RSS FEEDS: Whither Thou Goกest?

RSS FEEDS: Whither Thou Goกest?

by: Tony Dean

I open up the กFeed Readerก every day on my laptop and cruise the กnews feedsก I กsubscribeก to. The amount of information is now overwhelming, I need to just กsubscribeก to only the กfeedsก that are of immediate interest, else I would be reading กfeedsก twenty four hours every day.

When I click on a link to find out more about a news item, I am taken to a web page with the article of news on it, also there are banner ads, advertising icons to click on, and other side news items to click to take me elsewhere.

The potential for advertising on those web pages for interested marketers is great, not withstanding the change in the news article each day on that web page. One day it might be about Amazon and the กoutageกsก they kept getting, or the next it could be a pending court case about กcybersquattingก a brand name. Whatever article is shown the advertisers get their message across. It may not be part of the advertising ploy to sell goods and services from that advert, but to กbrandก their products, or name, for future sales.

One research company predicts internet advertising revenues will rise by 19% next year, they also predict that newspaper advertising will drop considerably.

Future habits of net cruisers will be to immediately open up the กfeedsก and cruise all the latest news, in contrast to going for Google and Yahoo, inputting search terms, and then cruising only those web sites that come up. Please! Don’t laugh, most of us still do this!

If a web site has not got itกs own กnews feedก, it will not get any กeyeballsก.

Those interested in marketing to the masses should think about trying to get adverts placed on pages of those sites with a กnews feedก, with their name, or web address written prominently, for cruisers to come and visit, but the main objective is to create กbrandingก.

The usage of search engineกs for locating web sites will decline, unthinkable at the moment for most internet users, but their rss feeds directories will be the most sought after to be able to access more กfeedsก. So search engineกs will still survive, but usage habits will change.

The กbigdogsก in rss feeds update news on their กfeedsก every fifteen minutes or so, they know that to keep a captive readership that they have to update frequently, or they will lose กeyeballsก to some other service thatกs giving out more frequent news. This is critical from an advertisers point of view who wants his ads showing on web pages with updated news as frequently as possible.

I can feel the nudging elbowกs already as advertisers are trying to get the best กspotsก.

The most money to be gained from rss feeds is by the person who owns one, the advertising revenue from กspotsก on the web pages the กfeedก points to will be flooding in, and with the decline in effectiveness of newspaper advertising, the rss feeds are the only place most advertisers are going to spend their money. The younger techsavvy 1824 year oldกs don’t buy newspapers, they also don’t switch on the television as much anymore, so television advertisers are looking at rss feeds, especially the big media companies who have millions of ad dollars to spend.

Remember this, anybody, even you, can put up a rss feed.

About The Author

Tony Dean is a published author and runs a website at: http://www.ebooksales.com. He is author of the ebook:’really Simple RSSก available from his web site.

This article was posted on December 10, 2004

by Tony Dean

Do You Know When You Are Being Sold To?

Do You Know When You Are Being Sold To?

by: Joanna Ferndale

Britney Spears has recently caused controversy with suggestions that the ad campaign for her new fragrance range uses subliminal or hidden messages in its efforts to convince potential buyers. Advertisers have long been aware of the power of appealing to our subsoncious minds, so what methods exactly do they employ, and how widespread is the practise?

Broadly speaking, there are three methods in common use Product Endorsement, Product Placement, and Hidden (Subliminal) Imagery.

Why do advertisers use these methods?

As consumers, we tend to make buying decisions based on emotion rather than logic. When see a product, we make up our minds very quickly about whether we want it or not, based purely on the way the product is presented to us. Any accompanying sales pitch is merely there to help us justify the purchase to our more logical selves. Advertisers know this of course, so they spend huge amounts of time and money marketing their products in ways that appeal to our emotions and subconscious mind.

So how do the three methods work?

Taking each in turn:

Product Endorsement

This is possibly the most upfront and honest method. Quite simply, a product is endorsed by a well known figure – a celebrity or sports person perhaps or a singer! Nike are big users of this technique, with major sporting stars regularly featuring in their commercials. Whilst they might not spell it out, the message is always the same – ขIf our product is good enough for Mr x, then it’s certainly good enough for youข.

Product Placement

This is the slightly sneakier derivative of product endorsement, and involves well known figures (often fictional) endorsing products or services outside of a clearly labelled commercial environment. The technique is frequently used in sitcoms and soap operas. For example, you settle down to watch an episode of Fraser, your all time hero, and happen to notice that he drinks a certain brand of coffee (ขbrand Xข). You may not consciously notice this, but your subconscious mind is taking in every detail. Because you have such respect for the famous Dr Craine, you naturally trust his judgement when it comes to coffee. Hence the next time you are in the supermarket and you spot ขbrand Xข on the shelf, you are much more likely to choose it over the rest of the selection on offer.

Product placement is a particularly potent form of subliminal advertising because it catches us off guard. When we see a commercial break on the television, we know we are being sold to and so have our defences up – we take what we are told with the due level of cynicism. But when the ads are over and we return to the TV show, we mentally relax that guard, and become much more open to suggestion. It’s not just consumer goods that are marketed this way; awareness groups and even political campaigners use the same subliminal techniques to subtly get their message across.

