We have seen many AuctionAds publishers removing borders from our AuctionAds ad units, mimicking the popular Google AdSense optimization feature of removing borders to blend the ads within a site better.
Did you know that leaving the borders turned on might actually lead to a higher click through rather than a lower one? With our AuctionAds showing an image along with the text part of the ads, using borders can help define them, as well as help visitors quickly tell which picture goes with which text description.
Not sure which version if the best one for you? If you have an ad serving system, such as phpAdsNew, set up two channels in your AuctionAds account, and create two variations of your ad unit, one with borders and the other blended. Rotate them 50/50 for a couple of days and see which ad unit style has the highest CTR - is it the one with borders or without? Then chose that one as your standard ad unit style throughout the site. You can also use this to test out colors as well.
Don't have an ad serving system on your site? You can do a quick and dirty version of the same by manually swapping the styles each day, and after swapping for a few, see which has the highest CTR. This won't be as accurate, since daily variations in traffic can affect your stats, but it is a way to workaround if you cannot use an adserver.
If you do your own ad unit style testing, be sure to report back the findings of your testing, being sure to include the ad unit size and whether borders or blended was the best for you.
domingo, 17 de junio de 2007
domingo, 10 de junio de 2007
AuctionAds June Spotlight Publisher of the Month - GetUSB.info
Ever wondered what kind of cool USB devices there actually are that go beyond the standard wireless mouse or USB phone charger? Wonder no more, because they can all be found at the site of the AuctionAds publisher of the month, GetUSB.info.
Greg Morris started a USB website because he was already hunting down new USB products daily, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to begin turning those findings into a popular USB product blog. What started as an online experiment to better educate himself on blogging and internet turned into a profitable experience too.
Greg started the site back in January 2006, and has used programs such as Google AdSense, Commission Junction, BlogAds, Chitika, among others, and found that USB ads just weren’t paying enough… especially Google AdSense ads, which were low in per click revenue. Greg added AuctionAds back in March, and found that because there is so much USB inventory at eBay, that “the commissions are much higher thus making AuctionAds the more profitable partner for generating revenue.”
“AuctionAds is currently my favorite advertising method. I believe it's a combination of site content in conjunction with an excellent tool for generating ads. The beautiful thing about AuctionAds is the fresh content served up. You eliminate advertising blindness because what eBay serves up is A) consistently different with almost every page view and with B) different images, prices and descriptions. This is excellent because even with return visitors at GetUSB.info they always see something new for sale,” Greg says.
He has found that using four standard variations of USB combination keywords works best on the Wordpress-based site. “On each page there are four ads running of AuctionAds. Each ad uses different key words. The combination of the 4 different key words along with the different content served up from AuctionAds makes for a very fresh list of products on every page view. It's great that AuctionAds gives the web-owner the tools to create custom Ads for each page yet at the same time developed a product powerful enough to work when standardized. I've also started paying more attention to upcoming events, holidays etc and use that to my advantage and edit some AuctionAds on a week by week basis.”
Thinking about starting your own blog? We asked Greg to give advice to others who are just starting out and looking for a way to make money through blogging. “There are many tips and tricks I'd like to give. The most important is being consistent and posting on a regular basis - but everyone says that (although it's true). Let me give you a tid-bit which isn't mentioned that often - but valuable. I find unique sites that present content in a unique way and read their blog just to learn their method on how to present information. From how they phrase things, to using the block quotes, to emphasizing a certain point by incorporating off beat links/events to drive a point home. Very few bloggers/webmasters are training or educated in writing so this is a good way to learn what works.”
Have you ever done a search for anything USB related? If you have, you have seen Greg’s tips in action, as chances are good you have stumbled across one of his GetUSB.info blog post in the process, as the site ranks on the first page for most searches related to USB gadgets it has featured on the GetUSB.info blog, including the USB Circus Cannon which is currently his favorite USB gadget of the moment, with foam darts he can fire around his office using laptop controls. So next time you are thinking of searching for anything USB or are looking for that quirky USB toy, think of GetUSB.info
Want to be the next AuctionAds Publisher Spotlight feature? Let us know!
