For some reason that I’m not really aware of, I’ve been getting a lot more emails from new Hubbers than I have in the past. Although it tends to take up some of my time during the day to answer each one of them, I actually really enjoy helping out newbies when they take the time to reach out to me for help. Although we’re still a small team, one thing that we each pride ourselves in and put a lot of emphasis on is supporting our Hubbers as much as we can. So, whether it’s via email (team@hubpages.com), posting in the Forums or stopping by our office in San Francisco (yes, we’ve had a few of those), our goal is to answer each and every (legitimate) question that we get.
One of the more common questions that I get all the time is ‘How exactly do I make money from HubPages?‘ and many also ask ‘How do I get paid from HubPages?‘. So, today I thought that I would take some time to answer these questions, which are fairly similar, by posting it here in our blog for all to see. We’re very open and transparent about how our writers generate earnings by writing on HubPages, so it’s no secret, but it still seems that many people still ask the question, so we must not be making it quite apparent enough.
Maybe we should invest in a blinking neon sign or something? I’m hoping that we don’t need to go to that extreme and this will do the trick — here goes nothing (now pay attention!).
What Generates The Money and When Do I Get Paid?
One of the first things that most people aren’t quite clear on is how money and earnings are actually generated on HubPages and when they could potentially get paid. I think that there are so many ‘get rich quick’ schemes out there that either many people are really skeptical about being able to legitimately make money on the web or they just don’t feel like reading too deep into our site to find out for themselves. Either way, here is a super-simple explanation of the various methods and tools that generate real money here on HubPages and how/when they can actually get you paid:
- Google Adsense: Google Adsense, Google’s contextual online advertising product, is the number one way that Google makes it’s billions of dollars and we give you a way to tap into some of those earnings by adding it to your published Hubs. This is by far our Hubbers top money-maker and is added by simply creating an AdSense account and entering in your AdSense ID in to HubPages. As you begin to attract traffic to your Hubs, 60% of the impressions will show your AdSense ID and 40% of the impressions will show the HubPages AdSense ID. This creates a 60/40 revenue split in your favor, so when you begin to get clicks on your ads and once you earn your first $100, Google will send you a nice, shiny check (we call this a ‘payout’). The ads that are displayed will be relevant to the topic that you wrote about in your Hub and depending on the ad, a click can be worth anywhere from $.10 to over $10. The amount of time it takes to reach the your first $100 payout varies depending on how much you write and the quality of your Hubs, but it can be as little as a couple months to as much as over a year. Like I said, AdSense is by far our highest earner — you can read about some of our Hubbers and their stories of getting their payouts over in The Payout Chronicles. We have a few Hubbers who currently earn over $1000/month thanks to AdSense, so the potential is definitely there with this option.
- Kontera (please note that HubPages does NOT support Kontera as of June 2011):
Kontera is another type of contextual advertising that uses relevant in-text links to help you earn. Just like Google AdSense, all you need to do is join the Kontera network and tell HubPages that you want Kontera to be activated on your Hubs. You can activate Kontera on all your Hubs or specific, individual Hubs depending on where you’d like to have it implemented. The links are shown on various keywords within your Hub and as your Hubs begin to attract traffic your Kontera ID will show 60% of the time and the HubPages ID will show 40% of the time. As you begin to get clicks, you will receive the Kontera revenue whenever your ID is shown and once your cumulative earnings hit $100 you will get your Kontera payout. Also, you must at least reach $5 each month for it to roll over to the next, which is why we only recommend Kontera to our Hubbers with higher levels of traffic. - eBay: Similar to the previous 2 methods of earning on HubPages, you are given the option to join another network, but this time around it’s not for advertising — it’s for the eBay Affiliates Network. If you have promo codes blog then it gives additional value for your viewers. What this allows you to do is add relevant eBay products directly into your Hub, which means that if someone buys from your Hub you’ll receive a commission payment. The products are added to your Hub via the eBay Revenue Capsule and just as with the previous 2 advertising methods, as you begin attracting traffic your eBay Affiliate ID will be shown 60% of the time and the HubPages Affiliate ID will show for the other 40%. If a product is purchased while your eBay Affiliate is showing, then you will receive the entire commission for completing the sale (which is usually around 10% of the purchase price). The eBay Affiliates Network does not have a payout limit, so whatever you earn each month will be paid out to you the next month. If you’d like to hear an interesting story about making money with the eBay Affiliates Program, read this blog post about how Jimmy made $126.00 after selling a Rolex from a Hub that he published just 36 hours before.