Hidden (Subliminal) Imagery

This is perhaps, the most devious technique in the advertisers armoury. It involves embedding images or words into a standard advertisement. One of the most effective uses of hidden messages in mainstream advertising is the ขsexual connectionข. Sex conjures up strong emotions of power, pleasure, and wellbeing, and so if a advertiser can tap into those at will he has a powerful tool indeed no pun intended! Examples of subliminal messages of a sexual nature being used in advertising are numerous; Ritz crackers have the word ขsexข spelled out on them in the tiny dots; many drinks ads manipulate the ice cubes in their photos by embedding images or words on them. Next time you see a print ad – study it carefully for hidden images or words, you may be surprised!

About The Author

Joanna Ferndale is an advertising executive and freelance writer. You can find more information on hidden subliminal and subliminal messages at http://www.subliminalmessages.info

This article was posted on September 29, 2004

by Joanna Ferndale

Is Your Yellow Pages Ad Putting Cash in Your Pocke

Is Your Yellow Pages Ad Putting Cash in Your Pocket… or Sucking Cash Out?

by: Alan Saltz

Any idea? It’s a question that more than a few Yellow Page advertisers ponder. If you are currently spending money every month to run an ad in your local directory, you don’t want to wrestle with that question. You want to know that your investment is generating a consistent flow of new clients to your business. So what can you do to maximize returns and stop worrying?

First of all, know this—Yellow Pages Advertising has incredible potential. As a business owner, you have few other ways to reach prospects who are as targeted, and ready to buy as these. But naturally… your success depends on the quality of your ad. And when it comes to ad content, far too many advertisers are quite simply… lost.

ขThe redhot commodity of the Information Age? Why that would be the Yellow Pages… It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.ข

Fortune July, 2003

There are few places to turn. It makes for an unpleasant situation for the honest businessperson trying to harness the tremendous potential of such a perfectly targeted medium. And so, most advertisers rely on the Yellow Pages design department, who, as it turns out, develop most of the ads in their directory.

It’s hard to differentiate your company if that’s the case, don’t you think?

That situation doesn’t need to be one that you find yourself in. While many advertisers fail to develop an ad that draws a strong response, it’s not especially difficult to do. In fact, the basic mistakes that ขriddleข just about every subject heading provide a fantastic opportunity for the business owner that does his homework. If you’re reading this article, you’re doing your homework.

ขHow come we still have the Yellow Pages? They Work. You don’t go to the Yellow Pages and look up pizza unless you’re planning to order pizza.ข

Fortune July, 2003

What Yellow Page success boils down to is ad content. Not color. Not professional design. Sure, those things matter too; but they are nowhere near as important as the words you use to fill your ad. People turning to the Yellow Pages have already determined that they need you. They just need to know whether they should call company A, B, or C.

Their choice doesn’t depend so much on color or design, as it depends on what you offer that your competitors don’tข the policies you hold yourself to that give consumers faith in you and your business.

Here is a point you need to understand… Listing the brand names you carry and the ขlaundry listข of products or services you offer don’t build credibility. They don’t set you apart from your competitors who offer the same thing!

Plenty of other things do. And chances are you embrace those policies and those hassle, and risk removing, motivators already. You probably do quite a bit for your clients that make their lives easier, more lucrative, more pleasant, and so on. You probably have credibility boosters that you’ve never considered including.

And that is because you may not realize the power they have in motivating an eager prospect to act. Ironclad guarantees… customer testimonials… rocksolid offers for new customers… a headline that goes well beyond your logo and company name; these are things that work wonders in a targeted, readytobuy medium such as the Yellow Pages.

Since so many of your competitors are focusing on their company name and their laundry list of products and services, the copy points above will differentiate you! They give you the credibility that your competition likely lacks, and they make a strong case for many a prospect to choose you with confidence. That’s what the Yellow Pages are all about, right?!

About The Author

Alan Saltz, the author, teaches Yellow Pages Advertisers how to boost their response and return on investment, using simple, but extremely effective techniques. To learn more about how to improve your own Yellow Pages ad, visit: http://www.YellowPagesProfit.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 22, 2004

by Alan Saltz

Google AdWords: Like Playing The Lottery

Google AdWords: Like Playing The Lottery

by: Dean Phillips

A กdollar and a dream,ก is all you need said the television commercial. The lure of the Lottery is a seductive one: plunk down a dollar and you might become a millionaire for life. The promise of กpennies from heavenก makes the Lottery a daily habit for millions. People flock to convenience stores every morning to buy a newspaper, a cup of coffee, and a lottery ticket.

I see that same kind of passion and unrealistic dreaming among Google AdWords advertisers. Why? Because they heard they can กstrike it richก with Google Adwords. It doesn’t help matters any that Google makes it ridiculously easy to get started with their payperclick program. All you need is กfive dollars and a dream!ก

Google doesn’t advertise that message of course. However, for most advertisers, itกs still a huge gamble nonetheless. Do advertisers make money with Google AdWords? Some do, yes. However, the vast majority of advertisers might as well blow their money on lottery tickets.

Is Google AdWords to blame for so many advertisers losing their money? That depends on your point of view. Are lotteries responsible for people gambling and losing their money?

In my opinion, the answer to both questions is yes and no. Lotteries would never admit this, but their whole purpose for being is to entice people to gamble. I mean, cกmon. Thatกs why they exist. If people didn’t gamble, there would be no lotteries.

Yes, lotteries hide behind legislation and the pretense that the money they generate goes toward education and other laudable endeavors, and for the most part thatกs true.

