Adsense: How it Works

Since the poll says that you are all fine with me displaying advertisements on the blog to earn some revenue, I thought it would be good to explain exactly how AdSense works.
AdSense is a pay-per-click service. Every time someone clicks on an ad, money is put into the AdSense account. Google does not send a paycheck until this amount reaches at least $100. AdSense also tries to match the advertisements on the blog with the audience interests. However, it does this by using tracking cookies and your search history. There are stories of people's accounts getting disabled before a paycheck with the reason being that the money may have been illegitimately gained (telling people to spam the ads).

To qualify for AdSense, the blog has to follow some rules and meet some standards (From "AdSense program policies- AdSense Help"):

• Invalid clicks and impressions
• Publishers may not click their own ads or use any means to inflate impressions and/or clicks artificially, including manual methods.
• Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest. 
• Any method that artificially generates clicks or impressions on your Google ads is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include, but are not limited to, repeated manual clicks or impressions, automated click and impression generating tools and the use of robots or deceptive software. Please note that clicking your own ads for any reason is prohibited. 
• Encouraging clicks
• Publishers may not ask others to click their ads or use deceptive implementation methods to obtain clicks. This includes, but is not limited to, offering compensation to users for viewing ads or performing searches, promising to raise money for third parties for such behavior or placing images next to individual ads.
• Content guidelines
• Publishers may not place AdSense code on pages with content that violates any of our content guidelines. Some examples include content that is adult, violent or advocating racial intolerance.
• Copyrighted material
• AdSense publishers may not display Google ads on webpages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content. Please see our DMCA policy for more information. 
• Webmaster guidelines 
• AdSense publishers are required to adhere to the webmaster quality guidelines.
• Traffic sources 
• Google ads may not be placed on pages receiving traffic from certain sources. For example, publishers may not participate in paid-to-click programs, send unwanted emails or display ads as the result of the action of any software application. Also, publishers using online advertising must ensure that their pages comply with Google's Landing Page Quality Guidelines. 
• Ad behavior 
• AdSense code may not be altered, nor may the standard behavior, targeting or delivery of ads be manipulated in any way that is not explicitly permitted by Google. This includes but is not limited to the following: clicking Google ads may not result in a new browser window being launched, nor may Google ads be placed in an IFRAME. 
• Ad placement 
• Publishers are encouraged to experiment with a variety of placements and ad formats. However, AdSense code may not be placed in inappropriate places such as pop-ups, emails or software. Publishers must also adhere to the policies for each product used. 
• Site behavior 
• Sites showing Google ads should be easy for users to navigate. Sites may not change user preferences, redirect users to unwanted websites, initiate downloads, include malware or contain pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with site navigation. 
• Competitive ads and services 
• In order to prevent user confusion, publishers may not display Google ads or search boxes on websites that also contain other ads or services formatted to use the same layout and colours as the Google ads or search boxes on that site. Although you may sell ads directly on your site, it is your responsibility to ensure that these ads cannot be confused with Google ads. 
• Google advertising cookies 
• AdSense publishers must have and abide by a privacy policy that discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users' browsers, or using web beacons to collect information as a result of ad serving on your website.
• Product-specific policies
• AdSense for content: Up to three ad units and three link units may be placed on each page. 
• AdSense for search: A maximum of two Google AdSense for search boxes may be placed per page. Also, a single link unit or image ad only may be placed on pages with AdSense for search results. Queries must originate from users inputting data directly into the search box and cannot be modified. This includes pre-populating the search box with terms or hard-coding direct links to search results pages. AdSense for search code may not be integrated into any software application such as a toolbar.