Google Affiliate ponderings

Evidently I recently became eligible for the Google Ad sense Affiliate ads program. 

I am wondering if there are any other blogger users who are enrolled in that program.

Granted as far as product go I only blog about weapons and such.  Do I really want to shill for the small revenue those ads would bring me?  I still haven't even reached the payment point in 5 years of blogging.  and for those of you who don't know, Google doesn't pay out until a month AFTER you reach $100.00 in ad revenue.  Last time I checked I was still around $37 and change.  That is after 5 plus years of blogging.  I don't write this blog to really make money, I guess for me it is a slight affirmation of my worth that people will actually come and read the things I post.  Some of it is my own original writing and photos, some is stuff that friends and family members send to me, and a lot is links to articles I think people should be aware of.  Some of it with my own commentary some with just a quick link.

Do I REALLY want to put up directed ads?  Personally, if I don't own or have used something, I won't recommend it.  I've still got some articles sitting in draft that I haven't published because in my head they don't sound right, I have other articles that only reside on my hard drive because I can't finish them due to a number of factors.  My health, my kids, the local weather, a family member in the hospital currently, all those thing intrude on my writing.  I have 2 screen plays sitting on my hard drive, several short stories and what is slowly turning into a novella Dozens of small text files with ideas for other stories or crazy inventions.  Several hundred pictures which have sparked other ideas.

But do I want to put up directed ads and try to shill a product I haven't used and know nothing about?

Would I like to get paid for testing firearms, ammunition and accessories?  You bet I would.  Heck I would love to be able to test all types of things.  But even the one review I did for Luckygunner.com still cost me money.  I couldn't honestly review the ammo they sent me without comparing it to another type of ammo, so I spent $40 bux to buy a box of ammo to compare it to.  And they didn't even pay me for it.  They just sent me a box of ammo to test.  I'd love to test other things for them, but without access to a decent range it's kind of hard.

All this doesn't answer the question.  Do "I" want to put ads on my blog and write posts specifically to induce someone to click on that ad?  When I don't even know how good the product is?  Or even if it is a product I would use?

As much as I would love to earn money as the next person.  I don't think I can do it.  Without either someone sending me an item to actually test, or it being something I already buy and use my self, it seems like lying or cheating to me.


Does any of that make sense?

So, I guess Sorry Google.  I won't be signing up for your program.  I'd love to make more money, but I won't write about something just to try to make money off of it unless I have actually used it.  And being disabled and having 7 kids I don't have a lot of disposable income right now.  I do have a review for something I got off of E-bay that will be going up in a few days.  But I don't think you guys sell much ad space to chinese android tablet manufacturers.

What are my readers thoughts?  Please leave a comment with your input.  I'd really appreciate it.