- Amazon: In an almost identical setup to the eBay Affiliates Network, HubPages also allows you to join the Amazon Associates Program. By joining the Amazon Associate Program you can earn additional commissions from any sales that are generated through your Hubs via the Amazon Revenue Capsule. The Amazon Revenue Capsule can be inserted into any Hub that you publish and it allows relevant Amazon products to be displayed for sale directly from within your HubPages content. As your Hubs begin to attract traffic, your Amazon Associate ID will be shown 60% of the time and the HubPages Associates ID will show the other 40%. Just as with the eBay Affiliates Network, if a product is purchased while your Amazon Associate ID is showing, then you will be credited with the sale and will receive a commissions paytment. The Amazon Associates Program does not have a payout limit, so whatever you earn each month will be paid out to you the next month.
So, those are the 4 most common ways that you can make money on HubPages and hopefully I’ve done a good enough job of explaining them. Like I said, we’re very open and transparent with how all of this works and our goal is always to make HubPages the best place for you to write and earn money online. If you happen to have some suggestions on how we can make some things better, please feel free to leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can about it.
HubPages Blog 
Hi-
Thanks for creating a great idea for people like me-
I just signed up and am excited.
Smiley
Hi,
I was able to see some of the advertsements published in my hub pages. Now they are not published. I just would like to know the reason for it. And can you advise me as how to get more people view my hubs.
Thanks
hi,
I just want to confirm that you get paid for clicks too . What I mean is that you get paid if the person clicked but did not go through with buying the product or is it only if the person actually bought the product?
Hey blueage168, you get paid for the clicks if they occur on either your AdSense or Kontera ads. But, for eBay or Amazon to pay, a purchase needs to be made after someone clicks.
If you have any other questions, please let me know!
Hello,
Does this mean that if a purchase is made through Amazon or ebay while the hubpages associates id is shown, the hubpages author does not make any money?
Hey Nisha, thanks for the question and yes, that’s exactly what it means. We always split all impressions with the author on a 60/40 basis, meaning that if you get 100 impressions, your AdSense, eBay and Amazon ID would be showing for 60 of them and if something was clicked or purchased during those 60 impressions, then you keep it all. HubPages keeps all clicks and purchases form the remaining 40 impressions.
well am very deligted on hubs.but how can someone in Africa gets paid.thanks as i wait for your response.
In regards to the 60/40 impression split, what rule(s) govern how the split is implemented? Is it by schedule? By sequence? Etc…?
I came to know about it’s earnings ways.
But I want to know that whether I have to pay to sign up with Google Adsence, ebay,amazon.
I put on some ebay n amazon links in my hubs but whether I get payment without acout ids…?
Okay, now I’m an Amazon affiliate. So, how do I get the Revenue Capsule … or does it show up automatically? I see links there that require applying code as one would do on a blogspot, but not the capsule. Thanks.
I have created adsense account now what is the next step?
Kenneth — If Africa can use Adsense, then you can use HubPages. You can check out the AdSense terms of use here: https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms
Jason — they are split up randomly for each impression and there is a 6 in 10 chance of your Hubber ID coming up and a 4 in 10 chance of the HubPages ID coming up.
Apeksha — signing up for each of the affiliate accounts is absolutely free.
Narayankrishna — your next step is so add your AdSense ID into your Affiliate Settings. You can learn about doing that over here in our user guide: http://hubpages.com/guide/before_first_hub/managing_affiliates
Thanks for the questions!!
J.S. — You can learn how to use the Amazon Capsules over here in the HubPages User Guide: http://hubpages.com/guide/hubtool/capsules#amazon
I am lost on the google and amazon percentage rates. When I log onto google, all I see is how many clicks and how much money I have earned. Is this already separated into my part of the percentage? I mean is what I am seeing in google and amazon my earnings or will it be split?
am a nigeria pls am confused on how to get my payments
can i get paid through western union
Ryan,
Thanks for the info. I am going to give it a try. After 26 years teaching English where I taught students how to write and another 7 years in administration writing for newsletters, pamphlets, etc., I think it’s time to make – hopefully – some $$$ writing for myself. We’ll see…
well, i’m sort of nervous about messing it up the first time, but my real question is if you have to be informative in the sense of telling someone how to do something, or if you can be informative in the context of an opinion piece, or in the context of a day-to-day experience. i’d be more natural if i wrote in a method that was close to the latter two described.
