Primarily, I will be using AdSense and Chitika.  If one does not perform well, it will be removed and replaced.  As you can see, I am also using Amazon.com.  I don’t know how well my amazon link will do… we’ll see.

I’ll be creating more pages, some with only AdSense, some with only Chitika, and some with both, in the coming days.  For now, I’m starting with a page about halogen desk lamps.  Yes, for those curious, I am writing the articles, myself.  I can’t afford to pay anyone to write them, and Google frowns on multiple sites having the exact same content (ala e-zine articles, etc).

Let me know what you think of the page, and this rather ambitious plan.  I’m hoping to see a pretty decent return from this.

Publishers can now select “category hints” for their Chitika ads. Essentially, it works like this. If you select a keyword, and there is no add availible for that keyword, Chitika will automatically place an ad from your chosen category. An ad that is - more or less - relevant. Here’s Chitika’s explanation:

Category hint is a new targeting option by which you can pick and choose from a list of categories supported in the eMiniMalls system. Your selected category will be used as a “fallback” in the event that the system does not find an appropriate product for your preferred keyword(s).

Chitika provides several categories to choose from.

Additionally, you can use categories as your primary marketing method. By simply selecting a category, and not entering a keyword, Chitika will rotate products from that category. For example, if I had a blog on graphics cards, I could set up an add unit and choose the “Graphics Cards” category, without keywords. Then, Chitika will serve up relevant ads about graphics cards.

In short, if you have a keyword, Chitika will try to serve an ad for the keyword, first. If it doesn’t find an ad, it will serve up an ad from the category you selected.

There’s two ways to set up categories. For new ads, simply use their code panel in the set up process. For existing ads (that are already in place), you can insert the following line of code: ch_default_category = “XXXXX”;
Where XXXXX is the category code listed on the Chitika categories page.

Go to it!
(Thanks to Problogger for the info.)

You may have also noticed some changes in the monetization of this website. Can ya blame me? heh. I never said I wasn’t going into this to make money. I just said I’d never let making money overrule my passion for blogging. As soon as making money becomes more important, well, blogging just isn’t as fun.

So, in an attempt to not only make more money, but also garner some powerful and beneficial knowledge of both SEO and monetization, I’ve partnered with One Way Adversiting and Design and Chitika News (blog) for a case study.

Originally, OneWay was going for a case study surrounding Chitika. However, with so many of the applicants using both Adsense/YPN and Chitika, the rules have changed. Now it’s the best bang for the buck (so to speak). I’m relatively free to talk about things, as they happen, and at the conclusion of the study, results will be compiled into an ebook.

If you want to play along, I highly suggest signing up with Google Adsense, and/or Chitika E-Minimalls for your own website. Referral links (and I’d appreciate it if you’d use them) are on the permalink.

So what’s happening so far?

So far? Quite a bit.

SEO-type changes were made, including methods for titleing entries, and changing the title format of the blog, itsself (although if advertisements about rogue mimes start to appear, I think I’m going to run scared). Additionally, section targetting for Adsense was implemented.

Also, Chitika has been removed from the main ad rotation, as - due to the topics I cover - Adsense is seen as the better fit. While Chitika has been removed from the main add rotiation, I will still use it for specific products, when/where appropriate.

Changes involving Adsense were made, as well. First, an Adsense skyscraper is replacing the Chitika unit on the left-hand sidebar (resulting in my questioning my own layout, and wondering it it would make more sense to move the affiliate links I use, elsewhere (more on these, later)). Additional changes were made to the Adsense unit in the comments section of each page (color change, and type/size). Also, considerable thought is being given to removing the links unit, in favour of it within posts, when appropriate. I doubt that will happen, though.

So, there you have it, folks. Those are the major changes. It doesn’t seem like much, but that, coupled with some additional information and tips - which I will impart to you as time goes by - it will probably make a striking difference. Of course, getting myself listed higher in search engines is a big start (*cough*link to me*cough*). heh.

Feel free to leave comments on the changes, or even contact me via e-mail if you’d like. I value your opinions, my readers.

More, as time goes by. As I mentioned before, why not use the above image links to sign up with Chitika and/or Google, and play along.

As I was checking my stats, to day, I started clicking the queries to see where I ranked for specific queries.  Obviously, I was on page one for all queries, but the surprising thing was that I took page one, position one, for “Chitika Revenue“.  I was very surprised at this, as this would appear to be a much sought after position and keyword combination.  Additionally, I am page one, position four for the query “adsense chitika“.  (Both queries were issues without quotes.)  As I’m only a page-rank four (PR4) website, this is a little surprising.  Very nice, but surprising.  Don’t let anyone fool you, folks, SEO on your blog is an important thing.  Keywords in titles, and well-written articles do get you listed high in the search engines, even with a lower PR.

For those of you who are searching for the articles on Chitika revenue, adsense, and chitika in general, you may find them at the following locations:

• Chitika Revenue has Dropped
• Want to make money from Adsense or Chitika for a living? Here’s the real scoop…
• Category: Blogging ->gt; Adverts ->gt; Chitika
• Category: Blogging ->gt; Adverts ->gt; Adsense
• Blog Search: Chitika
• Blog Search: Adsense

 Tags: google seo google+sitemaps
(Hat tip to Jason Golod Blogs)

So I am logging into my Chitika account the other day and I look at there navigation system on the side and I just keep thinking to myself man I have seen this whole theme before somewhere. With the + dropdown links and other stuff it just seems so familiar. Then all of a sudden it hits me. Chitika has stolen a Postnuke CMS theme. The default theme that comes with Postnuke. OHH BUT WAIT it doesnt stop there…. After viewing source on there webpage after logging into there system we see this <meta name=”generator” content=”PostNuke - http://www.postnuke.com”>

Jeremy goes on to mention the fact that he used to work for the PostNuke project, and is well aware of how insecure it is. Personally, I’ve read many, many horror stories from PostNuke-driven sites regarding being hacked, having their data corrupted, stolen, or even flat out deleted. I used PostNuke for a brief time for an old community website I used to run, and was hacked within a week of putting the PostNuke version online (with current security patches in place). Needless to say, I quickly moved to a homebrew system that I knew damned good and well was secure.

Let’s see how Chitika’s been doing, lately, shall we?

• Chitika’s ad unites are pegged as misleading. (November 12th).
• Chitika’s revenue has dropped, as a result of their recent changes in auditing and practices (in an attempt to alleviate “curiosity” clicks). (November 27th)
• Now this… a potentially insecure backend to their reporting structure.

Chitika has a possibility of making it in this industry. They’re a unique concept, they’re paying out at a higher CPC than most, and they’re lenient on their policies involving competing systems. Unfortunately, however, it seems Chitika has made some potentially bad business decisions, lately. I know I’m watching them closely, and it’s coming closer and closer to my deciding whether or not to keep Chitika, or replace them.

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