Google's AdSense program allows website owners and publishers to share in the company's advertising revenue by hosting Google's ads on their own websites. If you don't have a website of your own, you can participate in the AdSense program by signing up with a publisher that shares their AdSense revenue with content providers. While there are a number of online publishing platforms that offer revenue sharing with Google AdSense, the best known – and easiest to use – are Google's own properties, YouTube and Blogger.

AdSense on YouTube

YouTube, owned by Google since 2006, generates about 6 percent of the company's ad revenues, or about $4 billion annually. Since 2007, the company has paid out more than $1.25 billion to people who hold the rights to YouTube videos, much of it through its AdSense program. In order to qualify for monetization, all videos must meet the YouTube community standards and terms of service. In addition, you must own the worldwide usage copyrights on everything that appears in your videos. If your content channels meet those requirements, you can apply to monetize them. As of April 2017, only channels with at least 10,000 views can run ads, but you can apply to monetize your channel at any time, even if you haven't uploaded any videos yet. Your channel will be reviewed once it reaches the 10,000 view threshold, and if it's accepted, you'll start earning money on your videos immediately.

Create a YouTube Channel

If you don't already have your own YouTube channel, you'll need to create one. Sign into your YouTube account and click on "My Channel" in the left menu. Follow the onscreen prompts to create your own channel.

Enable Monetization

On your channel page, click on "Video Manager," located in the top menu directly beneath the search bar to open the video manager. In the left menu, click on "Channel" or navigate to https://www.youtube.com/features. Click the "Enable" button on the Monetization tile to open an interactive wizard that will guide you through the steps to enable monetization.

Read and Agree to the YouTube Partners Program agreement

Click "Start." Read the terms of the agreement and tick the three boxes below it. Click the "I Accept" button to close the agreement and return to the wizard.

Associate an AdSense Account with Your Channel

In the Account Monetization panel, click on the second item. In the new screen, click Next to be taken to Adsense. If you already have an AdSense account, you can associate it with your YouTube channel. If you don't have an account with Adsense yet, you can create one. When you're done, you'll be returned to the Account Monetization panel.

Choose Your Ad Preferences

Click on the "Start" button located next to "Set Monetization Preferences" and follow the prompts to choose your ad preferences. Check the box beside "Monetize all existing and future videos," then tick the boxes below each of the ad types you want showing on your videos. Click "Save."

Upload and Promote Videos

Create original videos and upload them to your channel. Once the total views of all your videos reaches 10,000, YouTube will automatically review your channel. If it meets all the community standards and guidelines, your videos will begin showing AdSense ads and you'll begin earning on them.

AdSense on Blogger

If you have a blog on Google's Blogger platform, you can sign up to display AdSense ads and start earning money from your blog. It only takes a few simple steps to get started earning money with AdSense on your Blogger blog.

Sign Up for Monetization

Sign in to your Blogger account. Click the down arrow next to the blog you want to monetize. In the left menu, click on the Earnings tab to open the monetization settings. Click on the "Sign Up for AdSense" button. If you already have an AdSense account, you will be able to associate your blog with that account. If you don't, you can follow the prompts to create one. Once you've accepted the association or created a new AdSense account, you'll be returned to Blogger.

Set Up Your Ad Settings

Click on "Continue" to choose where you want AdSense ads to appear on your blog. In the next screen, review the automatic settings for ad placements. You can choose to show ads between posts, on the sidebar or both. If you want to let Blogger choose ads for you, you're done.

Customize Your Ads

Click on "Customize further in Advanced Ad Settings." To customize ads in the Sidebar, click on the AdSense Gadget to choose color, size and other ad settings. To customize the ads shown between your posts, click on the Blog Posts gadget. In the window that opens, scroll down to "Customize Inline Ads" to choose your AdSense ad options.

Repeat for Additional Blogs

If you want AdSense ads on more than one blog, repeat the preceding steps for each blog you want to monetize.