I was reviewing the blog, ready to expand it a bit from its narrow focus on my
website and the related development effort to a more general "state of the software
industry" blog. However, I looked at the old posts from last year regarding
advertising efforts with google, etc. and thought I'd report on current advertising
status for the myticketgroups.com and bythestadium.com websites:
Current situation:
Buying advertising on adbrite.com
Selling ads through Google Adsense and adbrite.
Showing ads for products from amazon's affiliate program.
Current cash flow: Very negative per month.
Over the past year, have tried and stopped "yahoo search marketing". May try it
again in place of adbrite expenditures.
On the bright side, business losses are tax deductible :-)
More later....
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Friday, March 23, 2007
The AdSense Algorithm
Does anyone have an idea how Google decides that an ad should be displayed?
Here is a recent post I made to one of the AdWords Groups accessed via Google:
myticketgroups
View profile
More options Mar 23, 11:31 pm
From: myticketgroups
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2007 03:31:24 -0000
Local: Fri, Mar 23 2007 11:31 pm
Subject: Re: Why ad suddenly disappeared after modification
Reply | Forward | Print | Individual message | Remove | Report this message | Find messages by this author
I have no answers, just a similar experience.
I supplied a very specific phrase to the "keywords" list
for an ad I was running using Starter Edition.
I got 63 impressions based on that phrase quickly (within
a day).
I changed maximum CPC (I had none, I then made it 0.25).
(Not sure if related, but I'm mentioning it anyway).
Over the last few days, that number of impressions associated
with the phrase has not changed (still 63 after 3 more days).
I run the search of that phrase myself on Google and, not
only does MY ad not show up....NO ADS show up at all!
If no other advertiser uses that phrase, shouldn't my ad
show up?
Just trying to figure out how to properly use those keywords.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
* * * End of Post * * *
BTW: I had a click to my ad cost $2.04, bringing my total "outgo" for 2 clicks to
$2.09.
The scoreboard so far:
AdWords "Outgo": $2.09
AdSense "Income": $4.99
Here is a recent post I made to one of the AdWords Groups accessed via Google:
myticketgroups
View profile
More options Mar 23, 11:31 pm
From: myticketgroups
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2007 03:31:24 -0000
Local: Fri, Mar 23 2007 11:31 pm
Subject: Re: Why ad suddenly disappeared after modification
Reply | Forward | Print | Individual message | Remove | Report this message | Find messages by this author
I have no answers, just a similar experience.
I supplied a very specific phrase to the "keywords" list
for an ad I was running using Starter Edition.
I got 63 impressions based on that phrase quickly (within
a day).
I changed maximum CPC (I had none, I then made it 0.25).
(Not sure if related, but I'm mentioning it anyway).
Over the last few days, that number of impressions associated
with the phrase has not changed (still 63 after 3 more days).
I run the search of that phrase myself on Google and, not
only does MY ad not show up....NO ADS show up at all!
If no other advertiser uses that phrase, shouldn't my ad
show up?
Just trying to figure out how to properly use those keywords.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
* * * End of Post * * *
BTW: I had a click to my ad cost $2.04, bringing my total "outgo" for 2 clicks to
$2.09.
The scoreboard so far:
AdWords "Outgo": $2.09
AdSense "Income": $4.99
Monday, March 19, 2007
AdWords vs. AdSense
Now that I've signed up to both, I'll be keeping track of the performance of both.
In particular, I'll be checking to make sure that the money I spend on Adwords
remains less than the money that is coming in from Adsense. Currently, with its 2 week head start, AdSense income exceeds AdWords "outgo" by a wide margin:
AdWords: 0.05
AdSense: 4.24
Units are in USD. Oh boy!
In particular, I'll be checking to make sure that the money I spend on Adwords
remains less than the money that is coming in from Adsense. Currently, with its 2 week head start, AdSense income exceeds AdWords "outgo" by a wide margin:
AdWords: 0.05
AdSense: 4.24
Units are in USD. Oh boy!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
A Plea for AdSense Simplification
Google's Adsense is a great idea, and after I had made $3.97 over the first week
or so of the craigslist advertising effort (see first post), I was hoping that the
little snowball at the top of the hill would continue to grow as it rolled on and
on and eventually, Adsense revenue would be a great source of income.
It's not happening yet, and I think part of the problem is the way Google selects
the ads that are run on my site.
