Sorry for the delay folks, but it looks like some features are broken, ’round here. Ah well, no matter. I’ll have it fixed in a jiffy. Until then, you’ll just have to make do without the next series, and the big article about Google AdSense changes and affiliate links. heh.

This would be another good time for you to tell me what you want to hear about. Go ahead… shout it out. If I can possibally write about it, I will.

UPDATE…
Well, I feel foolish…
The post is there, again - I don’t know what happened - and the new series isn’t posting because - evidently - I forgot to pre-load the posts.

…I’m going to go crawl under a rock and be very embarrased, for a while…

What should I write about?

Do you have any questions? Do you want to know about me? Do you want to know about you? Do you want to know about the aliens? the smurfs? why cat’s land on their feet? what would happen if your buttered the back of a cat and dropped it (and if you get that joke, you rock)?

Seriously, folks. The next few days (or even weeks), are up to you. You tell me what I should write about. Try to keep it at least slightly on topic (heh)… but a few off-topic ideas are welcome, too.

So what’s it going to be?

So, I’m going to expand on that, somewhat, and ask you two questions.

1) If you could only pick three statistics to check, which three would they be, and why?
2) If you could only pick one statistics package, which would it be, and why?

My answers, on the permalink page.

1) Personally, I would look at referrals (on extreme tracker, this is the first referral page.  On Sitemeter, this is the referring pages page, that lists referring URLs).  I want to know where people are coming from.

I would also look at landing pages.  I want to know which posts are the most popular.

For my third choice?  Page views.  Preferably over the past two weeks or better.  I want to know what my traffic patterns are.  For example, right now, they’re all over the place.  Obviously, I have the highest number of page views on Monday, Wedensday, and Friday (the days new series articles are posted), but overall, my traffic patterning is strange.  Viewing page view stats enables me to tell when I’m in decline, and when I’m rising.

2) It’s very difficult to pick a single stats package.  I currently run five on this site.  Sitemeter, Extreme Tracking, Performancing Metrics, Blogbeat, and Blog Patrol.

To be honest, I only have Blogbeat, Blog Patrol, and Metric on the system to test them out.

I use SiteMeter and Extreme Tracking, together, as - combined - they give me a great overview of my blog’s health.

If I had to choose just one, however?  It would be Performancing Metrics.  Their stats package, so far, has been giving me an excellent overview of my blog’s health and performance.  Although I still get some specific information from Extreme Tracking, and certain graphs I prefer from Sitemeter, I believe that Metrics would be the best choice, if I had to limit myself to just one.

What about you?

Technorati Tags: blogging, statistics, performancing metrics, metrics, blog health, problogger

Beginning with the invention of the Word Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee in the 1980’s, and culminating in the final face-off betwen Google and Microsoft, the joining of forces between Google and Amazon (to create GoogleZon), and a landmark case heard by the supreme court that - as an eventuality - forces The New York Times to go off line and become solely a print-only media unit, once again, this video shows not only what could happen, but actually provides a very logical possbility of what will happen
in the coming years, as media seeks to re-shape and re-define itsself, and companies like Google and Amazon spend more and more processing time exploring the social make-up and demographics of each individual user’s life and society.

You can watch the ground-breaking video in its entirity at The Blog Herald.

…To be even more honest, the response I receive from this post (if any) will be worked into a future post on how to inspire your readers to become involved in your blog.  This is your chance to help me write a post, folks.  Because right now, this is something I can’t - with good conscience - write about with any authority.

What does it take to get you folks involved in this blog?  Seriously.  Comments, live chat, anything.  What does it take?

Okay (now is the portion where I explain myself), here’s the deal.  I’ve been blogging for about a year.  I’ve been blogging with regularity since October of last year.  In that time, I have managed to get 369 posts on this blog, but only 142 comments.  That’s including my comments, and not including spam. (If I included spam, I’d be getting around two hundred or so comments a week.)

Needless to say, those numbers are a bit distressing to me.  Certainly, I understand that the point of blogging is to impart information, first and foremost.  However, there comes a time when one looks back over his blog and wonders… “Is anyone even reading?”

My stats, thankfully, tell me that, yes, there are people reading.  As of right now, thirty-seven of you read my RSS feed, and I’m averaging 53 unique visitors per day (although if you take the weekly average, it’s really somewhere nearer 65).  That’s enough to place me soundly on the C-list.  The thing is… I don’t feel like I’m getting C-list love.  To be honest, I don’t feel like I’m getting J-list, Q-list, or even Y-list love.

