Q&A Session With Michael Ullman - A Rich Adsense Guy!

[Vita_Vee]

Hi everybody

I have been discussing with Michael Ullman for some time now.

For those who do not know Michael, he is the author of the A100K Blueprint, an adsense guide that has received a lot of positive reviews.

I have asked Michael to come on the forum for this Q&A Session with all of us and he kindly accepted - I thank him a lot for that!

Before asking your questions, please either read this report or watch the video below to get some background information on who Michael is and what he does.

Below the video you will find a link to a very nice offer Michael is giving to my forum members.

Click here for the A100k special offer Michael is giving to my Members!

Michael, prepare yourself for some tough questions

People, prepare yourselves for some very interesting answers

[MichaelUllman]

Hello Vita & friends!

It's a real pleasure to be asked to participate in this Q & A! As Vita mentioned, we've been talking for some time now, and as I've had the opportunity to browse through the forum, I was struck by the amount of information, interactions, and community spirit here.

Please feel free to "fire away" - nothing is 'out of bounds'. I'll do my best to answer every- and anything regarding my business model, my business itself, our Adsense course, etc.

Best regards,

Michael Ullman
Author, "Adsense $100k Blueprint"

[Be Your Best]

Hi Michael and welcome

I have questions regarding your recommendations for Google footprint. There is some talk going on that we should avoid giving out info to google, and in particular, that we should avoid using Google Analytics. It is unclear to me if this makes any sense, in the context of Adsense, as Google knows who you are (otherwise we don't get paid).
So it would be nice to know your recommendations on
- using Google Analytics
- using Google Webmaster
- using feedburner
on a site with Adsense.

Many thanks
TB

[MichaelUllman]

Hi TB,

Good questions, ones I hear often. There's really two broader questions here: is there a reason to 'hide' from Google - what is we don't want Google to know? What purposes is Google going to use the information for? Are there concerns that our other sites or practices might somehow create problems for us, etc., is there concern that Google might apply different rules or metrics (lower our CPC's, change our rankings, etc), is it simply a philosophical issue of not wanting our information seen, used, etc.?

The second question is a little more straightforward: is it actually possible to 'hide' from Google, and to what extent?

We'll do the second one first. As you mentioned, if you are using Adsense, you are essentially giving Google carte blanche access to your site's metrics. As soon as you paste Adsense code on your site, Google begins collecting information - they have to, after all, in order to qualify your site, parse the content for ad placement, etc. And of course, while tracking the ad clicks, they're gathering information on page views (they obviously know how many times ads load), from which they can determine time on site, bounce rates, etc. Once someone clicks an ad, they then have all the corralary info such as the referrer (did the user click on your site in a search page, what was the search phrase, etc).

And so by using Adsense, we are providing a lot of information whether we realize it or not. From there, it's a moot point whether or not we use Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, etc.

Both GA and WMT are very powerful - and free - tools, that provide us with extremely essential information. If you aren't getting this information somehow - site performance stats, keyword info, etc., then you're 'flying blind'. Without this information, you cannot optimize your sites, or maximize your returns.

I'm a fan of both GA and WMT. I use them on all my sites, and advocate using them in our course. You simply must have this information. Given that Google is getting much of it anyway via Adsense, why not take advantage of their integration, not to mention price?

Do we want to 'hide' info from Google otherwise? They are gathering a surprising amount of info about our sites regardless. Does it matter to me if I give them access? Personally, no. Do I think Google 'does things' with that info, such as manipulate my rankings, etc.? I don't believe so. All that said, if I'm engaged in Black- or Gray-hat stuff elsewhere, or clearly going outside of program policies, TOS, etc., I might feel differently, but I try to stay within those guidelines as best as I can.

Sorry for the lengthy reply, but I hope it answered your questions!

Michael

[ClintAButler]

Hello,

First thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

My question is in regards to Adsense alternatives.

I had an Adsense account for two years, didn't really have any focus so in those two years I made about 60 bucks.

Then I had taken up the undertaking of creating a news site and my account was terminated for invalid clicks. Naturally, I appealed and lost.

Then, I was able to get a new account and put Adsense up only on my news site, which was only getting about 33 uniques a day, after about a week my account was terminated with no explaination and no way to contact Google to figure out why.

So my question is, what are some quality alternatives to Adsense that someone like me can use?

Thank you
Clint Butler

[Jack]

Hi Michael,

Welcome to the forum. I bought and read your 100k blueprint some months ago. Great work!

My question is about a footprint left by using your theme. If I remember correctly, I think there is a link to your site, at least there was something that anyone could go to Google and search and find every single site who is using your theme. Is this still the case?

