If you’re talking about Google’s Adsense program, then yes, people make money off of it. Not many make a living off of it, though. It usually provides just enough to pay the server bill each month. The thing is, once it gets to the point at which you’re really making money, you’re better off cutting out Google as the middle-man, and getting ads yourself.

AdSense works like this: You have a website. You go to google and apply to have them put adds on it. You get a cut (undisclosed percentage, but most peg that at between 30-50% of the actual revenue) of the revenue from the ad. This is how Google makes a living as well.

Your site needs a good deal of traffic for this to turn a profit, since it relies on people actually clicking on the ads. Also, you can’t cheat Google…don’t even try. This is why so many of those scams I mentioned fail. They suggest moronic techniques such as keyword spamming and clicking your own link. Fun Fact: If you even so much as ASK your VISITORS to click on a Google ad, you’re account will be nixed. You cannot manipulate it, and if you try, you get burned. This isn’t some rinky-dink operation here, it’s Google…god of the Internet.