This post is really short. It’s not about the ethics of ads on blogs, it’s just about the only option available for WordPress.com hosted sites.
First I’d like to say that in theory you’re not allowed to advertise anything on your WordPress.com hosted blog unless you’ve made it yourself. Or something like that. Anyway, WordPress.com has been putting ads in your blogs and showing them to unregistered visitors. But now you can show ads to everyone and earn a couple of bucks.
In order to register your blog for WordAds you need the following:
- A WordPress.com hosted site, with its own domain. (you can’t have a .wordpress.com blog )
- A PayPal account
- A country of residence (those of you who live in outer space can’t use WordAds)
How cool is that?
Anyway, you can apply here. It usually takes a couple of weeks to get accepted. It is possible not to be accepted, based on the type of content you have on your blog, but I’m not sure how they judge blogs, so we’ll just skip this part and pretend that I never even mentioned it.
I got accepted in a week or so.
Once accepted, you’ll start seeing ads on your blog. One thing though. Make sure your theme supports ads on the home page, because otherwise all the views from your home page won’t earn you anything.
There are two options: you can either have one ad on your home page and at the end of each post and page (like I do) or you can choose to put a triple add unit – as a banner, in the right side widget thing area (I think it’s called a sidebar) and at the end of each post. But for the triple add unit thing you’ve got to be personally selected or something. I haven’t been, so I can’t tell you more about that.
In theory, you earn $1 for every thousand page views. But this is a very rough estimate. Ads shown in Europe and North America pay more than those shown in other parts of the globe.
After your get accepted, you’ll see a new setting called WordAds in your dashboard. Settings – WordAds. There you can find a button to disable WordAds, you can choose to show ads to every visitor, every visitor except WordPress users, and no visitor. If you have the no-ads upgrade, that really means no ads.
Then you have to fill in some info about you, nothing too complicated, especially if you don’t live in the US. Paypal address and some other stuff.
Then you have your earnings tab, which is going to be the most exciting place on your dashboard (that and the stats thingy)
Every month, basically around the 20th, your earnings will go live. Sometimes they show partial earnings (don’t panic when you see those.) When you earn $100, you get paid via PayPal at the end of that month. So let’s say you start running ads on the 1st of November. Around the 20th of December the Earnings tab will update, showing you that you’ve earned $100.01, and you’ll get paid on 31th of December. Give or take a couple of days.
There isn’t much else to say about this. It’s a take it or leave it thing. The ads are pretty much harmless, from what I’ve seen. And you get to earn a few bucks. Yeah, you need an insane amount of traffic to actually earn money, but that’s besides the point here.
And now for some questions (you can pretend that I’m a cop if you like).
Do you run WordAds? If yes, what do you think about it? If no, what do you think about it? What do you think about ads in general? Do you like them, hate them?
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To be very honest, I dislike seeing them on any site I visit anyplace on the Web and avoid them. The Internet as well as television and radio are so full of advertising that I'm really tired of it all, it's just annoying. Nothing personal about you of course! :)
Thanks for posting this article — I've always wondered how ads worked for wordpress sites. My site doesn't get enough traffic to worry about this, but learning about ads is a good thing.
Thank you for the information! Once I build up a stronger following on my blog, I will definitely look into this!
Thanks Cristian. I've applied ;-)
I pretty much ignore those ads on the sides of the blogs I visit.
Thanks for shering info :-)
Thank you for sharing a very useful information!
Hi Christian, I have Word Ads, and the $1 per page view? Not even close. I was surprised I was approved, as I am new at this and don't really have a lot of traffic yet. But, according to my Word Ads earnings tab, I have had almost 3000 "impressions" and my payment so far is 8 cents. Thank you for the tip about a theme that supports ads on the home page. Maybe it's time to shop for a new theme. Ha ha!
Over what time period were you 3,000 impressions?
It sounds interesting, but I don't want to pay the $18 just to make my website its own domain. I have enough trouble just affording groceries!
Thanks for your updated information.
Regards,
Denisha joely
Thank you Cristian. Your post will prove very useful in the near future. :)
Thanks for the info, I love your blog!
