Here’s something cooland potentially profitableabout Blogger. Google lets you insert context-sensitive text advertisements into your blog, which (in theory) could generate a bit of income for you. Every time a visitor clicks on one of the ad links, you earn a small commission. Just how much of a commission you earn, however, is not disclosed by Googlewhich is a bit of an odd way to attract participants to their program, if you ask me.

Google’s AdSense division serves the Blogger ads. AdSense is one of the key revenue-generating parts of the Google empire. It’s to Google’s benefit for you to add ads to your blog; the fact that you participate in the revenues is the carrot to get you to sign up.

Adding an AdSense Module to Your Blog

In the original version of Blogger, you could insert AdSense ads by clicking a few options on the Google Dashboard. As of this writing, that simple approach has not yet been implemented in the new Blogger. Instead, you need to insert the AdSense code to an HTML/JavaScript content module. Even though it’s not as easy as the old method, it’s still not that hard. To add an AdSense module to your blog, follow these steps:

1. Go to the AdSense website.
2. Follow the instructions on the AdSense site to create the code for an AdSense ad module, and then copy that code.
3. Return to the Blogger site, access the Blogger Dashboard, and click the Layout link next to your blog name.
4. When the next page appears, select the Template tab and click Page Elements.
5. When the next page appears, click the Add a Page Element link.
6. When the Choose a New Page Element window appears, click the Add to Blog button in the HTML/JavaScript section.
7. When the Configure HTML/JavaScript window appears, paste the AdSense code into the main text box. Leave the Title box blank.
8. Click the Save Changes button.

After you activate AdSense for your blog, you can view your ad activity in the AdSense console on the AdSense site. This console tracks all your click-through activity. You can also select the AdSense Setup and My Account tabs on the AdSense site to manage the details of your account and ads.

The explosion in blog popularity is due to freedom, which blogs provide in two different ways. If you can access the Internet (at school, the library, your neighbor’s wireless network), you can create a blog at no cost, and (this is the important part) you are free to say whatever you want. In essence, blogs are “free” and blogs are “free”. Have you heard the phrase “free as in freedom” or maybe “free as in beer”? These two concepts really have more to do with software than blogs, but the messages they imply speak volumes about the world of web logs.

Blogs are currently free in that they enable everyone to communicate with no restrictions (as in “freedom”). They also are free as in no-cost soapbox evangelism (like “free beer”). Both freedoms have shaken media to the core within the last five years by changing the rules on how people around the world receive their news.

Do you have something on your mind you need to tell the world? Have you witnessed or been subjected to an injustice that needs exposure? Today’s web logs are currently the most “free” communication medium available to the world’s Internet audience. And if you can access a computer, they’re also free of cost!

This chapter explains how blogs can shape or reshape politics, public thought, your government, and even the competition (otherwise known as the media). If you have any doubts about how blogs really can make a difference or are skeptical of their reach, read on, and you’ll soon see blogs’ capabilities.