For the complete Internet Marketing beginner, this information may be new and useful. For the seasoned Marketer, you may find it somewhat drab, but hey, opinions are always good to read.
Google Adsense and Text Link Ads are very different monsters, aside from the fact that they both generate revenue. The biggest difference (and the reason why I like Text Link Ads better than Adsense) is because Adsense (and other contextual ad companies) pays out on a by-click basis, whereas Text Link Ads simply pays you to publish their ad(s) on your website or blog. Much more simple, eh? With the latter, there’s no click-through scheme to determine the amount of your monthly check. The money you earn through TLA is directly related to the popularity of your website (and possibly your Alexa rating). If your site brings in a lot of traffic, you’ll be paid more for the privilege of advertising on your website.
You’re paid 50% of the money the advertiser pays to TLA. If you run a popular blog, for example, with 6000 unique visitors a month, a link on your website may cost an advertiser $40, which they pay to Text Link Ads, who in turn will pay you $20 to publish the advertiser’s link. Ads are run for a span of 30 days, at which point the advertiser must pay TLA’s fee again for another 30-day period.

Why are Text Link Ads better than Adsense?

1. Google Adsense and other contextual ad providers only pay out when someone clicks an ad on your website, whereas with Text Link Ads there’s no click-through scheme. You’re paid a set amount if you display the advertiser’s link. This is a great model for low-traffic websites.
2. Adsense is stale. It’s so common, people have become desensitized to the “ads by Google” code. Personally, I tend to disregard sites with a lot of Google ads.
3. Because contextual ads require click-throughs, there’s less pressure for Webmasters to place ads in the perfect locations, as recommended by Google and their Adsense Heatmap. With TLA, just place your ad code in a visible spot and you’re good-to-go.

There are many ways to generate revenue through your website and while Google Adsense is the most prominent at the moment (and likely will be for a while, just because everyone knows Google), I think it’s hype and popularity is overshadowing other revenue-generating companies, such as Text Link Ads, who’s model may be better suited for certain websites.

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