Let me get this out of the way, I do NOT have the end all answer to monetizing search traffic that originates from Google Image Search.  Traditionally image search traffic does not convert well and requires different methods of monetization than content search traffic.  I've done a lot of looking around the guru sites and no one seems to have a solid answer on what works best for monetizing a website that depends on image searches for their visitors.

BritePic looks like a good place to start and will require some more testing before I'm convinced it's not actually causing a higher bounce rate.  The problem is that my visitors are viewing my website through Google's frames, which hides the majority of my site.  I've tried the script that breaks Google's Image Search frame, but had negative results after a few months, meaning lower image search numbers.  I'd rather keep my non converting traffic and find another way to monetize.

Back to BritePic's issues.  I'm not convinced that BritePic script images are searchable and hold as much weight as a normal image post would.  Therefore I wouldn't be bringing in the traffic to monetize against anyway.  Lastly, my visitors are more likely to view the enlarged image than just hover over the medium sized image on my blog.  Angered visitors, visitors lost, still no monetary gain from image search traffic.

In conclusion, I feel the only way to properly monetize image search traffic is with better affiliate banner and text ad placement.  This comes with it's own set of problems, like how much blending is too much, and is Google going to be upset about where you place the block of ads.  They tend to frown upon a large block above an image and directly below your post title.  I believe they want more content next to the ad, rather than a simple block next to a block which can potentially confuse a visitor into a click.

So far, it looks like Adsense still converts the best with Image Search traffic, but requires placement above the image, but around actual content.  I failed miserably when trying to place Chitika Ads at the top of a blog post, which has no qualms about where it's placed in relation to post title and image.  Chitika Premium ads still look like they convert the best at the bottom of a post, for whatever reason.

More testing is required, but I wanted to get this quick post out, which harbors some of my thoughts and issues.  I'm sure there is a quality solution to monetizing Google Image Search traffic and it may be the next big thing.

Google Chrome has refused to open gMail for the past few weeks, however loading in basic html has solved the problem.  This is not my ideal fix and frankly frustrating since Chrome was built by the same folks over at Google who created gMail.  Why can't your products just work together?  Well, they should, so I immediately started blaming my new Chrome extensions, like Google Mail Checker.

After disabling, uninstalling, and generally tweaking I decided that the gMail Checker extension for Chrome was not the culprit.  The problem can best be described as some sort of loop issue when gMail loads, causing the load screen to stick.  This problem can be solved by clearing Chrome's cache.

To clear Chrome's cache:

1. Left click the Tools drop down menu. (The Tools drop down menu is indicated by a wrench icon in the top right corner of your browser.)
2. Select Options.
3. Select the Personal tab.
4. Under Browsing Data, select Clear browsing data...
5. Select the Cache check box.
6. Select Everything, from the drop down menu.
7. Finally click the Clear Browsing Data button.

After following these steps I've been able to successfully open gMail in my Chrome browser.  I've also been able to use the gMail Checker extension, without causing any issues.  Hope this helps your problem as well.

One of my largest pet peeves with using Google Chrome in the work place was that there was not an option to allow popups from a webpage.  Each time there was a popup you would have to manually allow it, instead of setting a rule that allowed all popups from a single website.  Apparently I wasn't the only one and now the latest stable version of Chrome allows for this rule to be set.

How to allow popups in Google chrome.

Allow pop-ups

Sometimes you don't want pop-ups to ever be blocked for a certain site. If that's the case, follow these steps to allow pop-ups:

1. Visit the site where you want pop-ups to always appear.
2. Click the Pop-ups Blocked alert at the bottom right-hand corner of the browser tab.
3. Select Always show pop-ups from (site).

If you want to change this setting for the site at a later point, follow these steps:

1. Visit the site again.
2. Click the Manage pop-ups alert at the bottom right-hand corner of the browser tab.
3. Deselect Always show pop-ups from (site).

Now Chrome becomes  a viable alternative in my work place, where popups are required to view pdf's.  Thanks to the development team Chrome is becoming better and better every day, even now allowing for plugins and addons.  I forsee a day when Chrome gives FireFox a run for it's money, I just hope it doesn't cause hard feelings.

Honeymoon is over PJN, time to start offering as many linking options as CJ in regards to the advertisers you carry.  I still stand behind my statements that the Pepperjam Network is one of the best online, but they are only as good as the tools they offer.  From where I'm setting, Pepperjam Ads just isn't cutting the mustard.  Lastly, for the life of me I can't get Pepperjam Store to convert, so what does work?

