These days many folks are using ad blocker programs/plug-ins. I even often use one when editing my own content etc...so, there are good uses for them. None the less sometimes they might cause a problem so here is some code to help you detect the ad-blockers (and notify the end user).

There is no doubt, some ads are just bad for your computer - I have had ads crash my laptop and try to install spyware etc... So really, ad blockers are a necessary evil.

Why do I call them an 'evil'?

I call ad-blocker programs 'evil' because the seriously impact the webmasters of the sites you visit. many of us provide free services and spend much time helping folks out each day. We obtain no paycheck or salary except what we can obtain via advertising. When you stop our ads from being displayed you are helping to put us out of business.

In all fairness, most people have no idea just how bad these programs are to the sites they visit, so you cant really hold it against the folks. I have found that a simple notification might alert the visitor to the situation without being too obnoxious.

Below is some very simple Javascript that will detect if your Google ads have been blocked via some sort of ad blocker. The below code only detects blocked Adsense iframes but could possibly be modified to detect other ad units (or the lack thereof).

<script>
var detect_google_ads = document.getElementById('google_ads_frame1');
if(detect_google_ads == null){

//alert("Please disable your ad blocking software.");
//document.write("Please disable your ad blocking software.");
//location.replace("ad-blocker-notice.html");

}

</script>

More reading on this matter:
http://tropicalpcsolutions.blogspot.com/2010/03/using-ghostery-to-block-internet-ads.html
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We have recently noticed a pick up in the ad revenue being spent by various internet companies. Some of the larger internet companies seem to be paying out unusually large amounts per click for rather routine niches.

In our case the largest payout per single click was just under $14. That's right, and there was more than one click from this unit that yielded similar results. Below is an example screenshot I took of one of our top preforming ad units (with unrelated info removed). We even left the title of that ad unit visible to show the routine nature of the niche.






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The global economy is in a spin and apparently there are not too many areas left untouched by this serious situation. Although the advertising budgets of many companies have suffered financial cuts, online advertising is still a viable means to earn a living.


This year we did not see the growth we were hoping for, but due to the circumstances, any growth is favorable. Both of our flag ship sites http://scripts.tropicalpcsolutions.com and http://widgets.tropicalpcsolutions.com are approaching a million monthly visits each.

Our other sites received 250,000 combined monthly visits. Although we have doubled our traffic as of last year at this time, our earnings have taken a slight dip. This downward trend in earnings is most likely due to the economic strains on the advertisers budgets. With all things considered our Adsense earnings have held their ground much better than expected. Although most single-click payouts are in the 5-10 cent range we still regularly see single-click payouts in the $2-$3 range .

This year we mainly focused on expanding into ad networks other than Adsense. We have established accounts at dozens of ad networks and found a few of them to be worth the additional efforts. Currently the ad networks we work with are:

• Text Link Ads
• Chitika
• Bidvertiser

We have also begin experimenting with the different CTR's and payouts of Kontera and InfoLinks in-text advertising units. Although we like Chitika we didn't find their in-text links to be very targeted/relevant. Both Kontera and InfoLinks seem to be fairly relevant but the payouts to-date are very low compared with Adsense.

NOTE: If you rely on online advertising to pay your bills and business expenses then be sure to check this out and get involved!
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I am sure many of you have seen those adsense ads that look different than the standard ad format. They blend much better and some folks even have mouse-over effects on their ads. How do they do this? Simple, they are 'Premium' publishers. So how does one get to be a premium publisher? That's a good question!


I recently looked into what it takes to become a premium Adsense publisher. I have googled this and have come up with various answers. Pretty much all of the answers were from those who were not themselves premium publishers. This just begs the question...

So how does one become a premium Adsense publisher?
I got tired of reading guesses from those who don't know and decided to find out the criteria from someone who IS a premium publisher. What did I find?

For starters, NO ONE knows the actual criteria as Google does not disclose this information. In any event I did get a possible answer:

Like all else in the Google "black box," the actual criterial is unknown. ;)

But the consensus is that sites with sustained high traffic, solid AdSense performance, and (likely most important) provides good value to AdWords advertisers eventually get the invitation to be a premium publisher.

In our case, after the 12th month of consistent traffic of more than 1 million absolute unique users, we got the invite. [italics added]

Hope that helps.

Bill

We are currently getting around 7-8 million pageviews a month. So by this right, we have a ways to go! If YOU are a premium publisher I would really like to hear your story and tips if at all possible.

UPDATE: Another great site for information regarding Premium publishers is:
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/04/privilege-of-being-adsense-premium.html
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