Last week, I spoke at AdSpace San Francisco about how we generate traffic at HealthCastle.com and about how that traffic is effectively monetized. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing our successes and learning from others on the AdSense Rock Stars panel. So what was the take home message from my presentation?

Lesson from an AdSense Rock Star to Boost Revenues

Essentially, every website is unique and has its own dynamic. You must do your own experimenting and testing to maximize revenues. Below are two real world test cases from my presentation that surprised many attendees. Through our own testing, we found what has worked for others, did not work for us.

1. 120×600 Text Ads Performed 15% Better Than 160×600 Text Ads

2. Text Ads Performed As Well As Image + Text Ads

So be ready to test, test and test again! Every website is unique and it’s an on-going process trying to increase eCPM and overall revenue.

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I’m excited! I have been invited to speak in a keynote event at the debut ADSPACE conference co-held with ad:tech San Francisco 2009. ADSPACE is the first and only conference and expo dedicated to AdSense and contextual advertising. It’s geared towards small to mid-sized publishers looking for insider tips on how to maximize AdSense revenue. Thanks to Sunil and Arlene from Google for nominating me for the panel!

There is definitely an impressive line-up of speakers at ADSPACE and I am honoured to have been invited to speak. If you are attending ADSPACE at ad:tech SF this year, be sure to check out “The MasterClass for AdSense Rock Stars – Tales on Generating Traffic and Contextual Profits“. It’s a day-ending keynote where expert panelists, including yours truly, will be sharing stories and tips about contextual advertising and more. Given the session title, I am now officially a rock star, AdSense style.

Here are the panelists for The MasterClass for AdSense Rock Stars session:

• Leora Blumberg – DOCLIX
• Barbara Feldman – SurfNetKids.com
• Kim Kaplan – PlentyOfFish.com
• Me, Ian Lee – HealthCastle.com
• Chris Raimondi – FreePatentsOnline.com

If you want to connect and share ideas about contextual advertising or publishing, my twitter handle is @HealthCastleIan.

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Ever since I was introduced to the idea of behavioral targeting, I have always wondered why no one single entity has taken this powerful advertising driver and run with it. I guess Tacoda did try and then got bought out by AOL. It was in 2007 that I predicted marketers would more utilize this type of one-to-one advertising technique and sure enough, it took a little time but it’s here. Google announces Ads Preferences – otherwise calling it Interest-Based advertising.

Google’s Interest-Based Advertising

Previously, Google would show ads to a user based on the content of the web page that the user was reading. It is now possible for Google to show you ads based on your interests. If you visit websites that deal with travel, there will be a higher chance that you will see travel ads when you surf the Internet. Google is working with publishers to deliver Interest-Based ads so the next time you are on a foodie blog, you just might see a travel deal in a Google Ad for the vacation destination that you have been researching.

You can even control how targeted Google Interest-Based ads are. Just go to google.com/ads/preferences and you will be able to add and delete interest categories. Interest-Based ads are tied to cookies in your browser. If you delete your cookies, your settings are erased. If you prefer never to see Interest-based ads and only want normal ads, you can actually save your opt-out settings on a specific computer. Just click on Opt-Out >> Download and then follow the instructions to install a browser plug-in that saves your Opt-Out settings even when you clear your cookies.

Previous attempts by various companies to show behavioral targeted ads made users uneasy and some even called it spyware. When presented by a trusted company, in good light, with easy options to opt-out, it is now called Interest-Based advertising.

Given previous lawsuits filed by ValueClick on Blue Lithium, Revenue Science and Tacoda for infringement of behavioral targeting patents, will ValueClick soon file a lawsuit against Google?

Real World Results

So what does this mean for advertisers, publishers and users?

• Advertisers would be able to further target their ads
• Publishers would probably earn more for serving Interest-Based Ads
• Users will benefit by seeing more relevant ads and would be able to choose specific groups of ads to view

Google Made My Prediction Come True – Who Is Next?

It took someone like Google to make my prediction come true! Which will be the next network to strengthen my prediction and offer behavioral targeted / interest-based advertising? AOL has been offering behavioral targeting with their acquisition of Tacoda technology before Google made their recent announcement. So who will be next? The following networks come to mind as entities with enough reach to accomplish this.

• Glam Media
• Gorilla Nation
• Tribal Fusion
• 24/7 Real Media
• ValueClick Media
• oneNetworkDirect
• CJ
• PepperJam
• ShareASale

So will it be someone from this list or will it be another innovative network to offer fully-targeted advertising based on cookie tracking? Only time will tell.

