Google has recently announced a Referral Program for its targeted ad delivery system - Google Adsense. Webmasters can now earn an extra $100 for each new referral they deliver to Google Adsense, one condition, that referral must earn at least $100 from the Adsense Program.

Webmasters can also receive $1 for each download of the Firefox browser with the Google Toolbar. Generally, very good news for webmasters and content creators working the Adsense program. Bad news for Gates and IE - the Firefox browser has gradually taken away users from IE. Onestat.com reports usage worldwide of Firefox has increased by nearly 3 percent since April 2005, with global usage share now at 11.5 percent for Firefox.

Perhaps, the fall out from the ongoing battle for control of the Web's search market will be of some benefit to webmasters. Google has now increased or given webmasters another revenue stream within the Adsense program. Granted this is only a one time payment and not a two tier system where webmasters would continue to earn a small percentage of their referrals' earnings. This may be a missed opportunity by Google to really explode the Adsense system.

For now, the Google Referral program is a good start in the right direction. Many webmasters and marketers are having an early Christmas with the announcement of this referral program.

Google Adsense is a simple and effective way for ordinary webmasters to monetize their sites. Webmasters place the Adsense code on their sites and Google delivers targeted ads based on the keywords of the sites. The main key to generating a large monthly income from Adsense lies mainly in the choice of keywords a webmaster decides to display on his/her webpages.

All keywords are not created equal. Some are worth more to advertisers and thus Google pays more to webmasters for certain keywords than others. The trick for webmasters is to deliver large amounts of traffic to the top-paying keywords. What are these top paying keywords you ask?

One simple way to find the top paying keywords is to use a site like overture.com to find out what advertisers are willing to pay for certain keywords. Just use common sense -- higher priced items will have usually pay the most. Web hosting vs a toothbrush. Once they have chosen their keywords, webmasters must create content rich pages or sites related to these keywords or phrases.

You then have to place your Google Adsense code in the most beneficial positions on your pages. Check with Google for Optimization Tips for some of the best paying placements here: https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/static.py?page=tips.html

Google Adsense is not a perfect system, placing these ads on your sites could draw away potential customers or buyers and result in lost sales for your site. Besides just placing the 'Ads by Gooooooogle' on a well designed webpage detracts from the professional quality of your pages. Why Google introduced this for its ads defies reason. A simple 'Ads by Google' would suffice.

Many webmasters believe placing Adsense ads on their pages cheapens their sites. Other believe it is delivering valuable links and service to their visitors. No matter what your opinion may be, Google Adsense is definitely a simple and easy way to monetize your site.

The addition of the Referral program will only add to the popularity of Adsense with webmasters. Increased revenue is never a bad thing. However, Google should have opened their pocketbooks just a little wider and given content creators a bigger portion of the Internet's ever growing ad revenue.

Google should have given the referral program some residual kick, with webmasters earning a small fraction of each referral's future earnings. What a missed opportunity for Google to really play Santa and give webmasters what they deserve.

Webmasters must now lobby Google, and any other ad delivery programs and companies for a bigger share in the revenue generated by their referrals. Fair is fair! Perhaps, the competition from other ad delivery systems will force Google to be a little more generous. In the meanwhile, it would probably be beneficial for many webmasters to use and promote Adsense, at least until a better offer comes along.

Titus Hoskins

This author's articles have appeared on such sites as 'Thetechzone', 'Promotionworld' and 'Addme'. His main web site is 'Bizwaremagic' -- offering free Internet Marketing Guides on such Topics as RSS Guide, Spyware Removal Guide, Notebook Computer Guide, Opt In List Building Toolkit, and much, much more!