No, I honestly don’t expect peopl…. no, that’s not right.  I honestly do expect some sort of interaction.  I do this because I enjoy it, but the comments and conversation are wonderful things to have.

I’m not asking you folks to suddenly jump in and start interacting.  I’m just asking what it would take to get you started.  Even if you don’t jump in, someone might.

So lay it on me, folks.  Is the layout too confusing?  Is it too much trouble to post a comment?  Do you prefer AJAX-ified spiffyness?  Do you just not have anything to say?  Does commenting on a fat man’s blog scare you (joke)?  Do my posts not “do it” for you (conversationally speaking)?

Keep in mind that your responses to this post will help me write an article on the subject.  If you remember to include a link in your comment information, I’ll be sure to link you if/when I use your comments in the article.  Plus, you get a link back, automatically… I have removed the rel=nofollow tags, so every comment counts.

5) Be a Person, Not a Website

While I read most of my content via Bloglines, I still think there is a place for web site content. Through sidebar photo feeds, music lists and other content, the blogger becomes a person to me, not just a website. Write sometimes about the movie you took your kids to see. Tell me about you- your background, your family, your triumphs and your challenges. Become real to me. That’s the essence of community building and it makes people feel connected by more than the occasional cross-link.

So what do you think, folks?  Should us bloggers take a few minutes to add a personal touch to our blogs?  Should we post a little bit of personal, every few entries?

I have been very careful to keep a lot of personal information out of this blog.  I figured no one wanted to read about all of that.  I’ve got an about page, and on a rare occasion I make reference to my girlfriend, or my city.  I figured that should be enough.

Perhaps I was wrong.  So, the questions are.. 1) Do you think bloggers should keep some personal bits out there - be it a photostream, or even an occasional off topic post?  and 2) Do you want me to do it? heh.

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The argument goes something like this:

• MySpace is growing by leaps and bounds (and is, presumably, showing more users on MySpace than total blogs in the blogosphere (not including MySpace “blogs”))
• MySpace is all about social networking, making it easy for people to network together
• When there are - eventually - 100 million people on MySpace (primarily in the 10-25 age range, i.e. the “culture setters”), how will the MySpace Culture dictate the offline culture?
• When will businesses begin targetting MySpace?
• What will happen to blogging’s golden goose of targetted advertisement once MySpace becomes the New Big Thing?
• and finally: The technical elite that rule blogging will soon be completely dwarfed by the 20-something crowd as they graduate, get jobs, and get influence.

Food for thought, eh?

Their suggestions? Place ads where your readers will notice (duh).
On the main page, they suggest an ad after each post, and a link unit on the lower right (sidebar).

On the individual entries page(s), they suggest placing ads near the content. For longer entries, a blended medium rectangle within the post, and a banner at the end. For shorter entries, forget one of those units. If there’s a comment section, place a banner or horizontal link unit, just above the comment box. Then, rather than the traditional skyscraper in the sidebar, use a link unit.

They also highly suggest using section targetting, which is something I highly suggest, as well. Using section targetting has dramatically improved my ad relevancy - especially on individual entry pages.

For coloring, Google suggests blending the ad units into the background of the blog (using the same background color as your blog, and no border), while using a bold color for the title (that does not match the link color of your blog) to help draw attention to the ads, while keeping readers from confusing them for content.

Google also provides the following heat map (click for full-size image):

This map illustrates the best places to have Google ad units, link units, and search units.

Remember, you can ahve up to three ad units, one link unit, and a search box on every page. Thousands of layout options are availible with that method!

How have you found success in the AdSense layout of your blog?

Cowboy, over at Jack of All Blogs, has re-defined Web 2.0.  Web 6.0 certainly seems a more viable term.

Cowboy lists the generations of Web in the following manner (This is paraphrased from his blog.  All comments after the first sentence, on each bullet, are my own):