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There comes a time when some websites must decide whether they must charge users to increase revenues or close up shop due to insufficient funds. This is particularly true for many non-profit websites as they just do not bring in enough advertising dollars to sustain the cause. But when a website with 150,000 members, whose reach is 60,000 (daily) and one that boasts 1.8 million targeted photographers on a monthly basis decides to switch to the pay-to-play model, operationally, something does not measure up.

Nikonians.org, one of the largest single online community of photographers, has been around for many years and have garnered a loyal group of users. Unfortunately, many of these users will no longer have access to the content they have contributed or even access to their profile to change an email address. I must say that I am quite irritated at this whole situation.

Nikonians.org Is Now Charging Users

As I needed some new gear, I was actually referring back to a previous post where other users and I had discussed that topic at length. To my surprise, I received a message asking me to pay for a membership when I tried to log in. Having been with the community since 2003, I was granted charter membership when the website underwent membership level changes some time ago so I was shocked to find that a fee was now required to access Nikonians.org. I could not believe that I needed to pay to access content that I had contributed to the forum!

Not being able to log in, I emailed Nikonians.org and received confirmation that yes, it is indeed now a paid-only site. I was provided with this information:

Nikonians is operated as a not-for-profit community. All capital generated through our operations (The Nikonians Community, The Photo Pro Shop and the Nikonians Academy) is reinvested to sustain it and its growth.

Only approximately 13% of our costs are covered by paid memberships.

For the past eight and a half years the community’s policy has made it possible to offer free of charge content, enabling members from all countries, all social backgrounds and economical status to interact on the provided platforms at no cost. But, the community must also receive enough funding to be able to sustain itself, meet the demands of a growing membership and create reserves to face contingencies out of our control.

Something Does Not Add Up

Based on the above, I can only draw my own conclusion that Nikonians.org isn’t simply turning to the paid model to try and make more money but instead needed to generate more revenue so that it can continue to keep its doors opened. If this is indeed the case, then something is definitely not right. Hearing that a website is receiving almost 2 million (targeted) visitors a month and not being able to sustain operations through advertising revenue is shocking.

For a not-for-profit online organization to receive that amount of monthly users and not being able to sustain itself just does not add up – at least not in my calculations.

In my opinion, any website (for profit or not) with 2 million users a month should be able to generate enough revenue to hire full-time employees to keep it going without being forced into charging membership fees. Who knows what kinds of administration fees are in place currently to keep the site running but at the end of the day, either revenue is too low or expenses are too high (or both). Again, something just does not add up.

Offer to Help Not Taken Up

At one time, I was a heavy user of Nikonians.org. It was where I learned a lot about photography and contributed content to help other users as well. In fact, I enjoyed the community so much that I started a conversation with one of its principles offering to help Nikonians.org generate more online revenue at no cost to them. Volunteering my time and expertise is one way I contribute back to the communities (online and offline) that I am active in. If memory serves me correctly, I remember a conversation where I learned that Nikonians.org was serving up 9 million pageviews per month and the principal was excited that he was putting in a system to start selling a truck load of ad inventory. A few emails and private messages were traded but he never took me up on my offer.

Nikonians.org is not the Place for Pay-to-Play

There are situations where paid websites make sense but Nikonians.org is not this place. The community grew because it was a useful resource and it was free. With the recent change, it’s no longer useful or free (even previous content is no longer accessible unless you are a paid member). I am guessing that there will be many more ex-Nikonians then paid members from here on. Here is a Flickr conversation about this very issue.

• Nikonians turning into all pay

What’s Next for ex-Nikonians

I am actually sympathetic to the principles of Nikonians.org. It’s never easy running a business let alone a not-for-profit that is not generating enough revenue. It will be interesting to see if the move to paid membership is the right one for one of the largest online photography communities. There are even predictions that Nikonians.org may one day revert back to the free model. Even if they do, it will be too late to regain lost trust from previous users.

In the meantime, if anyone (ex-Nikonians or otherwise) has suggestions, I need to find a high quality (& free) photography forum to connect with other enthusiasts. All recommendations are appreciated. If anyone has taken this as an opportunity to start a free forum for Nikon owners, do share! Now that actually sounds like a good idea!

