Back in the mists of ancient internet (around 1996-7) I was a devout AltaVista user but some time (!) between then and now I switched to Google (amazed just now to discover that AltaVista still exists – seems to be part of Yahoo now)
Google seems to almost always give relevant search results, and with its image searching and the new customisable news page, it is my home page too.
Earlier this year, having read about Google AdSense, I decided to experiment with it on GBMINI (you might have noticed).
So now that Google has had a little box here for nearly three months, what have I discovered?
Firstly, it is interesting to see when Google discovers “a topic it likes” on my web pages, and generates what might be useful ad links. My recent alarm install for example, or a much older article about rear fog lights.
It gives some insight into the technology behind Google – because all those web pages had to be indexed and “understood” in order to give “relevant” ad links.
On the other hand, there are an awful lot of generic “MINI” ads (presumably because I did not write anything “interesting”!)
If you are wondering about making your fortune with Google AdSense, you will need a much more popular web site than mine … GBMINI has raised a grand total of $10.55 in three months (maybe Gabe Bridger does better on MotoringFile)! Since Google does not pay out below $100, I won’t be looking for a check any time soon 😉
M&I / GBMINI 
Google AdSense can be a *GOLDMINE* if you have the right kind of site. It’s probably not kosher to spill money numbers but…GOLDMINE!!
Sorry to see you have only racked up $10 and change. 🙂
No worries Jared – Google AdSense is not on GBMINI.net to make money, just for fun!
Ian,
Maybe when you get enough AdSense $’s you can outfit you new MINI with LEDs up the Wazzoo. You could do Elvis MINI. Ha, Ha, Ha.
Talk at you in 3 weeks……….RB
PS….you wrecked my whole day with your explanation of the JCW’s gear selector….Thanx! just kiddin’.
Ah, Altavista, I was working at DEC when we discovered Altavista quite by accident…it was a cafeteria challenge between engineers (Louis Monier was the key guy) out at DEC’s Palo Alto Research Lab to see if they could index the entire Internet. It was also supposed to showcase the DEC Alpha Server line. A funny story from those days is that they were adding Alpha servers like crazy ($1m machines) and were diverting them from customer orders in order to keep building up Altavista; Altavista was originally housed in the lab. Palo Alto has strict regs against double parking (kinda like the People’s Republic of Cambridge) and the guy delivering a badly needed server couldn’t park and deliver so he drove back to SFO — without securing his load! When he got back to SFO the $1m AlphaServer was in little pieces in the back of his truck. There was an ex-truck driver looking for work that day.
-Chris
Adsense does fairly well on MotoringFile but it’s nowhere near what some sites get. The issue seems to be the ads Google things belong on each page. Sometimes they match up well but many times they just don’t make sense.
That said, the real problem in my eyes, are the smoke and mirrors type of products that can advertise on MotoringFile via Google. For instance there was a product long ago called the “Turbonator” that claimed all sorts of increases and a very low cost. It was obvious to anyone familiar with tuning that the product was junk. However before I could block the URL (a feature that had to be there for me to use Adsense) someone started a thread asking questions about it on NAM. Of course the poster mentioned that he “had seen it on MotoringFIle”. Even though I cleared up the issue quickly it still is a good example of how Google Adsense ads can potentially damage your brand or at least your site’s reputation.