[puravida]

Now that I've got the advertising revenue-sharing banners and text links integrated, I'd like to ask everyone what they think.

Do you think the ads look OK or do you think they detract too much from the content?

I voted that they look OK because I think the earning potential for all members is too valuable to pass up. So, even though I prefer NO banners, I think it will work out well for all members of our little community.

[Blair]

Perhaps you should blend them a little bit more... I am reffering here especially to the yellow color, you could make that part gray like the rest of the forum! Try test with channels: make some very contrasting, and some very blended in, to see which work best here. Good luck!

[puravida]

Blair, on Dec 29 2007, 12:11 PM, said:

Perhaps you should blend them a little bit more... I am reffering here especially to the yellow color, you could make that part gray like the rest of the forum!

Hi Blair... Thanks for the input!

How 'bout now? I went with a blue-ish tone that blends with the grey nicely. Yet, the ads still stand out enough, I think. I will compare with previous days clicks and see if there is any noticeable difference.

I used the orange before to stand out, but I think this still does stand out but blends better.

What do you think?

[Blair]

I think it's much better this way than my advice :D You are right, it stands out and blends enough in the same time... Let's see what others say :)

[TheGPTReviewer]

Much better! I meant to drop you a line about the yellow borders, just too jarring, they make you want to look away, not click them. My only other recommendation is to switch to rounded borders on the ads so they match everything else.

[puravida]

TheGPTReviewer, on Dec 29 2007, 12:32 PM, said:

Much better! I meant to drop you a line about the yellow borders, just too jarring, they make you want to look away, not click them.

Thanks. Glad you like them better now.

TheGPTReviewer, on Dec 29 2007, 12:32 PM, said:

My only other recommendation is to switch to rounded borders on the ads so they match everything else.

I actually did use round borders originally but I wasn't sure if that kept image ads from showing. I wanted to be sure they would not be deterred. However, because of how the revenue-sharing has to work, it is not possible (I think) to have rounded corners for other people's ads. This is because the rounded corners are only possible when using the google_ad_slot code (i.e. Manage Ads) feature --which won't match up when we insert other people's AdSense code. Make sense?

When I did it that way, I noticed that when it used other people's code (like yours), no ads would actually be delivered. In Internet Explorer, visitors would see "Page Cannot be Found" where the ads would go. So, to fix that problem and avoid future issues, I think I'll stay away from the 'Managed Ads'...

[netguy]

When image ads are loaded the rounded corners disappear :)

They work nicely with rounded corners, no issues about this.

The ads are very OK. not intrusive at all. I wouldn't put such a visible border though .. I'd have the light grey on the border and background and the links colour in the text. This way they'd look even more "natura" and maybe get a better clickthrough rate.

[puravida]

netguy, on Dec 29 2007, 02:40 PM, said:

When image ads are loaded the rounded corners disappear :)

They work nicely with rounded corners, no issues about this.

Ah, that's good to know.

Quote

The ads are very OK. not intrusive at all. I wouldn't put such a visible border though .. I'd have the light grey on the border and background and the links colour in the text. This way they'd look even more "natura" and maybe get a better clickthrough rate.

I want them to stand out a bit, but I did try it with a lite (#cccccc) border and will put a very light background (light grey or something like that) on it.


How's that?

--Thanks again, everyone, for the great, valuable input!!

[puravida]

Ok, I just finished playing around with the background colors. It is a very light "grey-ish" color with a darker grey border. I think the color on the text links still makes it stand out a bit but it blends even more. I don't want them to blend in completely, however. I don't want people to click on the ads, be taken away from GPH, and have no idea what happened. You know?

[TheGPTReviewer]

Looks good. Why they purple text though? Maybe a blue to match the GPT Highway Logo?

[puravida]

TheGPTReviewer, on Dec 29 2007, 04:05 PM, said:

Looks good. Why they purple text though? Maybe a blue to match the GPT Highway Logo?

Dunno. I just like Purple.

I want to leave at least that part not blended with anything -to avoid too much blending. At least it sounds like most people are OK with the new style. So, I guess we'll see how they perform.

If any of you see any clicks from GPH (be sure to track by URL get-paid-hwy.com or channel), then post in the thread on making money (below) and let us know!

http://www.get-paid-...?showtopic=5079

[Star]

I posted that they weren't noticeable bc to me they weren't at first. I had to look twice to see that there was an ad there. They blend in very nicely and I love purple too

[puravida]

Star, on Dec 29 2007, 05:46 PM, said:

They blend in very nicely and I love purple too

:)

[nexus]

They are very good. Not distracting, but still a tad contrasting. I hate popups and flashy ads, cannot stand to see them wiggle and hear them "singing". The ads here and text and don't ruin my experience as a forum member at all. Good job.

[puravida]

Thanks for the input, nexus. I think that means we achieved our goal :)

[netguy]

You've done an excellent job indeed. I also like to have them better blended and as little contrasting as possible so that they look as a natural part of the site. I cannot bore you with too many details on how better or worse the clickthrough rate would be since I don't follow the information with such care. Still when they are blended they are less intrusive and they seem to not bother than much. We all know people are kinda iffy when it comes to seeing ads, some ads that blend in nicely won't hurt their eyes that much :D