WEST PALM BEACH – A popular alternative to Google Adsense has announced it will be shutting its virtual doors on April 30th 2019. Chitika, an online advertising network that grew quickly in popularity after hitting the market in 2004 is shutting down. On Wednesday, April 17, the company sent all publishers an email announcing the pending shut-down: After 15+ years in business and millions of publisher relationships, Chitika is hereby shutting down and closing its business. … [Read more...]
Google “Adds” Additional Layer of Domain Validation Before Monetizing Websites
WEST PALM BEACH – Google AdSense, once the greatest and easiest way to immediately monetize your domain or website, has added an additional layer of validation to the game, by requiring your domain name be approved before allowing you to run ads on them. One of the greatest things about Google AdSense, was, that in the past you could slap your ad code scripts on any web page, and relevant - targeted ads would immediately appear, assigning each click on an ad, to a … [Read more...]
Will Google’s Instant Answers Threaten, Even Destroy, Search Giant’s Future
LONG ISLAND, NY – This is a theoretical opinion and is far from fact, but I thought about it today and I’m going to share it with my readers, as I ordinarily do here on this site, a place where my thoughts about the Internet, meet the Internet itself - and my ramblings are meant, not just to entertain, or act as some therapeutic outlet, but to help form options, influence discussion, create dialog and educate. Today, we will touch on something that is a growing problem for … [Read more...]
Internet Isn’t for Sharing: More Disastrous EU Legislation Coming Down the Pike
ORLANDO, FL – The European Union has become a bigger threat to the Internet ‘as we know it’ then nearly anything I’ve seen in the past, including Net Neutrality. Even Internet inventor Tim Berners-Lee and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales say that the web could not have developed as it has if these new EU rules were in play 25 years ago. For instance, recently Europe created the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which we all know has had wide reaching effects on the … [Read more...]
Solution for Domainers Who Develop, Have Traffic, Experiencing Revenue Declines
NEW YORK, NY - Anyone who develops website properties can tell you that the best website business you can possibly have is one that isn’t completely dependent on search engines and has a true following. However, there are two factors at play here; one, being, if your site is only receiving traffic from search engines, Google in particular can put a very real-hurtin’ on you in a minute; the other, point two, is that if your site doesn’t have direct advertiser relationships … [Read more...]
Battle to Take-down Backpage.com Ends in Seizure, Criminal Indictments of Ownership
NEW YORK – A long-time battle to remove Backpage.com from the Internet has ended with the indictments of ownership and government seizure of its domain Backpage.com, which hosted a popular online classifieds site similar to Craigslist which allegedly was used heavily by escorts and massage providers far-bending the envelope between casual encounters, prostitution and human trafficking, according to investigators. Since 2010, Backpage.com has come under fire for its alleged … [Read more...]
Ad Revenue Down? Here’s the Latest Things That Could Be Affecting Your Revenue
NEW YORK – You might say that declining ad revenue is becoming a typical part of the business; if you feel like you are constantly trying to find new ways to build both revenue and traffic on your domains while increasing the number of channels and ad networks you rely on, you’re far from alone. Publisher revenues are being squeezed across the board, and while sometimes you might even feel that the more web traffic you build, the less it pays out – you’re probably correct in … [Read more...]
Publication with Intent to Deceive; Where Does the Wild Wild West Draw the Line?
NEW YORK, NY - First of all, I am the last one that wants to create more rules and regulations for the Internet. As a publisher of both print and digital assets, I value greatly the right to free speech and the freedom of expression, but a problem is brewing out there and it is brewing right before us. It's a pretty serious problem and one that reveals itself as a combination of fake news and what I would consider publication with intent to deceive. Let me explain... We … [Read more...]
If I Had Just Started With Domain Names Today, I Don’t Think I Would Make It
NEW YORK, NY – When I started in this industry it was the year 2000. The Internet looked very different than it does today, and people were just starting to get acquainted with Google. Search engine optimization was a lot easier to do with most people not having even heard of the term “SEO”. Back then, as a website owner, you were able to take advantage of certain techniques which could easily put you ahead of the majority. Compared to today, there was little competition … [Read more...]
False Narrative: The Never Ending Battle to Steal Your ‘Free and Open Internet’
NEW YORK - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is suggesting that Facebook pay news organizations for the stories posted on its platform. How typical. Rather than news organizations having to innovate to keep up and remain relevant, competitive and profitable, just steal from others innovation. There has been a lot of buzz lately about fake news stories being found on Facebook and Google and traditional media is passing the blame onto these websites for allowing people to share and … [Read more...]
Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”) for “CEOs” – ln Layman’s Terms
NEW YORK, NY - About twelve years ago when “search engine optimization” was beginning to get popular, a competing news publisher invited me to lunch at his restaurant to brainstorm about collaborating. It never materialized, but while there and after getting to know each other for a little while, he then turned to me, changed his posture in his chair a bit, sort of gathered his thoughts, and asked me straight out, “sell me on search engine optimization”, “what is it” and “how … [Read more...]
Here Come the Feds: EBay Warns Affiliate Marketers, Bloggers of “FTC Crack-Down”
NEW YORK, NY - EBay sent out an email update warning members that they need to be aware of regulations regarding disclosures on products and services they market and that these disclosures must be more prominent than ever. No longer is a disclosure statement valid if it merely appears buried at the bottom of a post; they’ve got to be clear, conspicuous, and even “unavoidable” to be compliant. Here are some very interesting takeaways from what I am seeing: Disclosures … [Read more...]
Most Profitable Keywords for Google AdSense Publishers; Quick Summary on Words, Topics and Interests
The Most Profitable Keywords for Google AdSense Publishers are based on what Google charges its pay-per-click advertisers based on the competition for ads within its Google AdWords program. Here is a quick summary of how the system works. Advertisers who participate in the AdWords Display Network bid money (paid by credit card) to run "Ads" on "Words" and topics for which they would like their advertisements to display around website content when and if that content … [Read more...]