Blogging is many things to many people. It’s the main way web pages are created on the internet these days. Due to all the non-technical, user-friendly free blogging software available, you don’t need to know how to code web pages, so anyone can start a blog. And they do.

If you have lots of time on your hands between job interviews, you may think this is the time to start a blog. You may have read all about how much money you can make by posting ads on your blog, and decide it can’t hurt to try. In reality, you need time to build a readership and ad revenue can be extremely low.

Did you know that earning even paltry amounts of money can jeopardize your unemployment benefits? I read about this in a Forbes article, documenting the trials and tribulations of a laid off New York attorney. New York State Department of Labor recently took her benefits for earning $1.30/day in blog advertising revenue (the blog was not related to legal issues, incidentally) via the Google AdSense program.

The blogger in question decided to post AdSense ads from Google on her blog to earn extra income. Google doesn’t send checks out until at least $100 in revenue is earned, something that took our laid-off attorney three months to achieve.

It doesn’t pay to be honest. When the check from Google came in, our blogger realized she had a legal obligation to disclose the income to New York State, even though doing so might reduce the weekly unemployment benefits she received. According to state regulations, anyone receiving unemployment benefits who works one day and earns less than $405 will have his check for the week reduced by 25%. Someone who earns more than $405 in a single week becomes ineligible for any payments for that week.

Apparently, NY Department of Labor had a tough time categorizing her income and how it would affect her benefits. First it sent her forms to pass on to Google as to fill out as her employer. Further calls to clarify the issue resulted in another government agent telling her the income was residual and wouldn’t count against her benefits; still another told her she was now classified as self employed and the matter would have to be investigated.

Of course, once the investigation began, her benefits were cut off. As of this writing, the issue has yet to be resolved. Meanwhile, the AdSense ads have been pulled from her website.

How many of you out there are trying to make ends meet by running an at-home internet business while unemployed? Have you encountered any conflicts? Tell us by leaving a comment!

Related posts:

1. Bad Credit + Hunger + Unemployment = Recession The blog title sounds like a simple mathematical problem, but...
2. What’s in the Stimulus Package? The New York Times published an article on Monday Feb...
3. Making Money Using the Internet Sounds promising, doesn’t it? With all the folks out of...
4. What Exactly is in the New Economic Stimulus Plan – Part 2 Continued from yesterday, we are going over exactly what is...
5. Bankruptcy Filings Surge Amid Rising Unemployment It is more bad news for the United States economy,...