CPA Networks & Google Compliant Image Creatives
Lately, I’ve been experimenting a lot with image ad placement campaigns in the content network. I like image campaigns for a couple reasons:
- Image ads of course are more eye catching than text ads
- Using image ads with placement targeting can be very effective
- You can dominate an entire ad region with an image ad
- There is less competition for certain verticals in the content network
- They’re quick & easy to setup
- Google’s quality score works differently than search, making direct linking to the offer a much more viable solution.
- And if you’re lucky enough, the creatives have already been made by the advertiser
* (the caveat of course is that not all ad formats are available, hence the reason I am writing this post)
Last night though, I had to shoot off an email to my main affiliate networks with a request that I think all affiliates can agree is lacking in the industry. We need compliant creatives in the networks supporting all the available Google image formats! Finish Reading This Post…
Manage Worldtime With FoxClocks for Firefox
A quick post on a neat little Firefox extension that has come in handy on many an occasion when working with CPA networks in multiple timezones. Also, if you’re like me and participate in monthly mastermind calls via Skype with other Internet marketers, coordinating time can be a challenge. Therefore I went extension hunting and finally came across one that does the job for me: “FoxClocks for Firefox” Finish Reading This Post…
Prosper202 Self-Hosted Apps: 10 Best Practices To Securing Your Prosper202 Installation
As a loyal an avid Prosper202 user…I thought in light of the recent news of an exploit found with Prosper202, that I’d post some suggestions on hardening your ever-so-sensitive Prosper202 data. As I am not a programmer, nor a database expert, this won’t be an end-all solution to securing Prosper202. This post is simply a list of “best practices” that I came up with through my own research and testing, and with the help of the Prosper202 forum. Feel free to comment with your own findings or suggestions as I’ll continue to update this post as new protection methods are found.
Without getting into too many of the technical details, last week a security vulnerability in the Zend files (encryption engine) in Prosper202 was exploited. Basically through scouring the search engines for Proser202 footprints, a malicious user was able to find vulnerable installations of Prosper202 and steal sensitive campaign information from a few unlucky targets. Hopefully you weren’t one of them.
Luckily, Wes Mahler and team were fast on the defense and quickly released an update that fixed the vulnerability, as well as ceased using the Zend encryption engine. With release 1.1.2, Prosper202 has officially become open-source, which opens a world of exciting new possibilities (think how Wordpress has exploded).
I am for one excited to see what the affiliate community with come up with. Also, in all likeliness, an open-source version should officially put an end to the paranoia of Wes and his team stealing your keyword data. I know Wes and Steven personally. They’re honest guys. They aren’t stealing your data, and never were. But you can now look through the source code yourself if you’re still an unbeliever.
Moving on to the point of this post, here a just a few of the best practices that I came up with for securing your Prosper202 installation, and hopefully preventing your domain from ever being found by yet another malicious affiliate. (We should be helping each other, not hurting each other) Finish Reading This Post…
New AdWords Technique for Competitive Spy Intelligence
I just received a very interesting email from one of the foremost experts on Google Adwords, Perry Marshall. I’ve been following and studying Perry Marshall since 2005 (when I was just a wee little PPC baby, tinkering with Adwords using Google Cash methods).
Once again though, the latest cutting edge Adwords strategies often become mainstream once Perry Marshall brings them to the forefront. After reading Perry’s email, I had remembered seeing often strange results with the Adwords listings, but never equated it to much. As much as I’d love to say I found this trick on my own, the credit of course goes to Perry. I won’t paraphrase, so here’s the email in it’s entirety:
from: Perry Marshall <#### [at] perrymarshall [dot] com>
to: [removed]
date: Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 7:11 AM
subject: New AdWords technique for competitive spy intelligenceWes,
Today I’m going to give you a very cool trick.
The Metallica Mansion - Garage Days Visited
Update 10/21/08: Being led by an errant post in a Metallica forum, I originally took pictures of the wrong house (the house next door). I’ve since taken new pictures, so the gallery below is the correct El Cerrito Metallica House.
Now for something a little different. Those who know me, know that I’m a huge metal fan among other things, and especially a Metallica fan. I’ve listened to Metallica since I was 13 years old and their music has had a huge impact on my life as a guitar player and songwriter. So, Adwords and Google Slaps aside, I wanted to write a quick post about an interesting experience I recently had related to “Metallica”. Finish Reading This Post…