Because my site deals with tickets,
naturally, the word "ticket" appears often on the site. However, Google uses this
word to display ads from other "ticket" sites, usually resellers. They offer a
"Competitive Ad Filter", which allows me to list the domains I want to prevent from
displaying ads on the site. Over the last week I've accumulated the following list
of such domains:
4team.biz
aceticket.com
admitoneproducts.com
baseballticketdirectory.com
baseballtickets.us
beantowntickets.com
bestseat.com
broadwayticketsinfo.com
capitals-tickets.com
easystreettickets.com
findticketsfast.com
footballencounters.com
frontrowseatsllc.com
gctickets.com
goboston.com
gocheapticket.com
hallmarktickets.com
indemandtickets.com
justbuytickets.com
metrotickets.com
mytickethouse.com
poconoraceway.com
preferredtickets.com
racetickets.com
ringringmobile.com
stellartickets.com
stubhub.com
ticket-center.com
ticket-venue.com
ticketbizdomains.com
ticketcity.com
ticketdirectory.info
ticketfinder.com
ticketkingonline.com
ticketliquidator.com
ticketpro.com
ticketreserve.com
ticketsamerica.com
ticketsnow.com
ticketsolutions.co.uk
ticketsolutions.com
ticketstogo.com
ticketstub.com
ticketville.com
ticketzoom.com
top2tickets.com
top4picks.com
trademarktickets.com
webticketstore.com
Since my ad is targetted to season ticket holders, WHO ALREADY HAVE TICKETS,
I'd much rather see ads for products or services that will enhance my customers
game experience. How about some ads for sports paraphenalia (MLB caps, jackets,
t-shirts, bobble heads) or sports bars and restaurants? I would love for
Google to provide a way that I could specify these keywords (e.g., sports gear, MLB
caps, bobble heads).
I'd much rather provide a finite list of 49 keywords that select ads I want instead of a
list of 49 (and growing!) domains that provide ads I don't want.
or so of the craigslist advertising effort (see first post), I was hoping that the
little snowball at the top of the hill would continue to grow as it rolled on and
on and eventually, Adsense revenue would be a great source of income.
It's not happening yet, and I think part of the problem is the way Google selects
the ads that are run on my site.
Because my site deals with tickets,
naturally, the word "ticket" appears often on the site. However, Google uses this
word to display ads from other "ticket" sites, usually resellers. They offer a
"Competitive Ad Filter", which allows me to list the domains I want to prevent from
displaying ads on the site. Over the last week I've accumulated the following list
of such domains:
4team.biz
aceticket.com
admitoneproducts.com
baseballticketdirectory.com
baseballtickets.us
beantowntickets.com
bestseat.com
broadwayticketsinfo.com
capitals-tickets.com
easystreettickets.com
findticketsfast.com
footballencounters.com
frontrowseatsllc.com
gctickets.com
goboston.com
gocheapticket.com
hallmarktickets.com
indemandtickets.com
justbuytickets.com
metrotickets.com
mytickethouse.com
poconoraceway.com
preferredtickets.com
racetickets.com
ringringmobile.com
stellartickets.com
stubhub.com
ticket-center.com
ticket-venue.com
ticketbizdomains.com
ticketcity.com
ticketdirectory.info
ticketfinder.com
ticketkingonline.com
ticketliquidator.com
ticketpro.com
ticketreserve.com
ticketsamerica.com
ticketsnow.com
ticketsolutions.co.uk
ticketsolutions.com
ticketstogo.com
ticketstub.com
ticketville.com
ticketzoom.com
top2tickets.com
top4picks.com
trademarktickets.com
webticketstore.com
Since my ad is targetted to season ticket holders, WHO ALREADY HAVE TICKETS,
I'd much rather see ads for products or services that will enhance my customers
game experience. How about some ads for sports paraphenalia (MLB caps, jackets,
t-shirts, bobble heads) or sports bars and restaurants? I would love for
Google to provide a way that I could specify these keywords (e.g., sports gear, MLB
caps, bobble heads).
I'd much rather provide a finite list of 49 keywords that select ads I want instead of a
list of 49 (and growing!) domains that provide ads I don't want.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Biting the Bullet, Spending Some Money
In an attempt to get word out about my website,
I signed up for Google Adwords, the first time I've spent money to promote the site.
So far, not so good....but it's only been 12 hours.
The paranoid part of me thinks that craigslist and google are in cahoots. Advertise a bit for
free for a while on craigslist, see a little traffic on your site, get a little greedy, ignore craigslist's
TOU and put up the same ad in multiple locales. Ads get pulled by craigslist; feel guilty
about advertising there anymore...where to go?
Hello google adwords!
The original title of this post was "Drinking the Kool-Aid"; upon further review, I passed on that:
Highlight from wikipedia Kool-Aid entry:
In technology circles "drinking the Kool-Aid" is often used to describe the misguided or over-abundant enthusiasm someone has for their product and its capabilities.
