Blog Noviciatus I

Have you ever heard this rustic expression? "A calf looking at a new gate." It explains how I felt once I worked my way into the *AdSense Forum*. I am a novitiate trying to understand a new order.

I discovered that I earned thirty-nine cents in November and a whopping eighteen cents in December. There was a wall of equations that explained how and why I earned so much. Quickly I took out my Indiana Jones notebook and furiously scribbled down the important information.

There certainly is no shortage of explanations at the Forum. I suspected that my no-cost blog sponsors did not register or verify very well when it came to tracking my blog title traffic via AdSense. AdSense called it *site authentication*.

At the AdSense site is plenty of help and plenty of reports, even advance reports. Someone is definitely accomplishing something there. Consider this product proposal/query: "How do I add AdSense for search to my pages." Well . . .

1. Log in to your account at https://www.google.com/adsense

2. Click the *AdSense set-up tab*.

3. Select *AdSense for search* as the product.

4. Select your search type--web search and/or site search--and any other desired options.

5. Design your search box by choosing Google logo placement, background color, and text box size. If you've elected to use site search, you can set it as the default by selecting your site in the example box.

6. Choose your search results style palette. You can choose from our standard color palettes, or customize your palette to include your own colors and logo.

7. Copy and paste the AdSense for search code from the *Your AdSense Code* box into your HTML pages.

I was optimistic that I could have my very own Google search on my blogs. I found the tab for *AdSense set-up* and the product, AdSense for search. It said, "New! Create your Search Engine. After you've saved your search engine you can later edit settings from the *Manage Ads* page." A 'wizard' popped up, offering a myriad of options and away we went.

HTML files and Meta-Tags have been a mystery to me. AdSense speaks of them with a familiarity and chumminess that I have not been able to establish. All AdSense requires is that I be seen with them and I am in, *verified*, formally introduced. I don't need them both--either one will do. In fact, I can select which one.

At this point may be where my blogs are recognized as being from a low-rent district. HTML and Meta-Tag (either one), were supposed to do two things for my blogs. Place the Google search engine in each. And recognize in both, the blog and it's titles; for activity analysis ($$).

HTML and Meta-Tag offered code incantations. Either a string of code (Meta-Tag). Or, several paragraphs of code (HTML). But remember, they have to be seen. So I put them in a post, for the world to see. I put them in my profile, again, for the world to see. In all cases, AdSense gives me a *404* --can't see it, won't verify it. And by the way, the search engine shows up as a logo. But when you use it the result is *Page Not Found*.

My two blog establishments are free. And causes me to believe that is the reason why I'm not making the cut. I am not deterred. I like to write. I just want to find out how to be seen with the right people.