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Naughty - so you're nixed

Eagle-eyed repeat vistors to clickspiration (and there seem to be quite a few of you, which is nice) may have noticed the absence of a previously featured ad scheme.

Why?

The program in question took it upon themselves to feature adult advertising on its layout page without informing us of its intentions.

Personally, we've nothing against adult ads in the right kind of environment and with the publisher's prior consent. It's obvious that adult ads are distasteful to some, and since we're actually recommending programs here, any scheme trying to sneak polemical content of its choice into a publisher's pages is going to be withdrawn.

Yes, we did inform them why we'd done this, and yes, we have received several grovelling "take me back" emails since. But as we're trying to offer reliable recommendations here, we're afraid we're not going to be offering any second chances.

Freebie frenzy!!

OK - not exactly a frenzy, but courtesy of a loyal reader who goes by the name of, erm, Ample Asteroid (don't ask - we didn't) we've got yet another cool freebie for you.

Does receiving money to play online games sound too good to be true? Yes, well we thought so too, but it turns out that this is exactly the deal - and a very interesting online advertising model makes it all possible.

Basically, before the games start, you're occasionally asked to spend a few seconds watching a commercial... and a percentage of this advertising revenue goes into the totally free cash you're given to bet with. It's FUN, too - we'd probably enjoy it even if we weren't earning little globbles of dosh every time we win a game.

So check it out - you'll probably love it, too. (P.S - currently restricted to North American players. Sorry, European readers. We also think that's kinda sad...)

New AdSense feature further enhances the simplest web creation solution

We've long championed online web building tool weebly as the perfect FREE solution for technophobes wanting to join the online marketing revolution.

Extending its appeal even further, the ultra-simple web creation application now offers a drag and drop Google AdSense facility, meaning that putting together a monetized site in minutes has never been easier.

We also note, however, that paid-for 'premium' options are also starting to make an appearance in weebly-world - for example, a 'created by weebly' text (which we could have sworn wasn't a feature of sites until recently) can now be removed for a monthly fee.

But hey, who are we to begrudge our favorite web creation vehicle a chance to cash in on their hard earned fabulousness?

FREE industry mags!

We don't usually single out individual programs for special praise (we don't need to - they're all pretty good!) but have to make an exception for RevResponse and their free industry magazines.

There's masses of high quality material catering to every kind of business, but we personally can't get enough of 'Website Magazine' and 'Online Strategies', both of which offer in-depth info regarding (you guessed it) online marketing.

We still can't get over the fact that these gorgeous glossies are completely free, but hey, we definitely aren't complaining.

How bouncy is your site?

Bounce is one of the best indications of how well your site is performing - the wrong kind of levels can bring even the best laid smargeting plans down to earth with a very nasty bump.

Our latest article takes a look at the bounce factor and how best to blitz it! (opens in new page).

New! Just one spray eliminates all known ... license plates

Yes - you read that correctly. One of the latest product descriptions to land on our desk is for a spray that supposedly makes license plates invisible to traffic cameras - a claim that instantly brought back memories of the good old days of Sea Monkeys and X-ray specs. Nevertheless, Fox News apparently ran a report on the product and found it "surprisingly effective". Unlike our recollection of X-ray specs.

Since the spray is billed rather scientifically as a 'Radar, GPS & Camera Avoidance Product', we started thinking about it a little more scientifically too and guessed that it must contain some kind of light-reflecting medium that effectively 'blinds' cameras with their own flash. Or something along those lines.

A pity really, because we were just starting to get excited about its possible use as a 'sneak-into-the-office-late' spray, or "honey-I really-wasn't-in-the-bar,-examine-the-CCTV-footage" spray. But some things are just too good to be true.

Google click-climb good news for affiliates

After several months of noticeably slacker click-throughs, it seems that, for Google at least, things are starting to pick up again with a close to 20% rise in activity during April. Good news indeed for woriied affiliates and the very slightly beleagured search engine giant, whose shares rose in response to the glad tidings.

Elsewhere, however, lowered click activity was maintained, with both Yahoo and MSN seeing a fall in rates compared to last year (although better performances than in February and March of this year. Are things improving?. Watch this space (or watch your stats).

Google now tops Yahoo! in visitor stakes

Once the world's most visited homepage, new stats from research company comScore show that, in addition to Yahoo!'s many troubles, even this crown has recently slipped.

In April of this year 140.6 million Americans visited Yahoo! compared to the 141.1 million who headed instead to Google.

Nevertheless, the embattled web giant does at least still take a substantial lead in page views, with 33.6 billion against Google's 28.7 billion.

Some good news, then, as the indications are that at least Yahoo! content is more widely used than that of its rival.

Want to find out more about your vistors?

The latest article in our smargeting series looks at using links to define accurate user profiles. Check out how to create your own targeting tree!