Xbox Live Rehash
Well, I never received a call back from Microsoft in regards to my Xbox Live Gold account being banned from using a credit card. Therefore I simply went out, bought a prepaid card, and went about my business.
Also, celebrating finally getting my account back, I rented an HD video off of the site. No review just yet, but I can tell you I was downloading on a 10MB line for 6hrs and was only about half way done. I know I wasn’t downloading at max speed, since the file size was only 6gb, it shouldn’t take that long.
sNews Blues sNews Template
I’ve been busy working again on a new template for sNews. This new template is 760px wide and exhibits all the simple necessities, except with a unique Adsense ad from adClustr in the right navigation. Like all the templates and themes I release sNews Blues is free to download and use but footer links must be left in place.
Download sNews Blues: Click Here
Thanks again to those at Solucija for such a great free script.
Baby Got A New Pair of Shoes
Yesterday and today has been absolutely beautiful, really one of the nicest weekend yet for 07. I like to spend the majority of my time away from the computer, so this weekend was spent working on my project car, Tang. Not only did I get her tuned up, but I also bought her some new rims and tires.
And one last picture featuring the proud father.
Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to get it Dyno Tuned next week so that I can get some reliability out of it. As it stands right now it will either die on ya or rip the pavement out of the ground, no real middle ground. 
SimpleNails IndexScript Template
On occasions I like to express my creativity via PhotoShop and what normally comes out is a steaming pile of web fecal matter. However, at times I figure someone might be interested in what I’ve done and use it, look at it, comment on it, or whatever.
For your entertainment I introduce SimpleNails a slightly modified version of the original IndexScript skin.
Download IndexScript Simple Nails Theme: Here
Simple Nails Indexscript Theme is free to download and use as long as the footer links are left in place. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me and I hope someone may use or enjoy this template, feedback is always welcome.
AuctionAds.com Communication Problems
Could someone please point me in the direction of where to contact AuctionAds.com, because I used their contact page last week, still without a response. A few days later, without response, I headed over to ShoeMoney’s Forums, to see if I could get an answer there.
Still no answer.
Frustrated, I did something I never do, post a comment off topic in their official blog, to try and solicit a response. No such luck there either, I guess they don’t read the comments to their own blog posts.
With eBay ACRU tracking being corrupted, how much and how long we don’t know, and no response from AuctionAds, I’m beginning to doubt my monthly PayPal dispersal. Any response would help put my mind at ease, but apparently, as a publisher, I rank right above a ‘nappy headed ho’.
Xbox Live Gold Cancelled, Credit Card Banned
I’m a gamer, I own an Xbox 360, and gosh dang’t I play on Xbox Live. I’ve enjoyed uninterrupted service for the past 3-4 years, until today. Long story short, don’t let your Credit Card on file expire, now read below for the long story.
1 week ago I received a letter in the mail stating that my Xbox Live Gold membership was about to be suspended because my credit card on file had expired. The letter suggested I update my payment profile through the console Live Dashboard or call a 800 number. My first attempt was a few days later via the dashboard…
First simply updating the expiration on my credit card failed, with an ambiguous message I might add. I couldn’t tell by the message if my credit card had been declined or if it simply wasn’t connecting to the server to run a check. Taking on screen suggestions I tried adding a completely different card, same problem.
Second I tried getting online and updating my account information via billing.microsoft.com, again greeted with the same ambiguous message. As a last resort I finally called the Xbox Live customer support line.(which is apparently a term they use very loosely -nails)
Surprisingly I was able to get through to a human being within a relatively short amount of time, let’s just say 3 mins of automated routing. Happy to be in touch with human, I figured my problem would be solved quickly, I figured wrong. After answering a number of questions I came to the realization the individual was trying to update my information the same way I had on my dashboard and he offered no other explanation.
“Get me the supervisor!”
Supervisor goes through the same song and dance, getting the same error I had received, yet with no explanation.
