I've talked about larger sites on these forums before and some of the leverage and power they can give you especially if you monetize with adsense. Apparently, the guys over at domainingtips share these views.


Why Minisites Are NOT a Viable Long-Term Business Model – An Elementary School Teacher’s Explanation

Posted on 04 July 2010 by BillionDollarMedia

I could go on and on about why building minisites is not a business model I recommend (yes, money can be made but there are LOTS of better ways to generate revenue out there) but it would be pointless given the fact that the reasons should be obvious if we apply a bit of elementary school logic.

First of all, let me define what most domainers consider a minisite and take it from there. According to most folks, a minisite is a website which has let’s say 5 – 10 pages of unique content, a custom header and is monetized via Google AdSense. That’s pretty much it, feel free to check out some of the various minisites domainers provide as examples on forums and you’ll see that my definition applies to most of them.

That being stated, here’s how an elementary school teacher would explain the way things stand with these minisites:

1) The guys who are running the Google search engine hate you. They do not want their listings polluted with sites which do not provide any real value. If you think that your 5 or 10-page minisite actually provides value, you couldn’t be more wrong.

2) The guys who are running AdSense hate you as well. Why? Because your average 5 or 10-page minisites represent MFA (Made For AdSense) websites in their eyes. In case you were wondering why so many people get banned from AdSense, the answer is simple: MFA sites are against their TOS.

3) Everyone knows that the folks who are running the Google search engine and those who are running AdSense all work for the same company. As a result, it’s safe to say that if you’re building minisites, Google hates your guts.

In other words, your business model is 100% dependent on a company which hates you.

You want Google to send traffic your way, yet they hate you.

You want Google to send money your way, yet they hate you.

Need I say more?

The source text is here: Why Minisites Are NOT a Viable Long-Term Business Model – An Elementary School Teacher’s Explanation | Domaining Tips

BTW I have no affiliation with those guys just thought it was an interesting little rant.