However, itกs also true that there are people barely living above poverty level, spending money they can’t afford on lottery tickets. They get sucked in, because like the television commercial said, itกs only a dollar. However, those dollars tend to add up pretty quickly, when you’re spending ten or twenty dollars a pop on lottery tickets.

Itกs the same with Google AdWords. People who wouldn’t ordinarily advertise get sucked in, because itกs only five dollars to get started. But when Google charges $500 to their credit cards every couple of weeks, and they haven’t made any money, the harsh reality of the situation sets in. Itกs not nearly as easy as they thought or heard it would be.

Of course, itกs easy to blame Google AdWords. However, most of the blame has to fall on the shoulders of the advertisers. The majority of Google AdWords advertisers, simply don’t have a clue about what they’re doing. They read some ebook about how to make money with Google AdWords, and instantly think they’re ready to conquer the world.

Itกs just not that easy, people. You still have to have some fundamental knowledge of advertising, in order to succeed with Google AdWords or any type of advertising for that matter. You have to educate yourself first.

And the best way to educate yourself is by reading ‘realก advertising books like กScientific Advertising,ก by Claude Hopkins and กHow To Write A Good Advertisement,ก by Victor Schwab and กAdvertising Secrets Of The Written Word,ก by Joseph Sugarman.

Educate yourself first, and then lay down your money. Thatกs how it works. To do otherwise, youกd be better off playing the lottery!

About The Author

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: [email protected].

Visit his website at: http://www.letsmakemoney.net

This article was posted on November 09, 2004

by Dean Phillips

Advertising กClick Fraudก Rampant Online?

Advertising กClick Fraudก Rampant Online?

by: Jim Edwards

กPayperclick,ก by far the most popular form of online advertising, recently came under fire as charges of rampant กclick fraudก gather steam on the Web.

Google and Yahoo! earn the majority of their money through sales of advertising to tensofthousands of online merchants, companies, and professional.

In fact, some estimate that 99% of all Googleกs revenue comes from advertising sales. Unfortunately, allegations of click fraud may well rain on Googleกs otherwise sunny parade and cause a whole scale revamping of current online advertising practices.

Payperclick advertising does exactly what it sounds: advertisers pay for each click on their ad, usually mixed in among search engine results or displayed on relevant websites.

กClick fraudก occurs when, for whatever reason, an ad gets clicked by someone or something (usually an automated กbotก that simulates clicks) with no intention of ever buying anything from the advertiser.

The sole intention of click fraud is to simply drain an advertiserกs budget and leave them with nothing to show but an empty wallet.

Who commits click fraud?

Usually an unscrupulous competitor who wants to break a rivalกs bank, online กvandalsก who get their kicks causing other people grief, or search engine advertising affiliates who want to earn fat commissions by racking up piles of bogus clicks.

Regardless of who does it or why, click fraud appears to be a growing problem search engines hope stays under their advertising clientsก radar.

This problem isn’t exactly news to the search engine giants.

In fact, on page 60 of their 3rd quarter Report for 2004, Google admits that they have ‘regularly refunded revenueก to advertisers that was กattributed to clickthrough fraud.ก

Google further states that if they don’t find a way to deal with this problem ‘these types of fraudulent activities could hurt our brand.ก

Bottom line for Google and Yahoo! (which owns Overture, the Webกs largest payperclick search engine): as word of click fraud spreads across the Web, they must act quickly to calm the nerves of advertisers who could well abandon them over doubts about the veracity of their advertising charges.

The search engines all claim to carry measures that identify and detect click fraud, but details about how they do it and to what extent remain sketchy.

They claim revealing details about security would compromise their efforts and give the perpetrators a leg up on circumventing their defenses.

This sounds good, but affords little comfort to advertisers who feel caught between losing out on their best traffic sources and paying for advertising that won’t result in revenue.

One way to protect your business against click fraud is to closely monitor your website statistics.

Look for an unusually high number or regular pattern of clicks from the same IP address.

If you need help, enlist the aid of your hosting provider to aid you in spotting suspicious trends in your website traffic.

Also, a number of services such as ClickSentinel.com have sprung up online to help advertisers spot and quickly analyze and compile the data necessary to effectively dispute fraudulent click charges with the search engines.

© Jim Edwards All Rights reserved

http://www.thenetreporter.com

About The Author

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the coauthor of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links…

Simple ‘traffic Machineก brings Thousands of NEW visitors to your website for weeks, even months… without spending a dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com

This article was posted on August 29

by Jim Edwards

PayPerClick Fraud ExposedPart II

PayPerClick Fraud ExposedPart II

by: Dean Phillips

According to Andy Jones, a member of the Best Practices Search Engine Forums, fraudulent clicks are just another aspect of the business. กAny of us that use AdWords or any other PPC has to pay for a certain percentage of fraudulent clicks,ก he said in a forum discussion. กI factor it in as a cost of doing business.ก

Can you believe that? In other words, heกs saying, I know the payperclick companies are stealing my money, but itกs okay, because Iกve considered that fact ahead of time.

Unfortunately, that mentality is pervasive among payperclick advertisers. No wonder the payperclick companies aren’t making stopping payperclick fraud a top priority. Who can blame them? If their advertisers don’t care, why should they? Heck, with all of the money the payperclick companies are making, itกs actually more cost effective to issue an occasional refund, than to develop technology to eliminate click fraud.

