For some reason that I’m not really aware of, I’ve been getting a lot more emails from new Hubbers than I have in the past. Although it tends to take up some of my time during the day to answer each one of them, I actually really enjoy helping out newbies when they take the time to reach out to me for help. Although we’re still a small team, one thing that we each pride ourselves in and put a lot of emphasis on is supporting our Hubbers as much as we can. So, whether it’s via email (, posting in the Forums or stopping by our office in San Francisco (yes, we’ve had a few of those), our goal is to answer each and every (legitimate) question that we get.

One of the more common questions that I get all the time is ‘How exactly do I make money from HubPages?‘ and many also ask ‘How do I get paid from HubPages?‘. So, today I thought that I would take some time to answer these questions, which are fairly similar, by posting it here in our blog for all to see. We’re very open and transparent about how our writers generate earnings by writing on HubPages, so it’s no secret, but it still seems that many people still ask the question, so we must not be making it quite apparent enough.

Maybe we should invest in a blinking neon sign or something? I’m hoping that we don’t need to go to that extreme and this will do the trick — here goes nothing (now pay attention!).

What Generates The Money and When Do I Get Paid?
One of the first things that most people aren’t quite clear on is how money and earnings are actually generated on HubPages and when they could potentially get paid. I think that there are so many ‘get rich quick’ schemes out there that either many people are really skeptical about being able to legitimately make money on the web or they just don’t feel like reading too deep into our site to find out for themselves. Either way, here is a super-simple explanation of the various methods and tools that generate real money here on HubPages and how/when they can actually get you paid:

  1. Google Adsense: Google Adsense, Google’s contextual online advertising product, is the number one way that Google makes it’s billions of dollars and we give you a way to tap into some of those earnings by adding it to your published Hubs. This is by far our Hubbers top money-maker and is added by simply creating an AdSense account and entering in your AdSense ID in to HubPages. As you begin to attract traffic to your Hubs, 60% of the impressions will show your AdSense ID and 40% of the impressions will show the HubPages AdSense ID. This creates a 60/40 revenue split in your favor, so when you begin to get clicks on your ads and once you earn your first $100, Google will send you a nice, shiny check (we call this a ‘payout’). The ads that are displayed will be relevant to the topic that you wrote about in your Hub and depending on the ad, a click can be worth anywhere from $.10 to over $10. The amount of time it takes to reach the your first $100 payout varies depending on how much you write and the quality of your Hubs, but it can be as little as a couple months to as much as over a year. Like I said, AdSense is by far our highest earner — you can read about some of our Hubbers and their stories of getting their payouts over in The Payout Chronicles. We have a few Hubbers who currently earn over $1000/month thanks to AdSense, so the potential is definitely there with this option.
  2. Kontera (please note that HubPages does NOT support Kontera as of June 2011): Kontera is another type of contextual advertising that uses relevant in-text links to help you earn. Just like Google AdSense, all you need to do is join the Kontera network and tell HubPages that you want Kontera to be activated on your Hubs. You can activate Kontera on all your Hubs or specific, individual Hubs depending on where you’d like to have it implemented. The links are shown on various keywords within your Hub and as your Hubs begin to attract traffic your Kontera ID will show 60% of the time and the HubPages ID will show 40% of the time. As you begin to get clicks, you will receive the Kontera revenue whenever your ID is shown and once your cumulative earnings hit $100 you will get your Kontera payout. Also, you must at least reach $5 each month for it to roll over to the next, which is why we only recommend Kontera to our Hubbers with higher levels of traffic.
  3. eBay: Similar to the previous 2 methods of earning on HubPages, you are given the option to join another network, but this time around it’s not for advertising — it’s for the eBay Affiliates Network. If you have promo codes blog then it gives additional value for your viewers. What this allows you to do is add relevant eBay products directly into your Hub, which means that if someone buys from your Hub you’ll receive a commission payment. The products are added to your Hub via the eBay Revenue Capsule and just as with the previous 2 advertising methods, as you begin attracting traffic your eBay Affiliate ID will be shown 60% of the time and the HubPages Affiliate ID will show for the other 40%. If a product is purchased while your eBay Affiliate is showing, then you will receive the entire commission for completing the sale (which is usually around 10% of the purchase price). The eBay Affiliates Network does not have a payout limit, so whatever you earn each month will be paid out to you the next month. If you’d like to hear an interesting story about making money with the eBay Affiliates Program, read this blog post about how Jimmy made $126.00 after selling a Rolex from a Hub that he published just 36 hours before.
  4. Amazon: In an almost identical setup to the eBay Affiliates Network, HubPages also allows you to join the Amazon Associates Program. By joining the Amazon Associate Program you can earn additional commissions from any sales that are generated through your Hubs via the Amazon Revenue Capsule. The Amazon Revenue Capsule can be inserted into any Hub that you publish and it allows relevant Amazon products to be displayed for sale directly from within your HubPages content. As your Hubs begin to attract traffic, your Amazon Associate ID will be shown 60% of the time and the HubPages Associates ID will show the other 40%. Just as with the eBay Affiliates Network, if a product is purchased while your Amazon Associate ID is showing, then you will be credited with the sale and will receive a commissions paytment. The Amazon Associates Program does not have a payout limit, so whatever you earn each month will be paid out to you the next month.

So, those are the 4 most common ways that you can make money on HubPages and hopefully I’ve done a good enough job of explaining them. Like I said, we’re very open and transparent with how all of this works and our goal is always to make HubPages the best place for you to write and earn money online. If you happen to have some suggestions on how we can make some things better, please feel free to leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can about it.