If it's still this way, can we remove that if we use your theme? Or what else would you suggest as a solution? I don't want to use a theme with a footprint like that.

Thanks,
Jack

[MichaelUllman]

Hi Clint,

Because there are so many Adwords advertisers, advertising on so many keywords, Google can almost always place good, targeted ads. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone else with that kind of 'ad inventory'. This means there simply aren't any other contextual ad programs that can match Adsense.

That said, Kontera (http://www.kontera.com/), Adbrite (http://www.adbrite.com/), Bidvertiser (http://www.bidvertiser.com/), and Chitika (http://chitika.com/) are probably the best of the alternatives, and if you happen to have a site in the 'right' niche, may find one of them that has a good ad inventory.

For sites that I've had to 're-purpose' away from Adsense, I usually look to convert them to Amazon ads if they are 'informational sites, or Amazon/CJ/eBay if they are 'product-centric' sites.

Michael

---

Hi Jack,

Thanks for the kind words!

We often get asked about 'footprints'. The type of footprint left by our custom themes are theme footprints. Nearly every theme has a similar footprint, of link back to the theme provider. It is my firm belief, coupled with observation, that this kind of footprint has never created problems. If so, we'd see huge numbers of sites, using the Prosense theme for instance, disappearing. To date, no one has reported any footprint problem, and that's with something like 30,000 sites out there.

That said, I certainly understand the concern. Removing the link from our themes is relatively easy & straightforward, if you're comfortable doing it. Simply open up the file "style.css" in any text editor. You'll see the 'theme descriptors' right at the top. Just delete the links, save, and re-upload to your themes directory. Presto! - the theme will be as before, with the link/footprint removed.

Michael

[Jack]

Great, I just wasn't sure if we would have permission to remove the link as a condition to using the theme. Thanks!

[MichaelUllman]

(08-15-2011 06:23 PM)Jack Wrote:  Great, I just wasn't sure if we would have permission to remove the link as a condition to using the theme. Thanks!

I appreciate your consideration! When you buy our course, we grant you full rights to the custom themes - you can modify them, sell them and grant license along with your site, etc.

One theme is based on / derived from the BlueSense Theme, which is a Creative Commons license, the other we built from scratch.

Michael

[Be Your Best]

Hi Michael,

Thank you very much for your detailed reply. This clears a lot of fog that was building up.

Wish you all the best
TB

[Benjaminmh]

Sometimes I have outsourced workers work on sites I have adsense on. I am always on edge about them clicking the ads and getting me in trouble.

Do you have other people work on your sites?
Do you have a system to make sure they do not click (or cannot) click the ads?
Is there a WP Plugin that can do this?

[MichaelUllman]

Hi Benjamin,

I'm not aware of any way to prevent someone from clicking on an ad. That said, a few things worth noting. First, Google uses some very sophisticated analysis to determine 'click fraud'. Even if an outsource worker were to click on an ad or two, it isn't likely to cause a problem. I've accidently clicked my own ads more than a few times over the years. I used to contact Google each time, as I feared losing my account for 'fraudulent clicks', but Google will even tell you, you don't need to contact them each time, and that 'self-clicks' do happen.

Yes, I have outsource workers, some of whom work on Adsense sites. However I am pretty selective in whom I use, and make sure they clearly understand not to click on ads. Your best protection - and general outsourcing advice - is to know who you are outsourcing to, and use only those who will understand your instructions. My business is too important to me to use outsourced help or freelancers whom I'm not confident will understand and respect my instructions.

Michael

[Ding0]

Hi Michael. Welcome to the forum , thanks to Vita for asking you and thank you for taking your time to join us here.
Well i'd like to share my adsense experience here. I tried adsense around 2 years back when i just was just learning to build sites and entered the internet world. My account was easily approved , however it was blocked when i reached the payout. The reason given was suspicious activity. My account got blocked, i heard many people complaining about adsense and finally i decided adsense isn't the way to go.
Anyways, that turned good for me perhaps , coz i searched for alternate ways of earning money and entered affiliate marketing. And that's what i still do and doing reasonably fair.

Around 3 months back , when i found this forum and joined this forum , read vita's thread regaring adsense and his successful venture here http://vitavee.com/forums/thread-1619.html .So i again got motivated to try adsense and reapplied for adsense account. The site i applied for is a scripts related site and fairly big site. However when my account got approved i thought i shouldn't use adsense on this site as it's already bringinig me money via affiliate programs, so i tried adsense on one of my new domains relating to 'making money online' keyword and again my account was blocked in 2 days, as soon as i got visitors clicking the ads.
Ok, fine. Once again, i tried to apply for adsense from flixya and that application for rejected ,i guess 2-3 weeks back.
So for me the biggest thing at the moment is getting an adsense account

So my question is extremely simple one How can i get a stable sticky adense account ?

