A gallery was also created, displaying some of the featured video units content partners, of which you may chhose any of them for your video unit, and palce their username in the “Channel” field when choosing content for your unit. Video units now support 728×90 and 160×600 size formats.  Each will feature five video thumbnails, and when a user clicks on one of the thumbnails, a full-sized video unit will appear, as well as assoicated ads.

The three new ad formats,  728×90, 728×90 (expanded), and 160×600 (expanded), respectively:

Earnings will be generated for valid clicks or impressions on ads that appear.  You need to create new video units by visiting the AdSense Setup tab, then edit the video units dedicated to this content.

Currently, only English and Japanese-language accounts in the following regions may choose this new format: Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

These new choices for video units makei it much easier to add videos to your blog or website.  Previously, video was commonly placed in the carousel embedded in the standard-sized videos.  It will make it much easier to take advantage of content published through YouTube and generate an income, which may lead to more sites featuring video content along with these new formats.

[Via: Google AdSense Blog]

If you publish and distribute your feeds with FeedBurner, you will soon be able to place Google AdSense ads in them.  Previously, FeedBurner used its own advertisements for placement in feeds.  AdSense for feeds is listed as “coming soon”, with a small group of AdSense publishers seeing the new ads as early as next week.  

Publishers already in the FeedBurner Ad Network will continue to see premium CPM ads sold directly onto their content, with contextually targeted ads to fill up any remaining spots.  This will allow the most profitable and relevant ads to be displayed to your subscribers.

Bloggers who aren’t in the AdSense program yet need to sign up for AdSense, where you can control the frequency and rules when ads appear in your feeds.  There are more specifications to come about how to install the ads in your feeds, including placement targeting through the use the Ad Review Center.  

On an ending note, the post states that “there is more things and stuff yet to come”.

All in all, AdSense for feeds will benefit Google the most out of this, at least in the future, with more people using their ad network verses the FeedBurner network or others.  However, bloggers will likely find it more convenient - eventually FeedBurner and AdSense/AdWords along with all the Google services will be interconnected with one main login.

[via Burning Questions/FeedBurner Blog]

On the blog post, the AdSense team posted a brief portion of an interview with the account manager at RealNetworks, who said, with the Ad Review Center, that her team has been able to keep competitive ads from running and notes “we are able to quickly review the ads before they run on our sites and block any ads that are considered competitive to our services.”

It is strongly advised that you experiment before fully integrate blocking a significant amount of ads as your revenue may be impacted.  Set your preferences to the default of ‘run ads immediately’, when you choose ‘hold ads’, the ads will await review for twenty-four hours being allowed to run automatically, which may potentially lower winning bids and earnings.

If you are interested in using the feature, it can be found under the “AdSense Setup” tab within the “Competitive Ad Filter” page.

[via Inside AdSense Blog]

TNX is an advertising program that allows webmasters and advertisers to easily sell links on their websites or blogs and has seen more than a 3,000% growth in the past year since launch.

Paid links have remained one of the main sources for generating income along with banner advertising, although purchasing paid links or placing them on your website can have several key benefits. First of all, the ranking of your site and pages in search engine results pages. In this case, the term “content is king” doesn’t necessarily hold true unless you have a well-established and well-liked to site.

Before finally signing up for the program, I was slightly hesitant to use the service due to the fact that Google penalizes sites for selling links. However, there is no way for search engines to identify links sold or purchased through the TNX system. To test this, I used this tool and no paid links were detected on my site or others I suspected were using the service, which is great.

If you would like an alternative view of the service, the following bloggers have written great reviews of the service: Super Blogging Tips, Jim Karter, Courtney Tuttle, Connected Internet, Blog Herald, and Internet Vibes.

Traditional forms of link selling, in the form of link exchange directories, directory listings, advertising articles, and footer/sidebar links offer alternative sources of selling links, but each has its own disadvantages and the task of adding your site to each can be time consuming.

Instead, TNX.net makes the process extremely easy by allowing advertisers to buy millions of links from other sites in a few clicks. You are able to promote both your home page URI and subpages that you want to increase rankings of.

