Recently a good friend of mine and fellow blogger Spencer Haws wrote that he had been banned by Adsense and lost a multiple thousands of dollars a month income stream. I had just finished publishing the podcast we did together where he discussed his 200+ website portfolio he manages and a few days later he updated his blog with news on the ban.
Spencer is not the only one as I’ve seen banned as numerous other bloggers were banned by Adsense as well including Zac Johnson, Eric Gati, Ghauer Chaudhry and a few of my friends who don’t write blogs but were earning thousands a month with Adsense were banned as well. Pamela does a good job of highlighting the frustrating aspects of working with Adsense to restore an account so I’d like to focus the discussion on something else:
Can you have too many websites?
For the past several years I’ve been making money with websites I’ve gone with a mix between smaller niche websites and larger authority websites as a way to spread out my risk. In 2011 and more so in 2012 I’ve also been buying websites as well. Right now I have a few dozen websites and rather than focusing on quantity at this stage in my business I’m trying to focus heavily on building high quality websites (for example, I just finished software development on a website that cost me roughly $20,000 to complete – not sure yet if I’ll be revealing it or not). The reason why I’ve been shifting towards higher quality websites is simply because of the huge potential upside a large website can bring both in terms of it’s monthly cash flow as well as the cash it can bring from selling it. The way I look at it is that although I could continue building my niche website income up I’ve always been too risk averse to focus on just one thing. This aversion to focusing on one strategy has downsides as well, because if I were to focus on just one business model I’d be much better at putting systems in place to automate that business model.
The real question to consider with building too many websites is to decide if Google has specifically targeted Adsense account holders that have a lot of niche websites in their account to manually ban because of their belief (unfounded or not) that niche websites provide less value for advertisers (or whatever reason they’re justifying for the ban). Whether or not that is true it just means that one solid strategy for niche websites would be to just focus on niche websites that generate income from Adsense for only a small portion of your portfolio. That way you could have an account with Adsense for 35 websites, but then have another 65 websites monetized via ShareASale, Commission Junction, Linkshare, Amazon and other affiliate networks. Niche doesn’t have to just = Adsense.
How much risk do you want?
Ultimately you just need to decide what type of strategy you want to pursue. You can start with niche websites to begin with and build your income up to thousands of dollars a month and then move onto some larger website projects or you can try and do both niche and authority websites at the same time (which is what I’ve done) or you can even just focus on a small handful of websites. I’ve also met over a dozen successful website entrepreneurs who’ve built a stable six figure income off of only one website.
My 2012 Plan Hasn’t Changed
At the beginning of this year I outlined my goals for 2012 and the pillars of my business I would be focusing on which includes building new websites, buying websites and creating software/information products (with a bigger emphasis on software). For the foreseeable future Google will continue to be around and remain an integral traffic source for niche and authority style websites alike. Whatever game you decide to play whether it’s the niche site game or the authority site game (or both) it’s important to remember that you really need to dive into a specific strategy if you want to make it work and be willing to invest your time to get there. That’s ultimately what allowed me to make Amazon niche / authority style websites to work for me along with anything else I’ve been successful with.
Unfortunately Google keeps the reasons for bans like this a secret, so you ultimately need to decide for yourself what these bans mean and keep it in mind as you work towards building a job replacing online income.
Have your plans changed for the year? If so – how?
I am definitely going “away” from the adsense sites, I have got like 6-8 of them just for a few bucks , but after I saw so many friends getting hammered just like this from the big G, I have decided not to put all my eggs in one basket, instead I am focusing at the moment on a bigger authority site and a few others selling services to internet marketers.
I can’t imagine managing over 200+ websites at one time. There’s just a lack of time in a given day. I was working on 5 different websites earlier and whittled it down to 2 at the moment and focusing on building better quality content and breaking news and the work has paid off. Traffic is gradually increasing even though the money hasn’t been growing quite as steadily. I’m trying to hit a consistent daily traffic number before asking if anyone would want to advertise on the website.
Well I should mention that Spencer has hired help to build and manage those sites as well (just like I do with a bunch of my sites as well).
I’m working hard to stay as compliant as possible with AdWords to keep myself from getting banned, but I’ve had hundreds of publishers get their accounts suspended out of the blue and Google really doesn’t seem to have a rhyme or reason for doing it. I’m just hoping that majority of my traffic is providing high value to the advertisers so I don’t get the banstick ๐
Hey Luke,
Have you had Adsense publishers getting banned as well? I already knew Adwords was always banning people and has been for years but since you are in contact with even more publishers of websites etc. perhaps you have seen some trends with Adsense as well.
Then again if you’re promoting adsense offers and sending paid traffic to a page with Adsense you’re probably doing it wrong… (right? lol)
Chris
I’m just not very good at managing several websites, so for that reason I’ll be selling off the majority of my portfolio in a couple of months to focus on just one or two quality websites (probably just one).
