Chitika Premium Failuires With YPN

Posted on May 6, 2010 by cldnails

Chitika has skipped over the downward spiral and jumped right off the back of the slide. I’ve been using Chitika for 1 year this month and never before have I seen such a drastic change in policy, earnings, impressions, and general contempt from support in dealing with issues. On April 28, 2010 my Chitika Premium impressions dropped from an average of 2,700 per day to just 3. You can guess what my earnings have done.

Domain Review and Approval

It all started when Chitika announced that they were taking on advertisers from the Yahoo Publisher Network, which then required all domains to be approved and reviewed. This review process went above and beyond previous requirements to be a Chitika Premium publisher, although no guidelines have been published or responded to in support tickets.

In addition, even though I had already received Premium ad approval on 2 of my domains, the system now required me to submit every domain Chitika ads would be shown on. This change in policy was ushered in via email and an automatic sign up to Chitika Select , which promised increased impressions and revenue. Review of a publishers domains were not supposed to take more than 3 weeks, however that was more than 5 weeks ago and my domains have still not been reviewed.

Generic Responses To Drop In Impressions and Revenue

The worst part about this whole ordeal is the actual feedback and responses I’m getting form the Chitika team. Originally in May of 2009 when I signed up with them, the support team was outgoing, easy to contact, and offered plenty of advice to get going and maximize my earnings. However, lately it takes longer to get a response and even then most are canned copy and paste explanations that never really address my questions.

My last support ticket with them took 4 different replies before I could get anything close to an actual response from a real person. Even after this, I was still left with more questions than answers, most dealing with what kind of guidelines are set for a domain to be approved for Chitika Premium.

Good Enough For Testimonial But Not For Chitika Premium

Another downfall with the latest changes going on at Chitika, which are closer relating to the eBay Partner Network, are that their testimonial pages are filled with publishers who used the old Chitika system. One of the testimonials proudly displayed on their testimonial review page is one of my own, which is a far cry from how I feel now about the company and Ad network. I’ve requested my testimonial removed, since its not an accurate representation of how I feel about Chitika anymore and I would encourage others to do the same.

It’s disappointing after a year of publishing for Chitika that now I’m thrown to the curb, without so much as an explanation. Looking back I’m embarrassed at all the people I referred to Chitika and glorified the program as the next step in online advertising and earning potential for publishers. Shame on you Chitika.

Conversion Failing of Their Own Design

It’s no secret that the success of Chitika ads were due to the image in place next to the text advertisement. Many people were using this technique with Google Adsense, until it became obvious that such clicks converted far lower than normal display methods for advertisers. Adsense was quick to change policies and prohibit the use of images next to their advertisements on a web page.

Chitika adopted and fleshed out the potential for higher traffic and higher earnings through volume clicks, with the help from the images next to ads. But it looks like YPN has decided that they want higher converting traffic from a network of publishers molded and supportive of the way Chitika was. Their own ad design allowed for lower converting traffic for advertisers, but now they are punishing the publisher for their mistakes.

Pending Further Review

Lastly, one of my sites is pending further review, which means they are looking into ways to bring my abysmal impressions back up. Yet this domain is still not good enough for Chitika Premium ads, so what’s the point? My automotive website has been good enough to draw advertising campaigns from large automotive companies from all over the world, who have continued to use my site as a way to advertise their product. How is it not good enough for Chitika Premium? How do I make it better and improve performance for Chitika Premium? Without published guidelines it’s anyone’s guess.

I hate playing these types of games with advertising companies and the changes in Chitika remind me too much of EPN. I’ve already removed the majority of my Chitika code from my sites, not that they will miss me, but I’m hurt, angry, and plan on letting everyone that I can know about what I’ve experienced.

Alternate Post Title – 1 year Chitika Review, Stay AWAY!

Is Chitika Select Right For Your Site?

Posted on March 24, 2010 by cldnails

More impressions. More Revenue.

