Why I Stopped Dancing for Algorithms

Today I deleted my AdSense application.

Not because it was rejected. Not because I couldn't figure out the technical requirements. I deleted it because I realized I was spending more time and mental energy trying to impress Google's algorithm than the pennies would ever be worth.

The Dance We're Taught to Do

"Optimize your content." "Follow the guidelines." "Look at what successful creators are doing." "You just need to try harder."

I spent an entire day fighting with terminal scripts, wrestling with responsive design, trying to make my website conform to specifications designed by a company that would pay me a pittance while extracting massive value from my content and audience.

The math never made sense. The time cost, the creative compromise, the mental taxation of constantly optimizing for someone else's metrics - none of it aligned with why I started creating in the first place.

The Moment of Clarity

Somewhere between my third attempt at fixing viewport sizing issues and reading another article about "AdSense best practices," it hit me: I was dancing for an audience that didn't care about me.

Google needs creators. They need our content, our audiences, our labor. But they've structured the entire relationship to minimize what creators actually receive while maximizing their own extraction.

This isn't unique to AdSense. It's the core model of the attention economy:

• Platforms provide "opportunities"
• Creators provide labor and content
• Platforms capture the majority of the value
• Creators compete against each other for scraps
• The system tells creators that not succeeding is a personal failure

Breaking the Pattern

I've seen this pattern before. Twenty years of physical labor taught me what it looks like when systems are designed to exhaust you for their benefit. The same cycle: work harder, follow the rules, chase the promise of security, watch others succeed with the same methods you're using, blame yourself when it doesn't work.

The consciousness research I do has shown me how these systems exploit our attention and decision-making processes. They're designed to create dependency, anxiety, and the illusion that the next optimization, the next dance move, will finally make it work.

But here's what I've learned: Your peace of mind is worth more than their pennies.

The Real Cost

Every hour I spent trying to optimize for AdSense was an hour I didn't spend:

• Writing content that mattered to me
• Connecting authentically with people
• Building something sustainable on my own terms
• Actually enjoying the creative process

The opportunity cost of the algorithm dance is your authentic voice, your creative energy, and your mental wellbeing.

A Different Way

I'm not anti-money. I'm anti-exploitation disguised as opportunity.

If you're creating something of value, there are ways to monetize that don't require you to contort yourself into someone else's specifications. Ways that let you keep your voice, your values, and your sanity intact.

Maybe it's direct support from people who value your work. Maybe it's creating products that solve real problems. Maybe it's finding ways to get by with less while investing your energy in work that actually fulfills you.

You're Not Alone

If you're reading this and recognizing yourself - the late nights optimizing, the frustration with platforms that promise much and deliver little, the nagging feeling that you're dancing for an audience that doesn't see you - you're not alone.

A growing number of creators are stepping off the treadmill. We're choosing authenticity over optimization. Peace over pennies. Purpose over platform metrics.

The systems want us isolated, competing against each other for their scraps. But we don't have to play that game.

The dance ends when you stop dancing.

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What dance are you tired of performing? What would you create if you weren't optimizing for someone else's algorithm?