And if you read between the lines of the following statement, Google even admitted as much:

In a recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google acknowledged, กWe are exposed to the risk of fraudulent clicks on our ads. We have regularly paid refunds related to fraudulent clicks and expect to do so in the future. If we are unable to stop this fraudulent activity, these refunds may increase. If we find new evidence of past fraudulent clicks, we may have to issue refunds retroactively of amounts previously paid to our Google Network members.ก

That statement doesn’t exactly instill any confidence, now does it?

And if Overture is asked about click fraud, theyกll just issue their standard company line:

กOur Click Protection System is sophisticated software that evaluates each of our advertisersก clicks. This software makes decisions as to the validity of any click. Our Click Protection System uses search and click data to make both rulesbased inferences and pattern recognitionbased inferences about which clicks are valid clicks. We have two patents pending related to this technology, so we cannot currently disclose too many details about the methods we use.ก

Do you honestly think newspaper, magazine, radio or tv advertisers would just sit back and let those media get away with blatantly stealing their money? You know they wouldn’t.

Then why do payperclick advertisers allow it? I don’t know the exact answer to that question, but I have my theories: First of all, you’re talking about a whole different level of sophistication with payperclick advertisers, compared to media advertisers. Many payperclick advertisers don’t even know how to access or even analyze their log files, so they have no idea how much money is actually being stolen from them.

In addition, some payperclick advertisers are making more money than theyกve ever made before. And rather than upset the apple cart, theyกd rather keep quiet and allow the vicious cycle of click fraud to continue, so that they can keep cashing those big checks.

I also suspect many advertisers are afraid that if they complain too loudly, they may be penalized in the search engines, in regard to their free listings.

If my theories are accurate, silence is one heck of a trade off, if you ask me. Why? Because according to a report on MediaPost, an online study done by Clicklab revealed that fraudulent clicks can account for more than 50 percent of your total clicks.

So, if the goal of payperclick search engines is to bring lucrative, targeted traffic to your web site, what are the payperclick search engines doing about the click fraud epidemic, to prevent abuse that needlessly drive up your costs and reduce your ROI?

Unfortunately, since so many payperclick advertisers are willing to play the role of กlambs going to slaughter,ก the payperclick companies really don’t have to do anything.

In the meantime, your ROI is going to continue to plummet, and the payperclick companies are going to continue to milk those cash cows (AKA) payperclick advertisers, for all they’re worth!

About The Author

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: [email protected].

Visit his website at: http://www.letsmakemoney.net

This article was posted on October 24, 2004

by Dean Phillips

Google has an Achilles Heal Will their competito

Google has an Achilles Heal Will their competitors notice?

by: Steve Blom

Even though Google Revenues continue to soar, the hidden problem that may stifle growth and may even allow Yahoo or MSN to overtake the paid search market in the future lies in two critical phrases: Customer Support, and Customer Training

Approximately 40% of the small businesses we have surveyed have tried Adwords in the past and failed, and some of them have tried multiple times. In some markets the percentage is closer to 60%. Why? because the program was designed by Google engineers, and heavily favors companies with the type of resources that most small businesses do not have. Unlike MSN and Yahoo who have programs that are much simpler in terms of use for small business people, Google favors a technology driven solution that relies less on customer support, and expects users of their system to become more sophisticated.

The problem with this is that it is working quite well for professional internet marketers and search engine marketing companies employed by big corporations, but many small business people who are not websavvy are by and large left out of the mix. This is unfortunate because this is a huge segment of potential income that is left กup for grabsก and may be scooped up by MSN and Yahoo who are developing simpler, easier systems with better customer support.

All the major search engines recognize this problem, and getting those กofflineก advertisers online is a high priority for all of them, but so far there has not been great success. It is a knowledge and training gap, and neither Yahoo, MSN, or Google has so far been able to address it adequately.

Googleกs recent acquisition of urchin, a web analytics program illustrates the problem Google is trying to solve. Big Companies getting involved in paid search will still continue to drive big revenues, but the new internet is about verticals and niches, and Google simply isn’t making the grade in terms of training their customers well enough.

Where do small business customers go after they กchurnก? Many of them go back to what they were doing successfully before; email marketing, direct marketing, and call centers according to our study.

The next growth area will be hundreds of thousands of verticals, driven by small businesses exploiting areas and needs that the fortune 500 companies can not fill efficiently.

The search engine company that gets the most advertisers on its side will win market share, and winning will require the ability to service everybody, not just the super sophisticated internet super geeks.

However, many private companies not sanctioned by Google, have sprung up in order to try to bridge the gap between the Google Adwords program and the ability to advertise efficiently on Google and achieve a high ROI. One such company is http://adwordstraining.org that offers free video training and free frequently updated information at http://marketingnewsblog.adwordstraining.org

Simple training videos are available on the site, as well as an advertiser self study course to get nontechnical people up to speed with Google Adwords advertising.

Between Googleกs extensive training program of Google Professionals and private training by private companies, this knowledge gap may be bridged, and in the process a whole new industry of Google Adwords Marketing companies may be created, to facilitate the knowledge gap between Google and the advertisers that want to take advantage of the enormous advertising reach afforded by paid search.

But, this might not be enough for Google to keep its lead, as advertisers often follow the path of least resistance in getting their messages out, and they are the ones funding the growth of the search engine industry.

Where those advertisers ultimately go will determine the ultimate victor in the ever growing search engine wars, and the winner is by no means secure at this point.