Greg Morris started a USB website because he was already hunting down new USB products daily, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to begin turning those findings into a popular USB product blog. What started as an online experiment to better educate himself on blogging and internet turned into a profitable experience too.
Greg started the site back in January 2006, and has used programs such as Google AdSense, Commission Junction, BlogAds, Chitika, among others, and found that USB ads just weren’t paying enough… especially Google AdSense ads, which were low in per click revenue. Greg added AuctionAds back in March, and found that because there is so much USB inventory at eBay, that “the commissions are much higher thus making AuctionAds the more profitable partner for generating revenue.”
“AuctionAds is currently my favorite advertising method. I believe it's a combination of site content in conjunction with an excellent tool for generating ads. The beautiful thing about AuctionAds is the fresh content served up. You eliminate advertising blindness because what eBay serves up is A) consistently different with almost every page view and with B) different images, prices and descriptions. This is excellent because even with return visitors at GetUSB.info they always see something new for sale,” Greg says.
He has found that using four standard variations of USB combination keywords works best on the Wordpress-based site. “On each page there are four ads running of AuctionAds. Each ad uses different key words. The combination of the 4 different key words along with the different content served up from AuctionAds makes for a very fresh list of products on every page view. It's great that AuctionAds gives the web-owner the tools to create custom Ads for each page yet at the same time developed a product powerful enough to work when standardized. I've also started paying more attention to upcoming events, holidays etc and use that to my advantage and edit some AuctionAds on a week by week basis.”
Thinking about starting your own blog? We asked Greg to give advice to others who are just starting out and looking for a way to make money through blogging. “There are many tips and tricks I'd like to give. The most important is being consistent and posting on a regular basis - but everyone says that (although it's true). Let me give you a tid-bit which isn't mentioned that often - but valuable. I find unique sites that present content in a unique way and read their blog just to learn their method on how to present information. From how they phrase things, to using the block quotes, to emphasizing a certain point by incorporating off beat links/events to drive a point home. Very few bloggers/webmasters are training or educated in writing so this is a good way to learn what works.”
Have you ever done a search for anything USB related? If you have, you have seen Greg’s tips in action, as chances are good you have stumbled across one of his GetUSB.info blog post in the process, as the site ranks on the first page for most searches related to USB gadgets it has featured on the GetUSB.info blog, including the USB Circus Cannon which is currently his favorite USB gadget of the moment, with foam darts he can fire around his office using laptop controls. So next time you are thinking of searching for anything USB or are looking for that quirky USB toy, think of GetUSB.info
Want to be the next AuctionAds Publisher Spotlight feature? Let us know!
jueves, 31 de mayo de 2007
Making Money With AuctionAds Referrals
Did you realize that you can make money when visitors click on your “Ads by AuctionAds” link in your ad unit? AuctionAds offers a unique referral program where you will earn a percentage of all your referred publishers, meaning you can make a nice additional tidy sum of referral revenue on top of the money you make from the actual ads themselves.
Ever click on the “Ads by ___” link on some of the other ad programs? If you did, you would discover a landing page that would get new signups or advertisers for those programs but would leave the publisher high and dry when it comes actually getting any credit or revenue from those those signups. And not only are you not earning any money from those referrals, it is also a non-money-making leak where visitors can leave your site without you making a penny off of them. This is one area where AuctionAds strives to be different.
With AuctionAds, we don’t want you to worry about the loss of revenue caused by the branding we use to identify the ad units as ads on your site. So we have implemented a referral program that is imbedded right into your ad units. So anytime anyone clicks on the “Ads by AuctionAds” and signs up for the program, you will earn 2% of those new publisher’s earnings. Pretty sweet deal. This means every single click made from our ad units, even the clicks on the “Ads by AuctionAds” gives you the potential to earn money.
Do you have other ways you wish to promote AuctionAds outside of the ad unit itself? You can also generate referral links that do not have to appear in conjunction with your ad unit, so you can just include a link in your blog entry talking about AuctionAds, or include it in a sidebar of a blog or website. Just login to your account and you will find the code right on the front page.
