Did you notice that some of your Google Adsense earnings disappeared the past few days?! Wondering what happened to your Google Adsense earnings?!

When you checked and used the filter "Since Last Payment" under the Adsense Earnings Report tab, you probably might have noticed that a small or huge amount of your Google Adsense earnings got lost. Wondering why the sudden drop on your Google Adsense earnings?!

Well, you’re not alone. I happened to notice I lost about $12.00 of Google Adsense earnings when I checked today. Waahh!! I’ve seen a lot of other bloggers complain about this. Some of them even panicked because they lost about $50.00 of Google Adsense earnings.

Don’t be alarmed, though. I believe it’s just a fluke or a bug. Why? Well, when I checked the overall report or when I clicked on the View Payment History page, my earnings are intact. I also tried checking my monthly earnings for August and September through the Advanced Reports tab and the results were accurate.

TIP: Make it a habit to take a screenshot of your Google Adsense earnings, just in case you need to contact their Support team about discrepancies with your account.

 (click to zoom)

So, if you’re still wondering why your Google Adsense earnings suddenly dropped or disappeared, don’t worry. I don’t think anyone of us lost Google Adsense earnings. It’s just a Google Adsense Earnings reports bug…. I hope! Hehehe.

How much of a discrepancy with your Google Adsense earnings did you notice? Let me know at the comments section so we can panic together! LOLz

As promised, here are my proofs of my payment withdrawal of my Google Adsense earnings. I got a total of $105.54, which was already converted to peso because the SM North Edsa branch doesn’t offer USD payouts. The total amount I received was Php 4,700+.

I’m pretty happy with my earnings with Google Adsense. I started with them in 2008. However, I only focused on driving more traffic to my blog around July 2009 because I was busy with work and our internet cafe in Cebu. So, it took me about 6 months to earn my first $100 from Google Adsense. Not bad considering that I don’t have a niche blog with Google Adsense.

Frequently Asked Question about Google Adsense
On my chat box on the sidebar, someone asked if Google allows Adsense ads to be published on sites that’s related to Paid to Click (PTC) sites. If you look around this blog, there are no Adsense ads because they don’t allow it. Why? Mainly because Paid to Click sites offer incentives or money to members for clicking on ads. They don’t want to generate invalid or forced clicks because Google wants to target and pay for REAL traffic/clicks. That’s why people who use services like Trekpay usually get their Google Adsense accounts suspended or banned because of this.

So, if you have a blog and you write about PTC sites, DO NOT use Google Adsense on it. It was a shock to me how fast they tracked the inserted Adsense ad code on one of my posts on this blog. They sent me an email and gave me the exact URL of my blog post. I took the ad down immediately. That blog post wasn’t even about Paid to Click sites but I have PTC referral banners on the sidebar. So, be careful. I strongly recommend not using Adsense on any of your blogs/sites that talk about PTC sites. Use Bidvertiser instead.

I chose to withdraw my payments through Western Union because it’s faster and safer. I don’t have to worry about my Adsense check getting lost in the mail. Here’s a guide on how to set up your Adsense account for withdrawals using Western Union.

Here are my photos when I was withdrawing my first Google Adsense earnings:

Here’s the "To Receive Money" form I had to fill up. Zoom in to see the details. The Western Union branch wasn’t very particular with how I filled up the form. As you can see, I put in "Ad Network" for my relationship with Google Adsense. LOL.

These are my hands while I was counting the money I received in PhP. It was Php 4,700+. The exchange rate was at Php 45 to 1 USD.

The whole withdrawal took me less than 30 minutes. And they only asked for 1 valid photo ID. However, I suggest you bring at least 2 photo IDs just to be safe.

So, if you have a blog and you’re still not making money from it, start now! Sign up with Adgitize or traffic exchange sites to help you improve your Google Adsense earnings. Read my tips on how you can increase traffic to your blog. Talk about the latest buzz on the web or all over the world. And, interact or build relationships with other bloggers so you can get consistent traffic to your blog.

I am close to withdrawing my Google Adsense earnings and I have selected the Western Union option because it’s very convenient, secure and faster.

Now, how do you select this payment option to withdraw your Google Adsense earnings? Follow these steps:

Important Reminder:
To prevent any issues when you withdraw your Google Adsense earnings through Western Union, make sure that the name on your Google Adsense account and on the photo IDs that you would present when you claim your money are THE SAME. Otherwise, contact Google Adsense to change it or check out this page.

1. Login to your Google Adsense account.
2. Click on the My Account tab.
3. On your Account details page, scroll down ’til you see Payment Details.
   Then, click on the Edit link.
4. On the next page, select Setup Western Union Quick Cash and click on Continue.
   
5. On the next page, you will see a confirmation page with details on what you need to know about the Western Union Quick Cash payment option. Now, make sure that the Current Payee Name has the same name as shown on your photo IDs that you would present when you claim your money from the Western Union agent nearest you.
   Enter your First Name and Last Name then check “I agree that I have a government issued ID that matches the contact name above.” unless you don’t have a government-issued ID.

   Click on Save Changes and you will be brought back to the Account details page.