The 1 hour on the phone mark passed.
“Have someone call me back once this is fixed!”
After holding 1 more minute the rep came back to inform me that my account had been blocked from using any credit card. This was all due to the fact that my original credit card, which had been used for 3 years, expired. Instead of simply suspending my account until I updated, my account was blocked, locked, and my 1700 MS points were left to rott.
I’m waiting for a call back within the next 2 days to find out if they were able to recover my account. As of now it’s up in the air, as the supervisor had no words of optimism of my reclaiming my original gamer tag. Oh well, I wanted a reason to purchase a PS3 anyway.
/end long story….for now.
Follow-Up Ebay Bonus?
In regards to my previous post, it looks like the eBay tracking of ACRU’s is still botched, but a bonus may be headed our way.
Dear Christopher ********:
The eBay US team is working on solving the tracking issue that began on Saturday April 7. We apologize for the inconvenience caused. As the issue affects partially your ACRU and RevShare performance, the eBay US affiliate team will calculate a bonus to make up for the transactions. We will update you as soon as we have more information.
Thank you for your continued support of the program.
The eBay.com affiliate team
Still no word if it’s fixed, still no word from AuctionAds.com and how this effects my referrals from them, and damn’t if I can’t get returned messages for any support issues anywhere else. Perhaps my biggest problem with submitting support tickets is that I’m polite…
Out desperation to get a response from AuctionAds.com I ended up leaving a post over on ShoeMoney’s forum. It seems that every new start-up as of late has been crippled by Publisher Support Issues, much like v7n’s link program. pfft, i’m done being an early adopter.
Ebay Affiliate Program Botched?
Yesterday evening I received a disturbing email, which got me wondering just how secure my earnings in any affiliate program really were. This email was sent through CommissionJunction.com and not directly from Ebay.
Dear Christopher ********:
The eBay US affiliate program is experiencing a tracking issue that began on Saturday April 7, and may partially affect your ACRU and RevShare performance. We expect to have this issue resolved shortly. We will update you as soon as we have more information.
Thank you for your continued support of the program.
The eBay.com affiliate team
Essentially, this means that for the past 4-5 days my referrals could either be up or down. I’m not a big player by any means, but a few hundred dollars a month is enough to make me wince when I see an communicator such as this. Also, taking this a bit further, how has this tracking issue with the ebay affiliate program affected AuctionAds.com?
There has been no word from AuctionAds end, yet I don’t quite understand how this referral tracking issue could only affect me. Will Ebay Affiliate Publishers be owing money or will they be getting a fat check in the near future? My money is on the fact that any referrals lost, are just that, lost.
In the past 2 days I’ve served AuctionAds over 3,800 impressions, with more than 130 clicks, and earned just enough to receive payout. When the Ebay tracking issue is resolved, in any way, will AuctionAds be repsonsible for going back through Paypal and making adjustments with it’s publishers? This tracking issue obviously does not effect everyone, but I’ll be interested to see how it takes a toll on this new startup.
AuctionAds on Buy-Wii
Today I took the initiative to setup AucitonAds.com code on my Buy-Wii.net site. According to the reviews it’s possible to earn more through their eBay affiliate program, than through Commission Junction. I did pretty well through CJ’s program, so figured I owe it to myself to give them a shot.
I get between 1,000-1,500 impressions per day on my Wii site, so we’ll see how it converts. I have to admit, I like the layout, and it absolutely wreaks of Amazon, which is a good thing.
My Ads By Google Has Changed
I’ve noticed off and on for the past couple months that sporadically my ads format changed, at least in regards to the Ads By Google part. It would change from normal text, the same as the ad itself only a different size, to Google’s own stylized logo.
As of this afternoon the ads on all of my sites have been showing the stylized Ads by Google logo. This has been apparent for me on every refresh for all my 468×60, Leader Board, and Sky Scrapers which were not set for image only.
For now I like it, we’ll see how it affects my CTR.
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