At this point I feel like it will probably be safer for me to build up one very thorough website, than trying to manage several half-a&%ed ones.
I agree. Google keeps changing things up to shake out the “quick money” IMers. I’d rather focus on one or two high quality sites that I actually enjoy working on. That said, this latest update HAMMERED my best site…one that I’ve done manual, white hat SEO on for over a year to make profitable.
I’m hoping it comes back. If Google can’t figure out how to reward large, high quality, regularly updated sites, SEO will truly be dead.
I started the year and decided to focus on two sites only. In the past I was trying to manage up to 10 and I was not enjoying myself at all. Now I have two areas I love that bring in an income in very different ways.
Hi there,
The problem with Adsense is you are using it, there are so many sources of commission that pay higher also and convert better. I have found a few instant commission affiliate programs which means I get paid as soon as the sale happens and it’s normally 100% commission.
I suggest offer your top Adsense Advertisers a better deal by hosting a banner on your website, chances are you will get more money because adsense is poor commission and chances are the company will be saving money, Adwords is extortionate. So everyone wins…
Thanks
David
Yah contacting advertisers direct can work, but IMO you need significant traffic to really be able to attract that kind of attention.
Hi Chris,
This is true, but I think it’s worth thinking about because Adsense like to ban people at times, when they feel like it.
Thanks
David
I read Spencer Haw’s post just te other day and was pretty surprised. What is really happening with the big G! Are they targeting the publishers with huge networks of niche websites or what? I just wish they could be explaining in more details the reason for their bans.
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the mention in your post. I definitely think there’s solid evidence that Google doesn’t like these large portfolios of websites that don’t earn much individually.
While it’s true that many of these websites add value to the internet, Google probably decided that it’s not worth the risk to their advertisers. As much as I wish I still had my AdSense account, I have to somewhat agree with the overall decision. You or I may put a lot of effort into a niche site to ensure the content is unique and adds value, but I’m willing to bet the vast majority of niche website creators are cranking out garbage. It’s certainly not fair that I or Spencer or anyone should be banned because of an overall perception, but that’s the way it is, and it’s probably the way Google is going to react going forward.
Long term, I do think it’s for the better, because it forces us to create better websites. I’ve put my niche site creation on hold indefinitely, and I’m working really hard to create an authority site that I think will earn more than the potential earnings of all the mini-niche sites I created in the past, combined.
Anyway, best of luck in 2012 – I think your diversified plan will continue to be successful.
– Eric
Hey Eric,
Great insights and thanks for stopping by to chime in – totally sucks you got banned either way. But I do think the niche sites can still make money (I have plenty that are living proof) but a reduced dependance on any one monetization strategy / business model is always good.
I’m willing to be both you, Spencer and anyone else affected will come out stronger because of the bans.
Chris
I just pretty much lost all rankings for all my sites. How about you?
Are you referring to the most recent update that happened yesterday / today? Adsense doesn’t seem to be affected yet, but some of my smaller niche sites were slapped. Sort of just reinforces my opinion that it’s probably a good idea to do bigger sites…
Hi Chris.. Well for me it is important that when we have sites, we can maintain it and we should have a control still.. We don’t need a lot of sites if we can’t handle them good..
Sorry to hear about Spencer’s Adsense problems but I’m sure he’ll find other ways to monetize those sites;-) This isn’t really anything new and I know of other people who have had similar issues when they have had a lot of fairly small sites even when the content has been good quality.
Seems they look at them as just MFA sites which has always been a problem. Could also be something to do with the amount of revenue generated from Adsense, I heard quite some time ago that when you get to a certain level it could trigger a “manual review.” Probably to do with the old style automated mass adsense site builders.
I actually had my Adwords account suspended 3 years ago but it wasn’t too much of a problem as I always diversify my traffic sources. I managed to get it re-instated about 18 months later which I hear is quite unusual but I don’t tend to use Adwords very much now.
My advice would be to try to get in touch with an actual account manager who can help rather than just the automated process that deals with suspensions. (I had to make some drastic changes to one of my websites regarding the fitness products I was promoting).
If anyone would like to know more about exactly what I had to do to get re-instated then please feel free to get in touch over on my blog.
What type of fitness products were you promoting? I have a health and fitness site that I run, and am always looking for good, quality products that better the lives of my readers. No garbage, just stuff that really works!
Good advice, Chris.
I’m still forging ahead building my three authority sites. This will keep me pretty busy now thru the end of the year since I focus on content and banner & text ads from my affiliates. Got 4 now and don’t anticipate creating another.
With the sites I have, all I need do to diversify is add a niche site. But if Google is laying games for the heck of it, we must learn to be proactive and keep diversifying. I use three affiliate networks for my affiliates. I do have Adsense on all four sites, but the amounts earned are negligible, so I can always dump Adsense if needed. I will continue to expand my affiliate marketing relationships.
