March Audit is out

Chitika has released the March Audited clicks.

I went over my audited vs my unaudited clicks and they audited out 1.11% of my clicks and 1.12% of my revenue. This is still within my tolerances and not out of hand as reported by many people. This was up over Februarys audit were I lost .85% of clicks and revenue.

If the audits were keeping you from using Chitika worry no more this is my second month and I have no complaints.

Blog Placement

The most effective position for eMiniMalls is inside the content of the blog post. Studies show that units positioned within the post content outperform units placed outside the blog posts. Recommended unit size for in-content integration: 180×150.

eMiniMalls also work best when positioned at the end of the blog post but above the comments section. Recommended unit size for end-of-content integration: 468×180.

In general, the rule of thumb is that eMiniMalls work best when positioned inside or very close to the main body of the post.

Should I put Chitika on all of my pages?

If only a small number of pages on your site are displaying Chitika, try placing the Chitika code on more pages, especially those rich in text-based content. Chitika can be effective on many different types of pages, whether they contain product descriptions, forums, or news articles. Increasing ad exposure helps add variety across your site and offers users more selection, which in turn can improve your site's performance as an advertising vehicle.

Where should I place my ads?

The best placement for Chitika ads varies from page to page, depending on content. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when considering where to position your ads:

• What is the user trying to accomplish by visiting my site?
  
• What do they do when viewing a particular page?
  
• Where is their attention likely to be focused?
  
• How can I integrate ads into this area without getting in the users' way?
  
• How can I keep the page looking clean, uncluttered and inviting?

Certain locations tend to be more successful than others. This "heat map" illustrates these ideal placements on a sample page layout. The colors fade from dark orange (strongest performance) to light yellow (weakest performance). All other things being equal, ad placements above the fold tend to
perform better than those below the fold. Ads placed near rich content and navigational aids usually do well because users are focused on those areas of a page.

While this heat map is useful as a positioning guideline, we strongly recommend putting your users first when deciding on ad placement. Think about their behavior on different pages, and what will be most useful and visible to them. You'll find that the most optimal ad position isn't always what you expect on certain pages.

For example, on pages where users are typically focused on reading an
article, ads placed directly below the end of the editorial content tend to
perform very well. It's almost as if users finish reading and ask themselves,
"What can I do next?" Precisely targeted ads can answer that question
for them.

Do's and Don'ts of Referrals

Affiliates may promote the program on their websites, as long as the
website meets our program policies listed in this agreement.

To protect the integrity and reputation of the Chitika brand, affiliates
may not promote the "tagged" links via postings to non-commercial
newsgroups or cross-postings to multiple newsgroups at once.

Affiliates may promote the "tagged" referral links and the
service via mailings to recipients who are already customers or subscribers
to their Website's services, provided that the recipients have the option to
remove themselves from future mailings. Further, affiliates may promote the
"tagged" links via newsgroup postings to newsgroups that
specifically welcome commercial messages.

Affiliates may not refer other websites that they own in full or in part.
However, once an affiliate is accepted for eMiniMalls, the affiliate may use
the eMiniMalls code on their other sites as long as they meet the
requirements outlined in our Program terms in our eMiniMalls Terms and
Conditions

Affiliates may not promote the "tagged" links via promotion on
third-party search engines. Specifically, paid campaigns or SEO
campaigns that link directly to chitika.com using your referral id.

In all promotions, Affiliates must clearly represent
themselves as entities independent from Chitika and Chitika's Paid Listings
Services.

Affiliates may not promote the "tagged" links on websites/webpage
designed to look like Chitika owned and operated websites.

Chitika makes change to Ad Impressions Reporting

New: For reports from April 11th 2006 onwards, we have incorporated a small change in the way we count ad impressions. Going forward, we will no longer be reporting on ad impressions from countries we do not support. This is designed to provide a more accurate picture of the effective CPM (eCPM) we are delivering for your traffic from supported countries. Please note that this reporting change does not affect your revenue in any way. If you get significant traffic from unsupported countries, you will see a sudden drop in your Impressions column starting 2006-04-11.

From the Knowledge Base

What is this reporting change ?
Starting with the reports of April 11th 2006, the "Impressions" column in your reports will not count ad impressions from unsupported countries. For example, if you had 1000 ad impressions on a given day and 750 of those were from US and 250 were from India (a country we currently do not support), you will now see 750 in your "Impressions" numbers.