Steve Blom

Founding Partner

InTouch Media Group

http://www.adwordstraining.org

About The Author

Steve Blom is a founding partner of InTouch Media Group, a publicly traded company specializing in the online marketing field.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 02

by Steve Blom

San FranciscoBased Company Introduces PayPerCal

San FranciscoBased Company Introduces PayPerCall Advertising

by: Dean Phillips

Is a phone call better than a click? Pretty soon advertisers will be able to make the final call on that question.

Ad developers are pushing a new type of paid search ad dubbed กpaypercall.ก

The technology for paypercall was actually introduced in April by Ingenio, a San Franciscobased company that develops technology for delivering online ads.

Fiveyearold, privately held Ingenio has 90 employees and expects 2004 revenue of $65 million to $70 million, says Marc Barach, chief marketing officer. He says itกs been profitable the last seven quarters.

Barach says Ingenio has received a patent for the main technology that enables paypercall. It deals with call switching software and hardware that track and route 1800 calls made by consumers to advertisers.

In paid search, advertisers pay companies like Google to place their ads prominently on their results pages for specific search terms.

The main type of paid search involves payperclick ads. Thatกs where advertisers pay a certain amount each time someone clicks on their ad.

Paypercall takes that idea one step further. Hereกs how it works: Advertisers pay a certain amount only after a user dials the 1800 number that appears with the ad. In theory, advertisers will be getting an even more interactive response than if someone merely clicks on their ad.

Paypercall ads are currently in the process of being tested. The target market appears to be mostly small businesses. The ads will be programmed to appear in local searches, which target a specific ZIP code. Local search is a quickly developing market.

Advertisers will have to pay more per call than per click, but if the paypercall ads provide a better lead than the payperclick ads, developers and analysts alike expect the market to really take off.

Jupiter Research says U.S. advertisers will spend $3.2 billion on paid searches in 2005, up 23% from an expected $2.6 billion this year, so a lot of advertising dollars could be at stake.

Developers think bigger companies will also use payper call, if they see small businesses having success.

‘the customer sees the ad, calls in and the call is routed through our software and hardware to the advertiserกs phone,ก Barach said.

Advertisers know who called, where they called from and how many calls were made by any caller.

Ingenio has just completed most of the testing on its pay percall technology, and the first big distributor is signed up.

Barach says Internet marketing company FindWhat.com of Fort Myers, FL., is promoting the ads with clients.

FindWhat runs online ad campaigns and places ads for clients on search engine networks.

Spokeswoman Karen Yagnesak says FindWhat is starting to distribute paypercall ads on hundreds of search engine and portals, including Terra Lycos and Verizon SuperPages.com.

FindWhat says interest is กstrong,ก but it won’t say how many advertisers itกs signed up for paypercall.

Barach says paypercall gives small companies a กbigger bang for their buck.ก These companies can’t afford to waste advertising dollars trying to get clicks that don’t lead to sales, he says.

Phone calls give companies a much better chance of making a sale, Barach says.

Another plus for small companies is that paypercall doesn’t require that they have a website.

According to researcher Kelsey Group, 70% of small and midsize U.S. businesses don’t have a website.

กPaypercall opens Internet advertising to millions of businesses that wouldn’t otherwise participate in it,ก Barach said.

In the case of FindWhat, advertisers will bid to get placed in the results of certain search terms.

Thatกs a method commonly used with payperclick as well. FindWhat expects that the minimum price will be about $2 per call, much higher than the pennies, that advertisers pay per click.

FindWhat says there will be no extra charges for multiple calls from the same consumer made within a 10day window.

In addition to paying $2 per call from a consumer, FindWhat might charge advertisers up to 10 cents for each minute they talk after the first, free 10 minutes.

FindWhat is waiving the 10cent charge for now to encourage advertisers to try paypercall.

Personally, I love the paypercall idea! If someone is willing to pay $2 for a telephone call, I would say thatกs a pretty solid lead.

About The Author

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: [email protected]

Make Money Online! Internet marketing expert, Dean Phillips will teach you how to make money online, starting today…Guaranteed! For details just visit my website.

Website: http://www.letsmakemoney.net

This article was posted on October 04, 2004

by Dean Phillips

Mjmls.com Offers a New Advertising Venue

Mjmls.com Offers a New Advertising Venue

by: Michael Medeiros

After conducting months of research towards developing an online Marketplace, Mjmls.com initiated betarelease of a new Classified Advertising Venue (http://www.mjmls.com). With several modifications to the Mjmls Website, users will now see the Classifieds as the main page at Mjmls.com. The original Web Directory, has been moved to a Subdomain on the server, but is still available for Webmasters to promote their Site through a, ขLinkExchangeข.

Michael Medeiros, the founder of Mjmls.com, obtained services through Geodesic Solutions, A Limited Liability Company in Software Development (http://www.geodesicsolutions.com), for the release of the Classifieds segment. The Classified application utilizes the PHP Language, enabling an easy to use interface. James Park, Geodesic Enterprise Developer, stated, ขThe benchmarks of the PHP/MySql application are comparable to any other scripting language and data storage, especially when compared to the expense of hosting the applicationข. Mr. Medeiros believes that the PHP/MySql application will deliver convenient features, while the reduced operating expense will allow Mjmls.com to remain competitive among its competitors, as it progresses into the future.