And what are the major reason which get our adsense accounts blocked?as they never reply with specific reasons.

That's it. The post already got very long

[Jack]

Hey Michael,

Of the people who struggle to have success with your system, what is the most common problem you see? What do you tell them?

[MichaelUllman]

Hi Ding0,

When you say "blocked", do you mean "closed"? It sounds like your account was closed if you had to reapply. If that's so, from your post it sounds like you've applied, been approved, had the account closed, re-applied, and had it closed again. Can you clarify that for me?

If that's the case, you might have a difficult time getting another account. In fact, if I read that right, I'm surprised that you were able to apply and get an account a second time.

Regardless, I would try to figure out what the 'suspicious activity' the first time was, and what caused the second problem.

In my experience, there is almost always a reasonably valid reason for why accounts get shut down. Until you can identify that, and insure it can be remedied, you might be wasting your time trying again.

The three most common causes for problems with Adsense accounts are fraudulent click activity, violating the guidelines for ad placement (titles above ads that might make the ads below look like they are the content following the title, ad blocks made to look too much like things that should be clicked, etc), and problems with the site content or type.

If you go through and understand the Program Policies and TOS (Terms of Service), and stay within them, your account will be stable.

Michael

---

(08-15-2011 09:32 PM)Jack Wrote:  Hey Michael,

Of the people who struggle to have success with your system, what is the most common problem you see? What do you tell them?

Hi Jack,

The most common 'general' problem, by far, is getting sufficient traffic. That generally translates to problems getting Page 1 rankings. The main reason for that is either going after the 'wrong' keywords, or not following our guidelines for structuring the site & content properly for getting those keywords ranked, and not building backlinks.

After that, we see some people struggle with choosing their niches, and others struggle with writing content.

From my experience, this mirrors what I've seen both with and without the course, though with the course you have specific "do this, then do that" instruction. In almost all cases, it comes down to people looking to 'shortcut' the steps, or simply wing it and do things differently.

Michael

[Ding0]

I just checked my emails to ensure the exact situation

My first account was disabled for the following reason :

Code:

We've determined that your AdSense account
poses a risk of generating invalid activity.

Then i reapplied with after a year or so with a new email id etc, account was approved , however 2 days later this account was disabled for following reason :

Code:

While going through our records recently, we found that your AdSense account has posed a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers.

Now both these emails state the reason but they are really vague replies.
1. How does my account poses risk of invalid activity, i ain't sure.
2. How my account posed a significant risk to adwords advertisers, i ain't sure either.

Anyways let's keep the past aside, do you see any solution ? How can i get a new account in this situation ?

Regards.

[MichaelUllman]

Honestly Ding0, what I tell people who have had an account closed is that they might be better off focusing their efforts elsewhere. You stand a good chance of putting a lot of time and effort into sites, not to mention building up a balance with Google, and risk seeing it blow up. It's extremely likely that at some point they will figure out that it is connected to previous closed accounts, either through payee, applicant, common site ownership, other common Google accounts, etc.

Personally, I don't advocate doing the 'different name & details' thing, which is the only way I know of for you to get a new account.

Michael

[lonpora]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for providing us with this opportunity.

I have a number of Q's but I'll just start with one that is related to the question above.

What is your opinion of registering multiple adsense accounts for backup purposes or 'just in case'?

Also do you register through your limited company or LLC? Which is preferable (personal or company)?

[MichaelUllman]

(08-15-2011 10:35 PM)lonpora Wrote:  Hi Michael,

Thanks for providing us with this opportunity.

I have a number of Q's but I'll just start with one that is related to the question above.

What is your opinion of registering multiple adsense accounts for backup purposes or 'just in case'?

Also do you register through your limited company or LLC? Which is preferable (personal or company)?

Hi lonpora,

Personally I think it's a mistake, and sets you up to lose your account more than it protects you. Focus on understanding the Program Policies, TOS, and common pitfalls, and you won't have to worry.

I'm registered as an "LTD", a corporation, though I still have a few older affiliate relationships in my own name.

Michael

[forfreedom]

Hi Michael,

I heard that google was clamping down on MFA sites, how do you stop getting flagged as an MFA? Do you use a certain amount of content on your sites? Make them an authority site instead of a 4 or 5 page site?

Cheers
Neil