I started with the same sort of thing (Front Page, even) and moved to WordPress. Have done quite well with that. And I use a free plugin called Ad Rotate to serve the AdSense (and other ads) Between that and another plugin called Dynamic Widgets, I can pretty much customize anything to any page or set of pages.

Wordpress. It is "easier" and takes less time to get things done. WP would be one of my last choices but take the time factor.

Think into the future and consider moving into other solutions. I would go into Drupal but it would take a lot of time. Drupal requires time and effort to get things done.

WP is good, in my case it is just my personal taste. Good luck.

Two things I don't like about wordpress.
1: They all have that same feel about them, and lose individuality.
2: They scream "hack me"

They don't have to look like WordPress (some of mine don't) and anything can be hacked if it's not made secure. And you can make WordPress secure.

They don't have to look like WordPress

Correct, the don't have to, but a lot do.

and anything can be hacked if it's not made secure.

And WP is less secure than most.

And you can make WordPress secure.

Yes, but the average joe doesn't know that. They sign up to something, thinking it is already secure. And who wouldn't?

And WP is less secure than most.

Just curious what you're basing this statement on? Is WP really less secure by itself or is it how it's setup (Plugins) and where it's hosted (Shared) that makes it less secure?

Wordpress all the way. Agree with Netmeg.

Just curious what you're basing this statement on? Is WP really less secure by itself or is it how it's setup (Plugins) and where it's hosted (Shared) that makes it less secure?

Just Google "wordpress hacking issues"

Google anything with hacking issues. WordPress is no worse than Drupal or Joomla (probably better) or a variety of ecommerce packages.

Just Google "wordpress hacking issues"

Thanks. Figured this was just an opinion on your part but thought I'd ask anyway in case you actually had some objective data to reference.

Google anything with hacking issues. WordPress is no worse than Drupal or Joomla (probably better) or a variety of ecommerce packages.

When I hear that someone's site has been hacked, 99% of the time it is either a php site, or a wordpress site. I don't hear the same with html sites.

Since the end of 2004, the US National Vulnerability Database has recorded 389 types of WordPress issues and vulnerabilities

While WordPress has been continuously releasing new versions that loop up the security holes, its popularity as a blogging platform has always prompted hackers to come up with new measures to hack information

WordPress is a database backed platform that is based on PHP scripts, which makes it vulnerable to SQL injection attacks.

[websitedefender.com...]

It's just that evolutionary thing between popular software & exploiters of it. Lots of history of exploits but also lots of security and patching added over time. WP isn't special in this regard IMHO.

WordPress! There are some very talented WP designers if you don't want to spend the time learning how to customize your site.

I'd go with Wordpress with a professional template and a good selection of plugins. www.studiopress.com and www.themeforest.net have excellent templates that don't look like "wordpress" sites.

Just be sure to always keep up to date with version updates. New versions of Wordpress can update with just a click of the mouse.

I don't hear the same with html sites.

Still vulnerable via installed hosting software and on a shared server the software installed on other sites.

I agree with netmeg that all publishing solutions are vulnerable to hacking as long as they are not kept up to date. Keep your installation up to date and FTP using a secure connection and you dramatically lower the odds of having to deal with getting hacked.
Regardless, HTML is not an option. The OP is looking for a CMS option that works well with AdSense. It's established that all CMS are vulnerable if left unpatched. ;)

I like that there is a large WordPress ecosystem behind it building plugins, themes, and contributing to the knowledge base of how to get things done with it. As far as it being Google Friendly, Matt Cutts uses it with the Thesis Theme.

The Thesis theme is a good add-on to WordPress, and is reasonably easy to customize. I'm not saying Thesis is the best, just relating my experience with it. I am currently looking into other professionally designed themes apart from Thesis.

Yah, I've used Thesis, currently using Genesis - they're both good, and there are a lot of resources available.

If you're looking for a blog system that's written with security in mind, take a look at serendipity (s9y)
I've run a few copie of it in the past, it was quite doable to customize the themes etc.

Unfortunately, I've never tried to integrate it with Adsense so I can't speak on that. But given that they themselves run adsense ads, it isn't going to be all that impossible.
It does have a plug in system called spartacus.

But as far as security goes: serendipity scores way better and has seen quite some scrutiny from a.o. Stefan Esser during his month of php security "event".

Refs:
- [s9y.org...]
- [spartacus.s9y.org...]