AdSense add Corner Styling Options to Ad Unit Setup

AdSense add Corner Styling Options to Ad Unit Setup
If you log into AdSense today and create a new ad unit you’ll be given the choice of creating ad units with rounded corners.
You’ll now have three choices:
Square

Slightly Rounded

Very Rounded

Access the different options through the ‘Setup Tab’ of AdSense but keep in mind that if you have a blended approach to creating ads (your borders being the same color as the background of the ad and your blog) that having square or rounded corners doesn’t matter in the slightest as you don’t see them.
PS: see full sized versions of the new AdSense ad unit styling options here.

3 Simple Ways To Save A Bunch Of Money When Buying A New Computer!

3 Simple Ways To Save A Bunch Of Money When Buying A New Computer!
by: Kris Bickell
Looking to buy a new computer?

Overwhelmed by all of the options available to you?

Stressed by the high cost of computers today?

For most people, buying a new computer does not have to be as stressful as buying a new car. Nor does it have to be as expensive. If you’re like most people, and you have a limited budget for buying a computer, then you need to try to get as much computer for your money as possible.

Here are 3 simple ways anyone can save money when buying a new computer:

1) Shop around for best deal.

Sounds pretty obvious. But many people don’t realize they don’t need the fastest, most expensive computer with the most “extras”. In fact, if you are already using an older computer, even the least expensive new computer will be a big upgrade. If you don’t know a lot about computers, you can learn a lot by shopping around. Ask lots of questions, compare prices, compare features, then find the best price. Shop at your local electronics store, and look for the best deals online. You’ll be surprised at how much money you can save by shopping around!

2) Install your own “extras”

Many computers you will find in a store have a lot of extra software already installed. While this is convenient, it is not always the best way for you to save money. Also, while many of these extras sound good, you don’t always need them. You can often find better deals by shopping around separately for your own software extras (such as a word processor, anti-virus, popup blocker, spyware removal, games, etc). And some of these you can get for free. So before you buy the “fully loaded” computer, ask yourself if you really need all the extras, then shop around to see if you can buy a scaled down computer - and get the extras yourself for much less!

3) Don’t buy extended warranty

If you are not a computer “techie”, the extended warranties offered by the computer retailers often sound like a good idea. After all, who wants to be bothered paying for service on a computer after you buy it. But keep in mind that most computers come with a warranty, and most computer problems will either happen at the beginning (when you still have the warranty in effect) or much later (when it might be cheaper to buy a new computer). Technology changes very quickly these days. So consider whether or not it’s worth the inflated price of the extended warranty. And, if you really feel you need the extended warranty, then ask to purchase it at a lower price. Not all retailers will negotiate on the warranty, but some will. And whether you buy the extended warranty or not, make sure you back up all your files periodically, just in case!

If you have an unlimited budget, consider yourself lucky. And if you do business on the computer, make sure you get what you need, while trying to keep the price down. At any price, buying something that does not fit your needs is not a good deal.

Hope you find these tips helpful, and happy computer shopping!

Adbrite PPC Network : Dissapointment

Adbrite PPC network advertising has been taken down from Dollars blog. After more then 6 months of use of Adbrite, it is time for me to say goodbye to it. I liked Adbrite because they had relaxed rules. Unfortunately, Adbrite is a very poor earner. It simply wasn’t worth even having on the website. I had been looking around for other PPC networks that would have a better chance of being more profitable then Adbrite. Something other then Google Adsense.

After checking out a lot of PPC programs and reading other peoples opinions, I decided to try revenuePilot PPC advertising program. There is some interesting things I like about it already. Right now I will be testing it for the next few weeks to see how it goes. Once I am done testing it, I will give a full review it. If you’re a webmaster using Adbrite or some other PPC network you will want to stay tuned for that future review.

New AdSense politics

Recently, Google announced their change of AdSense program politics. One of the most important changes for ad publishers is the opportunity to put three (3) link units on their page and not only one, as it was before. Overall, this means that you’ll be able to put on a page:

three link units
three advertisement units
two search boxes
As for the search results - the rules are the same. Only one advertisement field and no changing of the code whatsoever.

What I think

Link units are a great source of filling up empty fields in your design with useful, targeted links. Good for the visitors and good for your wallet. Thanks for the change, Google

Need clicks? Put AdSense where it’s hot!

So, you have your own site with (probably) good content, nice design and enough visitors to earn money from PPC programs. Good. But there’s one more thing that nobody should ignore - the AdSense positioning strategy…

Basically, you put your ads where they are visible enough for the visitors of your site. Then you blend the ad box with your design so that the ads will look good. And here comes the key - putting them where the clicks are hot. What I mean is that you can’t put the ad 200px away from the content, for example, and expect clicks. Usually, visitors do not view ads, unless they are in the content themselves, showing site-related text ads.

If you read the blog regularly, you must know the change of AdSense politics that occurred recently - web publishers can now place three link units as well as three ads on a page. So think. Place them strategically. Don’t put them all in one place - have one in your sidebar, one below your content title and perhaps one below your content. In this way visitors will surely check out the ads and probably click on them = benefit for you, the market and your wallet.

What I would give you as advice is to check out some ad integration tips and examples at adClustr. One can really get some great ideas from there

Three Reasons to Put Text Ads

You have a site. One with many visitors and good content. So, what kind of monetizing should you choose? Text ads or banner ads? In this guide I’ll give you three pretty good reasons to use text ads instead of banners.

Visitors don’t like banners. Let’s face it - they’re a web cliche. Nobody (including me) likes bright images with flashing text and some stupid stock photos looking at us as monkeys. I overdid it a little bit but I’m saying the truth.
Text ads have a higher click through rate. It’s not surprising if you read the first reason for using text ads. You have a much better chance of more clicks on text ads because users get a better, simpler and not such an intrusive explanation of the site that is being advertised.
Customizing text ads. Unlike banners, you can customize the look of your text ads. Color, background, border. That’s quite important. The more integrated your ads are, the bigger the change that your visitors will check them out.
So the next time you put AdSense or AdBrite on your site, be sure to put some nicely integrated text ads. You will have bigger profits.

AdSense or AdBrite? Maybe both!

Here comes the big question (no, it’s not what’s the meaning of life) - AdSense or AdBrite. We know that both are quite good pay per click programs, but which one to choose? I’ll share my experience with you and give you some tips on better traffic monetizing.

My universal advice is to start always with AdSense. Perhaps, it’s (not if the best) one of the best pay per click programs on the web. After all, Google owns it. But don’t go putting too many ads on your site. Remember that AdSense has some tight politics on the number of ads on one page. Try integrating your ads with your design. If you need inspiration or examples, check out adClustr.

However, what happens if I use both? That’s where all the buzz is. There’s a nice gap in the AdSense politics - one can put competing ads while still having AdSense on one page, as long as they do not look the same. A good way of not mixing up AdSense with AdBrite is to put AdSense in your content and AdBrite in your side panel. That’s what I’m talking about:


Quite a clever way of putting two pay per click programs on one page, isn’t it?

I recently got an e-mail from a visitor, so I had to answer this question. What I would give you as a personal opinion is to just work with either AdSense, or AdBrite. Otherwise, your earnings will be split in two. Just concentrate on integrating one pay per click system and getting the max out of it. Good luck

Stay tuned for more.