Hard to pass up a tag line like that, but maybe Chitika Select ads aren’t right for your site. There have been many discussions surrounding the costs and benefits of utilizing the new Chitika Select addition to Premium ads, which bring up great points, regarding missed opportunities and not just revenue. Feel free to follow the discussion on the official Chitika Blog’s Chitika Select post.

Darren, from Pro Blogger, made some very important points regarding return visitors. The temptation of using Chitika Premium ads came from being able to place blocks of advertising to only be shown to search engine visitors, without disturbing normal readership.

Also, the addition of Chitika Select is setup as an Opt-Out instead of an Opt-In, which means if you weren’t paying attention these ads are being served whether you want them to or not. Luckily, it’s a simple fix and is quickly being made public that the change needs to be made if you don’t want advertisements always being shown to your visitors. Keep in mind, these ads will most likely be a lot less targeted, since arrival from a search engine is not required to trigger the impression.

I left the Chitika Ads Select run on my automotive website and after a little bit of tweaking on location I managed to increase my revenue by 50%. My impressions were up a full 30%! I’ve yet to see the result after Chitika’s dreaded audited report, but for now it looks like I’ll be leaving Select ads running. I’d also recommend to almost anyone to leave them running as well, just understand what you are doing.

Scottrade 1 Week Review

Posted on March 8, 2010 by cldnails

I began March with a change in focus, from web development to the ever changing stock market. However, so far I feel like I’ve only jumped from one sinking ship to another and my feet are still wet. However, despite the market fluctuations, I signed up with Scottrade and feel it’s time for an early 1 week review of their website and service.

Signing Up

First of all, signing up to Scottrade.com can be a daunting experience. Unlike most websites, this investment website requires sensitive information like Social Security numbers, which some people may not feel comfortable sending over the tubes. Also, there are a number of forms that must be electronically signed and filled out, which were written by main street’s lawyers, meaning myself and others may not completely understand what we are agreeing to.

Luckily there is an answer to the above woes, Scottrade offers the assistance of local offices. As a matter of fact there is a manned office less than 10 mins from my home. The employees of Scottrade were more than willing to help me get signed up, answer my noob questions, and allow me to make a check deposit. So, other than be daunting to sign up via the web, the initial ‘sign up’ process was a breeze, once the professionals were called in.

Deposit

It’s odd, but there is only one electronic option for placing funds into a general Scottrade account. For example, my initial deposit could only be completed by Money Direct or by physically mailing or dropping off a personal check or money order. I would have much rather preferred linking my PayPal account for transaction and purchase fees, oh well.

I opted to drop off a personal check, since Scottrade’s offices were so close. The deposit showed up immediately, however the funds were not available for purchase until the next business day. There were also restrictions on my funds for 2 additional days, stating that I could not purchase shares under $4 ea. Therefore my penny stock trading had to wait until the full clear process, 3 days after my initial deposit.

Again, the employees of Scottrade were very helpful and explained the restriction process to me. This also opened up the conversation to what will happen during my first trade. Right inside the office the personnel walked me through a mock transaction, complete with commission fees and different purchase options.

First Stock Trade

Smooth. It’s true, my first purchase within Scottrade was a smooth transaction that qued, completed, and showed in my account within 10 minutes of me left clicking confirm. As a matter of fact the entire Trade tab is simplified and easy to understand your options. Anything that might not be clear is explained in the right hand column or has a question mark link, to take you to an explanation.

A typical trade is done by selecting the stock symbol you wish to trade, amount of shares, type of order, and then the length of time you want the offer to be made. I only purchase on limits, so a time frame is always required, which I typically set to expire at the end of the day. After completing the fields you will be given with a review of your order and then a final confirmation. It’s easy peezy, even for someone who has never traded stock before. Furthermore, the employees at Scottrade are available to assist you over the phone, should you be nervous or have some questions.