And with AuctionAds being such a new program, chances are good that if a visitor likes your new revenue stream on your site, they just might click that link and sign up themselves. And since nearly all of those signups would have clicked on the links to see how they worked, you will still earn money from that signup if they also end up placing an eBay bid as well!
Wondering just how many people you have already referred to AuctionAds? The front page of your AuctionAds account shows the number of referrals you currently have, so you can see how many people have signed up using your link. And soon, you will also be able to login to your account and see your referral reporting separated out from your regular earnings, so you will be able to see just how much money you are making from your AuctionAds ads versus strictly the referral revenue. If you tend to send a lot of referrals, this will be especially handy for you.
Ready to start earning referral revenue from AuctionAds? Either use AuctionAds ad units, if you aren’t already, or simply login to your account to generate the referral javascript so you can create regular links for AuctionAds and start earning right away.
Ever click on the “Ads by ___” link on some of the other ad programs? If you did, you would discover a landing page that would get new signups or advertisers for those programs but would leave the publisher high and dry when it comes actually getting any credit or revenue from those those signups. And not only are you not earning any money from those referrals, it is also a non-money-making leak where visitors can leave your site without you making a penny off of them. This is one area where AuctionAds strives to be different.
With AuctionAds, we don’t want you to worry about the loss of revenue caused by the branding we use to identify the ad units as ads on your site. So we have implemented a referral program that is imbedded right into your ad units. So anytime anyone clicks on the “Ads by AuctionAds” and signs up for the program, you will earn 2% of those new publisher’s earnings. Pretty sweet deal. This means every single click made from our ad units, even the clicks on the “Ads by AuctionAds” gives you the potential to earn money.
Do you have other ways you wish to promote AuctionAds outside of the ad unit itself? You can also generate referral links that do not have to appear in conjunction with your ad unit, so you can just include a link in your blog entry talking about AuctionAds, or include it in a sidebar of a blog or website. Just login to your account and you will find the code right on the front page.
And with AuctionAds being such a new program, chances are good that if a visitor likes your new revenue stream on your site, they just might click that link and sign up themselves. And since nearly all of those signups would have clicked on the links to see how they worked, you will still earn money from that signup if they also end up placing an eBay bid as well!
Wondering just how many people you have already referred to AuctionAds? The front page of your AuctionAds account shows the number of referrals you currently have, so you can see how many people have signed up using your link. And soon, you will also be able to login to your account and see your referral reporting separated out from your regular earnings, so you will be able to see just how much money you are making from your AuctionAds ads versus strictly the referral revenue. If you tend to send a lot of referrals, this will be especially handy for you.
Ready to start earning referral revenue from AuctionAds? Either use AuctionAds ad units, if you aren’t already, or simply login to your account to generate the referral javascript so you can create regular links for AuctionAds and start earning right away.
martes, 29 de mayo de 2007
Congratulations to Jason Cohen & Patrick Gavin
We are excited to announce that two MediaWhiz executives have been chosen as finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007® Awards.
Jason Cohen, President of MediaWhiz Holdings, LLC has been chosen as a finalist in the Metro New York area, and Patrick Gavin, President and co-founder of Text-Link-Ads.com has been selected as a finalist for the Central Midwest region.
"We are thrilled to have Jason Cohen and Patrick Gavin chosen as finalists for this prestigious award," stated Jonathan Shapiro, CEO, MediaWhiz Holdings, Inc. "This honor confirms, that with senior executives like Jason and Patrick, MediaWhiz is blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit and level of innovation that has placed it at the forefront of online marketing."
Jason Cohen, President of MediaWhiz Holdings, LLC has been chosen as a finalist in the Metro New York area, and Patrick Gavin, President and co-founder of Text-Link-Ads.com has been selected as a finalist for the Central Midwest region.
