What is Google AdSense and how does it work?

If you look back a few years, you'll realise that advertising on the internet has been done in a way that is very similar to other media such as television or even more so to what you see in a newspaper. You go to a website and you see a banner somewhere (usually quite numerous and quite large) displaying an advert for the company paying for the advertising space on your website.

However, this type of marketing had a disadvantage. It did not take advantage of the fact that the adverts were not placed in a newspaper but on the Internet. You've probably noticed many of these things when browsing websites. You're looking for a watch in an online shop, but instead you see an advert for a car. Maybe you want to buy a car at some point in the future, but right now you're looking for a watch, and it would have been nice if the banner had advertised a watch, because then you would have clicked on it.

This is exactly what Google thought and developed a brilliant concept. This concept is called Google AdSense and is a kind of targeted advertising campaign. Instead of trying to get a banner on your website that your visitors are not interested in, you (as a web designer / website owner) can simply reserve some space on the screen. You then sign up to Google AdSense, upload a small snippet of code to your website and Google will make sure that a banner appears in the area you specify, containing adverts that match the content of your website.

Since Google is a search engine company, this is relatively easy for Google to do. It looks for keywords on your page, then searches a database of websites for those that are relevant to the content of your page and voila: a targeted advert.

Every time a visitor clicks on an AdSense banner on your site, you (the webmaster) get paid. People are really interested in what's in that banner (why else would they be on your site?). This will inevitably be the case more often than with a normal banner.

However, this is also an advantage for those who want to advertise. And for the same reason. The best thing about Google AdSense is that the content of each banner is relevant. This relevance is crucial to both the success of the programme and the satisfaction of all involved. The advertiser has a well-placed advert, the publisher makes money from their content and Google gets a cut.

Of course, Google has set some high standards for its AdSense programme in terms of appearance and functionality, as it always does. You can only display two of these banners on your website and Google only uses text in them.

An added bonus is that AdSense advertising is much less intrusive than traditional advertising. However, this does mean that you should position the banner better, as it is possible for visitors to miss it entirely. Ultimately, Google AdSense is a unique advertising system because the adverts are linked to the content of the website.

Anyone who wants to advertise does so by paying Google. Anyone who wants to place adverts on their website can do so via AdSense and is paid by Google. All transactions are handled by Google, and advertisers and publishers have access to analytics that allow them to analyse and manage the efficiency of their campaigns. From website visitors to advertisers, the whole process is elegant, straightforward and successful. This is one of the reasons why Google is known for its innovation and innovative thinking.