I will keep an eye out on what you and others report about Google and the changes to internet marketing. Thx for posting this useful information
Sadly to say, when I got banned last year, I tried a bunch of different CPC networks, NONE of them hold up to adsense. It sucks how much power adsense can have over people’s businesses.
Hey Chris, great read. Ultimately, I think that’s something that people are still trying to figure out. I know we own several different adsense accounts, and our largest account (around 50 sites) lost the majority of them.
Google adsense is supposed to function as a separate entity for the search team though, so it would be quite interesting if they do in fact work as one.
With all of the changes Google has been making lately it goes to show that building a brand is really the way to go (at least for me). With AdWords and AdSense bans as well as getting kicked in the knees in the SERPS recently it is definitely time to now rely on Google for any of my business.
Yah and I wrote this before the last update which also seems to have slapped a lot of people – doh.
Google has gone off the deep end. Their power seems to be going to there heads.
It seems to me that Google’s search results are getting worse. The results really seem to favor age which leads to a lot old outdated information. I am getting a lot of old about and ehow results recently.
Chris I am really digging your podcasts. Thanks so much for making them.
Hey Chris,
I found your site via Spencer’s NichePursuits. Ever since I heard about Spencer’s ban I’ve been looking to diversify our income as well. I really like what you have going on with amazon and will definitely purchase your course so I can learn from an expert! I look forward to dissecting it so we can start catching up to you guys ๐
There are actually a lot of bloggers who have a lot of websites too but we have to make sure we can take care and maintain them at the same time..
Since Google is changing it’s rule frequently and started monopoly on internet. Because me too is victim of this GoogleAdsence and my hard work just gone for nothing. I hope your informative post will give me some new ideas. Thanks for sharing.
I think the reason they got kicked out is because their sites were crapy mfa sites. Zac had the horrible click bump theme on and Spencer’s didn’t have much useful content either, you could tell they were just made for each keyword on the domain.
Chris, it’s very true that building Authority Sities is way to go. I’m planning to drive traffic from Facebook and other social media. Also optimize more for bing.com in case Google has another Panda update whatever.
Chris, I think that building authority niche sites is a better way to make money with adsense. Think about it, if you build 4-5 authority sites that generate you about 4-5 thousand a month wouldn’t it be better than making 100+ niche sites that do the same. The hassle of managing the sites become less hard and easier to update.
That’s certainly why many people don’t bother building a bunch of websites and sometimes stick to just a few.
That’s what I’ve decided to do…five websites max. Sure, I may have some niche sites that I’ll do just for fun, but my core group of sites are ones that I’ll keep focused on. Another great post Chris!
I usually have about 20 sites on the go and while I have had my run ins with the big G, (I hate you can’t get a big G employee to help you through some of the mire) I typically don’t renew several sites each year as my own learning increases and I build better sites.
One of the things I have never known the answer to is if Google behaves this way just in N. America. Does Google ban sites in China, or Indonesia, or Russia? Their behaviour smacks so much of Big Brother yet the Internet is a global marketplace for products, ideas, exchange and networking.
Who really owns cyberspace?
I read through Spencer’s page and the comments on it. Turns out he had 7 adsense accounts and they banned them all at the same time. Well, duh!!! It’s against TOS to have more than one account.
Follow the TOS to the letter, including all the little details such as including the right wording on your privacy policy. Also they give exact guidelines as to ad positions that are a no-no.
People don’t follow the TOS and then just can’t figure out why they got banned….
It’s not against the TOS to have multiple accounts as long as you have multiple businesses. You just can’t have more than one account per individual (SSN) or business (EIN)
Chris
I have just two websites and both of them are niche blogs, one of them are Amazon niche blog and another one is monetized by Adsense. Thanks Chris.
It can be a pain in the ass but hiring someone to take care of them will solve the problem
I just wanted to say something to Lex. Google allows you to have a maximum of (two) Adsense accounts. One ‘Individual’ account and one ‘Business’ account.
Hi Chris,
I feel that it is impossible to publish good content on 200 websites of different niches. A lot of the niche sites are autoblogs with heavily spun unreadable content. I think that Google is right to weed out the junk. I have come across articles on first pages of Google search that did not make sense.
I read Spencer’s post about his misfortune and the only thing that troubles me about the whole situation is that he was not given any warning. I think it would be more humane to send a warning and demand that certain criteria are met within a given timeline. If these criteria are not met, ban the account.
Dita
Authority blogs are way safer in the long run. Making niche sites feels like daytrading to be honest
Generally speaking, if a niche pays well in Google Adsense it will also pay well using other monetization methods so there’s always hope to keep your earnings almost at the same level as with adsense.
Well, back in 2012, I had more than 30 websites, mostly containing flash girl games.
After a few years, I realized that I cannot work that much even if I had one or two employees so today I have only four websites and only one based on flash games..
Less, is much better today when everything has been changed by Google.