I was more on the "Jamestown Massacre" meaning....
I signed up for Google Adwords, the first time I've spent money to promote the site.
So far, not so good....but it's only been 12 hours.
The paranoid part of me thinks that craigslist and google are in cahoots. Advertise a bit for
free for a while on craigslist, see a little traffic on your site, get a little greedy, ignore craigslist's
TOU and put up the same ad in multiple locales. Ads get pulled by craigslist; feel guilty
about advertising there anymore...where to go?
Hello google adwords!
The original title of this post was "Drinking the Kool-Aid"; upon further review, I passed on that:
Highlight from wikipedia Kool-Aid entry:
In technology circles "drinking the Kool-Aid" is often used to describe the misguided or over-abundant enthusiasm someone has for their product and its capabilities.
I was more on the "Jamestown Massacre" meaning....
Thursday, March 15, 2007
A Confession...
I confess....
...I posted ads for my commercial web site in multiple metropolitan areas on craigslist.
First, one ad got booted by being flagged by users (I'll provide link to the content later).
Then, all my ads got removed by craigslist:
I have done my penance (although, will I now get in trouble for posting an HTML
from craigslist?...to cover my behind, the above table and its format was produced by
craigslist's web site, all rights reserved by them. I thank them in advance for letting me
put this up).
Therefore, I am looking for different, inexpensive or free, ways to promote my website:
myticketgroups.com
March is the time of the year when people who share Major League Baseball season tickets get
together to split the tickets. The site above gives these people a way to create an online
group where they can see who has what tickets. This information is presented in calendar
form and in lists by group member. Also, email reminders are sent the day before a game so
people will never forget that there's a game coming up.
...I posted ads for my commercial web site in multiple metropolitan areas on craigslist.
First, one ad got booted by being flagged by users (I'll provide link to the content later).
Then, all my ads got removed by craigslist:
| ID | Date | Site | Category | Title | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 294547520 | Mar 15 07 | min | tickets | Got Your Twins Season Tickets Yet? | |
| 294434234 | Mar 15 07 | nyc | tickets | This is the Year Mets Fans! | |
| 294422781 | Mar 15 07 | cin | tickets | Reds Season Ticket Holders | |
| 294414386 | Mar 15 07 | det | tickets | Drafting/Sharing Tigers Season Tickets? | |
| 294238582 | Mar 14 07 | tor | tickets | Blue Jays Season Tickets | |
| 293992486 | Mar 14 07 | chi | tickets | Cubs and White Sox Season Tickets | |
| 293778300 | Mar 14 07 | nyc | tickets | Don't Jeopardize Your Yankee SeasonTix! | |
| 293766023 | Mar 14 07 | bos | tickets | Don't Jeopardize Your Red Sox Tix! | |
| 293656673 | Mar 13 07 | lax | tickets | Time to Split Season Tickets? | |
| 293653665 | Mar 13 07 | sdo | tickets | Sharing Padres Tickets? | |
| 293033315 | Mar 12 07 | stl | tickets | Time to Split Shares of Cardinals Season Tickets? | |
| 293029731 | Mar 12 07 | sfo | tickets | Sharing Your Giants or A's Tickets? | |
| 292465875 | Mar 11 07 | sfo | tickets | Giants Season Ticket Holder? | |
| 291377405 | Mar 09 07 | bos | tickets | Don't Jeopardize Your Red Sox Tix! | |
| 291329138 | Mar 09 07 | chi | tickets | Sharing White Sox or Cubs Tickets? | |
| 290916379 | Mar 08 07 | lax | tickets | Sharing Dodger or Angel Season Tickets? | |
| 290908021 | Mar 08 07 | sea | tickets | Sharing/Drafting Mariners Season Tickets? | |
| 286827280 | Mar 01 07 | nyc | tickets | Yankee Season Tickets | |
| 286818624 | Mar 01 07 | nyc | tickets | Share your Yankees tickets with friends.... | |
| 286671389 | Mar 01 07 | phi | tickets | Phillies Season Tickets? |
I have done my penance (although, will I now get in trouble for posting an HTML
from craigslist?...to cover my behind, the above table and its format was produced by
craigslist's web site, all rights reserved by them. I thank them in advance for letting me
put this up).
Therefore, I am looking for different, inexpensive or free, ways to promote my website:
myticketgroups.com
March is the time of the year when people who share Major League Baseball season tickets get
together to split the tickets. The site above gives these people a way to create an online
group where they can see who has what tickets. This information is presented in calendar
form and in lists by group member. Also, email reminders are sent the day before a game so
people will never forget that there's a game coming up.
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