The Google AdSense and Google Affiliate Network programs are closely related; you must be an AdSense member before you can sign up for the Google Affiliate Network, and payments for Affiliate Network purchases are made through your AdSense account. However, these two programs are very different. Both represent ways for you to earn money from your website, but the Google Affiliate Network may not be the best way for you to monetize your site.
Application Process
Using Google AdSense is simple; there are few approval requirements, and after your application is approved, you can display AdSense advertisements on any website that complies with Google's AdSense policies. The application process for the Google Affiliate network is far lengthier; you must apply for each merchant's affiliate program individually for each website on which you want to display advertisements. If a merchant does not approve your website, you cannot display that merchant's ads.
Payment Models
When you display Google AdSense advertisements on your website, you receive payment each time a visitor clicks an ad unit. However, when a visitor clicks a Google Affiliate Network advertisement, you receive payment only if that person purchases a product from the merchant. If the Affiliate Network advertiser is a poor fit for the content of your website, your Affiliate Network advertisements may receive may clicks with no sales conversions. Because a merchant pays Affiliate Network publishers only when sales conversions are made, the payment for a sale is generally higher than for an AdSense click.
Benefits of AdSense
AdSense requires little effort on your part; once you place an ad unit on your website, the unit will always display advertisements with no further maintenance necessary, as long as you remain a member of the AdSense program. If you display Google Affiliate Network advertisements, you may have to perform maintenance on your ad units periodically if advertisers change their policies or go out of business. In addition, you do not have to select what advertisements to display when you use AdSense; Google selects relevant advertisements for you based on the content of your website. Because you receive payment when advertisements are clicked, you do not have to worry about whether the merchant will be able to convert the traffic that you provide into sales. AdSense is a good choice for webmasters who prefer to be "hands-off" with website monetization and focus on content and design instead.
Benefits of Google Affiliate Network
Google's system of selecting relevant ads to display in AdSense units generally works well for displaying ads that visitors to a website will find interesting. However, if your website has a narrow focus -- such as a single type of product or products from a single manufacturer -- you may experience high sales conversion rates if you can find an affiliate partner from which your visitors are likely to want to purchase products. In this case, it is possible that you could earn significantly more money with the Google Affiliate Network than you could with AdSense.
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