How Does Google AdSense Code Work?

It sounds simple; get people to click ads on a Web page and make money. Website owners around the world do that daily using AdSense, a tool that Google makes available to anyone. If you'd like to join the action and make money using AdSense, you'll need to add a short block of code to the pages on your blog or website.

How AdSense Works

AdSense helps advertisers by getting people to visit their websites. For example, when you place AdSense code on one of your Web pages, that code generates ads on your page. When a site visitor clicks an ad, that's one more potential customer for the advertiser -- and for you, the code logs that click and credits your AdSense account. The amount that you make per click varies depending on the advertiser whose ad you display. After the money in your AdSense account reaches a certain threshold, Google sends you a payment. As of January 2013, your payment threshold is $100 if your reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. View a summary of your estimated earnings on your Google Analytics homepage. If you’d like to view detailed information, tap or click the homepage’s "Performance Reports" tab.

Getting Started

You don't have to write code to use AdSense code. After you create an AdSense account, Google gives you a few lines of HTML code that make AdSense work wherever you place the code. If you don’t have an AdSense account, visit the Google AdSense signup page and create a new account (link in Resources). During the signup process, you fill out a page that requests basic information, such as your contact name and your website's URL.

Account Approval

After you submit your application, Google sends an email letting you know if your application made it through a preliminary review process. At that point, you will be provided with the AdSense code to paste on one of your Web pages. Google stresses that it is important to place the Google Analytics code in your Web pages immediately after receiving it; the company will not review your application until you do. You will receive final notification via email.

HTML Basics

Google understands that not all site owners are programmers. If other people created your website and they can't help you add AdSense code to it, visit Google's help site and learn to add the code yourself (link in Resources). HTML is the markup language that people use to create websites and blog pages. People use a variety of tools to edit HTML documents, including text editors such as Notepad and dedicated HTML editors like Dreamweaver.

Adding Code

Google explains several ways to add AdSense code on its help page named, “A few words about HTML Web” (link in Resources). On that page, you will find links named "Using Code View," "Using HTML Insert" and "Using a Content Management System (CMS). Each link takes you to a page that describes how to add AdSense code using a specific type of HTML editor. For instance, if you use a Code View Editor that lets you work with HTML code in its raw form, click the "Using Code View" link to learn how to perform that task.

Considerations

Google has AdSense program policies that you must follow before adding code to your pages. If you fail to adhere to those policies, Google can stop serving ads to your site and disable your AdSense account. For instance, you can't put your ads in emails, software and pop-up windows. You can, however, experiment with placing your ads in different locations on your pages. Once your AdSense code is in place, maximize your chances for success by learning how experts place ads on their pages to maximize revenue.