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!;-)

27 commentaires:

sewer.rat.zero said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sewer.rat.zero said...

At 1680x1050 using Firefox, the main ad at the top of the blog takes up almost half of the screen I see when I load the page. Yes, it's not as bad as the Amazon ad from last week but it's still visually shocking when you first load the page. It's also not formatted properly, bleeding out on the right side into the background.

Regardless of the ads, I'll still keep coming and clicking the ones I'm interested in. Just giving you a head's up on aesthetics.

Patrick said...

Hmmm, don't know anything about why Forefox should be different, but where I'm sitting the 4 ads at the top of the page are 728x90, and they don't take more than about five or six inches from top to bottom... Much less than the previous Amazon ad, which was a monster!

Yeah, the format sucks, but the banner (which is used for the footer ad) is too small to give much exposure at the top of the page. Someone is looking into this, as I'm too much of a dumbass to correct that glitch on my own.

And it's about exposure, not necessarily clicks.

RobB said...

The ads are VERY intrusive, at least in this blogger layout.

Anonymous said...

I too am using Firefox, however I do not see ads due to a plugin I use. I did however fire up the blog for the first time a couple of days ago on a different computer and WOW, the Amazon ad was huge and I was instantly glad that I don't normally see it, but the interesting thing is...I actually clicked on a featured book. I only did it because I was hoping for a great price on one of the books review right here. This got me thinking about my habits for searching for books. It is very rare that I buy a book new and mainly use Amazon to find used books sold through amazon marketplace. So, for me this ad thing would work out great for reviewed books that were published 6+ months ago. Just my 2c.

Anonymous said...

"The british ad is much better"
...
Really?
On my computer it shows: Timecop with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Masters of the universe with Dolph Lundgren, and... Eragon.

Unknown said...

I'd rather have the text links tbh, this looks hideous... if it's exposure you want, you got it though :P top one fills my whole screen just about, in 1600x1200 res. Using FF as well btw.

GunMetalBlue said...

Yeah, I also use Firefox and they take up almost the whole full loaded screen when it first comes up and it Is pretty jarring, though it doesn't stop me from reading your page every day Pat. ;)

GunMetalBlue said...

Oh, and I don't know how it is on IE, but with Firefox, those top ads overrun the edge of the blog text box and hang over about an inch...which is not pretty.

:P

though I have faith that you will find a system that works!

Patrick said...

Hmmm, why the hell would Firefox magnify the size of the ads like that????

The 4 of them put together are meant to be about 7-8 inches by 4-5 inches. That's how they are meant to be, and that's what I'm looking at right now.

But yes, they do overrun the edge of the design by about an inch. But I felt that the 468x60 format was too small. Though on Firefox it would likely fill up the whole screen!

This is going to be a work in progress, folks. If I stick to it, that is. So expect the formats and locations to change, as more testing will likely occur...

Van Damme and Dolf??? You have got to be fucking kidding me, right!?! Guess not, eh???:/

KP said...

Fortunately for me, I use Ad Block Plus for Firefox so I never even saw any of the ads (technology at work for the user for once). Being a web designer and having to deal with things like the ads that should work but don't, well maybe in this browser but not that one, is a frustrating example of perception (the browser in this case) at work. Good Luck...

Jebus said...

I use Firefox with the AdBlock plus plugin - I rarely, if ever, see ads at all on most web sites and it looks like its blocking yours.

A 99% ad-free internet browsing experience is absolutely breathtaking.

Jebus said...

Just opened it in IE6 and it looked appalling! Dude the ones at the top were big enough, but then the ones to the left of page were huge as well.

Ugh!

Yay for Firefox and ad blocking!

Anonymous said...

It looks right now that you have 4 banner ads stacked on top of each, this gives you about the 4 inch high ad space. The problem is, that 4 inches take up over half of the my 1680 x 1050 screen. Not everyone uses their browsers in maximized windows mode so what look ok on one may be overwhelming on someone else's.

Having all four ads up at the same time is just overwhelming and its tempting me to turn on my adblock for it, which I haven't as of yet cause I want to support the blog as much as I can. Keep it to one banner on a rotation and I don't think anyone will have an issue.

Unknown said...

I think the first thing we see should still be "Pat's Fantasy Hotlist".

That's what we come for. Everything else is a result of that.

Put the ads on the right side, along with the archives and links elsewhere. The top ads can go underneath the site title.

Tomáš Dudáš said...

Sorry to say, but when I open your site thourgh opera in 1200x800, almost all I see is the huge ad banner

ediFanoB said...

I just clicked on the THE DIGITAL PLAGUE ad and this took me to:
http://the-electric-church.com/forum/

It seems there is something wrong...

Gabriele Campbell said...

The ads are huge on my screen under IE.

I can live with the Amazon ones on the sidebar (though since I only use Amazon.DE I'll never click them) but the ones on top are a nuisance. They may end up having the opposite effect and put me off buying certain books, as some TV comercials keep me off buying certain products because they're so bloody annyoing.

ShadowofGod said...

The ads also hang over the edge of the text box in firefox and IE 7 with 1900x1200 res. I genereally turn off adblock on the sites i enjoy and visit regularly unless its a bother.

So far the only problem i have is aethetic and as long as you don't put flash ads or flash ads with sound than were okay.

Todd Moses said...

I use Google Reader, so I don't see the ads at all unless I navigate to your site.

Anonymous said...

One of the main reasons why I´ve always enjoyed reading Hotlist is the lack of advertisements. Although nowadays i prefer RSS feeds, but still.

Now that I've seen them, all I can say is, they suck balls big time.(and they break the page layout completely, at least in firefox)

Please dump them.

Jonathan Laidlow said...

Pat - do you need the cash? Like some of your other readers, I use Adblock in Firefox, and it makes reading the blog a pleasure. Seeing this post I jumped into IE7 and it was hideous - the stack of banner ads at the top is awful - just one banner ad, max, please. The Amazon box on the left was better, but perhaps you should think about making the text column for the blog wider?
But if you don't neeed the money for hosting and postage fees....

Anonymous said...

To be honest Pat, the addition of the adds has meant that I have visited only once in the last week instead of visiting daily as I use to.

The good thing from the comments above is that I have now learnt about add blocker for Firefox so I am planning to install it. If it goes well I will be coming back every day as I enjoy your reviews, thoughts etc but at the moment the adds are just too big & intrusive.

Unknown said...

Added the addblocker myself now to FF, looks just fine now ^^

Gabriele Campbell said...

I wish I could use an adblocker, but the only chat I use - Forward Motion Writer's Chat - works as popup and doesn't run with an adblocker.

Anonymous said...

The ads are freezing my system.

I love your site, but not the ads.

If you need money to support this site, then charge us. Don't overwhelm the site with ads that are of no interest, that take an eternity to download -- when they actually do download -- and that take up so much screen that it makes waiting for your reviews to show up rather frustrating.

I don't mind the links to Amazon within your posts, but these...

(Moreover...sigh...I can't help but feel that you've sold out.)

Pat Made Me Read It

Unknown said...

I just opened it up in IE and the ads completely ruin the look of the page. Not that I care, since like other I use Firefox and Ad-block Plus so I'll never actually see the ads anyway.

Incidentally, Gabriele was saying she couldn't use an adblocker because it would break a chat add-on - if you want to allow ads on a particular website then Ad-block Plus can be configured not to block ads from that site.