Where do I present my work, blog, twitter, etc?
Google AdSense makes the most of everything. I am looking for a platform to write from>
Hi, I want to know how one earns commission if in South Africa?
Hey Tracy — as long as AdSense allows you to be paid in South Africa you can get paid from HubPages.
i think i might have read something wrong. i was under the impression that the payouts weren’t just from the ad programs through google, but from the site based on your ratings — such as how many people clicked the “like it” link at the bottom of the article. i thought that those ratings contributed to your payments…?
It seems too good to be true but im intrigued because I am unemployed.
Great Blog – very well explained, thank you. I’m a ‘newbie’ to HubPages, but like your style and ‘honest’ feel of it already! Many thanks. I look forward to getting cracking now!
Hi,
The Google adsense always say that they have not approved my hub. How to overcome?
Please visit esetravels at hubpages.com and guide me.
Thanks
It is good but how to proceed. I have already two problems (i) Page set up (ii) AdSense Account- not opened yet. Thanks.
Where are the emails from all the excited writers who are delighted with how much money they’ve made?
Thank you for your excellent article, and taking the time to answer people’s questions! I really appreciate all the information. I had a few questions… but I scanned through the other questions asked, and found that you’d already answered them ; )
I’ve been working as a freelance writer for awhile now… but there’s not much money to be made if you don’t know your way around SEO and pay-per-click advertisements. I look forward to learning more by visiting other hubs.
I just opened my account today and I can’t wait to get started!
Hi thanks for the informative ideas. I am just getting started and had no idea where to start.
Can you join more than one? Can you have more than one affiliation attached to your Hubpage? Can you choose based on what you’ve written about on your Hubpage? Or do you have to choose one and stick with that particular one no matter what you write about?
This is cool. This may contribute to my existing adsense account.
I want to join, but i don’t understand what the policy is on the author retaining rights. I’m an underemployed aspiring writer and would like to get my toes wet in the business. do authors on this site retain rights?
How do I know whether I already gained/have revenue ?
I just found this site and I think this is another new way for me to earn online money…thanks alot
Just tell me when will MY 60 impressions begin? You are not clear on that point. The way I see it is if the first impression is mine, then the second impression is yours – you know – alternately. But it will not be fair if you take the first 40 impressions of Adsense and then let me take the remaining 60 and so on. Please explain.
Thanks for inventing this concept…can’t wait to get started….but how do we choose the ads? Is it based on the topics we write about? Does Google choose them for us? How do I attract advertising on my blog?
Thankyou for this information. I have been wondering about the split, and your blog has made it nice and clear.
I have been working on giving solutions or answers to beginners who have only just heard about making money on the internet.
I think Hub pages are definitely the way to go for beginners – they are easy to set up and run, they cost nothing but time, and the community is so friendly.
So I will be recommending hubs to all my off hub swebsite visitors as the best way to begin their internet careers.
Plus I cant complain at having my hub page ranking on page 1 of google search within 4 hours of publishing it!
I know we can earn from hubpages by adding articles,but I don’t have any approved adsense account.So it’ll be difficult for me to earn good money from here.
Does hubpages creating adsense account for its writers ?If yes,I’d love to add my articles here & would start my first online earning through hubpages.
I am unclear on your commission split. (see below)
First of all, what is an impression?
in reviewing your explanation on splits, does it mean that the I would receive 60% of all hits or does it mean i receive 100% of the first 60 hits and hubpages keeps everytning after that.
Is there a data page for me to review that reflects all the hits.
Does this 60/40 mean it is cumultive for that article or when does it start over monthly? Somewhat confused.
__________________________________________________
I read this from an above comment reply.
We always split all impressions with the author on a 60/40 basis, meaning that if you get 100 impressions, your AdSense, eBay and Amazon ID would be showing for 60 of them and if something was clicked or purchased during those 60 impressions, then you keep it all. HubPages keeps all clicks and purchases form the remaining 40 impressions.
@Ted: I just wanted to help answer your questions.