• Web 1.0: Local BBSes and information sharing.  Normally amongst people in a small town.  Web 1.0, in my opinion, really began with the invention of the message networks like FidoNet, DuckNet, etc…
• Web 2.0: The arrival of Web 2.0 was heralded by names like Prodigy, GEnie, AOL.  The powerhouse closed system apporach to BBSes helped break down the national and international barriers, without the neccesity of slow-moving packet mail networks.
• Web 3.0: Pornography arrives online.  Not only does pornography arrive online, but it becomes an industry.  Like it or not, pornography showed us the true power of the Web/Internet, as both an information exchange, and a profitable venture.
• Web 4.0: Search engine wars and the burst of the dot com bubble.  When the search engine wars became huge news, the collapse of the dot com boom wasn’t far behind.  This caused us to move into a new web.  One primarily concerned with complete freedom of information sharing.  One that was ran by those of us who originally remained underground.  One where information was king, you can come and get it at your leisure.
• Web 5.0: The second coming of the “Great Internet Company” (so to speak).  Truthfully, I agree with Cowboy.  Web 5.0 is what we believe web 2.0 to be.  In essence, Web 5.0 is the ajaxified, new dot com boom.  The problem is, we’re already moving out of Web 5.0.
• Web 6.0:  The second falling of the dot com boom.  This is the fallout and collapse of the Tim O’Reilly Web 2.0 -type companies.

I said, before, that we’re already moving out of Web 5.0.  I fully believe this to be the truth.  We’re standing around, smoking our fat-cat cigars, with one foot in Web 5.0, and the other firmly in fallout-land.  With the move of technology from the United States and the East (China, Taiwan, Japan, etc…), down south to Australia (no joke, I think we’re moving in that direction), the generation of Web 6.0 will be upon us.  We’ll see either a lot of failures, or a lot of buyouts.  In short, either a lot of websites will shut down, or they’ll be bought up and integrated into the big boys (I do think there will be another Big Player emerge.  Perhaps 37 Signals?  Who knows.  The new player will <em>not</em> be a search engine company, though).

How will this fallout affect the online world?  Who knows.  Personally, I think we’ll move in two directions.  Two directions that are diametrically opposed to each other.  With the majority of information services residing within the United States (the servers, not neccisarily the people), the USA has a stranglehold over much of the Internet.  I predict that the fallout of Web 6.0 will result in the following.

• A good portion of the Internet will cowboy up and attempt to circle the wagons.  Those sites will work within themselves in an attempt to better not only their product, but “the internet as a whole.”  Those companies will, ultimately, fail.
• Another good-sized chunk of the Internet will take the emergent technologies and use them to enhance the free information exchange we had in Web 4.0.  With that, you’ll see more and more talk of “piracy,” and “information hackers,” and, my personal favorite term, “infoexchangerz” (so named after “warez” groups that handle information, rather than warez).  It’ll be back to the information age.  (Software piracy has never gone by the wayside, folks.  It’s only become more hidden. heh.)
• Finally, the government - in an attempt to control the rampant spread of information, and the “fringe” online groups associated with it - will implement stricter laws and control of the Internet, resulting in an all-out online war between those who yearn to be “free,” and those who seek to control.  Needless to say, the world will be caught up in it, and even more technology and online companies will move offshore.

It’s a big Internet, folks.  It’ll be truly interesting to see where it goes.

To start this feature out, this coming week will feature three posts (including today’s) in this category.  Here’s the first:

If you could build the ultimate blogging platform, what features would it contain (and especially what features would it contain that aren’t normally found in a blogging platform by default).

It is virtually impossible to build a new blog in 2006. Here’s why I have reached that conclusion over the past year.

First, to have a successful blog, just like any other web site, you need readers. The difference (at least I thought it would be different) is that unlike Yahoo, MSN and Google, blogs are not supposed to be about making money. They are (I thought) supposed to be about having conversations and sharing perspectives and ideas. Sort of a natural evolution of the newsgroup or message board.

But the more I think about it, the less I believe that.

I think I agree with Kent.  It’s going to be very difficult to start a successful - especially money-making - blog in 2006.  It’s going to get increasingly difficult as the year progresses.  Kent goes on to make a critical comment about linking:

3) They get help from other established bloggers, either directly via a
formal or informal network or because someone with a big audience
throws a line to them via links and inter-blog conversations. This is
the only way I can see a new, unaffiliated blogger actually growing a
blog. Unfortunately, this probably has a lot to do with pre-existing
relationships, making the chances of a truly independent blogger being
thrown a rope very small.

[...]

Stated another way, if Firefox, Flickr, and most of the blogging
platforms are free, why are links and seats at the table guarded like
Fort Knox gold?

Agreed.  Us independant - and especially small-time, non a-list - bloggers have a huge difficulty in getting links, especially from the bigger blogs.  It’s gotten so bad, here, that I’ve actually written some of the almost-a-listers (one would never think of doing such a thing from an A-lister.  That would destroy one’s place in the blogosphere. (and yes, that is said with the most sarcastic and snooty tone I could manage)).  In writing the almost-a-listers, I’ve flat out asked for reviews, comments on my entries, anything.  I’ve even made the direct quote-comment, “Even if your report/review is negative, I’ll take it.  At this point, in the beginnings of a new blog, even negative press is positive press.”

