Stop the Killing
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First it was Scott Boulch with the “Death of Adsense”, then Mike Filsaime with “the Death of Internet Marketing”. But is anything really dying or should we all turn in our computers and buy lottery tickets?
The Death of Adsense:
Why it’s dying:
Adsense is dying because of Google’s quality score which means lower payouts throughout the content network.
What you are supposed to do about it:
Switch up your Adsense ads for related affiliate offers.
The truth:
Well made affiliate sites will out earn Adsense sites any day of the week. The keyword is “well made”.
According to Scott, Adsense sites are the “bottom feeders” of traffic monetization. They get the smallest share of the profit because they are essentially selling the visitor to an affiliate advertiser who will make more out of this visitor than the original site owner did.
The non-sense:
The way this is being marketed, not just by Scott, but other big names.
Phrases like “I made $15 for one single click instead of just pennies on Adsense”. Yes, you made $15 dollars on one click, but you made 0$ on the 47 other clicks you’re not mentioning.
Are you still beating Adsense? Quite probably, but a little bit more realism in presentation wouldn’t kill anybody.
Conclusion:
Adsense is not dead and it’s not going anywhere. There is a place for it in just about every business. Here is a concrete example on how Adsense not only makes me money but also helps me make more from affiliate ventures.
I launch a lot of content generator sites to be monetized with Adsense. Here was my process on one particular building day.
- Went to DMOZ and picked 60 random subjects that I thought might have some potential.
- Bought cheap .info domains for them.
- Built keyword lists of 10,000 or so around each term.
- Fired up the content generators and churned out the sites.
- Peppered the sites with links.
A couple of weeks later, most were fully indexed. Some were sending no traffic at all, some were doing ok and some did exceptionally well, sending over a couple hundred unique visitors a day.
One in particular, in the home heating and air filtration niche was a clear cut success.
Thanks to Adsense I was able to: determine without a doubt that it was a profitable niche where all elements were combined to make an easy picking:
- people looking for products
- people advertising and selling those products
- easy to rank for
- I made money while doing it.
Not too bad.
The Death of Internet Marketing:
Why it’s dying:
The days of cherry picking are over. The Mega-Gurus have to work a little harder for their ridiculous incomes. The people they have sold tens of millions of dollars to actually learned something and competition is increasing.
What you are supposed to do about it:
It’s not so clear from the report. Tighten your processes, keep learning, work smarter, not harder, insert cliché here. Oh and it’s getting harder and harder to build a list, so watch out.
The truth:
What does internet marketing mean? Does it refer to the incestuous backslapping of one guru pushing another’s latest product? If that’s what dying, then R.I.P. internet marketing. But no, that ain’t going anywhere.
Does internet marketing refer to marketing products and services online? If that’s the definition we are talking about then there is no truth to mention. The industry is seeing record growth year after year with no sign of letting up.
The non-sense:
It’s getting harder and harder to build list. That’s why only 75,000 people so far have signed up for the Death of Internet Marketing. Poor poor gurus, can anybody spare some food stamps?
Conclusion:
This was an ambitious report. The Death of Adsense was nicely hyped up but actually has some foundation. I have trouble seeing it for Internet Marketing.
There is more room for the little guy, stealing customers from the gurus? The barriers to entry have been lessened and that’s bad news? Somebody please help me see the light, I must be horribly confused.
on November 23rd, 2006 at 4:57 am ¶
Hmmm.. Mike Filsaime? Isn’t he the guy that launched the so-called clickbank alternative but which has stupid customer support, if any?
Anyhow, let’s see what they have to say after that - if they even come up with something
Jad
on November 23rd, 2006 at 5:06 am ¶
Yeah, they would be one and the same.
You’re being a little harsh on Mike but I can’t really disagree. Paydotcom was / is a great idea but the customer service is strongly lacking. I see I’m not the only one to have noticed
on November 23rd, 2006 at 5:47 am ¶
Beeing harsh? Maybe. But please explain this to me:
Mike claims he makes thousands of $ online (not to exagerate like he does and say millions), some of the testimonials on his site, like jus the first one, brag about how many sales they are making through his system and thanks to paydotcom which makes $3.00 a sale in commissions and then Fortin even mentions the name of the support staff - which is inexistent, how many other lies like this one for you Fortin?
In my world, if you spend less than a third of that on customer support, another third on marketing your idea and the rest in your pocket, it ain’t too long before you become a millionaire, no?
I’d love to hear what any of them has to say about that.
Jad
on November 23rd, 2006 at 7:30 am ¶
[…] As if it wasn’t enough that Adsense and Internet Marketing had to die so abruptly, it seems Russell Brunson is announcing the “Death of Affiliate Commissions.” […]
on December 2nd, 2006 at 3:39 pm ¶
Jad has got some good points. And Alex, you’re right on the money with calling a spade a spade.
Look, this internet marketing crowd has become completly incestuous. And the smart gurus at the top know it too. For example, a good friend of mine here in the US is one of the top 5 “internet marketers” in the world. Where is he right now? Doing a 10-stop tour in Asia to hungry crowds that haven’t been jaded with launch after launch, and offer after offer.
And when he gets back to the US he’s working on a new type of live event that will allow him to breqak out of the internet marketing mold.
Nothing is more secure when marketing — online or offline — than to service and respect your target audience. That takes content creation, it takes education, and it takes some sweat to get it done.
The Titanic (representing the “quick hit” make money in your underwear dream hyped by gurus) is sinking. And sooner than later we’ll all have equal shots in the lifeboats.
Internet marketing as most people think of it is a sinking ship. But marketing using the internet is NOT dying. New Media is transforming the marketplace and making it more interactive, engaging, and more importantly — focused on people. That means that the tricks and tactics used in the past will need to be replaced by a thorough understanding of human psychology and honest appreciation of your target audience not as an unthinking herd — but as tribes that need to be won over.
on December 3rd, 2006 at 4:52 am ¶
Hi John Paul,
Brilliant. This is exactly what I meant and your expression of it has made it even clearer to me.
I’ve always been a huge believer in the immense power derived from understanding your fellow human being, aka human psychology. Now if only I could understand myself…;)
Well, I’m off to read your book excerpt, it looks like exactly what the times are calling for.
Cheers,
Alex
on March 1st, 2007 at 9:16 am ¶
Hi, Alex.
I recently bought your project black hat ebook, and although I could find the content in our favorite forum(owned by our special tea blend
), I think that you have made an excellent job by compiling all the necessary stuff to get into this special world and techniques.
I started to get some results with adsense, before I bought your ebook, but I still suck with the last step of the job (Peppered the sites with links) and I think that your book will be a good source that helps me to achieve this step and to start to improve my MFA sites. Would it be ok if I ask you some specific questions (perhaps in a callback in our favorite forum)?
Cheers!
Mckay
on March 1st, 2007 at 12:22 pm ¶
Hi McKay,
Thanks, you’re right that a lot of stuff can be found at syndk8 although you have a lot of digging to do and figuring things out.
If you want to talk, you can always email me: alex @ netfrontier… and I’ll be glad to assist you how I can. I’ll also have an interesting little gift for you in a while, as a customer from such a great neighborhood.
Cheers,
Alex