Why did Chitika make this change ?
This change was made to give our publishers a more accurate picture of the effective CPM (eCPM) that Chitika is delivering for supported traffic. When used in conjunction with the "alternate url" feature, it helps the publisher to maximize the revenue from the ad spot. For example, say that a publisher earned $150 from 50,000 ad impressions (10,000 of which were from unsupported countries). His eCPM (using old calculation) would be: $150/50 = $3. With the new change, his eCPM would be $150/40 = $3.75. By now knowing that Chitika is delivering $3.75 in the supported countries, the publisher can then manage his inventory accordingly to maximize his revenue.

Will my revenue be affected ?
No. Your revenue will NOT be affected in any way.

Do I need to do anything at my end ?
No. However, if you do notice a big drop in your ad impressions, it means that you are getting a lot of traffic from countries that Chitika currently does not support. Thus, the smart thing to do is to use the "alternate url" feature to monetize the ad space for that unsupported traffic.

Is there any way I can see the number of discounted impressions ?
Not at this time. However, if you use the "alternate url" feature, you can get this number from the number of hits to your alternate url.

So what are Chitika eMiniMalls? Part 2

For webmasters, Chitika presents another advertising revenue option besides Google Adsense. There is even a referral system where webmasters can earn 10% of what their referrals earns for up to 12 months. Since Chitika plans to return 60% of ad revenue to publishers this may prove to be a lucrative alternative advertising system for many webmasters.
Chitika eMiniMalls are extremely easy to use. You can customize your ads, banner size/shape/color to blend in with the layout of your site and you can also program in your keywords to match the content on your site. You can pick just one product or you can rotate numerous products with eMiniMalls. Webmaster can have up to 1000 channels to help track their ads.

Once you have the Java code, you just place this code on your webpage where you want the ads to appear. These can also be used on blog posts and there is even a convenient plugin for WordPress, created by x74.org that you can use.

You can keep track of your stats from your login affiliate page, previous day's stats are reported each day. Monthly payments are made by Paypal on earnings of $10 or more. Checks are used if a webmaster doesn't use Paypal - the payout minimum is $50.

Chitika eMiniMalls may prove to be another popular revenue stream for webmasters and content providers. These Chitika ads will enhance any website with targeted products that surfers can explore further while staying directly on the webpage. It may just be this interactive feature that makes eMiniMalls an advertising winner for all concerned. An innovative advertising solution whose time has arrived.

So what are Chitika eMiniMalls? Part 1

What are Chitika eMiniMalls or ads? No, it's not a chain of banana split parlors! You have probably seen thousands of them on the web, you may even have used a few without knowing exactly what they were called.

Keyword based and JavaScript powered, Chitika eMiniMalls are popping up everywhere on the web. Matched to content or context - these ads hit targeted consumers who are searching for information on particular products. Surfers can interact (search, read reviews, even find the best price) without having to leave the webpage they're viewing. Big Plus for both the surfer and the website owner. It provides valuable content or information without the surfer having to leave the webpage. And since these product ads are directly targeted to your site's content you have a better chance of keeping your visitor's attention while offering an advertising product.
Chitika (pronounced CHIH-tih-ka) ads are revolutionary in design. It presents all the features that makes the Internet so convenient for shopping. Information, images, reviews, comparison shopping and search links are presented right in one spot - the banner ad itself!

Many believe online advertising takes a small step forward with Chitika eMiniMalls. These cool looking online ads may just give Google Adsense a run for its money. It may just be a better all-around package for webmasters, consumers and advertisers. These Chitika ads display pictures as well as textual content and information. If a picture is indeed worth a thousand words, it might also mean more sales for the advertisers. Ads with images of the actual products will give the prospective buyer a solid image of what's being discussed. Ads with images usually out preforms ads with just text.

The Chitika eMiniMalls were launched on June 20, 2005 by Chitika Inc. - a Massachusetts based contextual advertising services provider. Chitika was founded in May 2003. According to their website, Chitika means "in a snap" in the South Indian language Telugu.

Chitika's Publisher Referral Program

Chitika has a referral program that helps boost your income, when a publisher you refer applies for eMiniMalls through your referral link, is approved, and then displays Chitika's eMiniMalls on their website, you are eligible to receive Publisher referral commissions. You will earn 10% of the CPC revenue that your referrals earns for up to 12 months from their approval date. Not a bad deal but would be better if your referrals were forever instead on just one year.

