STORY OF Naughty, CHEATING, DISHONEST BLOGGERS EARNING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS MONTH

STORY OF Naughty, CHEATING, DISHONEST BLOGGERS EARNING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS MONTH

Not many people know, being a blogger can make a lot of money per month, it can even reach hundreds of millions. However, getting to that stage is not an easy matter, so there are some bloggers who choose to use naughty methods to make a profit. The following are the results of Mojok's interviews with several sources who are involved in the naughty world of blogging. 

For almost three years I have been a blogger, have several blogs that have made money, and have joined blogger communities in both Telegram and Facebook groups. In that community, all kinds of bloggers meet. Starting from those who are just starting out and often ask questions, selling Google Adsense accounts, selling services writing articles, there are also senior bloggers who have been paid regularly every month from Google Adsense. 

Of the many types of bloggers, there is one that caught my attention. They are the type of blogger who can get hundreds of millions of rupiah per month from Google Adsense, in various naughty ways. 

Disappointed with the initial income from Google Adsense

I managed to chat with Jatmiko* (31) via Facebook message, and he explained his activities so far. 

"When it comes to creating a blog, I've been working on it since 2014, Mas. But yeah, it's still sloppy and hasn't made any money," said Jatmiko via Facebook message on January 21, 2022. "It wasn't until early 2015 that my blog was accepted by Google Adsense and I was able to start earning."

According to Jatmiko, he used to feel that he could get rich from Google Adsense, but in the end he learned the fact that income from Adsense is just coins. "Just being able to get one thousand rupiah from Adsense is great," he said. According to Jatmiko, if there are only hundreds of blog visitors per day, then it's impossible to get paid every month from Adsense. 

“The blog's revenue comes from Google Adsense. We get money if Adsense ads on our blog are watched by many people, or when people click on them. That's why, if there are only hundreds of daily blog visitors, plus no one clicks on ads, it's impossible to get money." He also continued that it takes hundreds of thousands or even millions of visitors to be able to make money from Google Adsense. "Only tribunnews can do that,"

Discover how to quickly earn money from Google Adsense

But that is the past. As of 2019, Jatmiko is getting to know the naughty ways of using a VPN. "Learn from Youtube and try it first," he explained. “The point is, visitors from abroad such as the United States, Australia or England can bring in big money. Per one click on ads originating from these countries can generate up to hundreds of thousands, Mas. 

Finally, Jatmiko tried to download a VPN which can change the network's IP address to make it appear as if it came from abroad. “Initial free VPN, where you can't choose the server. In the end, I used a VPN, changed the IP address to a foreign server, then opened my blog, opened several articles, and clicked on an ad. The point is like that until I can make five million per month at that time.”

After just one paycheck, bad luck befell Jatmiko. His activity using a VPN was discovered by Google and resulted in his Google Adsense account being closed. "I was stupid, all the articles on my blog were in Indonesian, while I used a foreign server to read and click ads," recalls Jatmiko. "Yes, finally I decided to make a blog full of English content."

With Bing Translator, Jatmiko can make many articles in English for his new blog. "I didn't make it from scratch, but bought a blog that was already registered with Google Adsense on Facebook. I made the five million salary earlier as capital to buy a blog and a Premium VPN subscription.”

The reason for Jatmiko buying a blog is so he doesn't have to build it from scratch which takes a long time. He also bought a blog whose articles have been indexed on Google a lot. "I bought about 3 million first. In the past, those 3 million were able to get good blogs as well as Google Adsense with PIN verification. Now, the price of a blog like that is already 6 million.”

With a blog filled with English articles, VPN Premium, and a reckless spirit, Jatmiko clicks on his own ads every day. “I can click up to 20 ads a day with different IPs. Per click, I can get 25 thousand. So yes per day I can get five hundred thousand first. Per month I can get fifteen million. 

This activity lasted for three months. In the third month, Jatmiko's Google Adsense account was closed again. “The third month is closed again. Yes, I'm just looking for a blog that already has Adsense in the group. Got it, and I did the activity again.”

Knowing that sooner or later his Google Adsense account would be closed, Jatmiko went wild. “Early on, I was still relaxed about clicking ads per day because I was afraid of being caught. But after knowing that sooner or later you will definitely be found out and the account will be closed, that's it, I'm playing like crazy."

From initially only clicking around 20 ads per day, Jatmiko can now click 60 to 80 ads every day. “Per click ads can sometimes penetrate one hundred thousand. Per one blog, I can get about three million per day.”

Jatmiko also said that he has six blogs that he currently manages and all of them earn around three million per day. “Managing six blogs using a VPN like this is clearly not enough for one cellphone. That's why I have six HP to carry out this operation.”

With the six blogs he manages, Jatmiko can earn nearly half a billion in one month. "But half a billion is a number on Google Adsense. Usually at the end of the month when the calculation is carried out by Google Adsense, this number will definitely be cut off. Definitely hit invalid traffic. Per account is usually cut 40 percent. So yes, at first it seemed like I would get five hundred million, in the end I only got 300 million rupiah."

The risks that lurk behind Jatmiko's activities

After being amazed by Jatmiko's income, I then discussed what the risks were lurking. Jatmiko lightly replied that the risk was that his account would be closed by Google Adsense. "Yes closed it,"

Furthermore, he said that Google Adsense policies prohibit any activity of clicking on their own ads in any way. Quoting from the official page of the Adsense program policies, clicks on Google ads must come purely from the user's wishes. Any method that improperly generates clicks or impressions on Google ads is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include, but are not limited to, repeated manual clicks or impressions, automated click and impression generating tools, and the use of deceptive robots or software. 