Geodesic Solutions, is providing continued support of the Database application, as the Classifieds are being developed. The Mjmls Classifieds are currently open for advertisers, as the staff released Beta Development. While there are no fees for advertising, or attached to the sale of an item, Mjmls.com is relying on utilization of enhanced features for continued support of the domain. These optional features include Better Placement of ads, Featured Ads, Attentiongetter Graphics, and Bold Text. Arrangements have been made with 2checkout.com and PayPal.com, to accept secure online payments for these optional features.

Previous users of Mjmls.com can find the Web Directory in its new location, http://links.mjmls.com. The directory has only one modification, but Mr. Medeiros stated, ขA new facelift is in orderข. The original Directory served as a place for Webmasters to list their Website, through a linkexchange, and for endusers to locate businesses and information on the Internet. Mr. Medeiros went on to say, ขWith the Betarelease of the New Classifieds, the directory will now be displaying one featured advertisement. The Ad Display is a summary of the actual advertisement. It is relatively smaller than most common bannersข. Mr. Medeiros still intends for the directory to serve as a free portal for users to find a variety of valuable Internet Sites.

The Mjmls Classifieds currently offer a variety Marketing Venues, but they intend to keep Website promotion within the Directory. Businesses and individuals may advertise items for sale in a variety of categories. These categories include Automobiles, Real Estate, Electronics, Boats, Motorcycles, and Recreational Vehicles. In addition, there is a category for Businesses to advertise their, ขStorefront,ข in the Classifieds (Business). The Mjmls Staff intends to update the Category structure through user comments and suggestions.

To begin advertising, a user is required to create an advertiser account by registering. Once registered, users can place multiple advertisements. Endusers can contact advertisers through the ads, get directions to their business or items for sale (Utilizes MapQuest.com), forward ads to friends or family, and save advertisements for later comparison. In addition, the site offers an account manager. Advertisers can easily monitor advertisements in the classifieds. The account manager will reveal the number of views, replies, and times an enduser forwarded the ad to a friend or family member. Mr. Medeiros commented, ขGeodesic Solutions has provided many useful tools for our Endusers and Advertisers. We plan to be implementing different options as the Website progresses. This will help ensure that Classifieds remain fully functional when development is completeข.

About The Author

Michael Medeiros

Mjmls.com

1032 Bradford Dr

Williamstown, N.J. 08094

6099221800

This article was posted on December 23, 2004

by Michael Medeiros

Contextual Advertising: Is it Right for You?

Contextual Advertising: Is it Right for You?

by: Merle

If online advertising had fads, contextual ads would be the latest กin thing.ก Also known as กcontent targeting,ก they seem to be กpopping upก (no pun intended) all over the Web. From news sites to privately owned websites, everyone and his brother seems to be dipping his ‘toe in the water.ก

So what is contextual advertising and why should you care? I thought youกd never ask. You know how when you read a magazine, the pages are littered with ads? Context ads do the same thing, but with a twist. Itกs a way of distributing Pay Per Click search results across the Net.

Hereกs how it works: the text of a web page is scanned for กkeywordsก or a theme, then ads are shown that are related to the pageกs content. A websiteกs content is matched up with the advertisersก keywords. For example,if I were reading a page about dogs. there would be pet related ads, usually contained in the right hand side or sometimes the top and bottom of the pages.

Unlike ads that are shown on Search Engine results pages, these ads are dynamic and allow you to reach people in a different mode other then search. Some call this more of a กshopping mode.ก Whatever you want to call it, context ads are distributed through millions of partner sites across the Internet.

Some advertisers claim that click thru rates are lower for this type of ad, compared to standard PPC search results ads. You might want to do your own testing to validate that claim for yourself.

There are two ways to approach contextual advertising: as a publisher, and as an advertiser.

Website publishers can earn extra money by displaying ads and enhancing their content. This is not a bad way to earn extra income that might just pay for your web hosting bills, and then some.

Advertisers may find that context ads provide yet another means of attracting targeted traffic. You only pay for click thrus, not exposure. Make sure your ads are narrowly focused, i.e., they should only deal with one topic. You can also กpre qualifyก prospects by using whatกs called กnegative qualifiersก in your adกs description. Some examples are กFor men over 35,ก or กFor Career Women.ก This helps to insure that only your target market will click and not those for whom your product or service may not be suitable.

If youกve been doing Pay Per Click advertising with Google and Overture, make sure you haven’t been participating already in context ads. Many times your ads will be shown on their context networks as the default when registering, and itกs up to you to opt out. You should always manage your context ads separately from your search to see which is working best.

Google and Overture are the กKings of PPCก and both offer contextual advertising, but there are many other smaller companies to take a look at. Whether you’re a publisher with web pages to fill or an advertiser looking for more exposure, thereกs something for everyone here.

1) Kanoodle: Calling their contextual ad program กBrightAds,ก small to medium sized publishers may display Kanoodle ads on their sites.

BrightAds are more relevant to your siteกs content due to the fact that they map ads by topics instead of keywords. Itกs easy to sign up and Kanoodle offers a variety of ad formats to choose from and also offers PayPal as an option for your monthly commission checks.

To join go to http://www.Kanoodle.com/about/brightads.cool

Their program for advertisers is called กContextTarget.ก Your ads are placed adjacent to editorial content of sites such as MSNBC, CBS, Market Watch, USA Today, and AutoBytel.com. You select the topics that best describe the products and services you sell, set up your ads, and set bid amounts. The minimum bid price is $.20 but runs up to $2.10, depending on market demand for the types of pages you wish to be displayed on.