Posted by:HubPages Admin

84 replies on “HubPages Earning Methods And Revenue Splits, Explained

  1. Good Information. I continue to learn more about AdSense.

    QUESTION: Let’s say I’m looking at one of my Hubs. I see ads by Google. How do I tell if they are “my” ads (they pay me a portion), or if they are “HubPages” ads (they pay Hubpages.

    When I “hover” my cursor over the word “Google,” I see the title of my Hub in the long url. Does that mean it’s “my” ad?

    Reading Ryan Hupfer’s Blog above I see that I should see my AdSense “ID.” Is that what I should be seeing instead of the title to my Hub?

  2. Well! Allow me to say that among all the websites I have found or regularly visit, yours has a preponderance of useable information. I am a freelance information broker and its my job (for good or bad) to sift through a multitude of sites identifying cogent usable information for my clients. Whether I am brokering a collaboration between like minded academic institutions, facilititating a business to business exchange, or simply providing a portfolio of sites that offer the information my clients are looking for, it can be a pleasure to read and discover or a most tedious chore looking through the banal, tiresome, and abjectly mundane. I acnt say thank you enough! You guys rock!

  3. A quick question. Once I start publishing and get an AdSense ID, and , hopefully, start to make money, Google/HubPages will pay me by check at the address I have listed in my profile? I can’t find any reference to the method of payment.

  4. Ok, I think I understand all the “how and when do I get paid?” Now, please do not think I am an airhead — but, how do I submit an article? I know I have to open a new Hub for each article, but I cannot find out where to write/submit an article.

  5. This is still not clear to me.Do I take it that both of us are paid by the amount of clicks from google adsense? Well that is fine but how do people find you in the first place? Writing the blog/article is fine, but someone has to pick it up, and how does google adsense and the others find you?

  6. Peter – Yes, both you (60%) and HubPages (up to 40%) earn from Google AdSense clicks. Those that click on ads legitimately come searching for the information in your Hubs from other Websites, most notably Google. So, in order to get visitors to your Hubs, you must write high-quality, informative Hubs that are better than other Web pages on the same topic.

  7. Hi Ryan,
    Thank you for the excellent article. I really appreciate your thoroughness. I just joined Hub pages and would like to start writing hubs and monetizing them. I don’t have a website or blog.

    When I went to sign up for Ad Sense, Amazon, and Ebay affiliate programs they required a website. Can a Hub page substitute for a website or blog for affiliate registration?

    Or is the first step in being able to monetize informational articles and hubs having a web or blog presence? Just not sure where to start to make it all work. Thanks. ETC

  8. Hello,

    I am still confused about the payment: do we receive our checks by mail? Or is the money deposited on our bank account? And do we get paid only every time we reach a minimum of U$ 100? I mean, suppose I receive U$ 100. Then I make another U$ 50. Then I do not receive it until that amount becomes U$ 100?


  9. Ummmm…sorry to sound so dumb (but my daddy always said the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask). I just went over to the Kontera website to sign up and I’m a little confused. Am I a “pubisher”? For the “site URL” am I supposed to my HubPages URL or my blog (joyizzachoice.blogspot) URL? How many page views a month? Yours or mine? And then there’s the “category”. I’m so confooosed! (grin) Holy Moly! So much to learn!

    1. Camille – We no longer support Kontera on HubPages. We ended support for it last month. – Jason

  10. Hi there Thanks a lot
    I am on hubpages past 18 months and never found time to learn up the hubpage tips and tricks of writing effectively with earning.
    Glad I started and learning so much.
    Thank you

  11. Two ways of earning money on HubPages that aren’t explained here are the HubPages Affiliate and Traffic Referral Programs. Are these still functional? How can I track earnings from them? I know how to track the page views from them, but not any resulting earnings.

    1. Hi Howard – Yes, these programs are still functional. Please check out the Learning Center for more information. (We don’t explain the Traffic Referral Program in detail since most people found it very confusing, but it still is functional) You can track views, but not earnings, through them. – Jason

  12. If I have a Christmas program or a program for a ladies tea that I wrote, can I start a hub about each and tell readers how they can purchase it? Is that permitted? I couldn’t find the answer to that anywhere.

    1. Grandma Jean – That depends. If your Hub’s sole purpose is to promote one of your programs, then, no. However, if you want to write a detailed, informative Hub about Christmas or ladies’ tea, and then include an inconspicuous link to your program, then that should be OK.

  13. I’m new. I happen to know that someone purchased a book that I recommended on a recent hub. I used the Amazon capsule as instructed. However I see no credit when I go to the Amazon reports. What may be the issue?

    1. Hi Frank! On HubPages, 40% of impressions go to HubPages, and 60% goes to Hubbers. If you do not see that sale in your own reports, that probably means that it was made on one of HubPages’ impressions.

  14. Why are the writers’ IDs shown 60% of the time rather than just splitting all revenue generated 40-60? Would the way that you do it allow for an elaborate programming mechanism to put the HubPages ID out their during the highest purchase periods? Please explain to my why this would not be the case.

  15. Ryan,
    Does HubPages itself payout to the person who writes the article? Or is it just Amazon, Ebay and Google?

    Also, what does the number after the end of the title mean? Is that how many views you’ve received?


  16. I was reading about hub, trying to figure out a way to earn an extra income for my family, and i didnt see anything mentioned about clickbank. I just wondered if Hub supported clickbanks affiliate programs as well.??

  17. I joins here around one years ago. I published 13 hubs, I wish to continue here as a ‘ever green writer’. but now a big problem is standing as a rebel. I have paypal account, security question is problem. It rejecting my answers.(in account setting). can I get a chance for see my answers of the security question? if it is possible how? please help

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