Igor at sunset near the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 11th.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Replacement for Adsense

As I expected, Adsense is not the only game in town. You'll notice that we now have advertisements again to subsidize the cost of our travels. These advertisements are provided by Chitika and from first impressions, I'm very impressed!

First of all, they have actual people that you can pick up the phone and talk to. This is a huge improvement over Adsense who has become too big to be able to provide personalized service.

I know that many of you have wanted to have advertising on your site, but didn't know how to go about it. Now,  if you're unsure even after following the instructions, you can pick up the phone and their support desk will guide you through the process so that you too can earn some money from your blog.

And if you sign up through the following link, we also get to earn more money for having referred you! Everybody wins!

Sign up here for Chitika!

16 comments:

  1. Glad you're happy with it!!!
    Have fun
    Donna

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  2. I just followed you link and signed up thanks.

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  3. There was someone a while back who had some issues with Adsense and it kind of stuck in my craw, as they say. I don't remember who this was exactly, but they were in an RV park, and someone asked to borrow their WIFI signal (or whatever) and then clicked on a couple of their ads. Since it was coming from their IP address, Adsense thought it was them and punted them to the curb. I didn't think that was quite right. Also, there appeared to be no recourse. You're just an IP address to them.
    Personally, I've never been interested.
    Maybe....some day, I'll look into this other outfit you now have....Maybe.
    We'll see how our budget is in a few years.
    Who knows, I might just need every nickel! Hope this continues to work for you. Now, as soon as one of these ads makes some sense, maybe I'll just check one out. The subject matter, as you know, is in your hands!

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  4. Have you lost any readers since you started adsense or Chitika? Love the new header...

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  5. Wow
    sounds great will keep and eye on things and probably do the switch in the future, thanks for the referral!

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  6. What a great header picture. I'll be interested to see how the new ad program works. Please keep posting how much you earn each month. If it seems profitable for you guys, I might reconsider putting ads on my blog.

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  7. Kenny and Angela: Thanks...I hope it works well for both of us!

    Bob: We're not independently wealthy yet, so the extra income actually makes a difference to us! Adsense doesn't only track your IP address, they also track your MAC address and will know if you are clicking on ads even through a different wi-fi signal. I think sometimes the actual reviewer forgets to check this, and this is how some people might get booted from the system. Then, you have to go through their appeals process and it's a pain in the butt. I've also read where Adsense admits they made a mistake and reinstates your account on their own. Essentially, it's all up to them, and you have zero say in the matter.

    pidge: It's honestly hard to say. We started Adsense well over a year ago, and our readership has done nothing but grow. Sure, I expect that the odd person would prefer that the ads aren't there, but most people just accept it for what it is and enjoy reading our daily posts anyhow. The big difference at Chitika it seems, is that you can actually communicate with them!

    Kevin and Evelyn: Yes, we will continue posting our revenue and expenses at the end of each month.

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  8. Glad you found a replacement. I wonder if someone like George could do both?

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  9. Contessa...Yes, both can be done at the same time.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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  10. AdSense expects you to rack up $100 before they begin to pay out, and I read that this outfit only waits for $10. That's a big difference, too. I expect to hit $100 about the same time I apply for Medicare.

    Roxanne
    The Good Luck Duck

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  11. Roxanne...Yep, it can definitely take a while to make it to that $100 mark. Making it to $10 is a plus.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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  12. Do you have any control over ad content? For example, if I mention "Canadian Election" on the Blog will I get ads for a political party I do not support? If I mention the word "abortion" will I get anti-choice adds from organizations I do not support?

    These type of adds could give a reader an adverse opinion of the Blog before they read it. This is why I never went the ad-sense route but now I am tired of watching all my friends make money! If I could recover the $30 - $40 per month that my Telcel Internet stick costs it would make it all worth while!

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  13. Hi Croft. You are only allowed to block individual ads once they have already appeared, so it would take some work on your part to monitor the ads. But I could never figure out how one would successfully do that since what you see in BC would be totally different from what someone in Vermont would see.

    I really don't think that an open minded person would be bothered by what you're suggesting. For example, you and I don't agree on some things, yet we still read each others blogs. :-)

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  14. OK, that makes sense. The ads they insert differ by geography. So you are right, it would be next to impossible to control the content.

    I could not live with, say a Republican Party ad or an anti same sex marriage ad on my Blog in the USA or a Conservative ad on it in Canada. I guess I will have to keep paying for my own Telcel stick.

    I have AdBlock on all the time so I never see any ads on your or anyone else' Blogs.

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  15. Kevin and Ruth.

    Was curious as to do you know why adsense kicked you out?
    I am considering some of this for our blog but just researching now.
    Thanks
    Mark

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  16. Hm, I thought I answered you on this already, but now I don't see it. I also don't see a way to email you on your blog. Send us an email, and I'll glady answer your questions.

    Kevin

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