Grey Googlers is the title given to a recent article in USAToday describing the growing number of older people who are turning hobbies into a source of income thanks to Google.
Jerry Alonzy is one example. He created a career as an independent handyman at the mercy of weather patterns near Hartford, Conn. He always made a decent income that rarely grew. Then he found Google, and his life changed. Alonzy, 57, now makes $120,000 a year from the ads Google places on his Natural Handyman Web site. In return for placing its ads on Web sites and blogs, Google pays Web publishers every time one of its ads are clicked. Those clicks help keep Alonzy and his wife living comfortably and talking about moving to Hawaii. All he needs is a laptop and a high-speed Internet connection, and he can live anywhere.
Alonzy can make this money because of Google’s AdSense program, introduced in 2003. Google created AdSense as a way to expand beyond search listings and onto hundreds of thousands of Web sites and blogs. Now anyone with a Web site can add the familiar “Ads by Google” text box somewhere on their site.
Folks who make the most money put in long hours setting up their site and feeding it lots of content. Google’s computers scan the content on Web pages to match it with appropriate advertisers. Articles on Alonzy’s Web site about how to keep mice away might result in ads for pest control services, while a recipe for turkey casserole at Cooks Recipes might generate ads for diet tips and beauty makeovers.
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