I don't mind adds as long as they are not pop-up or have music or voice over.
I am from India. My blog is not that big but I have still 4,500 visitors on my site averaged monthly. Return wise I am not getting even what I invested with WordPress for a paid domain. I just feel disappointed only, May be for Indians payment rate is too low. Thanks for the information you provided.
I don't get nearly enough traffic to bother, but even if I did, I probably wouldn't go for the ads. I already write articles and sell them to content people who know how to use SEO to make money, That's an easier and quicker way to make dollars. Thanks for the heads up, though.
I applied and got accepted, but decided to turn them off. I know that every wordpress blog has adverts on the end of each post anyway so I didn't really want more (unless we pay for the upgrade to turn them off) and that frustrates me a little, but I'm too tight to pay the $30 or whatever it is to turn them off so I guess I have to suck it up :)
i enjoyed your post and all your posts!
Can't thank you enough for the always informative stuff you post — especially for those of us who are new at blogging. You're a great resource and you post some really great content.
I'm with those that say they haven't got the traffic to generate enough through the ads. Thanks for sharing though!
Cristian, I have to say, regardless of one's stance on 'ads,' ther clarity in your posts is very refreshing. Thank you so much.
If most people ignore/overlook the ads, what good are they, and are most people really making substantial money from WordAds / Adsense ?
I wish that you can have ads on WordPress.com sites, but now I'm not too fussed about it really…
I've always wondered. Thanks for the info!
Interesting. I have a love-hate relationship with ads. I find them annoying and often tune them out when visiting sites with ads. I agree with the prior comment about ads with pop-up, music, or voice-over being the worst. On the flip side, I use WordPress and have been frustrated by the fact that I couldn't post ads when I infrequently would have liked to. I do like to share products with readers if I come across something I think is really cool (eco-wise, time-saving, etc.) and it would be nice to get a little something for it if I'm able to turn someone on to the product. However, another part of me feels like I should just be happy with the sharing of knowledge and be more altruistic in my motives. It's just that a little extra money would help once in awhile. lol Thanks for the info on Wordads. I don't have near enough traffic to make it worthwhile but it's something to keep in mind.
This is an interesting post, Christian. I'm too much of a small fish to think about advertising, but this is good information for the future. Thanks!
Hi Cristian, I like the idea of ads. I found out about WordAds, applied, and was accepted. The amount of traffic you need to actually get a payout is, for me at this point, insane – but it's something to work toward that's for sure! I do look at the ads that appear at the ends of my posts and have commented on some of them because they're actually kind of cool. Have you actually looked at what's playing on your page? What did you think?
I signed up for WordAds just as a little added motivation to post. I have actually enjoyed every ad that has been on my blog so far. The one with the kids & the cheerios is really cute.
Thank you Cristian–so much appreciated! I applied yesterday and received an email they will notify me shortly as to whether I am accepted or not. Let's see–even $100.00 a year is something and added income. :)
Since I recently paid $100 to keep WP ads off of my site with their "upgrade" offer, I guess this means I won't be trying to participate in this latest option! I've toyed with the idea of transitioning to WP.org so I could have total control of what and which ads I would allow, and possibly be able to monetize. But, as others have mentioned, blogs with blatant ads so often "cheapen" the site. If not done carefully or tastefully, they can become intrusive and impersonal. Just my rambles on the subject. Thanks for making readers aware of this WP option.
Good info but not relevent for me. I could not even scratch the surface to earn $$ with an ad/s on my blog. I paid enough for my own domain ($100) when I began my blog. I keep getting messages that I can get my own domain. I am not sure if I should keep what I already have (the way my site looks) or if the support system would change after making my site (my own, as WordPress says).
That probably did not make any sense. There are many things that I do not understand about this blog/site thing and I really am computer dumb. I am surprised that I have been able to make this site half way decent. It needs improvement.
If anyone can make money then I say good for you. On Blogger some people have so many ads you can not see the forest for the trees or vice versa.
Yvonne
Thanks, I will definitely look into this. Whatever happened to the NoMoWri 'banding together for support' you were talking about on an earlier post?.
