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Showing posts with label monetization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monetization. Show all posts
Bringing the Ads Back
When I decided last month to stop running ads on Life User, the decision was based on two assumptions that turned out to be wrong.
Good news on ads: Category Filter
I'm pleased to announce that Google AdSense has just extended the Category Filter to me. It's still in beta, but at Google a lot of things are "in beta" for years even when they work almost perfectly.
A Category Filter from a major player such as Google is the first step toward cleaning up the online ad industry as a whole. Granted, it will take a while for Google to refine the filter, for webmasters to become aware of it and for certain webmasters' audiences to pressure them into using it. Still, I think by the end of 2010, ads for dangerous or useless products and services will be the exception rather than the rule, Web-wide.
A Category Filter from a major player such as Google is the first step toward cleaning up the online ad industry as a whole. Granted, it will take a while for Google to refine the filter, for webmasters to become aware of it and for certain webmasters' audiences to pressure them into using it. Still, I think by the end of 2010, ads for dangerous or useless products and services will be the exception rather than the rule, Web-wide.
Disclosure of financial interests (update 12/31/09)
Investment ads: an open letter to Google
It's good that unlike Bing, Google takes sufficient precautions to prevent illegal pharmacies from advertising with AdWords/AdSense. However, I think I speak for all webmasters who care about visitor loyalty, and most web surfers, when I say that AdSense ads would be much more relevant and much less tempting to block if the same high standard were applied to ads for investment advice and investment tools.
Hiding 1x1 Images in Blogger
Bloggers such as myself who are in the Amazon Associates
program use invisible 1x1 images to keep track of how popular our links are. But Blogger's style sheets put padding around all images by default, creating an ugly space. I had trouble fixing this, but I finally found a way.
program use invisible 1x1 images to keep track of how popular our links are. But Blogger's style sheets put padding around all images by default, creating an ugly space. I had trouble fixing this, but I finally found a way.
Ad Quality Control
(Update Sept. 16 2009: Now that I can and do use AdSense's Category Filter, the situation outlined below has improved.)
One of the things I'm looking forward to about my own blog, compared to Associated Content or Bukisa, is having some control over the quality of ads that run alongside my posts.
One of the things I'm looking forward to about my own blog, compared to Associated Content or Bukisa, is having some control over the quality of ads that run alongside my posts.
The Problem
On AC and Bukisa, a lot of the ads are for weight loss advice that's unhealthy and ineffective compared to what you can get for free from government websites or your local library. Sometimes the site will peddle not just advice but also dangerous drugs (or, at best, placebos that will keep people from seeking out real treatment).
Goodbye Associated Content and Bukisa, Hello Blogger!
(All figures in this post are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.)
Not everyone who can write well can make a living on Associated Content and Bukisa.
That's been the message of my seven months' experience writing online and attempting in vain to earn something approaching my local minimum wage (CAD$9.50/hour, US$8.72/hour at the time of writing) doing so.
Not everyone who can write well can make a living on Associated Content and Bukisa.
That's been the message of my seven months' experience writing online and attempting in vain to earn something approaching my local minimum wage (CAD$9.50/hour, US$8.72/hour at the time of writing) doing so.
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