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For those who remember the buyout of Be Free by ValueClick in 2002 will remember that the total cost of that transaction was in excess of $100 million dollars. The oddest thing was that shortly after that purchase, ValueClick shutdown Be Free and moved all clients over to Commission Junction, their other affiliate marketing platform. So why pay $100 million and then close the shop? It probably has something to do with the fact that the real value of Be Free was not its affiliate platform but the two behavioral targeting patents that it holds.

One patent at issue, the 1998 “Method and Apparatus for Determining Behavioral Profile of a Computer User,” involves creating psychographic profiles of Web users “by recording computer activity and viewing habits.” The second, “Computer Program Apparatus for Determining Behavioral Profile of a Computer User,” issued in 1999, likewise deals with creating behavioral profiles of Web users. Both patents list Thomas Gerace as the inventor. Gerace founded Freedom of Information, Inc., which later became BeFree, Inc. and was acquired by ValueClick for $120 million in 2002. Gerace also is the founder and chief executive of the social networking site Gather.com.

Over the last few years, ValueClick has filed lawsuits against Blue Lithium, Revenue Science and Tacoda for infringing on a patent on the general principles of behavioral targeting.

Google surely knows of these ValueClick lawsuits. Now that Google is testing the behavioral targeting waters, they probably have their legal team waiting in preparation for more lawsuits to come through the door. Either that or Google has an out and have found a way around the infringement of ValueClick’s patents. Google is calling it “interest-based” with no mention of the term “behavioral targeting”. Here are two references to this new Google offering:

• Google sidles up to behavorial targeting
• Google will let people choose how its ads target them

For a while after AOL purchased Tacoda, an industry leader in behavioral targeting, it looked like ad serving based on user action was being phased out of existence. It’s good to see behavioral targeting come back to life. I am sure ValueClick lawyers are going to have a field day with Google’s latest offering.

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The purchase of a company for its intellectual property and assets is common practice in the business world. But sometimes, companies often make a purchase that does not seem to make any sense… at least not in the short term. This was the case for ValueClick purchasing Be Free in 2002 for over $100 million dollars. After the dot com bust, this valuation seemed overly aggressive. Fast forward six years to today and the real reason for the high-priced purchase emerges.

According to MediaPost, ValueClick has previously filed lawsuits against Blue Lithium and Revenue Science for infringing on a patent on the general principles of behavioral targeting. Now, ValueClick has filed a similar infringement lawsuit against Tacoda, a company founded in 2001 and have since been purchased by AOL is considered one of the pioneers of behavioral targeting.

So how can ValueClick file a lawsuit against Tacoda, a leader in the behavioral targeting industry? The issue revolves around two patents.

One patent at issue, the 1998 “Method and Apparatus for Determining Behavioral Profile of a Computer User,” involves creating psychographic profiles of Web users “by recording computer activity and viewing habits.” The second, “Computer Program Apparatus for Determining Behavioral Profile of a Computer User,” issued in 1999, likewise deals with creating behavioral profiles of Web users. Both patents list Thomas Gerace as the inventor. Gerace founded Freedom of Information, Inc., which later became BeFree, Inc. and was acquired by ValueClick for $120 million in 2002. Gerace also is the founder and chief executive of the social networking site Gather.com.

It is clear now why ValueClick purchased Be Free and then shortly closed it’s doors by moving all affiliate marketing clients over to the Commission Junction platform. The real value in Be Free is not its affiliate platform but the two behavioral targeting patents that it holds.

Previous lawsuits against Blue Lithium and Revenue Science have settled. Will AOL (parent company of Tacoda) and ValueClick also manage to reach a settlement for this lawsuit? Report from the street is that Tacoda publishers are being asked to sign a new AOL Platform-A agreement. Is this the end of Tacoda and behavioral targeting as we know it?

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Online marketing is becoming more sophisticated and marketers are looking for even better tools to help them do their jobs and more importantly, to gain that edge over competitors. In the past, it was difficult to target a specific audience in a Google AdWords campaign. Normally when you use keywords in your ad groups to contextually target ads, Google will match them to relevant pages across the hundreds of thousands of sites on the Google content network. But have you ever wanted to bid more (or less) for a specific content network site you’re contextually targeting? Or write customized ad text for a precise group of pages, such as news articles or relevant discussions on social networks? Now you can!

