The main way of earning revenue with AdSense is by displaying Google ads on your site.
With AdSense for content, these ads you display on your site can be either cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand-impression (CPM) ads. For CPC ads, you'll generate earnings when your users click on the ads. For CPM ads, you'll generate earnings every time the ad appears to a user viewing your site.
You can also generate earnings while enabling your users to search your site and the web. Learn about earning with AdSense for search.