of the adsense payment(s).

Like I mentioned in a previous post, the month of December 2007 has the same date format as this month - March 2008. As I noted before there was a "payment in progress" line on my adsense account on Dec. 24th - of which it is now the 24th of March 2008 and there is still no "PIP" line appearing on my adsense account yet.

The general consensus is that the "payment in progress" line usually appears on the last Tuesday of the month - which is tomorrow....................

Why The Big Fuss About Getting The Adsense Payment?

As hard as it might be hard to believe a lot of people depend on their adsense payment. Forget the logic about not "putting one's eggs" in only one basket!

I saw one post from a guy in a foreign country (India - I think) who posted that he was waiting on his adsense payment to buy food!

Another contributing factor is that Adsense is not specific about when they will actually place that "payment in progress" line on a person's adsense account and people get frustrated trying to contact adsense about this matter.

Adsense does protect itself by saying that if a payment isn't received by a certain date then a reissue of the payment can be applied for - however that date is many, many days ahead of when payments are normally issued.

Like it or not some people are not going to be logical as far as getting their adsense payment is concerned!

The Official Adsense Blog

I really have to say that I'm disappointed with Adsense's offical blog! Of course the blog is filled with information but my major peeve with that blog is that it doesn't allow comments. What makes it worse is that the blog has a Google Groups counterpart and even IT doesn't allow comments! (I believe the google group says that it is moderated but I have yet to see any of my posts added!)

Adsense Has An Updated Terms Of Service Notice!

Have you tried to log in to your adsense account today?

Then chances are you were hit with the new / updated Adsense Terms Of Service notice.

You have until May 25th to agree to these new terms or you will no longer be able to acess your adsense account!

Since I am just becoming aware of this it will take me some time to go through adsense's new terms of service and figure out what their TOS says (and mean)

Here is a link to a web article that talks more about it.

Your Adsense Payment(s) And Income Taxes

I got an audit notice from my local tax administrators concerning my 2006 adsense earnings. I, of course, reported my adsense income but there was no W-2 that was included with my tax return and that was what the audit is all about. Now normally people would think that this would be an occassion to panic (which I did at first) but since I have worked for both H & R Block and the IRS I had some experience with the whole "tax" thing.

So I called up the tax office to find out what the problem was. Basically speaking all income reported has to be backed up by an accompanying form of proof of that income. Since my adsense income was so low - it was only for two months - adsense did not send me a W-2 form. Here is an excerpt from adsense's site:

Will you send me a Form 1099 or 1042?


Publishers are responsible for paying their own taxes resulting from participation in Google AdSense. In order to facilitate this, we send IRS forms 1099 and 1042-S to qualifying publishers as required by US tax law. Forms will be sent before the end of January 2007.

We will send a Form 1099 to you and the IRS if:

• You submitted a Form W-9, are not a corporation, and were paid at least US $600 in 2006 OR
  
  
• You indicated that you are subject to backup withholding and had taxes withheld

We will not send you any forms or report your earnings to the IRS if:

• You have signed the declaration of No US Activities OR
  
  
• You have NO earnings from the AdSense program OR
  
  
• You have submitted a Form W-9 as a corporation and did not have any taxes withheld OR
  
  You have submitted a Form W-9, made less than $600 and did not have any taxes withheld

To find out more information about this just click here to go to the Adsense Help site.

According to my local tax administrator(s), I have to let them know the reason as to why there was no W-2 form included with my tax return. So I have included an excerpt from the Adsense site itself as to why there was no W-2 form included with the tax return and I will let you know how everything goes.

Could The Rumors Be True?

There has always been a bit of speculation as to the order of how adsense processes their payments. I have recently seen a post from someone who has received their adsense payment by both options - EFT and regular check in the mail. It is their opinion that adsense does indeed process payments for those that have the check option simply because it takes them longer to receive the payment than if they chose the EFT option.

Of course this is only an opinion and adsense does not tell us how and in what order they process their payments. But by being online I have been seeing bits of information about adsense's payment process and even though it is my opinion too it looks like adsense does process people who have the check option faster than they do those that have the EFT option. I base this on the fact of the posts that I have seen where people have posted that they have gotten the "PIP" line on their adsense payment history and they are located within the same general area as I have which makes me wonder why I haven't seen the "payment in process" line on my own adsense account.

Google Offices Closed Until December 27th!

I have to credit oncameratalent for providing this information.

First of all I have found out that Adsense's payment process is automated - and seeing that they are such a big company and probably have a lot of publishers this is quite understandable.

I have also found out that their offices would be closed until December 27th.

Now how does this relate to those of us that haven't received a "payment in progress" line on our adsense account? The only thing that we can do is wait.

Auction Ads - Why Is My Payment Taking So Long?

According to their website, auction ads say that they send out payments during the first of the month. It is now October 4th and I have yet to see any payment made to my account.

This is very frustrating and it reminds me of last month's wait for the adsense payment. In that case I wasn't the only persoon that was upset because the adsense payments were so late in coming!

However since this is my first auctionads payment I am very anxious to get receive my payment. I sent them an email asking about whether or not I would get a payment this month and they emailed me back later in the morning saying that I would receive a payment this month. So far I haven't received anything yet so I sent them another email yesterday but I still haven't heard back from them.

I'm very anxious to get my payment! However since this is a Thursday going on a Friday that means that if a payment is made to me on Friday then there is a 2 step process that has to be gone through which will take at least 2 business days! Now since Monday is Columbus Day I'll have to check and see if the banks will be operating on that day - if not then the process will take 3 days!

I don't understand why I am having so much problems with receiving my auctionads payment. I got an email saying that I would get a payment this month and since auctionads' site says that they issue payments on the first of the mont = then where is my payment?