Enhanced Online Campaigns – Targeting Specific Web Sites

Advertisers will now be able to increase bids and more accurately target sites they are performing well on with greater ease. Google has combined keyword-targeted and placement-targeted campaigns into a single online campaign type. As of yesterday, you can target keywords and placements together in the same ad group. This new tool is called Enhanced Online Campaigns. By doing so, you combine the benefits of contextual targeting with placement targeting: use keywords to show your ads only on contextually relevant pages, then use placements to set specific bids for, or restrict your targeting to, sites you value differently from the rest of the content network.

This is great news for AdWords advertisers and AdSense publishers. Increased targeting means the advertiser may bid higher for keywords and this increased ad spend should trickle down to the publisher’s end and result in increased AdSense revenues. At least in theory, this should happen.

Gain the SEM Competitive Edge

So if you are looking for that edge over the competition in search engine marketing, look no further. Google suggests these 2 ways to use the new Enhanced Online Campaigns to highly target your keyword buys.

1. Set custom bids for specific placements
2. Show your ad only when both keywords and placements match

For more information on, check out Google’s Enhanced Online Campaigns page.

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As of today, it looks like Google Adsense is requiring publishers to update their logins to a Google Account if you have not already done so. As mentioned in an earlier post (Confused by Google’s Consolidation of AdSense Login to Google Account), Google did not allow users to use an existing Google Account to update your AdSense login if it is already associated with an AdWords account. Although the instructions indicate that you should update your AdSense account with a Google Account, it looks like you can still use a non-Google Account to do the update.

Simply walk through the update wizard after you log in using your existing credentials, then choose the following options (click on the image below to enlarge). The system will allow you to use an email address and password that is not tied to a Google Account. So for those who want to continue using AdSense but not use a Google Account to do so, or if you just don’t want to create yet another online account, the option to use your own email to manage Adsense is still available. Click on the following image to see the available options.

Update Google AdSense Account Without Using a Google Account

Click to enlarge

In the past, it was verified by a Google rep that if you already have a Google Account that was tied to AdWords, it was not possible to use this to update your Adsense account. It looks like Google has made some changes and you are now able to do this. So for all of you holding out on the AdSense update because of this, just choose “I’d like to use my existing account for AdSense”. It works like a charm!

You can actually walk through the wizard multiple times to grant access to multiple accounts if you choose. This is particularly useful for those who have different log ins for other Google services like docs, calendar and site. Just grant those log ins to your AdSense account and you can consolidate your Google log ins.

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Earlier this month, the BBC technology television show, Click, reported that their developer was legitimately able to use a 3rd party Facebook application to retrieve private information from Facebook users who have specifically asked to keep this type of data private. Now, 3rd party applications on Facebook are beginning to steal user identities for the sake of spamming.

Today, I noticed one of my Facebook friend, Michelle (her name has been changed to protect her identity), left a comment on my wall. The comment included a link to some shaddy website offering “legal bud”. Shortly after, I noticed many of my common friends with Michelle also received the same comment on their walls. It turned out that a 3rd party Facebook application that Michelle had installed auto-spammed all of her friends. In fact, the rogue application even took over her status and states that she has “found some potent legal bud”.

First, Facebook allowed 3rd party applications to retrieve their user’s private information. Now, they have allowed a rogue 3rd party application provider to take over commenting and status of their users. What’s next? Will Facebook user data get sold to anyone willing to pay for it? I can accept advertising based on the info I provide in my profile, but taking over commenting and user status is pushing behavioral targeting to a rogue level.

It looks like Facebook is allowing 3rd party applications to pretty much do whatever they want. How will Facebook move forward to address these privacy concerns and better protect their users? Does it mean moving all 3rd party applications in-house so that they run on Facebook servers rather than off-site? That is exactly how MySpace keeps tabs on their applications. Facebook can definitely learn from MySpace in this particular instance and implement immediate changes that will better protect their users.

If Facebook privacy issues continue to surface at they have recently, I will not be the only one requesting for a cancellation of my account. Anyone else got auto wall spam’ed yet?

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A few months back when Google began penalizing sites for selling direct text links, I talked about a specific case where computer.org went from a PR9 to PR5 literally overnight. A few months later, I noticed it is also possible to go from a PR5 to PR9.

When computer.org took a PR dive from 9 to 5, they looked to be selling sponsored text links near the bottom of their website. I checked their web site today and gone are the sponsored text links – replaced by three 120×600 AdSense skyscraper ads. Talk about trying to get back into Google’s good books! As of the writing of this blog post, their PR is at 9. Compare Computer.org’s ad units (placed at the bottom of their website) below.