That’s it! Now, you can easily pick up your Google Adsense earnings from the nearest Western Union branch.
If you don’t know of any Western Union branches near you, use this Western Union agent/branch locator.

Take note that most Western Union branches are very strict with withdrawals. So, here are a few things you need to do and bring before you pickup your Google Adsense earnings:

1. Call up the Western Union branch first before you go there so you can ask them if they offer the Quick Cash service. This way, it’ll save you a lot of time of going to and from different Western Union branches looking for a branch that offers Quick Cash. From my inquiries, most of the Western Union branches near my location here in the PH offer this already so I guess it would be pretty easy for you to find one, too.
2. Bring at least 3 government-issued photo identification cards (IDs) with you, if possible. Most Western Union branches only require 2 but if you’re withdrawing a huge amount of money, I suggest you bring more if you have them. If not,For Pinoys like me, among the government-issued IDs that they accept are:
   - Driver’s license (bring the OR with you)
   - SSS (Social Security System) ID
   - BIR (TIN) card/ID
   - Postal ID
   - Voter’s ID
   - Passport
3. Make sure you know how much you are picking up or how much Google Adsense sent you. If you answer incorrectly, Western Union might not let you withdraw the money.To check how much payment you would be claiming, go to the Payment History page on your Google Adsense account. I suggest you print it out for your reference.
4. You need the unique Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) which you can find by clicking on the details link next to the Payment Issued line on your Payment History page.Here’s where you can see the information (Click on image to zoom). You can see this under My Account > Payment History:
   
   

   After you click on details link, you will see this:

   
   I already picked up my Adsense payment when I took this screenshot so it already displays a “Date Picked-up”. I suggest you print this one up and bring it when you claim your money.

5. You also need to provide the sender’s information to the Western Union agent so take note of this:
   

   Google Inc.
   1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043, USA
   Phone Number: 650-253-4000

   Print it out or write it for your convenience.

6. When you get to the Western Union branch, simply ask for the form To Receive money. Fill it up with the required information, including the ones mentioned in #s 3, 4 and 5.Here’s a sample form that I filled up when I withdrew my first Google Adsense earnings.

   

That’s it! Now, make sure you claim your payments as soon as possible. Google says if the money is unclaimed in 60 days, they will credit it back to your account. But, I mean, c’mon. Withdraw it as soon as possible!

I’ve been a Google Adsense publisher for over a year now but I have not yet reached their minimum for withdrawal which is $100. My other blog – Just Another Pixel – has been gaining more traffic and, thus, generating more clicks and impressions on my Google Adsense ads in the last 6 months. And I’m pretty happy to say that I MIGHT be able to withdraw my first Google Adsense earnings by the early part of 2010.

I have listed Google Adsense and other advertising networks as one of the major ways I make money online. I only have 1 blog that has active Google Adsense ads since this money-making blog is not allowed to utilize Google Adsense because I talk about programs like Paid to Click sites that pay people to click on ads. I will be putting up 2 more blogs in the coming weeks and I’m hoping that this would help me earn more through Google Adsense.

Since I’m very close (less than $20) to reach the $100 minimum, I’m preparing to withdraw my earnings from Google Adsense. I’m glad that Google offers 3 payment options for our convenience. To see the available payment options, follow these:

1. Login to your Google Adsense account.
2. Click on My Account tab.
3. Scroll down until you see Payment Details then click on EDIT link. This should lead you to the following page where you can change your payment option or how you want to be paid by Google Adsense:

• Check, Standard Delivery – To withdraw your Google Adsense earnings through standard delivery is free. However, there are risks of not getting your checks at all. There were reports from other Google Adsense publishers where their checks were encashed by someone else and some said they just lost it. Plus, it takes longer to receive your checks since it would go through your local post office. So, I don’t recommend this.
• Check, Secured Express Delivery – If you’re a Google Adsense publisher that earns $500 or more in a month, you can afford to use this payment option. Why? Because the $24.00 processing fee is just too much for publishers like me who waited over a year to reach the $100 minimum. Google guarantees the check to arrive within 5-10 days. It’ll be sent through DHL and to your local courier service if you don’t have DHL service available.
• Western Union Quick Cash – This is the payment option that I am highly recommending. Not only will you get your payments faster but it’s also very secure. Payments are sent through Western Union money transfer service and you can pickup your money from any Western Union branch a day after it’s been sent by Google’s normal payment schedule**. You can choose to withdraw it using Western Union’s exchange rate or keep it at US Dollars.** Just to clarify this, Google’s normal payment schedule works like this:
  If you reach the minimum for payouts ($100) at the end of the month, you have to wait for about 30 more days because Google will verify or look into your account to ensure that all clicks credited were valid. You will see updates on your Payment History page on your Adsense account. As soon as your payment’s been verified, then, they will send the payment to Western Union. As soon as this is done, you can pick up your money the next day.

In my case, I have selected Western Union Quick Cash. It’s extremely convenient and I love the fact that I can choose to withdraw it in US Dollars or Philippine Pesos. I choose the former so I can have the option to use a foreign exchange service that offers higher exchange rates than Western Union.

If you want to know how to withdraw your Google Adsense earnings through Western Union, read my guide here.