"We are thrilled to have Jason Cohen and Patrick Gavin chosen as finalists for this prestigious award," stated Jonathan Shapiro, CEO, MediaWhiz Holdings, Inc. "This honor confirms, that with senior executives like Jason and Patrick, MediaWhiz is blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit and level of innovation that has placed it at the forefront of online marketing."
jueves, 24 de mayo de 2007
MediaWhiz Strengthens Executive Team
New Alignment Maximizes One Of The Most Experienced Teams In Online Marketing Solutions
MediaWhiz Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of performance-based online marketing services, today announced it has significantly expanded its senior management team. The broader executive team will continue to oversee the integration of the company’s suite of marketing services, which include affiliate marketing, lead generation, email marketing, list management, display advertising, text link advertising, and search marketing, creating seamless, full-service online advertising solutions for MediaWhiz’s clients as well as focusing on developing additional career opportunities for staff across the company.
In the past two years, MediaWhiz has grown more than eight-fold with acquisitions and organic initiatives. Following an investment in 2005 from private equity firm Lake Capital, MediaWhiz merged in 2006 with Global Resource Systems (now WhiteDelivery) to form one of the largest providers of integrated, online performance marketing services. More recently, MediaWhiz acquired Text-Link-Ads.com, specializing in text link advertisements, and Monetizeit.net, a leader in lead generation for the financial, consumer, and healthcare markets.
In April, MediaWhiz announced it had hired Jonathan Shapiro, a former executive at Lillian Vernon Corp., DoubleClick,, United Media and McKinsey & Co., as chief executive officer. Chief financial officer Tom Lanzetta, former chief operating officer of Agency.com, joined the company in January. In addition, a number of the founders and executives of MediaWhiz companies have taken on new roles:
Jason Cohen, founder of MediaWhiz, Inc., has been appointed chief sales officer and president of MediaWhiz’s New York City office.
John Dopazo, formerly chief technical officer of WhiteDelivery, has been appointed president of WhiteDelivery, an email service provider that offers email list management, compliance services, content delivery, and transactional message delivery including auto-responders, order confirmations, account updates, and shipping confirmations.
Yannick Tessier, founder of Global Resource Systems, has accepted the position of chief strategy officer, while Michael Germani, formerly chief operating officer of GRS, will become MediaWhiz’s email delivery officer.
Dow Smith, formerly chief operating officer, becomes president of Monetizeit.net, while Monetizeit.net co-founder Steve Wadley will focus on sales as executive vice president of business development. Joe Wesson has joined Monetizeit.net as the group’s chief technology officer. Most recently, Wesson was president of Benchmark Consulting, a firm he founded in 2002 and grew to more than $6 million in revenues and 40 employees.
Patrick Gavin, founder of Text–Link-Ads.com, remains president of the group but has relocated to New York City from Cincinnati and will oversee the expansion of MediaWhiz Search.
“MediaWhiz’s explosive growth had created an increased need for more senior leadership,” said Jonathan Shapiro, chief executive officer of MediaWhiz. “We have an extraordinary group of executives recognized across the industry as online marketing thought leaders. The realignment of our management team maximizes their talents and experience, allowing us to continue to provide MediaWhiz clients with one of the broadest platforms of online marketing solutions available while also enhancing career opportunities for MediaWhiz employees.”
MediaWhiz Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of performance-based online marketing services, today announced it has significantly expanded its senior management team. The broader executive team will continue to oversee the integration of the company’s suite of marketing services, which include affiliate marketing, lead generation, email marketing, list management, display advertising, text link advertising, and search marketing, creating seamless, full-service online advertising solutions for MediaWhiz’s clients as well as focusing on developing additional career opportunities for staff across the company.
In the past two years, MediaWhiz has grown more than eight-fold with acquisitions and organic initiatives. Following an investment in 2005 from private equity firm Lake Capital, MediaWhiz merged in 2006 with Global Resource Systems (now WhiteDelivery) to form one of the largest providers of integrated, online performance marketing services. More recently, MediaWhiz acquired Text-Link-Ads.com, specializing in text link advertisements, and Monetizeit.net, a leader in lead generation for the financial, consumer, and healthcare markets.