1. An impression is when an ad appears on the webpage. Nobody clicks on the ad yet, it just shows up on the page while someone is reading your article, blog, etc. hence “impression”. (Adsense I know for sure pays you for it. I don’t know about the others.)
2. Commission splits are 60/40. Meaning everytime someone reads your article, you have a 60% chance that your AdSense, Ebay, Amazon ID will be used on the page. Hubpages will have a 40% chance with theirs. It’s random, but the likelyhood of your ID showing up is 6 out of 10 times OVERALL.
So say 1000 people read your article, on AVERAGE, 600 people will get your ID on the article ads and 400 people will get Hubpages ID on the article ads at random. You don’t know who’s ID will be on that article each time a reader see your article, but it will average out to be 60/40 in the long run. (Think of it like odds on lottery, dice, picking something out of jar, etc)
3. Each account (Ebay, AdSense, Amazon) has a review of your earnings on their affiliates page to show how many people clicked on the ads or how many “impressions” appeared on the webpage. As well as your payment for it.
4. The 60/40 doesn’t mean per month. It refers to the percentage (60% of the time) or chances (60:100) of your ads showing up everytime your article is read OVERALL. (See #2 above.) It’s the average odds over the LIFETIME of your article being read by readers with ads containing either yours or Hubpages ID. Obviously if nobody is reading your article, none of the ads will show up for someone to see or click…so no pay for you and Hubpages.
5. When you accumulate the minimum dollar amount required by each affiliate, THEY (Ebay, Adsense, Amazon, etc) will let you cash out that amount of money in check or deposit form. If you didn’t meet the minimum balance required at the end of the month, THEY (Ebay, Adsense, Amazon, etc) will roll it over to the next month until you meet the minimum.
I hope this helps…I still need to activate my account with my IDs. Have fun and best of luck to all!!!
How much do you actually make for writing, impressions do not have a dollar value posted anywhere
I have not fully understood the hubbing opportunties but I am excited about the whole prospect not so much for the money but for the avenue to express myself in writing. I always want to write and share with others. This hubbing thing gives me that opportunity. I have started on designing my hubpage and will continue to work on it. Thank you HubPage Team.
I only came across Hubpages through search engine optimization and search marketing efforts whil promoting some magento sites.
However I am earning small revenue streams from the hubs themselves.
I very good site, with some great and interesting writers..
Recomend.
I have just found this site and I am very excited about trying this out
I HAVE BEEN TRYING OVER AND OVER TO “LINK” MY EXSISTING ADSENSE ACCOUNT TO HUB PAGES BUT THE LINNK DOES NOT RESPOND CAN YOU PLEASE HELP. OTHERS ARE WRITTING ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE. WE FOLLOW THE INST. AND ADD OUR 5 DIDGIT PHONE #. THEN PRESS THE LINK ACCOUNTS AND NOTHING HAPPENS, NOTHING GO BACK TO AFFILIATE PAGE AND NOTHING IS ENTERED. I HAVE THE # IT NEEDS BUT IT WILL NOT ALLOW MANUAL LISTING. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF US WHO ARE UNABLE TO HOOK UP TO ADSENSE. PLEASE FIX THIS PROBLEM. I WRITE GOOD HUBS AND I THOUGHT I WOULDS HAVE GOTTEN SOMETHING OUT OF THIS BY NOW.
THANK YOU FOR LOOKING INTO THIS MATTER,
KELLY8669
PLEASE EMAIL ME AT KLLGEBHARDT3@GMAIL.COM AND TELL ME HOW TO HOOK UP TO MY ADSENSE HUBPAGES IS ALLREADY LISTED AS AN EXCEPTED CITE ON ADSENSE WHY WHON/T HUB PAGES LINK TO IT?
I built my 1st hub using the SIMPLIFIED VERSION option. I didnot use any adsense code of my own. Yet plenty of ads are shown on my hubs. Do I get paid if some one clicks on them?
I’m going to learn how to do this. Many thanks.
Great post. And I would love to know more on how to select username. Is that like domain name?
I have had Adsense for several days, but I haven’t made a penny. It shows 20-something impressions and I have quite a few clicks.
Could I have done something incorrectly?
Need advice.
Thanks!!!
Jenna Pope
i would like to know,how i make money and can someone please for once explain all that i have to do to achieve this.