Developing country entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the power of Google:
For Agarwal, Adsense earnings now account for 90 percent of his income, about $1,500 a month. “Adsense has changed my life,” he says. “I can afford things that I was not able to before. I am planning to buy a new car. I can save for my future.”
Since its launch in 2003, Adsense has revolutionized Web publishing in the developing world, turning blogs and personal sites into profitable enterprises. Mohamed Sallam, from Cairo, nets about $500 a month from ads on his Web site, a forum dedicated to discussions of Islam. In New Delhi, Jayant Gandhi uses Adsense to earn about $1,000 a month—the same amount he once took home working as a software engineer—from a Web site that offers free computer help.
Idea: what if AdSense let you donate your revenues to some sort of development fund (perhaps those sponsored by Google.org) or directly to entrepreneurs? A form of p2p microgrants. Another idea might be sponsored microgrant tip-jars on sites? The same would work with Amazon or PayPal.
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