Give up on News Site?

You want my honest opinion?

OK. Forget it.

I had a news site that was in Google news. It was very interesting.

Lots of work.

The site made some nice money too (something like $2,500 per month).

Only only slight problem:

After 5 month suddenly the site was removed from Google news. No warning. No recourse. No reply to emails. Nothing.

Over all: not worth the effort.

It's a personal choice. Me, personally, I would agree with domainstrong - patience. You may not have the same experience as hpgoodboy (having his site suddenly removed...but he did, in fact, state he made around $2500 per month which isn't a total waste). If you've already put the money out it can't hurt to wait and see what happens...if you rake in figures around what hpgoodboy made, even for a few months, it will still be a nice return.

A little too late, already submitted to Google.

I have not gone through and checked but maybe Google is fussy over the quality of the content and that is not to say yours is not. It might be worth hiring some respected writers to write an article once a week.

Stick with it dont just throw the 700$s away, if you dont want it i will buy,it.

I think you should turn it into an auto blog and sell it on Flippa.

Google can be very selective about the sites they let in Google News. I use to have a celebrity blog listed in Google News. I remember Google News contacting me a few days after I submitted my blog.

Google News might accept your site after 5 weeks, but I wouldn't pin my hopes on it. Try some SEO techniques, build some backlinks and look to maximize your return on investment by selling to the highest bidder on Flippa.

It is a tough call. I would ask you. What is your ultimate goal and how does this site get your towards that goal? That should help you decide if you want to pursue this or not.

I will tell you that I had some success with news sites. I sold one and then went to build my second one and it was never accepted by Google.

If somebody can solve the Google News mystery and get sites accepted, that person will make quite a bit of money. However, I am not willing to be the person to make that effort.

Hope this helps.

Being the publisher of a Google News site is probably worse than having a J.O.B. You have to work at it every day, and on the slightest whim, GN will pull the tug out from under you.

I had a site that got de-listed for SPAM. WTF. We had at least nine writers, plus myself doing management stuff. The writers had a category to write on but we didn't tell them what to write about. Every day we published their articles and then we got the letter telling us we were spammers. I can't even figure out how that was possible, but who can figure out Google anyway.

We decided to just chuck it in as the work wasn't worth the payout, in our opinion.

You have received some good advice above from "both sides of the fence" and it is impossible to give you a definitive response - one that you want that is.

Google used to take upto 2 months to accept a site as a GN site - I know from others it can take a lot longer now.

There are threads on Google that are filled with queries from people wanting to get their sites accepted. It can be very frustrating to say the least.

It's true Google News sites can and do make a lot of cash - but there are also other ways to monetise a news site.

It's no wonder people are willing to purchase a profitable news site, but even when a GN site is sold on Flippa using the "Hidden URL" option that is no guarantee that the new owner will make any cash, because as soon as the big G notices that the adsense publisher ID number has changed, they will most probably de-list the site as a GN site and goodbye earnings. All that's left is a saddened buyer who paid a small fortune for a site that suddenly makes zilch.

You could follow quite a few of the tips given you above - but to throw away your investment would be an expensive lesson. Don't you think?

It is your call how you proceed - but you could for example add products to the text of your articles. Maybe CPA offers.

I have 2 news sites that I have had for about 12 months now and I have done nothing with them except build them up with content - I might sell them as is and emphasise their potential and any new owner could do with them as they chose to. Time will tell.

But - your site is relatively new and G does as it pleases.

Before ditching your site, which I wouldn't recommend you do, give it some thought 'cos you are already on the road to making it profitable in some way.

You have done a lot of the groundwork - just do a bit more and flip it or keep it.

Good luck!