The popular blogging platform WordPress has joined forces with Federated Media to bring certain WordPress users a way to earn money through blogging. For some time now, WordPress users have been asking WordPress to add Google’s AdSense ads to blog, but WordPress resisted Google with a lot of force. Now, WordPress will allow select bloggers to place WordAds on blogs in order to generate additional income.


This is a bold move for WordPress. Not only is it a bold move to allow users to include clickable ads on certain blogs, WordPress has made it very clear to Google that the company does not think much of Google’s AdSense ads. How clear? WordPress is telling bloggers that they “...deserve better than AdSense. “ If that isn’t a smack in Google’s face, I’m not sure what is.

How You Can Sign Up

Have you been waiting to post some ads on your WordPress blog for some time now? Well, if you have your own domain name, create a blog of interest, and gain enough users each day, WordPress may grant you WordAd access.

But first, you’ll have to ask nicely. In order to sign up for a WordAds account through WordPress, you must visit the WordPress website (www.wordpress.com), sign in, and fill out a form.

Then, you will have to wait a few days (maybe weeks) until WordPress staff has had time to check out your blog. Once that’s done, you will be able to determine whether or not you can place ads on your blog. Is it a good idea to advertise on your blog? How much money will you make?

Making Money

The terms of the current WordPress ads are not yet clear. Once can assume that WordPress will make these terms readily available as soon as you become approved for an ad campaign. Presumably, this will be a pay-per-click affair, though just how much money you can earn is unclear. Is it a good idea to place advertisements on your website? That depends on what kind of website you’re running and how much control you can have over the types of ads that are placed on your site.

If you run a copywriting business, you may not want ads for losing weight and taking the next best health pill on your site. By telling users that the company is offering ads that are better than the ads that Google has to offer, one would assume that these ads will be better targeted. Then again, there’s no proof that the WordPress ads will be any better than the Google AdSense ads.

Right now, it’s all a bunch of here say from WordPress. If you don’t want to annoy your readers, think twice before posting a bunch of ads on your blog. Sure, you might be able to generate a few bucks from a blog that never generates anything, but you may turn away users as well.

If you have a blog that attracts readers regularly, I’d urge you to try and sell in a different way. Place products up for sale or try to gain donations. In my experience, adding advertisements to a blog will simply drive traffic away from your site – defeating the purpose of blogging altogether.