September 14, 2007Nicole Wins
The Saga of Nicole Draws to a Close
Last night I got an email from Nicole telling me how to install the ads from her company. It’s relatively painless. There are “generic” instructions for any php-based site. They also offer instructions for both phpBB2 and phpBB3. I took a look at the code to make sure it wasn’t completely going to bork my server. It’s not the best code in the world, but it’s functional.
They provide an empty CSV (Comma Seperated Values) file to start with. The first time your page loads it connects to their server to download the current ad campaigns. Right now I’m seeing stuff for “Credit Card Consolodation” and “Guitar Lessons” and “Phoenix Landscaping Companies” on my site. Hm. That’s a variety. 
I sent an email back to Nicole letting her know that her ads were up. She’ll send her spider around at some point in the next day or two to make sure that the ads are showing up properly. Once that’s done, she’ll pay me (via PayPal) the first month’s “rent” on my site. I guess as long as I keep the ads there, I get paid. If it works out, will I use their service on other sites?
To be honest, probably not. I am really using this as an experiment. One with fortunate timing, since I have been running a series of posts about advertising on boards. It was great to be able to use this as a case study of sorts during that process. But to be really honest, I didn’t have that board set up to make money. And selling “guitar lessons” on a board that has nothing to do with music just seems… wrong.
I have contacted the owners of several other boards that I manage or host. If they wanted to join the same service, then depending on how much they earn they may be able to pay for their hosting simply with these ads. And that is, apparently, the reason why this company is searching out board owners. Most folks do not make money with their boards. That is another reason why I started this series of posts about advertising, to be honest. This is a very easy, and apparently legitimate source of income for board owners. Even if you don’t have a lot of traffic.
So for now, Nicole has won me over. I will be running her ads on one of my sites for at least a few months. Ads that have nothing to do with my content, but I’m getting paid nonetheless.
I feel… dirty. But I’ll take the money. 
Money makes the world go round…
Comment by Ganon_Master — September 14, 2007 @ 6:52 am
I’m not sure that Yahoo’s context-sensitive ad program is that much more relevant. I’m currently viewing a topic about OJ Simpson’s recent arrest, and am seeing ads about “Hamptons, NY Real Estate” and “Top Credit Card Offers”.
Then I go view a (much older) topic that has surely been indexed, talking about the song “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time”, I get the same two ads.
And finally, I go read a topic titled “Ohm’s Law for Pirates”… and get the same two ads.
Not only that, but the units at the top and bottom of the page show the same ads in most cases.
Comment by A_Jelly_Doughnut — September 17, 2007 @ 9:20 am
Hi, AJD, and welcome to my blog. Thank you for your comment.
I don’t have any direct experience with Yahoo’s ad program. I use google Adsense on a couple of sites, and for the most part they are related to the content. It’s funny to watch the ads in the ‘off topic’ area though. For the most part the ads in the regular area of the board are able to build on the history of posts in those areas. But of course the off-topic area can go wildly off in different directions. For example, in one topic a while back we started talking about doing a custom bear like the phpBB Berties. The ads started including mentions for Alaskan “Spirit Bear” cruises.
I doubt they got many hits.
Comment by Dave Rathbun — September 17, 2007 @ 2:20 pm