I don't mean to be rude Nick, but I think a little fact checking is needed here. Google's minimum limit for cashing adsense has been $100 since at least early August (when I signed up), and here's a link to a story referencing the $100 minimum from back in April.

http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2006-04-25-n77.html

If your tipster thinks ~8 months equals "now", then that doesn't say very much about his/her hypothesis and outlandish statement about the long tail now does it? After a 15 minute search, I can't find anything about Adsense's minimum being anything other than $100 online, either.

Before you rush to promote your own personal views on matters like the long tail, maybe it would be wise to see whether the facts justify them, eh?

You said it Conrad. Apparently Denton, the publisher of a major blog network, is too busy making up lies about other people to check the simple facts. More troubling, how could he not know some of the basic premises of Adsense in the first place? Embarrassing. That $100 minimum has been there forever.

I should know, Blottered still has broken $30. C'mon folks, get in there and do some clicking for me. Let justice be done, though the pageviews fall.

Krucoff, for the record, these were Google ads on your site just now:

Buy- Stun Guns
Are You Romantic?
Pepper Spray Stops Rape
Advanced Taser M-18

I'm wondering how you got $30 to begin with.

The $100 minimum has not been there "forever." A friend of mine received a $50 check from Google for her site this summer. Whether it was August or yesterday doesn't change the fact that Google AdSense has been raising the minimum at an exponential rate.

Sorry Delirious, you might want to spend one minute and investigate a little further. Read here and here.

Did your friend terminate the agreement?

Payment. You shall receive a payment related to the number of valid clicks on Ads, valid impressions of Ads, and/or valid completions of Referral Events initiated through Referral Buttons displayed in connection with Your Site(s), in each case as determined by Google for its participants in the Program. If You have elected to receive Search Results, this payment will be offset by fees applicable to Search Results. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in writing (including by electronic mail), payments to You shall be sent by Google within approximately thirty (30) days after the end of each calendar month that Ads or Referral Buttons are running on Your Site or that Ads are running on Search Results Pages if Your earned balance is $100 or more. In the event the Agreement is terminated, Google shall pay Your earned balance to You within approximately ninety (90) days after the end of the calendar month in which the Agreement is terminated by You (following Google's receipt of Your written request, including by email, to terminate the Agreement) or by Google. In no event, however, shall Google make payments for any earned balance less than $10.

If any of you are worried sick about that last marginal payment from Google AdSense, for a going web concern, you have more important things to worry about than picking the nit...

Penny wise, pound foolish...

With all due respect, I think this post reveals a bit of ignorance about what the Long Tail Theory is all about. The Long Tail does not completely rewrite the rules of economics. If you sell something (widgets, content, ads, etc.) people want then they will pay for it. The Long Tail is no guarantee that a tiny independent niche producer will be able to make a living, it simply suggests that it's easier for people to consume niche content and all the niches collectively add up to more than the big hits.

But don't take my word for it, read the words of the man himself.