TNX is a strong company that strives to “assist website owners in attracting targeted visitors and clients from search engines and relevant websites, reduce the dependence on search engines, improve the quality of search results, and to increase the income of every webmaster who joins the system”. The name is pronounced “thanks”.

Explosive Growth

Over the past several months, TNX has grown at such an astonishing rate that it now rivals other link brokerage services. (Thumbnails of Alexa and Compete stats shown below)

TNX for Advertisers

Advertisers looking to grow traffic or links to their site can greatly benefit from advertising with the TNX network. TNX gives advertisers several tools including a free tool to make link anchors look more natural. The link generator can be used to generate hundreds of different anchors with a click of a button. From the responses that were given by other users and from my short experience with it, this appears to be a very useful and intuitive tool.

SEO Specialists and Consultants can take advantage of this deal:

• 20% bonus when you purchase $50 worth of TNX-points
• 50% bonus when you purchase $100 worth of TNX-points
• 100% bonus when you purchase $250 worth of TNX-points

Advertisers need to be able to target their ads to receive higher ROI and TNX offers several methods for targeting by a website’s niche (or category) - good for bloggers, targeting by the site’s region, by Google PR of each link, and Link Popularity (Yahoo! Backlinks) of each website. As an advertiser, you have full control over almost every element from organizing the first campaign down to what pages your links are placed on.

Creating a New Campaign

Setting Up An Account As An Advertiser

1. First, sign up with the program or login to the site.
2. Create an advertising campaign by using the “Create New Campaign” in the sidebar area. Follow the three steps, which include choosing the target sites and buy additional points if you need them.
3. Your campaign will be approved and you will begin to see results.
4. At this point, you can either edit your campaigns or create new ones based on your experience.

In the future, TNX will be giving out bonuses for accredited partners and advertising agencies that have partnered with the company. In addition to the bonuses, they will also get instant campaign activation without undergoing the moderation process, point credit, have the ability to edit text in already active links, and many more advantages.

Increasing Page Rank with Links

Advertising Costs:

What can you do with 20,000 TNX-Points?
In case website characteristics are not important (Yahoo Backlinks [YB] below 500, category “Fun and Games”), then you can buy a month (in case spots are available) of static links to your site:

- 20 000 different PR0 pages from different websites
- 400 different PR1 pages from different websites
- 200 different PR2 pages from different websites
- 100 different PR3 pages from different websites
- 40 different PR4 pages from different websites
- 20 different PR5 pages from different websites

When a link is active, you can see it in your campaign stats and its cost will be automatically deducted from your balance (TNX-Points). Link will remain active for 30 days. At any time you can delete the active link and get full refund of your TNX-Points that were not used within the 30-day period. Links will be active until you delete them.

Useful Links: Advertising Policy | Advantages Over PPC Advertising | Disadvantages of Link Brokers | FAQ

TNX for Publishers and Webmasters

The TNX program for publishers is a great way for any website owner to earn extra income each month and has little affect over visitor experience. With TNX, anyone can promote as many websites and keywords as you’d like. Prices are the lowest on the market - as low as $11 a month for up to 10,000 static links to your website.

All new members have the opportunity to earn between 2,000 and 5,000 “TNX-Points” for signing up and trying out the system. These can be used to purchase as many as 5,000 links on 5,000 websites. Once your site is approved or you have contacted the administrators at the forum thread, you should receive your points relatively quickly. Other ways you may use TNX points include paying for advertising your website, holding your points to gain more from them, or selling them to other members/back to TNX.

Joining the program does not limit you to using TNX ads with other advertising programs such as Google AdSense or other Ad Brokering services. The reason for this is that TNX is not context oriented and cannot be distinguished from any other link you may have placed. Google’s “too many links at once” filter cannot detect the selling of links because link placement speed and new link placement is controlled and link farms are not generated - only one to four links are permitted at any time on a single page.