---

*10/13/07 - I just got an email from them today saying that they are looking into the matter. When I find out more I will post here.

10/20/07 - Update! - I finally did receive my first Auction Ads payment! If I earn enough to get a payment next month I hope it doesn't take as long or be so complicated!

Still Waiting For My Auction Ads Payment!

I could be just a little over-anxious because this is my first Auction Ads payment ever. According to their blog they say that they issue payments on the first of the month for last month's earnings.

Here is an excerpt from their blog:

"AuctionAds Publishers, we were excited to get our first set of payments out to you today! Please note that we sent out your month one earnings via PayPal today from “Shoe Money Media Group”. Moving forward payments will be from our AuctionAds PayPal account but please look for the “Shoe Money Media Group” payment for today.

One question we’ve gotten from a few publishers is why they weren’t paid for the 31st of the month. Due to our net-0 terms and the time it takes to reconcile, earnings from the last day of the month go onto the next month.

We are excited about the growth in publisher earnings we saw in our first month of business! Please note that it can take time to ramp up earnings but our publishers who have given the program time have seen great results. We have many new features and announcements coming soon so stay tuned!"

So I am still anxiously waiting for my first Auction Ads payment!

Adsense Publishers Are Upset (to say the least!) - Where is the September 2007 Payment!

* Update! - As of 6:30pm EST, the payment in progress line appears for my area - East Coast/Philadelphia area.

Others have reported that the PIP line also appears for those in Ireland and Sweden

---

Adsense publishers are getting very upset because they have not received their adsense payment for this month (September 2007). What they have to say is not favorable

• that's what happens when you become a big company you get to screw anybody you want............
  

• it's a good thing that I don't depend my life on my adsense payments
  

• my payments used to be around the 23rd of the month why is adsense making the payments later and later?
  

• I'm very upset with adsense

It may be hard to believe but I have seen people post that they depend on their adsense payments for food! One person wrote that they were starving to death waiting for their adsense payment.

I noticed on Adsense's blog that they made a new entry for September 25th but there was no mention about why the adsense payments are so late this month.

If you want to be kept updated on the latest discussions concerning the payments for September 2007 here are a couple of links:

• Has Anybody Gotten The PIP In Their Adsense Accounts For This Month Yet?
  

• PIP for September 2007?

Payment In Progress? The 25th Of The Month

Every month around this time there is the high anticipation of seeing that all-important "Payment In Progress" line (PIP for short) which means that your adsense payment is being processed

Adsense publishers are waiting with anticipation! But I found a particularly interesting comment on one message board that talked about the PIP line for this month. Someone that posted to this board said that they had given up hope of receiving their adsense payment earlier than the last week of the month. Usually and on average the adsense payment date is usually on the 25th of the month which happens to be today.

Now I was hoping to see the PIP line on my account yesterday but no such luck! So now today I'm waiting again. But I know from past experience (and also from what other people have written and posted) that from my own past records and posts I posted that if there was going to be a PIP line on my account it would occur after 7pm - the last time I noted this the PIP line was on my account at 7:15pm. Now I'm on eastern standard time and the adsense site is operating 3 hours behind me. Someone posted that adsense always waits until after 4 o'clock (which is after the banks close) to post the payments (for those that get their adsense payment by EFT). That kind of means that the earliest one could actually spend their payment would be the next business day.

* I should also mention that for some reason (hopefully its because they are positng the PIPS!) the adsense site seems to be not coming up in any of my browsers. This started at around 5:20pm and at 5:45pm it is still happening.

As of this moment there are a LOT of people that are upset at both Google and Adsense for taking so long to process the payments for this month!

Why Is It

Taking Them So Long

To Process Payments

This Month?????????

What is Agloco?

I have been hearing so much about this program! People are posting about it everywhere and claim it is the greatest thing!

I was somewhat skeptical about it since I heard that while this program seemed to be touted by a lot of people nobody was getting paid anything! and now my suspicions were right!

Here is a site that explains it better!

It seems that the Agloco program is still in its infancy and current members are accumulating surfing "credits" but to date haven't been paid any money yet due to the program still being new. Members are being promised a percentage of the advertising profits but no payments have been made yet.

The Adsense Site Is Temporarily Down!

Just in case you're wondering, The Adsense site is down temporarily.

I noticed this about 1:30 PM EST and as of now Adsense's site is still down temporarily!

As of 4:30pm EST, the Adsense site is back up!

Do You Have A Click Bomber?

It may be too soon to tell but I think Adsense has gotten wise to one of the click bombers! I checked my adsense stats a few minutes ago and saw that I was visited by a certain click-bomber. Although this person visited a number of my pages none of his clicks were counted as valid and I am hoping this is because of the log information that I sent to adsense.

Just in case you don't know what "click-bombing" is it is when someone bombards your adsense site with clicks - a whole lot of clicks! It looks as suspicious activity to adsense and it may be grounds to cancel your adsense account. Why would someone do this? It could be someone who is just being malicious, someone who has had their adsense account cancelled and they want to take it out on the people that still do have an adsense account or it could be a comptetitor that is trying to get your adsense account cancelled.

When my site is clickbombed I report all the suspicious activity to adsense and I have now started to include a copy of the click-bomber's information that I got from one of my log reports.

So when you check your adsense statistics and you see some suspicious activity such as a very large number of clicks report it to adsense right away!

---

*Added 9/22/07

Here is a list of sites that have been discussing clickbombing and who they think the clickbomber might be:

• Google Group Discussion About The Click Bomber
  

---

added 6/18/08 - Adsense FAQ - Invalid Clicks