Is free Google ads a scam?

Answer 1

Yes but the only way to earn money through Google is by using Google Adsense, and by sticking to their rules, and creating a great website with great original content, and a lot of visitors to it.

So, Adsense can make you money, but it takes time. The "get-rich-overnight-with-adsense" schemes are scam

Answer 2

I can only speak from my own experience. First, you place an ad. Then you bid on the key words that will hopefully lead someone to your ad. I put almost all my bids at less than a dollar - mostly in the $0.20 to $0.70 range. Every time I start getting a lot of hits, I am suddenly informed by Google that my $0.60 bid (for instance) for a particular ad is no longer good enough for a first page position. I now have to pay up to $14.00 per click!! I don't. Then I typically pause my ads for about a week and then start all over with new ads. No problem... until I start getting a fair number of hits, then I am once again informed that I must increase my bids to the $3.50 per click to $14.00 per click range. If you don't, you're suddenly getting hardly any hits at all just within a 24 hr period, whereas two days before you were getting a good number of hits at the lower bids. Of course, they have all kinds of explanations, but do not let the fact of what is happening get swept under the rug. Are Google ads worth it? Probably... in the beginning. But once you start getting a fair number of hits, expect them to put the squeeze on you.