For more, see: http://tinyurl.com/4c8ff

2) Overture: Their advertiser program is called กContent Match.ก Your ads will appear on pages of their partner sites, such as Yahoo, MSN.com, CNN.com and ESPN.com. Overture makes it easy to keep your context bids separated from your PPC Search Engine ads. This makes it easy to track your return on investment from both types.

$20.00 minimum monthly spend and $.10 per click is the minimum bid. Find out more at: http://www.overture.com/d/USm/ays/cm.jhtml

3) Google: The program for advertisers is called AdWords, while the one for publishers is called AdSense.

Publishers must first get accepted and approved into the program and are paid when they reach $100.00 in click thrus. You may choose to display only text ads or image ads as well. For more, see http://tinyurl.com/6e3uh

With Adwords, your ads will appear on their network of high quality partner sites which are all Adsense users, including N.Y Times Digital, Village, Weather.com, Primedia, CNET and others. Text ads are also shown inside emails of Googleกs new Gmail account users. Google allows you to opt into contextual ads and keep them separated from your search results so you can view reports for each individually.

Context ads are displayed two to four on a page. You can set the daily amount you want to spend and your credit card will be charged monthly according to your wishes. If you’re using Adwords now but don’t know if you’re being displayed in the กcontext ads,ก youกll need to log into your control panel to see if you have that option selected. See

https://www.adwords.google.com/select/

4) BannerBoxes: Sign up as an advertiser or a publisher. Publishers must be accepted into the program to display ads and are paid 75% of the click thru price from the ads. Choose keywords that match your websiteกs content, then copy and paste some JavaScript code onto your page.

Several ad formats are available, such as 468×60, 728×90 and others. Very similar to Adsense in formats that are available. Advertisers pay $25.00 to open an account and pay a flat cost per click, which means no bullying for position, as with some of the other Pay Per Clicks out there. You select the sites you want your ads to be displayed upon.

For Publisher info, see: http://www.bannerboxes.com/common/partners.cfm

For Advertisers info, see: http://www.bannerboxes.com/common/advertisers.cfm

5) Clicksor: Serving over 200 million impressions every month and partnering with over 10,000 specialized websites. As an advertiser you can run text or graphic ads that only appear on sites that best match your keyphrases. The higher you bid, the the higher placement your ad receives. For more, see: http://tinyurl.com/4yflt

For publishers, Clicksor pays you 60% of the advertisersก clicks that your site generates. You must earn over $50.00 to be paid for the month or your earnings will rollover to the next. Free to join:

http://www.clicksor.com/PPC_affiliate_program.php

6) Bidvertiser: Publishers can join free to display text ads on their websites. You can customize the look of all ads you display and block any unwanted ones. You must earn a minimum of $10.00 in a month to be paid by PayPal or $25.00 minimum to be cut a check. For more information, see: http://tinyurl.com/4g23d

Advertisers can choose the sites to run their ads on and only pay for click thrus. You set a cap on how much youกd like to spend daily, weekly, or monthly. Your bids are automatically adjusted so you only pay 1 cent more than your competition. No minimum monthly spend at this time. Advertisers find out more by visiting:

http://tinyurl.com/6w46m

7) RevenuePilot: Publishers can fill out an online application to be approved to display RevenuePilotกs ads. They do favor original content type of sites. Advertisers are paid 60% of each search terms bidded value. To be paid for the month, youกll have to have earned a minimum of $25.00. You can sign up here: https://secure.revenuepilot.com/signup.jsp

Advertisers must apply to have their ads displayed across the network. Go to: http://www.revenuepilot.com/advertising.html

8) BidClix: If you’re a publisher, youกll find BidClix has strict guidelines for joining their network. Your website needs to be approved first, then youกll be sent some HTML code to add to your pages. The types of ads served are skyscrapers, banners or pop unders. For more, see:

http://www.bidclix.com/PubTop.html

With over 30 million ads served per day, advertisers are sure to find targeted websites to run their ads. Advertisers can open an account for only $25.00 You select the กchannels,ก such as entertainment, news, health, etc., that you want to bid on and pay as little as five cents per click. For more, see: http://www.bidclix.com/AdvTop.html

9) FindWhat: Targeting small to mid-sized businesses, Findwhat calls their program กAdRevenue Xpress,ก and uses category or keyword targeting for distributing their ads. At this time, this program is only available to existing FindWhat advertisers. Go to: http://www.findwhat.com/content/advertiser/index.asp

Publishers who want to display ads on their pages can choose between a search box that returns ads from Findwhat, or display text ads directly on their sites. You earn a portion of all click thrus and Findwhat offers a 10% reward bonus to publishers who also reinvest their share of what they earn back into their own Findwhat Advertising Account. For more, see their site: http://FindWhat.com

10) SearchFeed: This is a private label feed program. Webmasters can display relevant information and earn extra cash at the same time. Real time reports, publishers earn from 35 to 50% of all click revenue. For more, see

http://tinyurl.com/62g95

Advertisers can open an account for only $25.00. Find out more at: http://tinyurl.com/664ly

11) ContextAd: Serving up contextual ads with high precision. Publishers can choose from a variety of ad units and also have access to their very own dedicated account manager.