Other Chitika eMiniMall Codes

There are a variety of other pieces of code that you can include in your eMiniMalls code to change the functionality of your ads. These include:

Disable Search Tab - If you want to disable the search tab (and remember if you use the Adsense search function you need to) - simple add the following line of code to the
middle of the code that Chitika give you:

ch_nosearch = 1;

Make ‘Best Deals’ Tab the default - Some site owners prefer to
have the ‘Best Deals’ tab showing first to readers rather than the default
one. To do this simple add the following code:

ch_default_tab = ‘Best Deals’;

Rotate Random Ads - I’m not sure why anyone would use this one but
if you want completely random ads use the following code. Before you do remember
that this will mean you get ads that have no relevancy to your site’s content
which is likely to decrease your click through rate and earnings significantly.

ch_non_contextual = 1;
ch_query = “”;

Change Fonts - You can change the font of ads like this:

ch_font_text = “Arial”;
ch_font_text = “Arial Narrow,Verdana”;

Channel Tracking

Chitika supports Channel tracking. Channels allow you detailed tracking on your eMiniMall units. Chitika allows you to specify your own channel names, so you can set meaningful names like “180×150 Side Unit” or “Home Page”. Your reports can then be broken down by channel name. This allows you to break down the performance of your eMiniMalls units by metrics you define.

Use this code to track your channels: ch_sid = "your channel";

Audited Clicks

There has been much buzz about Chitika and the auditing of your clicks. Many people have been screaming over lost revenue. After my first month (February) I too had missing clicks and $$. After revueing my loss it was not bad and probably accurate. I only lost .85% of my clicks and revenue and I know a couple of those were probably me.

Chitika has this to say on the subject:
"We are working on upgrading our back-end filtering and fraud detection systems to dynamically detect and prevent fraud, improve the quality of the overall network and help minimize the difference between the daily raw click reports and the final monthly post-audit earned revenue reports."

I also received my payment very promptly via Paypal which I like and Paypal does not hit you up for the 3%.

I have to say overall I am very happy with the program and now waiting for the March Audits to see if I will stay happy.

This program is still in Beta so it can only get better.

Chitika eMiniMalls Recipe for Top Products in a Category

Ever wanted to just sit back and show the top products in a category ? Say your site is about GPS devices and you want to show the top GPS gadgets out there.
Why would you want to do this ?This is the quickest and easiest way of showing the most popular products in your selected category. And the product selection is updated automatically for you as new popular products are released in that category.
Where should you put this ?While this recipe works with all formats, the most popular position for this recipe is usually the side column of your website. The most common size is the 180×150 format. For most of our publishers, this is a nice content-looking widget that they can place in their side column. You can even label that section with headings like “Hot Digital Cameras” or “Most Popular GPS Receivers”.

How do you get the code for this ?
Login to your Chitika affiliate account, change the category, grab the code and paste the code into your website template. That’s it !
If you are a code hacker, simply remove the line that contains the word “ch_query” and set your category code using a line like this:ch_default_category = “200001″;

Chitika eMiniMalls Colors Recipe

The first thing you notice when looking at anything whether it be a cereal box or a website is the COLOR. It catches the eye and stands out BAM! Yelling and screaming at you saying “look at me!” So what does this have to do with eMiniMalls?
Everything.

The color you choose as the background and font will depend on if you have chosen the right recipe for the content of your site. What the heck am I talking about?
It is important that you match your eMiniMalls unit colors the best you can to the colors of your site. Why? Because this will say a lot about your personalized unit & help you generate more $.

Ok now that I have your attention..
Lets take the traditional great white background for example.. your eMiniMalls unit should also have this same white background. Or have you chosen the mystique black background? Our units also come in black!
What is your content color? Yellow? Green? Match the font color to your content. This integration will add marshmallows to your boring cereal!
Eye Candy.People love variety, so changing up the colors of your unit once in a while will attract some new & old visitors to your fabulous unit!
Border Line.One kind of cereal isn’t great for everyone, neither are borders. Do you have other bordered content on your page? If so, placing a border around your unit may be a great accessory.

And there you have it! Marshmallows, Eye Candy, & Borderlines..All make for a perfect color customization recipe for your site!

Chitika eMiniMalls

Chitika Publisher Program Reviewed
A great companion to your Adsense account
Chitika is an online marketing company founded in May 2003 and based in Massachusetts, USA. Chitika is affiliated with sites like shopping.com which power their advertisements.
eMiniMalls is Chitika's contextual advertising flagship program. It allows webmasters to monetize their websites by serving Chitika partner advertisements in return for a share of the revenue. In operation it is quite similar to Google Adsense and the Yahoo Publisher Network but it does allow webmasters more control over how ads appear to visitors.
Chitika's other products are RealContext and BlogContext, both are ad distribution services targeted at the content and the blog markets respectively.
Chitika's eMiniMalls program is similar to the Amazon associate program. The big difference is you get paid per click, vs. per sale.Chitika PayoutsChitika pays its publishers 60% of the click revenue.Payment is by Paypal
"Can i use Chitika ads with Adsense?", many have asked.
Yes you can, by disabling contextual aspect of Chitika ads. You can do it by using simple tag in the eMiniMalls code.