TNX charges a small 12.5% fee for both advertisers and webmasters to cover their expenses

Before joining, you must know and agree to some of the requirements:

• There is no minimum amount of visitors to join.
• You only need to have a Page Rank of at least one on several of your pages.
• It is recommended that you have at least a second-level domain with paid hosting registered 6+ months ago.
• Your website should be selected or indexed by search engines at least once per month.
• You must have at least 30 pages with regular ranking.
• It is recommended that you have a presence in major site directories and catalogues such as DMOZ.
• Don’t place the code on sites that do not feature your own content, sponsor erotic content, etc.

Setting Up An Account As A Publisher

1. Sign up for the program.
2. Install the code on your website. (ASP, PERL, or PHP required)
3. Add your site to the system, which will generally be approved within 1-2 days.
4. Refine the number of paid links on your pages according to your personal preferences or the amount of money you wish to make (up to 4/page).
5. Begin an advertising campaign with your points or sell them for profit.

A separate, but equally good, earning opportunity is available if you wish to sell your text links. Currently, you may sell them to other members at a rate of between $0.80-$1.60 per one thousand TNX points. While there is no commission for point transfers, the maximum daily points allowed for transfer is 500,000/day, as a security feature. Recently, a new feature was added so that you can sell your points back to TNX at a rate of $0.78 per 1,000 points, with higher rates for certain members and due to the growth of the network.

Income Calculator

Before joining, anyone can see an approximate amount of how much they may earn. As you become more experienced with selling links, or if you’ve already implemented tactics for raising your link popularity and building quality pages, it’ll be easier to generate a larger income. Other members have stated that they/ve made more with this program than all their previous advertising services combined!

On the sidebar, simply type in your website’s URL, estimate the number of pages and link popularity, then enter the number of pages with each PR. After this, choose your website category and you should receive a good estimation of your potential income.

Referral Program

Similar to the rest of the TNX program, the owners wanted to create the best experience for members by setting up an easy-to-use affiliate program. Without any confusing rules, limitations, or shortcomings, the TNX partner program will allow you to earn the maximum from each new advertiser or webmaster introduced to the program. (Thumbnail shows how easy it is to set up your referral banners and links)

There are several articles on Digital Point Forums addressing topics such as gaining a higher ranking:

• Can Paid Links Be Editorial Endorsements?
• How to Rank Number One In Google for a Highly Competitive Keyword

The rules are as follows: no bans, no possible overcharges, and no restrictions.

When you refer a webmaster to the TNX program and an advertiser pays 100 TNX points for a link on your referral’s website, your referral (the webmaster) gets 75 points and you get 10 points which is 13.3% of his/her income. You will also receive 5% of an advertiser’s spendings.

Useful Links: Website Requirements | FAQ | Forum

Overview

After looking through all the details about the site, it appears to be a great opportunity for any webmaster to build links to their website - raising both search engine traffic and referral traffic, as well as Page Rank/link popularity. It alleviates any concerns that may arise from people hesitant to buy links or place them on their website as the creators were very intelligent in setting up the system. All in all, I like the fact that there are very little restrictions, especially for smaller sites, and the process is made simple for selling links using TNX-Points. If you are interested in buying or selling text links, visit TNX.net today!

Please note that not of the plugins listed below will be compatible with WordPress 2.3.3 or lower, as most have been recently updated or released only for version 2.5.0.

1. Recent Posts Extended - This plugin, by Ricardo González Castro creates a new widget in the dashboard area for recent posts.  For users that run multi-author blogs or need to quickly see their recent posts (and when they were posted), this recent posts plugin solves that problem.



2. Dashboard Fixer - Developed by Viper007Bond, this plugin fixes the error message displayed in the 2.5.0 dashboard.  The plugin resets the options which cause the dashboard widget options that may have been corrupted.  Note: Using the plugin will not prevent the error from occurring.
3. CNN News - Requires 2.3.3, compatible up to version 2.5.  Bloggers that feature a news section of their site will find this plugin useful, which has been recently updated to reflect the WP upgrade.  It allows the blog owner to select a feed from a list of feeds on CNN and use it to feature news topics.  No local storage of feeds is done and users are guaranteed up-to-date information as the feed is fetched for every view.  Plugin by Olav Kolbu.

