In order to understand AdSense WordPress themes, you need to know a little something about AdSense, as well as a little something about WordPress themes. AdSense is an application for serving ads owned by Google, Inc. Enrolling in this program gives website owners access to per-impression or pay-per-click revenue-earning advertisements on their websites. The choice of which advertisements to serve is made by Google based on website content, plus the location of the site visitor. The bank of advertisements comes from companies that have chosen to advertise through Google AdWords. Advertisements may be text only or include images or multimedia. A website owner could use AdSense ads on his or her own site and also use AdWords to advertise his or her products or services on other websites.
WordPress is a content management system, used by many as a blog, but also used to build more complex website pages that may combine a blog with static pages. WordPress offers a number of GPL licensed themes on its site. These themes do not contain sponsored links. The decision not to include themes with sponsored links was taken in July, 2007.
Themes may be free or premium. In the world of WordPress, premium means that you pay. WordPress.com had 135 total themes in its showcase in August, 2011, but none of them were characterized as AdSense themes. Also in August, 2011, WordPress.org had 1415 free themes in its free theme directory, of which 16 match a search for “AdSense.” The themes vary in the number of main columns, having the sidebar on the left or right, having a background image or not, having a header image or not, and the placement position designated for AdSense to fill, but all offer AdSense support or claim to be “AdSense ready.” There is a designated place in the format to hook up with an AdSense feed.
There’s one problem, though. Unlike the plug-ins, which have a designation noting their most recent update and compatibility with the latest version of WordPress, the themes on WordPress.org do not carry this. And only two were uploaded in 2011, which could mean that the majority of themes might not be a good fit with the latest version of WordPress.
The WordPress availability of AdSense WordPress themes does not give a good sense of how many are actually available. A Google sense turns up far more. Do not look for the word “AdSense” in the theme title. AdSense-ready themes, may or may not have names that include a reference to that aspect of their design, and in some cases—like Diabolique Spring, Wordsmith Blog, Clearness, or Karma—there is no clue in the theme name of any relationship to AdSense.
When you search for an AdSense WordPress theme, look not only at the particular choices mentioned above, such as number of columns, sidebar placement, and AdSense position, but also for the amount of control you have (i.e., what elements can you change), the level of support or upkeep the developer offers, and the number of downloads the theme has already had. If you can find reviews, they may be helpful prior to committing to a critical element of your website.