Confessions of an Ad Clicker

There have been many queries into whether it is alright to click an ad on articles a viewer is reading. Several content mill members emphatically answer that this is unacceptable. Let’s delve a little deeper.

A content mill writer is writing because he enjoys it. He publishes through a content mill in hopes that he can also earn a little cash in doing so. The revenue to pay the writer comes from sharing ad revenue that is generated from his articles with the publishing site. Understand that the best paying articles are those written to attract the best paying advertisers.

Based on views alone, rates of pay are ad exposure oriented. Relevancy of an article topic to the high paying advertisers is the deciding factor to rate of pay. Average well written articles can expect a rate of $2-$3 per thousand views. An article written to attract high paying advertisers can yield upwards of $50 per thousand views. The real money lies in the actual ads clicked. Relevant ads to an article’s topic should lead to an average of 1%-2% ads clicked per views. Viewers that have searched for a writer’s topic are more apt to click a relevant ad for more on that topic. Makes sense. I do it.

A writing community needs to become educated on exactly how these publishing sites work. If it wasn’t OK for a member to click on an ad, these ads wouldn’t be shown in the member’s area. They would only be available to the non-member public.

Click Fraud

What writers are really against are the unscrupulous few that will take the path of clicking everything in sight. This is click fraud. So is asking people to view ads. Anyone caught doing this will be banned from not only the publishing site but from ad accounts such as Google Adsense. The first rule Adsense instills is that you are not allowed to click any of their ads that are linked to your own account. Second rule is no traffic exchanges to inflate the number of views. Reread the TOS from time to time as it is your responsibility to know the rules.

The Advertiser Wants You The Topic Reader

As the number of articles increases in member feeds, it is very difficult to read them all especially from prolific writers. So articles to read are carefully chosen according to topic and title. Because these topics are of interest to me, the reader, it only follows that the accompanying ads might also be of interest.

As an article writer for profit, I’m always on the lookout for sites that benefit my writing business. Several free writing tools have been acquired through checking out an ad here and there. Specialty forums and Adboards have also been found and added to my favorites. My best find is my most lucrative article assignment site. It was free to sign up and I was rated according to my profile articles on this and other sites. It earns me over $100 per month and growing.

So I Confess, I Will Click An Ad That Catches My Interest

You never know what jewel you’re going to find. Keeping my random habit confined to the areas where it does the most good benefits my writing community and their affiliated blogs. As my Mother always said, “Charity begins at home.” So, yes. As I’m reading your interesting article, if something catches my eye that might benefit me, I will click on it and check it out. That’s what it is there for.