Would you like to know what I’ve gotten out of all of that?  Nothing.  I keep hoping that in time people like Darren Rowse from Problogger, Steve from Micropersuasion, and some of the other big-name a-list bloggers that blog about blogging will pick me up, notice the more “amateur” bent, and do some links back to me. …Then again, if I had stolen Darren’s layout, perhaps I would have had all the traffic I can handle…  Then again, perhaps I’m just bitter that someone has already created a niche blog using the niche I have only recently selected for myself.  A day late, and a dollar short.  He picked the same domain I was considering, as well.  bah.  The worst part is that it’s a relatively well-written piece of idea theft. (No, no, I’m not accusing the author of idea theft.  I’m merely being a bit bitter.)

Back to Kent’s commentary.  After reading his article, I have to make the comment that I feel that blogging is slowly making the return to the initiator of the movement.  The LiveJournal’s and Xanga’s.  Blogging will soon be so filled with people wishing to become the next a-list blogger, that blogging as a whole will begin to degenerate down towards the personal journals that built the movement to begin with.  It’s a cycle, that in another year or two, will soon be complete.

Technorati Tags: problogger, darrenrowse, amateurblogging, kentnewsome, bloggingin2006

Technorati Tags: problogger, darrenrowse, amateurblogging, kentnewsome, bloggingin2006

1) Bush stated “We are at war, with an enemy, who wants to hit us again.” In short, Mr. President… Duh. When have we ever been at war with an enemy that did not want to hit us, again?

2) Bush stated that “[questioning his advisors] would set a chilling precedent” for future advisors if Bush questioned their advice. In other words, he is stating that he should accept what they say at face value, as they are his advisors.

Mr. President, I have to be honest, here. You’re running a country. If Iwas running a country - especially during a time of war - I would check out, at least, the big things that my advisors state. Even if you don’t check out the minor advice, it’s a good idea to at least check out the major advice before you carry through with it. Remember, if those advisors screw up, it’s your ass, not their’s.

What do you think about my layout?

If you could change one (or two, or three) things about this layout, what would it/they be?

If you could choose any other layout for this website that currently exists as a WordPress theme, which would it be (and, if you can, please include a link), and why?

What do you like, what don’t you like, etc…

Thanks, folks. After all, this site is for you. If it was just a personal journal, I wouldn’t need all of this, and could just as easily make due with black text on a white background with no layout whatsoever. I really appreciate the input of my readers.

Also, what are some of your favourite website layouts (best layed out, etc…) and what are some of your least favourite (worst)?

And, of course, a couple of questions pertaining directly to this blog:  What can I do to make this site better for you?  If I were to start a new blog on a specific subject, what subject would you most like to read from me?

The last paragraph is optional, I’m mostly interested in who you are, and finding out some about you.  I figure the more I know about my readers, the better blogger I can become.  So, please, take a couple of minutes and drop me a comment about yourself.

(To make this easier, I’ve disabled the CAPTCHA system that seemed to be malfunctioning.  If you still are unable to leave a comment, please contact me and let me know browser you are using.).

I’ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution “a goddamned piece of paper.”

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

I still think you’re a coward, and now you’re making excuses for it, and doing the usual coward thing — trying to shift the attention on someone else. If you were the tough guy you said you were, you would have stood up to Mena and said it was bullshit to her face. Or you could have said you’re sorry (and you still could).

BTW, Mena used to trash me, in her own way. Now the shoe’s on the other foot and it’s gratifying to see her speaking out for civility.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly after being elected New Jersey’s governor, Democrat Jon Corzine speculated aloud that he might appoint a woman to fill out his unexpired Senate term. Then he singled out black state Sen. Nia Gill, calling her an “extraordinarily capable woman.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly after being elected New Jersey’s governor, Democrat Jon Corzine speculated aloud that he might appoint a woman to fill out his unexpired Senate term. Then he singled out black state Sen. Nia Gill, calling her an “extraordinarily capable woman.”

(This story was brought to my attention by Strangerina, over at Stranger in a Strange Land. You can read her post, for more details, and another take.)