Publishers need to be approved before they can display their ads on their sites. Then itกs a simple matter of adding some cut and paste code onto your website pages. You can also review and ban ads that you don’t want shown on your pages. Advertisers and publishers can find out more at

http://www.contextad.com/

12) Quigo: Calling their program ‘the AdSonar Exchange,ก at this time they only accept publishers and advertisers that cater to the Health, Beauty & Fitness, Travel and Educational Fields. This ad network includes over 200 sites, including USAToday and NYPost.com

For advertisers, Adsonar reads your adกs landing page and offers choices for placement. You bid on topics, and keyword discovery is handled by Quigo.com. Then you set the price you want to pay per click. Advertisers and Publishers can find out more or apply at:

http://www.quigo.com/adsonarexchange.htm

Whether you’re a publisher who wants to add content to your pages and earn some extra income at the same time, or an advertiser looking to get more exposure for your website, you’re sure to find it here. So take some time and select one or even two programs that will work best for your site and increase your bottom line as well.

About The Author

Merle of WebSiteTrafficPlan.com offering a F-R-E-E ebook and an e-course that will teach you how to promote and market your website. Grab your copy now by going to http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com.

This article was posted on December 02, 2004

by Merle

Click Fraud and How to Deter It

Click Fraud and How to Deter It

by: Hollis Thomases

Pay per click (PPC) advertising continues to gain popularity in the online marketing world as an effective and inexpensive way to drive targeted visitors to web sites. Research firm eMarketer reported that between 2002 and 2003 the paid search listing market grew 175 percent. Major trusted search properties such as Google, Overture, FindWhat.com, and Kanoodle, all offer PPC campaigns in which you pay only when someone clicks through your banner ad or link. But PPC also has an enemyclick fraudand understanding what it is and what to do about it should also be a key part of your PPC campaign.

What is Click Fraud?

Click fraud is when someone or something generates illegitimate hits on your banner or text advertisement causing you to pay for worthless clicks. AS PPC campaigns have grown in popularity and keyword prices and bidding have become more competetive, click fraud is on the rise.

Online marketers are becoming increasingly worried about the prospect of click fraud. According to CNET News, some marketing executives estimate that กup to 20 percent of fees in certain advertising categories continue to be based on nonexistent consumers in todayกs search industry.ก

This estimate is certainly unsettling for advertisers who, recently, have been paying hefty amounts bidding on desirable search terms. Financial analysts report that in the year 2004 advertisers are paying an average of 45 cents per click. Compare this to 40 cents in 2003 and 30 cents in 2002; the bidding wars continue to rise.

Whoกs Doing it and Why?

Click fraud perpetrators are most often motivated by trying to increase revenues from affiliate networks or attempting to damage competitorsก revenues by forcing them to pay for worthless clicks. The Google Adsense program, in which affiliates receive payment for clicks whether they are real or not, has caused great concern for Google and has intensified its focus on click fraud.

Those engaged in click fraud use a variety of techniques to generate false clicks. Low cost international workers from all over the world are hired to locate and click on ads. The Times of India provided investigative reporting on payment for manual click fraud happening in India. Unethical companies may pay their own employees to click on competitor ads. Last but not least, click fraud can be generated by online robots programmed to click on advertiser or affiliate ads. Some companies go to great lengths creating intricate software that allows for this to happen.

How Can You Deter It?

Many advertisers know about the possibility of click fraud but generally haven’t done much in the past to prevent it. Some feel that if they complain to any of the search conglomerates, it could ruin their free listings. Others feel like the problem is beyond them.

กIt is a bigger problem, but folks just don’t want to take the time to track it down because itกs a complex problem,ก stated John Squire, of web analytics firm Coremetrics, to CNET. กGiven that some of the largest marketers manage up to 1 million keywords in a campaign the data can be difficult to crunch.ก

Companies who do understand and report click fraud to search engine properties have had success receiving refunds for fraudulent clicks. For those advertisers who want to address the possibility of click fraud in PPC campaigns, good option do exists. At the most basic level, advertisers can use general auditing; many have been known to compile lists of sites that generate high numbers of clicks but not sales. This will indeed put up a red flag.

On the other hand, because click fraud is advancing at such frequency, click fraud detection companies and software have been popping up all over the country. Letกs take a look at some of the options:

ClickDetective ClickDetective allows you to track return visitors to your site and alerts you if there is evidence that your site may be under attack. Its reports show you every click in real time rather than a summary hours later.

WhoกsClickingWho.com This fraud detector tracks all PPC search engines, detects multiple IPกs, and even pops up a กClickMinderก after a potential abuser clicks repeatedly over five times.

BogusClick BogusClick can help advertisers determine competitor IP addresses, originating PPC search engines and/or partner sites involved, as well as keywords used.

Clicklab Clicklab employs a scorebased click fraud detection system that applies a series of tests to each visitor session and assigns scores. Calculations are made to indicate bad/good sessions to show an advertiser the quality of traffic.

Click fraud is a big problem in search engine marketing thatกs only going to get bigger in the future. It is wise for any online advertiser to implement some auditing system. Why continue to waste precious campaign money?!

About The Author

Hollis Thomases is the President of Web Ad.vantage, Inc., an online marketing firm specializing in search engine optimization, paid search engine marketing, and online media buying. The Web Ad.vantage Inc. site was named by Forbes magazine one of its กBest of B2B Sitesก for media and advertising. An awardwinning entrepreneur, Hollis Thomases has been honored by CNN and is also a contributing writer to ClickZ.

webadvantage.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 03

by Hollis Thomases