Recently, quite a few friends have asked me this question: If I want to monetize with AdSense, should I start a personal blog or a news-style content site?
To be honest, I struggled with this question for a long time too.
Since I started working with AdSense in 2018, I’ve run both types of websites—and I’ve stepped into quite a few traps along the way.
Today, I want to share some real-world insights based on years of hands-on experience, and take a deep dive into this topic.
A Real-World Comparison of My Two Website Models
Let’s start with my own setup.
Currently, I operate 12 main AdSense sites. Among them:
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2 are personal blogs
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2 are news sites
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2 are utility tool sites
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3 are product review sites
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and the remaining 3 fall into different niche categories.
This distribution wasn’t chosen at random—it’s the result of years of trial and error to find the most optimal mix.
Personal Blog Example: A Tech Tutorial Blog
This was my first English-language AdSense site, launched back in 2018.
It mainly shares programming tutorials and technical insights.
I was rejected three times before finally getting approved by AdSense, but now the site earns a stable $2,000/month, with an RPM (Revenue Per Mille) ranging from $8 to $12.
News Site Example: An AI News Aggregator
This site was created in 2023, right after ChatGPT went viral.
It curates AI-related news and updates.
Within six months of going live, it was already generating $1,000 per month.
Although each article’s RPM is lower (only around $4–$6), the high volume of content makes up for it.
From this comparison, you can already see: both models have their pros and cons.
The key is finding what works best for you.
Advantages and Challenges of a Personal Blog
Advantages: High-Value Traffic, Strong User Stickiness
The biggest strength of a personal blog is the ability to build real relationships with your audience.
My tech blog has over 30,000 email subscribers.
Many readers return regularly—and even actively share my posts.
Advertisers are willing to pay more for this kind of high-quality traffic.
I remember writing a deep-dive tutorial on Python web scraping—over 5,000 words, complete with code examples.
The post ranked well on Google and had exceptionally long user dwell time—over 8 minutes on average.
That kind of positive user behavior directly pushed the blog’s overall RPM higher.
Another benefit is the longer content lifespan.
An article I wrote back in 2019 about getting started with machine learning still brings in over 200 daily visitors today, with steady conversion rates.
This “long tail effect” is something news sites rarely achieve.
Challenges: Content Creation Pressure, Slow Results
But personal blogs have obvious downsides too.
The biggest challenge is content production pressure.
Every article must be high-quality—there’s no room for filler.
This makes it hard to maintain a frequent posting schedule.
On average, I update each blog 2–3 times per week, and every post takes significant time for research, writing, and visuals.
Sometimes, it takes me a full day to write one technical tutorial.
Another challenge is the slow ramp-up period.
For the first 6 months, my blog had just a few dozen daily visitors, and AdSense revenue was almost nonexistent.
Many people give up at this stage because they don’t see immediate results.
Advantages: Scalable Operations, Fast Traffic Growth
The biggest advantage of a news-style site is its scalability.
For example, my current AI news aggregator—powered with the help of AI tools—publishes 15 to 20 new articles per day.
While each individual article may not go very deep, the sheer volume brings in a substantial amount of traffic overall.
News sites also have a natural advantage when it comes to riding trending topics.
For instance, when OpenAI recently released o3-pro, I published a related article immediately.
That single post brought in over 5,000 visitors on the same day.
This kind of explosive growth is nearly impossible for a personal blog to achieve.
From an SEO perspective, news sites enjoy another edge: frequent updates signal to search engines that your site is active and authoritative, leading to more frequent crawling and indexing.
My AI news site had over 2,000 pages indexed within six months of launch, whereas it took two full years for my personal blog to reach the same number.
Challenges: Content Saturation, Lower RPM
But news sites come with their own set of challenges.
The biggest one is content saturation.
Everyone is chasing the same trending topics and writing similar articles—competition is fierce.
Many times, I’ve written an article only to see a dozen nearly identical ones appear within hours.
Another problem is weak user retention.
Most visitors land on the site via search, skim a single article, and leave.
Return traffic is rare.
As a result, RPM tends to be lower.
For my news site, the RPM hovers around $4 to $6, and it’s tough to break past that range.
Content quality is also inconsistent.
To maintain a high update frequency, some articles inevitably fall short in depth and polish compared to blog content.
AI tools do help speed up production, but ensuring every article delivers real value remains a serious challenge.
AdSense Performance: Comparing the Two Models
Ad Display Performance
From my actual data, personal blogs deliver significantly better ad performance.
Why?
Because visitors spend more time on each page and view more pages per session—giving ads more opportunities to be seen.
My tech blog has an average page dwell time of 6 minutes, compared to only 2 minutes on the news site.
That difference directly impacts earnings.
A single visitor on the blog is worth 2 to 3 times more than one on the news site.