I have the WordAds and I think for the most part they are tastefully done. I would take them down otherwise. I did a post: Do You Like My WordAds some time ago and kept track of my readers responce. No one complained and some really like them. I did not know that you could find out how money you had earned. How do you do that?
go to your dashboard, click settings, then click word ads, the first tab turns the ads off or on and the second shows earnings. >^..^<
Apparently I ignore the ads…. I do on FB for sure…. but thanks for the information should I ever change my mind. : )
Ads, ads, ads, and more ads. With out them we would be lost I guess, with them we see a new iPhone and we want it. Thanks for the great article! Looking forward to your next topic.
Thanks, I've been debating whether and when to add ads and this was really helpful.
I'm not a huge fan of too many ads on sites, but this is still good food for thought. Thank you!
I, too, tend to ignore ads on blogs. But then, I tend to ignore ads in general; John Wanamaker apparently said "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." It's probably the half people like me were looking at.
Interesting how much WordAds pay; like you say, unless you're getting lots of traffic, the money you earn will be outweighed by the annoyance of potential readers who dislike ads. At my current rate, it'd take me about three months to earn enough money to buy a bar of chocolate, so I think I'll give it a miss.
Good job I'm on a diet, really, isn't it?
It depends on the blog. I might like ads on a fashion or craft oriented blog. That way I learn about new venues for supplies. But for reading someone's personal blog I'd rather not see any ads. They're very distracting.
Really interesting! i don't have enough traffic to generate revenue that would outweigh the irritation factor as yet, but one can hope! When I get to where I would earn $50 / mo I may jump in. Thanks for this series; it has made me reflect with each post on what I want to put into and get out of my blog.
Thanks for the info, good to know! I think it would only be worth it if i had the volume in audience and say I had control on the content being advertised. (Eg. A shoe blog with shoe deals or my food blog with coupon ads)
chris
Cool. I'm going to wait until I build my audience and boost my traffic. I don't mind ads. Someone's gotta pay the bills.
Once I realized that my blog had ads inserted whether I wanted them or not, I decided WordAds would be a part of my plan when I take the plunge and buy my domain. If ads have to be there, I'd like a couple of those pennies for my trouble, even if the annual income won't be enough to buy a postage stamp.
Thanks, it seems that ads are not favored by many on this blog post. However, I feel that some ads will not hurt :)
thanks for sharing. it appears that many bloggers and readers do not like the Ads.
I saw the earnings tab and while I have not reached the point of 100.00 I have made a few bucks so I think it's worthwhile as long as my readers are not turned off. That has not happened so far. Thanks for your help!(smiles)
I have ad blockers installed in all my browsers, so I've never seen any of these wordads – honestly, I'm a little curious, but not enough to turn of the blockers!
Thanks for sharing. I'm another person that doesn't like ads and I never click on them. But good luck to those that use them and for those that it works for.
thank you for posting this! :-)
You and me both! I've just said exactly the same to an art gallery that charges an extortionate yearly sum for 'representation'.
I got the no ads upgrade, because I find it difficult to read blogs with ads in the places that WordPress puts them.
ClaireBear
If I don't have paypal account then how?
You know, no matter what you write it always seems clearer to me! I've enjoyed each and everyone of your most recent posts. Working lately 16 hours a day on my leatherwork doesn't leave much time for more in depth technique sharing of my work. Of which I want to do, plus gain more followers. Great post! I always learn something every time I sit here. Any ideas?
I think that people are conditioned to see ads on websites, so they don't bother me personally. I can't run ads on my blog unless I pay for the upgrade to a custom domain, but even then, I'm not sure I have enough traffic to qualify or make it worthwhile. I just noticed the other day that WordPress was running ads on my site, so I was researching this Wordads option. Thank you for the info!
thanks for the info! :)
Reblogged this on Consilient Interest.
You can buy domain name and server space far cheaper elsewhere (for eg. GoDaddy), all WordPress ask is that you use their WordPress software on your website… which is a free download and installation.
thank you for this post, you had cleared my think, in Italy the advertise of wordpres don't produce hig earn, 5000 impression = 0.27$ (I read on italian forum)
Thanks!! For sharing such useful information! Great work keep it up !!