Recent Scottrade Site Performance

I have not been satisfied with the Scottrade.com site performance. I am consistently timing out when requesting a quote and the reports they provide usually never load. I’ve bested the Scottrade.com site from 3 different computers on 3 different connections and the problem continues to persist. In addition, I’ve tried using 3 different browsers, including FireFox, Chrome, and the latest release of Internet Explorer. Unfortunately Internet Explorer appears to be the most stable when using Scottrade, go figure.

This morning I was in the process of purchasing some stock at market open, only to find that Scottrade had turned off online trading. After calling my local office I was informed this is the first time this has ever happened that he can remember. Lucky me, assuming he was telling the truth, which would also translate this article into an unfair review. You be the judge and I’ll be back in another 30 days to fill you in on all the trades and money I’ve lost.

Don’t Buy Affiliate Espionage

Posted on February 11, 2010 by cldnails

Affiliate Espionage was a phenomenal tool a few months back, which helped the user track advertising trends amongst competitors in Google Adwords. It provided research on search trends, money spent on campaigns, and which campaigns worked, so the user wasn’t throwing money out the door. It assisted with the tried and true test, test, test method of spending money on Adwords. Alas, Affiliate Espionage has closed it’s doors and development on the FireFox plugin has come to a hault.

It’s been a looonnggg time since I last sent out an email to you
but a lot has been going on and unfortunately as a result I have
some bad news to share with you today.

With much thought and struggle, I have decided to close down
Affiliate Espionage.

It has been a fun ride and the feedback and response to AE has
been fantastic over the past 18 months but things have reached a
point where I had to decide which direction to take my business
and focus my efforts and I did not feel I would be able to
provide the support, service and time required to do justice to
the Affiliate Espionage Software while tackling the major
project I will be working on this year.

Effective March 1st 2010, Affiliate Espionage will be taken off
the market.

All existing customers will still have full access to the
Member’s only Site indefinitely to access all software, videos,
and manuals.

There may be occasional software updates but there is no
timetable or schedule (or promise of) these updates.

This has not been an easy decision especially since this project
has been part of my life for well over 2 years now. I
appreciate your support and understanding.

You can still contact our support desk until March 5, 2010 to
address any questions or concerns you may have.

So, it looks like it’s back to studying trends the old fashion way and spend lots o pennies on testing Adword Campaigns. But that’s ok, because everything the Affiliate Espionage Plugin did can be done on your own manually, just takes a little bit longer.

If you are looking for alternative revenue streams, please check out my Chitika Review.

How To Monetize Google Image Search Traffic

Posted on January 22, 2010 by cldnails

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.

Pepperjam Network and AutoPartsWarehouse.com

Posted on January 14, 2010 by cldnails

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?

After Christmas Slump In Earnings

Posted on January 13, 2010 by cldnails

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.

Pulled From Both Sides, Affiliate Marketing

Posted on October 8, 2009 by cldnails

I just got done having a brief discussion with a coworker explaining the problem I’m being faced with as an online affiliate marketer. In the short and sweet I’m being pulled by the bad economy, meaning visitors are not converting as high as normal. On the other side I’m being pulled by affiliate programs, which are tightening the reins and becoming more exclusive. Being pulled from both sides puts a huge strain on my already dwindling bank account.

Consider that just a few years ago it was possible to get into almost any affiliate program. Also, once in these programs there were huge incentives with arguably low ceilings. eBay is a perfect example of this, with their EPN program switching from CJ to in house and providing lots of easy commissions to affiliates. Now, they have made it to where they aren’t accepting everyone and are booting you for having low conversions.

Is this a trend likely to continue through the end of the year? I had hoped that we would see an increase in incentives from affiliate programs as we near the holidays. There haven’t been seem to been any ramp of that I’ve seen, but they could be waiting until the latter part of November.

Without question, this holiday season will directly make or break online companies. If this is a slow buying Christmas, then some companies will simply shut the doors. However, if there is an uptick, like others are predicting, then these same companies will be relying on the sales from Christmas to pull them out of the red in 2009.

P.S. Just a friendly reminder, remember to diversify so that one failing affiliate program doesn’t bring you to your knees.

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