In April, MediaWhiz announced it had hired Jonathan Shapiro, a former executive at Lillian Vernon Corp., DoubleClick,, United Media and McKinsey & Co., as chief executive officer. Chief financial officer Tom Lanzetta, former chief operating officer of Agency.com, joined the company in January. In addition, a number of the founders and executives of MediaWhiz companies have taken on new roles:
Jason Cohen, founder of MediaWhiz, Inc., has been appointed chief sales officer and president of MediaWhiz’s New York City office.
John Dopazo, formerly chief technical officer of WhiteDelivery, has been appointed president of WhiteDelivery, an email service provider that offers email list management, compliance services, content delivery, and transactional message delivery including auto-responders, order confirmations, account updates, and shipping confirmations.
Yannick Tessier, founder of Global Resource Systems, has accepted the position of chief strategy officer, while Michael Germani, formerly chief operating officer of GRS, will become MediaWhiz’s email delivery officer.
Dow Smith, formerly chief operating officer, becomes president of Monetizeit.net, while Monetizeit.net co-founder Steve Wadley will focus on sales as executive vice president of business development. Joe Wesson has joined Monetizeit.net as the group’s chief technology officer. Most recently, Wesson was president of Benchmark Consulting, a firm he founded in 2002 and grew to more than $6 million in revenues and 40 employees.
Patrick Gavin, founder of Text–Link-Ads.com, remains president of the group but has relocated to New York City from Cincinnati and will oversee the expansion of MediaWhiz Search.
“MediaWhiz’s explosive growth had created an increased need for more senior leadership,” said Jonathan Shapiro, chief executive officer of MediaWhiz. “We have an extraordinary group of executives recognized across the industry as online marketing thought leaders. The realignment of our management team maximizes their talents and experience, allowing us to continue to provide MediaWhiz clients with one of the broadest platforms of online marketing solutions available while also enhancing career opportunities for MediaWhiz employees.”
lunes, 14 de mayo de 2007
BuddyTV - AuctionAds Publisher Spotlight For May
Ever wonder what you get when you cross a high traffic site with everyone’s obsession with shows like Lost, Heroes & Grey’s Anatomy? You get the perfect site for running AuctionAds.
The pop-culture site Buddy TV launched in October 2005 and with a great staff of writers passionate about anything and everything that appears on television, BuddyTV has become a destination for fans of just about every television show airing in the United States. And it is no wonder, the site is bursting with the latest news, recaps and spoilers of all your favorites.
BuddyTV first began running AuctionAds on April 9th and immediately saw the results. The first week or so was a bit slower, as can be expected anytime any new advertising is started. But, they allowed it time to work and discovered it ramped up much higher than their initial first week.
For BuddyTV, they chose a placement that saw them replacing one of their Google AdSense ad units on the page. They selected a 728x90 ad unit site and placed it below the fold.
If you are immediately wondering why AuctionAds would do so well on a site where you’d think the primary item for sale on each television show would be DVDs, think again. A quick search for Grey’s Anatomy shows over 400 auctions, with items ranging from posters to magazines, watches to signed scripts. When there are so many unique fan items for sale on eBay from each show, it is no wonder that fans are clicking on the AuctionAds advertisements.
They have also discovered that AuctionAds is a perfect compliment to other on-page advertising that BuddyTV utilizes. In addition to AuctionAds, BuddyTV also outsources some ad sales as well as using ad networks including Google AdSense, Ad.com and Tribal Fusion .
So while BuddyTv has seen great success with AuctionAds, how did this pop culture site become successful itself? According to Andy Liu, co-founder of BuddyTV, a definite part comes from ensuring their site meets the desires of their audience.
“We’re very passionate about building usable and fun sites utilizing our experience based on our experience, I think we’ve built the best TV fan sites out there in terms of content, usability, and ultimately the fun
factor.”
When building a site with an eye on eventually earning money through on-page advertising, Andy has several tips for publishers that some tend to overlook when they are too focused on the immediate dollar signs.
“Although we’re still early in our development as a major publishing site, we’ve found that being consistent every day with relevant posts even if you think it’s not driving much traffic is extremely important in
building awareness in the users’ mind that your site is important enough to visit everyday.”
