Now that we’ve recouped Novembers earnings drop the emotional element that existed in October is starting to play a major role in the business at least from my perspective…
We currently have 1 major hurdle left to jump before this business becomes more then just a hobby and that is Google’s dislike of our adsense integration.. I’m sure most of you are aware that when you put images next to your adsense ads magically your CTR skyrockets.. It’s a simple technique and it earns us ALOT of money.. However Google has started cracking down on this technique sending us warnings every few weeks about one infraction or another which naturally has me concerned about the possibility of our account being banned.. Nevermind the fact without the increase in CTR from this technique our business really wouldnt earn enough to justify work days or even the little daily effort to expand it..
Anyways long story short we have found alot of conflicting evidence around the internet that suggest 2 wildly opposite views from Google, a number of forum posts and even messages from authorities like Jensense claim that as long as you have a border between the images everything is ok.. While that sounds great there’s also a large number of information stating that Google doesn’t allow images beside there ads period and what concerns me is that much of the information saying its ok is dated 2005 through to mid 2006 whereas alot of the information I’ve found saying its not ok starts coming out in November 2006 which is when we also started to recieve warnings…
As a publisher I have to say that Google really should be more clear with their allowed policies, considering how much this program earns them as a company one would think they would have an exhaustive collection of information or at least respond to publishers questions.. So far its been over 48 hours and we haven’t heard back from Google about whether borders are ok and if we don’t it certainly wouldn’t be the first time they haven’t answered our questions…
Once we hear back from Google our business will do either 2 things, either we will split the sites with me selling everything and Dave likely keeping his sites for the long haul or Google will say borders are ok and hopefully this can become more of a part time job then a hobby starting in Janurary…
I come from a more brick and mortar background and I have to say that while the internet is a real equalizer allowing those with less money to compete with big business it’s also much more stressful then traditional business, normally when you establish yourself as a business as long as you keep your customers happy and don’t get into to much debt your generally ok… In the online world you could literally wake up one morning and be wiped out with no insurance and little value left or Google can change a policy and wipe you out just as surely with less recourse then a goverment policy change..
I just find it interesting how 2 months ago I looked at this business as a boon to my future, now I look at it more as a curse since it is easy money but the more and more you begin to depend on the money the more and more unsure you can be of your finanacial stability…. Definately not for the weak hearted..
