Does AdSense help make your blog money?

I read a lot of blogs; probably too many. But I mainly read posts via an RSS reader and not on the site directly. Every so often I click through to the site to read more posts by an author or to see what other things they have to offer. I almost always notice AdSense ads all over the place. At the top of every page; in the post body; on the side bar; on the comments page; and some souls even try and put ads in their RSS feeds.

Do you actually click the AdSense links and purchase any of the offerings? I've heard old tales of people making thousands even hundredsof thousands of dollars with AdSens. I don't think any of it's true, or at least not close. So if the reality is no one is making money with AdSense, why do so many web sites host the ads?

Take for instance 43Folders. I love reading Merlin's content. I'm not a Mac fan but I love the way he writes and he always posts relevant content regardless of my operating systems. In fact, I probably read his site the most. A few months ago he caused an uproar on his site by telling his readers he was trying new layouts for ads to help offset his costs. It was somewhat humorous to see how people reacted. I didn't care myself since I almost always read 43Folders posts via RSS. So far I don't know if he's making any money, but for the effortI sure hope he is.

I have an AdSense account, and I have attempted in the past to use those ads on various pages of my website. I've made to date $0.00. Now, I sort of laugh as I'm typing this knowing that there is more to AdSense than just putting some code on a page and hope someone clicks through. But, if your intent is to make a few dollars to offset the cost of your site then why not just have a donation button linked to a PayPal account? I mean, I'd give Merlin $5 to help stay in business.

I think the amount of moneypeople make from AdSens is supposed to remain secret. So, unless someone is breaking the rules, no one should really know how much is made, but I really have a hard time thinking it's enough to make a living. I could be wrong though.