PR 5 Computer.org with Sponsored Text Links Click to enlarge

PR 9 Computer.org with 3 AdSense Units Click to enlarge

There is no way to validate if search engine traffic was affected when their PR dropped from a 9 to a 5 but given that this was a temporary drop, I would guess not. So it looks like it is possible to go from PR5 to PR9!

Is it just a coincidence that many websites who offered text links also saw their Google PR drop? Anyone else see a drop or rise in PR in relation to sponsored text links on your site?

In light of all the Page Rank changes, here is a cool tool to check your PR. Just enter your domain and click Check Domain to see your Page Ranks at various

Powered by iWEBTOOL

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Attending internet marketing conferences like AdTech San Francisco 2008 will help you stay up to date with new developments in the marketing and advertising realms. In addition, these events are also where you find new business contacts and strengthen current relationships. I just returned from AdTech and once again, the out-of-conference relationship building was just as important as the actual conference itself.

The evening prior to AdTech, my Editor-in-Chief, Gloria Tsang, and I were invited by Kowabunga! to watch the San Francisco Giants baseball game in their amazing club suite at AT&T park. The club suite had a fantastic view and was filled with abundant food & drinks. Connecting with old friends and meeting new people at the event was fun. A big thank you to Todd Farmer & Tanya Boggs for the invite! Here is a photo of Todd Farmer (Founder of Kowabunga!) & myself at AdTech San Francisco 2008.

Here are a few photos from the game itself:

Great view of the bay from the club suite.

Here comes a fast one!

Swing batta! Can you see the ball?

After Hour Gatherings are Key

Having attended AdTech 2007 and AdTech San Francisco 2008, I know first-hand that conferences can be extremely tiring. But after the work day is done, it is also important to recharge with good eats and do some networking at the same time. In most cases when you make an effort, you will end up meeting new and interesting people. More importantly, these new contacts can lead to future business and friendships.

Size Does Matter – The Smaller the Better

Normally at conferences, I prefer the smaller, more intimate gatherings. It’s simply much easier to get to know the people you are with in a smaller group setting as compared to the large conference parties. After completing Day 1 of AdTech, there were 9 of us who had dinner at Asia de Cuba. The food was scrumptious and the dinner guests were a delight. Thanks to Geofferson Marcy for choosing my dinner. The sea bass (photo below) was absolutely fantastic!

Here is a photo of everyone at dinner.

From left to right – Bob Buskirk, Danielle Nagami, Geofferson Marcy, Brian Littleton, Missy Ward, Lisa Picarille, Connie Berg and me.

After all the meetings and sessions were completed on Day 2 of AdTech, I attended a private party hosted by Glam Media. Glam is rated by comScore as a Top 30 US property and it was refreshing to put some faces to names that I have been working with over the last few months. Thanks for putting on a great event Glam gang!

Staying with the small gathering theme, I then attended another dinner event with a group of bloggers – some of whom I have met from the blogosphere. Meeting everyone at Anabelle’s was fun and the creme brulee was yummilicious! Thanks to Danielle for organizing the dinner. Here is everyone who attended.

From Left to Right – Greg Morgan, Garrett Gee, Wesley Mahler, me, Gloria Tsang, Bob Buskirk, Danielle Nagami and Ian Fernando.
(Photo Source: IanFernando.com)

Pre-Planning Ensure Success

All of the above events and meetings were pre-scheduled before I even arrived in San Francisco. I learned from my own previous conference experiences and used them to make this a super productive trip.

The people who get the most out of conferences are the ones who prepare before hand and clearly define goals for the trip. Being productive at a conference can be hard work and will require some pre-planning. Being prepared will not only help you get the most out of any conference but also add an element of fun into an otherwise tiring ordeal. So to ensure that your next conference is a successful one, be sure to dedicate some time organizing your itinerary for day meetings as well as after hour gatherings before you even get on the plane.

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Do you see the “Are You in My TopSpots?” widget on the right hand menu of this blog? This is where you can receive a link back to your website or blog. All you have to do is tip me $1 and the widget will show your link. Since the TopSpot widget is loaded site wide, your link will be served on every page view and will remain on this blog until another 10 tippers bump you off the list.

Simply click on “Show some love, buy one!” and you will be given instructions to add your link. It’s a fun way to tip someone and now, you even get a text link to show for it. These text link ads are JavaScript based and are therefore, “nofollow” and Google friendly.

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