"But yes, like before, if it's closed, all you have to do is buy it again. After all, many sell blogs and Google Adsense accounts in the community every day." Regarding account closure, Jatmiko said that he had experienced something unpleasant. "If the account is closed, the money that has been collected will still be paid out in the next period. With a note, money is collected after deducting the amount of invalid traffic. In my experience, the balance that has been accumulated in the previous month will be safe from reducing invalid traffic and will still be transferred in the following period. Unfortunately, my experience after that was different.”

According to Jatmiko, one of his Google Adsense accounts was closed in the middle of the month and the unpaid balance from the previous month was around fifty million. “I'm relaxed because the fifty million will be transferred in a month. As it turned out, after I checked at the end of the month, the fifty million was also subject to an invalid traffic deduction to zero. Yes, the money is gone."

Learning from this, Jatmiko decided to always be on guard and have a backup account. “In my experience, two months of activity playing VPN is still safe. So, at the end of the second month, set aside some money to buy a blog and a Google Adsense account."

Then, when I asked how long he was going to play this naughty trick, Jatmiko replied, "If you can keep doing it, why stop?"

Choose to pay for services

In contrast to Jatmiko, according to him, other bloggers from the Telegram community have an easier way. He is Haris* (25) who prefers to pay for services to increase Google Adsense income rather than acting alone. 

“In the past, I used to play VPN, but after a while it got tired and hurt my eyes, bro!” said the young man who has been a blogger for two years. “Finally, I was looking for it, before I found a site called AyuAds. The point is we deposit money there, then we can buy clicks there for our blog.”

When I asked what the AyuAds mechanism was like, Haris said he didn't really understand. “Some say it's a bot. Some say it's part of a Paid to Click network. If it's a bot, it means it's not a human who clicks. If it's Paid to Click, the point is there will be other people around the world who get a certain percentage of money if they click on the ads that I buy. I don't know which one is right."

From buying clicks on AyuAds, Haris said he could earn hundreds of thousands per day, until finally his account was closed by Google. "Using AyuAds, you have to be smart about the settings, Mas. Must determine this. If it's just a little wrong, the Google Adsense account can be closed quickly. So, after the experience was closed, I stopped using AyuAds."

Haris also ended up buying a new blog along with a Google Adsense account. At first he wanted to be a normal blogger, in the end he was tempted by an offer from a member of an international blogger group. "He offers services to increase Adsense income, Mas. He said he could earn up to 60 USD per day. I called, and I asked questions.”

The service provider is a Canadian who manages a kind of traffic and click service provider agency. “He is Quebecois, and one of his friends is Pakistani. They provide services around adding income. Services offered start from daily, weekly, and monthly. One day service fee is 15 USD, seven days 109 USD and monthly 400 USD. With these services, service buyers can earn up to 1000 USD per month, or if converted to 14 million rupiahs. 

Through the chat via Telegram on January 21, 2022, Haris also emphasized that at first using such services did not seem profitable. “They can send a lot of clicks in one day, but per day I only get tens of thousands. That means a loss, because I paid them around 15 USD or around 214 thousand rupiahs.” According to Haris, this all happened because the cost per click obtained was very low. “But over time the cost per click on my blog went up. Per day yes I can get five hundred thousand. Finally I chose to use their services full one month. I can get fifteen million rupiah, and deduct their service fee per month, which is only five million and seven hundred."

Haris doesn't care what method the service provider uses. As long as he could get a profit greater than the cost, then he was relaxed. “It doesn't matter if you use a bot or you click yourself using a VPN. I am completely ignorant of their methods, the important thing is they can bring me money.”

When I mentioned that Google Adsense was found out, Haris replied that there were still many blogs and Google Adsense accounts in the community to buy. "Can buy. Yes, people like me are their target market who sell Google Adsense accounts."

Choose a more reasonable way

Dani* (27), a member of the blogger group on Facebook that I chatted with, said that he has his own way of getting money from Google Adsense. “If the normal method is called White Hat, and the naughty method is called Black Hat, then what I'm wearing seems to be suitable to be called Gray Hat. I'm not violating Adsense policies, but on the other hand I'm working on something to get clicks." Dani explains that he uses the Pinterest network to drive traffic to his blog. “I upload sexy photos on Pinterest, and if the photos are clicked, they will go to my blog which is full of ad banners. So, all that's left is to find a way to make the traffic from Pinterest read organically so it's safe."

Apart from using Pinterest, Dani also has a hobby of creating ads on Facebook Ads to generate traffic. “FB Ads are cheap. In the right way, we can bring organic legible traffic from all over the world. Of course, which country we are after. After getting traffic, it is very likely that the ads that I post here and there will be clicked whether intentionally or not.” Dani added, "Most likely the ad was accidentally clicked, hahaha."

The trick Dani uses is more popularly called FbAds to Adsense. A simple game which in the world of economics is called arbitrage, a practice of profiting from price differences that occur between two financial markets. Arbitration, in the world of blogging, can be done by advertising our blog articles on advertiser networks that are cheaper than Google Adsense, then hoping to benefit from Google Adsense being posted on our blog. One of the most efficient low-cost advertiser networks today is the FBAds network. 

“Yes, arbitration,” Dani replied when I told him about this practice. “My income is not crazy like those who play VPN or rent services. Per month I only get six million.”

However, according to Dani, even though what he did was not in the category of naughty or fraudulent, he still had anticipation by setting aside money to buy a Google Adsense account. "There is only one point, you have to be ready to get banned and buy a new account."

* Names of sources have been disguised to protect privacy. 

Reporter: Riyanto