Additionally, blog readers are more likely to click on ads.
They come with a learning mindset and are more receptive to product and service recommendations.
According to my data, click-through rates (CTR) on the blog are roughly 40% higher than those on the news site.
Traffic Acquisition Cost Analysis
However, when it comes to traffic acquisition costs, news sites hold a clear advantage.
Because they can mass-produce content, the average cost per visitor is much lower.
I did some rough calculations:
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A blog post brings in around 500 visitors on average.
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But the time and effort spent on that one post equals the cost of producing 5 news articles.
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Those 5 news articles can generate 800 to 1,000 visitors in total.
So purely from a cost-per-visitor standpoint, news sites are more efficient.
My Hybrid Strategy in Practice
After years of experimentation, I’ve found that the best strategy isn’t choosing one model over the other—but rather combining both.
A 2+2+2+3+3 Site Network Configuration
My current setup includes:
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2 personal blog sites
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2 news sites
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2 utility tool sites
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3 review sites
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3 niche category sites
This mix wasn’t randomly chosen—it’s the result of repeated testing and refinement.
The personal blogs deliver high-quality traffic and stable revenue.
The news sites help scale up quickly and capture hot-topic traffic.
Here’s how each type plays a role:
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Personal Blogs: Focus on vertical niches, publish in-depth content, and build long-term authority.
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News Sites: Cover trending topics, respond quickly, and aim for large-scale traffic.
A Content Production Pipeline
To maximize efficiency, I’ve built a streamlined content production pipeline:
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Blog Content: I write every post myself to ensure depth and quality. I publish 2–3 articles per week.
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News Content: I use AI tools for first drafts, followed by human review and editing. I publish 15–20 articles daily.
This setup allows me to maintain high content standards for blogs, while still meeting the fast-paced update demands of a news site.
Cross-Traffic Strategy
I also implement a cross-linking strategy between the two site types.
For example, when a news article mentions a technical term or concept, I link to a detailed tutorial on my blog.
This not only drives more traffic to the blog but also increases the perceived value of the news content.
How Should Beginners Choose?
For those who are just getting started, here’s my advice:
If You Have Professional Skills, Go with a Personal Blog
If you have specialized knowledge or hands-on experience in a particular field—like programming, design, marketing, etc.—I recommend starting with a personal blog.
It may take longer to get off the ground, but the long-term value is much higher.
I’ve seen many experts in their field make a consistent $5,000+ per month with just one blog site.
The key is choosing a subject you truly understand and continuously publishing content that provides real value.
If You Want Faster Results, Consider a News Site
If you don’t have a specific technical skillset but have strong execution ability and are willing to put in the time to update content daily, then a news-style site might be a better fit.
However, be careful when choosing your niche—don’t just chase every trending topic.
I recommend focusing on one or two vertical categories, such as AI, blockchain, or health.
This helps establish authority and improves long-term performance.
My Specific Recommendations
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Start with one personal blog to get hands-on experience. Learn the basics of AdSense operation and optimization.
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Once you’ve gained confidence and some results, expand into a news site. By that time, you’ll have a better grasp of traffic generation and monetization.
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The ultimate goal is to build a multi-site network that combines both models to maximize income.
Future Trends and Opportunities
Based on what I’ve observed, AdSense monetization is likely to undergo some notable changes in the coming years:
The Impact of AI Search
With AI-powered search becoming more widespread, high-quality original content will become even more valuable.
This trend benefits personal blogs, while posing challenges for low-quality news aggregation sites.
In response, I’ve already started adjusting my strategy—by including more original insights and in-depth analysis in my news content, instead of simply aggregating information.
The Opportunity of Video Content
Platforms like YouTube are generating increasingly significant AdSense revenue.
I strongly recommend exploring a hybrid content model that combines video with written content.
I’m currently experimenting with this approach, and the early results have been quite promising.
Conclusion
Both personal blogs and news-style sites have their pros and cons.
There is no universally “better” option.
The key is choosing the model that best suits your own situation:
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If you have professional expertise and are focused on long-term value: start a personal blog.
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If you have strong execution ability and want to scale quickly: consider a news site.
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If you have experience and resources: combine both models to build a network of sites that work together.
My current setup—a 2+2+2+3+3 configuration—has been running steadily, generating over $10,000 per month.
But this didn’t happen overnight.
It took more than 6 years of trial, error, and constant optimization to reach this level.
The most important thing is to maintain a mindset of continuous learning and adjustment.
AdSense policies change.
User behavior changes.
Search engine algorithms change.
Only by adapting to these shifts can you build long-term success in this space.
If you’re struggling to choose between models, my advice is:
Just start with one and take action.
In the process of doing, you’ll discover the path that fits you best.
Because at the end of the day, the best strategy is always to start moving.
