Ads: Beta Testing

Hi guys,

As you can see, I'm still testing the waters regarding advertisement on the Hotlist. The big Amazon ad from last week was removed because I couldn't customize to the size I wanted. It's been reduced and put on the sidebar. Problem is, these links are supposed to be self-optimizing, meaning that they mirror what's on the blog. My objective was to eliminate the need to include those text links I've been putting in every review for the last two years or so. Well, self-optimizing or not, most of the time the links are not necessarily appropriate, especially in the amazon.com ad. The British ad is much better.

You know, techonology should be at my service, not the other way around! Anyway, I'm keeping those Amazon ads to see how many clicks they're getting. I have no illusion that they'll make me money. . . But if they generate more clicks than just the text links, then at least they'll be of use. Otherwise, they'll die a slow death and disappear altogether.

I've been toying with the idea of posting banners/ads about novels/series/authors I like for quite a while now. But I wanted to work on a one-on-one basis to ensure that I have full control over what's being posted. Unfortunately, I soon realized that most publishers can't do that because it's too much of a pain in the ass in terms of billing and stuff. Which is why I became part of an online ad network yesterday, and why you see this ad space for "rent" on the Hotlist today.

Just want to see how everything will work out. Long time readers might remember that I got fed up with the Google ads in a about a week about two years back. So hopefully pertinent ads will be posted, and everyone will be happy. Still, the absence of control over what will eventually end up being put there doesn't sit well with me. And since it's an auction, anything goes. We'll have to wait and see. . .

So far so good, though.:-)

So if you're an author, editor, publicist, or whatever, and you want to put an ad on the Hotlist, now is your chance to do so! As I told a few who have already contacted me, I'm more than willing to deal directly with people and eliminate the middle man. . . You know what to do!;-)