“I think developing a unique voice is also very important, you can expect to have straight-up talk about a specific episode being poor while at the same time being a fan of the show at BuddyTV. For example, we’ll be honest when we feel a specific episode of 24 or Lost really lacked direction or plot development, yet at the same time we’re huge fans of the show. Transparency is always a good thing.”
Over the years, BuddyTV has seen multiple incarnations, and they have more plans for the future to keep up with what their visitors want from the site as well. Andy considers this one of the most important aspects of building their business. “Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, always be listening to your users and push the envelope on developing features that
improve user experience. We’ve gone through several iterations of BuddyTV and we’re still iterating, our product roadmap is filled with things we want to do and our users want. By delivering the experience your users want, you’ll always be on the right track.”
AuctionAds is pleased to have BuddyTV as our May Publisher of the Month. Think you have what it takes to be an upcoming AuctionAds Publisher of the Month? Tell us why and you just might be featured in an upcoming month.
The pop-culture site Buddy TV launched in October 2005 and with a great staff of writers passionate about anything and everything that appears on television, BuddyTV has become a destination for fans of just about every television show airing in the United States. And it is no wonder, the site is bursting with the latest news, recaps and spoilers of all your favorites.
BuddyTV first began running AuctionAds on April 9th and immediately saw the results. The first week or so was a bit slower, as can be expected anytime any new advertising is started. But, they allowed it time to work and discovered it ramped up much higher than their initial first week.
For BuddyTV, they chose a placement that saw them replacing one of their Google AdSense ad units on the page. They selected a 728x90 ad unit site and placed it below the fold.
If you are immediately wondering why AuctionAds would do so well on a site where you’d think the primary item for sale on each television show would be DVDs, think again. A quick search for Grey’s Anatomy shows over 400 auctions, with items ranging from posters to magazines, watches to signed scripts. When there are so many unique fan items for sale on eBay from each show, it is no wonder that fans are clicking on the AuctionAds advertisements.
They have also discovered that AuctionAds is a perfect compliment to other on-page advertising that BuddyTV utilizes. In addition to AuctionAds, BuddyTV also outsources some ad sales as well as using ad networks including Google AdSense, Ad.com and Tribal Fusion .
So while BuddyTv has seen great success with AuctionAds, how did this pop culture site become successful itself? According to Andy Liu, co-founder of BuddyTV, a definite part comes from ensuring their site meets the desires of their audience.
“We’re very passionate about building usable and fun sites utilizing our experience based on our experience, I think we’ve built the best TV fan sites out there in terms of content, usability, and ultimately the fun
factor.”
When building a site with an eye on eventually earning money through on-page advertising, Andy has several tips for publishers that some tend to overlook when they are too focused on the immediate dollar signs.
“Although we’re still early in our development as a major publishing site, we’ve found that being consistent every day with relevant posts even if you think it’s not driving much traffic is extremely important in
building awareness in the users’ mind that your site is important enough to visit everyday.”
“I think developing a unique voice is also very important, you can expect to have straight-up talk about a specific episode being poor while at the same time being a fan of the show at BuddyTV. For example, we’ll be honest when we feel a specific episode of 24 or Lost really lacked direction or plot development, yet at the same time we’re huge fans of the show. Transparency is always a good thing.”
Over the years, BuddyTV has seen multiple incarnations, and they have more plans for the future to keep up with what their visitors want from the site as well. Andy considers this one of the most important aspects of building their business. “Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, always be listening to your users and push the envelope on developing features that
improve user experience. We’ve gone through several iterations of BuddyTV and we’re still iterating, our product roadmap is filled with things we want to do and our users want. By delivering the experience your users want, you’ll always be on the right track.”
AuctionAds is pleased to have BuddyTV as our May Publisher of the Month. Think you have what it takes to be an upcoming AuctionAds Publisher of the Month? Tell us why and you just might be featured in an upcoming month.
martes, 1 de mayo de 2007
AuctionAds April ‘07 Payment
The Payments for April have been sent out. Also today marks our 8 week anniversary since launch. Thanks to all the publishers that have made AuctionAds such a great success.
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