Essentially, Dolphin wants to know (and for that matter, so do I), where the right-wing outrage is over this little occurence. See, during the lead-up to the election(s), especially the 2004 election, churches were outright endorsing President Bush, and quoting freedom of religion (and in some cases, of the press) against anyone who tried to tell them they could not legall remain a non-profit religious organization and support a candidate. The hubub died down. Now, when a church makes a sermon against the war, then get their charter revoked. Speaking out against war is a heck of a lot less politically charged than directly endorsing a specific candidate, and yet… yet it’s somehow worse.

…You’ve all seen the “WWJD” (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets, and the “WWJDD” (What Would Jack Daniels Do) bracelets. Well, I think we need a new one.. “WWJDIHHAFOJD” (What Would Jesus Do If He Had A Fifth Of Jack Daniels). Personally, I think he’d grab the bottle, take a good long swig, and then go start beating people over the head with it until they start to realize just how idiotic all of this is.

But then again, I think Jesus was the most under-stated bad-ass-kicker of our time, but that’s just me.

I immediately e-mailed Chitika customer support.

Before I get into the e-mail, I’ll give you an example of what I’m talking about.

Take the ad for the Creative Labs Zen Nano Plus:

As you can plainly see, the Description tab lists Walmart as the best deal. However, when you switch to the “Best Deals” tab:

You can plainly see that BuyDig.com is the best price. As a matter of fact, Buydig is a full $21.89 lower than Walmart’s price.

When I e-mailed Chitika, I thought the issue was limited to the xbox ad units. Now, I know that this is not limited to individual ad units.

My original e-mail:

Greetings,

I’m targetting the Microsoft xbox (using “xbox” as keyword) on my site,
and have noticed an error in the ad unit. The “Description” tab lists
“Best Deal at Dell;” however, the “Best Deals” tab clearly shows Dell’s
lowest price as $229.95, and Amazon.com’s lowest price as $179.88.
Clearly the best deal is at Amazon.com. While I understand Dell is the
featured store for this item, I feel it lessens the confidence my
readers will have when viewing a Chitika ad, if they find such an error.
From a shopper/reader standpoint, it reeks of pushing featured stores
over true deals. Personally, I feel that if there is a deal lower than
the featured store, it should be listed as the lowest deal.

Would it be possible to change ad units to either say “Featured
Merchant: xxxx” on the description, instead of “Best Deal?” Buyer
confidence is an extremely important thing, and right now the
afformentioned ad unit wouldn’t create much.

Many thanks,

Chitika responded in an extremely timely manner; unfortunately, I was less than thrilled with their response. I was told, essentially, that the listing for “best deal” on the description tab has nothing to do with who has the actual best deal. It’s all based on merchant bids.

Here, I’ll let Karla, from Chitika customer service explain it:

Hello Eric,

I can see where you would have a concern about this, however, the way it is listed has nothing to do with the “best deal” being listed first or last. Merchants bid on placement, and whoever bids the highest bid gets the top spot.
On your suggestion for “featured merchant” I will pass this to our tech.
Thank you for your dedication and keep up the good work!
Best Regards,
Karla
Chitika Customer Service

So let me get this straight.

1. Merchants get their products listed through Chitika.
2. Chitika ranks deals by price.
3. Merchants bid on “placement,” and thereby override the best deal setting.
4. Whoever has the highest bid for a product shows up as the best deal, thusly misleading customers into clicking on a potentially higher price.

I find this highly misleading, and it does not inspire confidence in either the Chitika program, or the Chitika merchants, in me. To be honest, I’ve considered removing Chitika from my website, entirely. I wouldn’t mind so much if the “Best deal at ____” on the description tab didn’t mislead and said something along the lines of “Featured Merchant ______,” or even “Buy at _____.” Anything that doesn’t mislead my readers, who are - in a sense - my customers.

I’ve ultimately decided to keep Chitika ads on my website throughout the holiday season, and re-evaluate their performance at the beginning of the year (you’ll notice I’ve made some keywords changes to add more gift ideas, and jewelry to the mix). However, if Chitika doesn’t repair this issue, I may be forced to remove myself from their program. I encourage others to start checking your own ads. At this point, the best thing to do is remove keywords that generate offending ads, or require the “Best Deals” tab to the forefront.

To move the Best Deals tab to the front, insert the code: ch_default_tab = ‘Best Deals’;
or: ch_default_tab = ‘Deals’;

Let me know what you come across. I’m going to start compiling some basic data on keywords vs. “best deal” merchants, vs. true best price merchants.

Technorati Tags: Chitika, eminimalls, advertisments