Currently on my automotive website I'm taking a much more proactive approach at attracting visitors for very specific products.  AutoPartsWarehouse.com seems to have plenty of products that can turn into a virtually endless amount of content for me to write about, but how best to link to what I'm trying to sell?  With Pepperjam my options are limited to banners, coupons, and some text links, however Commission Junction offers some fantastic Advanced Link options.

Specifically within AutoPartsWarehouse.com link catalog on CJ you are able to create interactive product searches.  More importantly there are figures published on CJ that prove these types of linking strategies work.  So why hasn't PJN offered these advanced links yet?  Is it a problem with Pepperjam or with the individuals in charge of AutoPartsWarehouse.com's affiliate program?

It has been a dry year so far in 2010, at least with my revenue stream.  Only thing I can come up with is that people have went on lock down with their typical spending patterns, now that the holidays are over.  Or, perhaps, I've been targeting the wrong products and niche for New Years resolutions. When all reality, I didn't plan for the New Year at all, lesson learned.

In previous years I had niches that were under high demand, year round, but this year I'm not so fortunate.  My websites have remained constant with their visitors and actual statistics, unfortunately the buying has dropped off dramatically.  So it got me thinking about the next holiday coming up and how I can better prepare for what consumers will be after.  I just hope I'm not too late to the game because I've been setting on my laurels.

I've spent some time discussing the virtues of using Chitika ads next to Google Adsense, but my latest experiment has left me looking for lost revenue.  In this experiment I placed Chitika Ads in my highest click-through location, where I used to keep Adsense ads, directly below my post title.  The result was surprising to say the least.

My impressions dropped by almost half and my clicks fell even further.  I can honestly offer up no reasonable explanation as to why Chitika would fail so miserably in prime realestate.  Keep in mind that I removed Adsense completely from the equation, which would lend Chitika to receiving even more clicks.  What happened?

The lack of impressions I can't explain, considering statistics for my site remained virtually unchanged, in regards to search visitors.  But perhaps, looking at the CTR, the reason is because Chitika Premium Ads look like ads.  Cheesy I know, but Adsense does a phenomenal job at blending in with content and looking natural.  I think that my visitors liked the natural look rather than the picture next to an ad trick.

It will take more testing to know for sure, but lets just say for now I've moved Chitika back down to the bottom of the page.  Time will tell if Chitika will ever warrant the #1 paying spot on my automotive website.

I'm not sure if a new inspection crew started working for Google Adsense late last year, but it looks like my websites are getting more attention than they used to.  My guess is that my increase in traffic, coupled with high click throughs, raised some sort of a flag.  At the end of last year I was notified by Google to remove the large square text ad from the top of my blog posts on my automotive blog.  Adsense was disabled on my domain until I complied.

Thankfully the people that I had contact with at Adsense were understanding, gave some direction, and allowed me to fix the problem instead of banning me.  Apparently, the large square at the top of posts blended too well with my content.  In my opinion nothing was blended, it was applied almost exactly like it is on Blogspot blogs, only on top of posts, rather at the bottom, or mixed in with the next post.

Nevertheless, I have learned over the years not to argue with the hand that feeds.  So, after complying with their requests, within 48 hours Adsense was again running on my site.  Currently my clicks have dropped considerably and revenue in tow.  I'm hoping to come up with an different ad placement that garners as much attention as previously or perhaps use a diff type of ad in the old location.  This will take some testing and the patience of my regular readers of the automotive site.

Happy New Year everyone!  The end of 2009 was absolutely wicked crazy and had me busy working out offline duties, rather than monetizing my websites and updating my friends to what I've been up to.  So, see below for a recap of what the last half of December 2009 had me doing.

• Preparing for family vacation to Disney World with my 2 year old.
• Lots of Christmas decorating and preparation.
• 9-5 Job
• Admittedly playing too much WoW.
• Netflix, the new streaming option has me hooked on actually getting to watch LOST.

So, now that things have slowed up a bit I plan on getting back to work.  Expect laundry list of updates to The-Grayline.com automotive blog, some money making ideas here on NailsBlog.com, and some development on my non-linked ecommerce sites.  This cold weather makes my fingers cold and typing slow, but that doesn't mean I'm not trolling around the forums.