   

4. Google Talk Widget - As Google Talk and other online chat/networking services become more popular, additional plugins will be necessary for users creating a social hub on their blogs.  This plugin adds a widget for displaying the Google chat back badge and allows visitors to chat through Google Talk.  Plugin by Alax.info.



5. Alluric Admin - Note: Only for WordPress 2.5 or higher, will not work with WordPress 2.3.3 or lower.  Developed by Justin Wong, it gives the administration panel a new look with built-in drop-down menus.  Dean Robinson worked on the backend and Ozh contributed to the drop-down menu code.  The theme brings together the previous “sharp” appearing theme with the “smoother” theme we have in WordPress 2.5.

   

6. Smilies Themer Toolbar - This toolbar plugin makes it easier to add custom smilies to comments.  It requires the Smilies Themer plugin.  It builds off the previously released plugin by allowing non-traditional smilie usage (good for branding your site).  Plugin by Frasten.



7. Yougler Blogger Profile Page - This plugin will allow direct communication between the writer and reader without exposing the writers email address to spammers or spam bots (plus, it doesn’t use scripts or require the use of work-arounds).  It integrates into each post by adding a link ot he end of all posts by the particular blogger to their Yougler Page.  Sample page here.
8. Login Box - Marcus Danillo created this plugin, which inserts a login form on all pages, invisible to readers.  It resembles the default WordPress login screen and is fairly easy to incorporate into your theme.  Compatible with WP 2.2 to 2.5.
9. WP Multilingual Support - As an extension, the Multilingual plugin adds support for translating your posts, which greatly expands the availability of your blog.  There are specific steps for setting it up and may involve editing of the database, so it is intended for more advanced users.  More details here.
10. Reveal IDs for WP Admin 2.5 - With the new release of WordPress, the IDs in many areas, including in Manage Posts/Pages, and Authors area, so you must now either highlight over the link or find an alternative location.  The plugin displays IDs like in versions of WP previous to 2.5.

    

11. Alternative WordPress Image Uploader Using Flickr - This plugin addresses the problem that users encountered with the photo uploader in the recent release causing images not to resize properly.  It uses Flickr’s services to attach images to blog posts, but is meant ot complement the original uploader.  You must have the photos stored on Flickr, then attach the images into the editor.



12. JP Admin Stylish Blue - Created by J.P. Jarolim, this theme recreates the classic WordPress color scheme and was “pimped up a little bit for more style, clearness, and readability”.

    

13. Dashbaord: Draft Posts - This plugin adds a list of draft posts right in the dashboard area.  Plugin also by Viper007Bond, and requires WP 2.5 or higher.
14. WP-Affiliate - Allows bloggers to monetize their links using a friendlier format.  Compatible with WordPress 2.5+, available here.

    

15. Admin Big Width - Enlarge Your Admin - English version of release page.  This plugin is yet another release for people concerned with the reduced (1024px)  area of WordPress and allows you to use the full width of your screen for posting.  Compatible with WordPress 2.5 or higher.

I am appalled at the number of plugins that have already been released addressing concerns other bloggers are having with the new interface.  This allows more people to customize their blogging experience they way they want to.  A few new themes for the admin were also released, which may be worth checking out if you do not feel as though you will become accustomed to the new colors anytime soon.

Are there any plugins that you used to use but are no longer compatible, or have you found a newly updated plugin which makes you a more productive blogger?

On an alternative, but equally related topic, WordPress 2.5.1 is in preparation with many bug fixes, and WordPress 2.6 is expected to be released with many minor fixes/additions (according to more than 718 active tickets) that users have requested.  [Source]

The original reason that this format was tested was to see whether more relevant ads could be shown in a user-friendly method.  With the buttons, users can view more related ads until they find an ad that is relevant tow hat they were looking for.

Sample AdSense Units (with new format)

Publishers will not receive any earnings or see any direct benefits from users clicking on the arrows.  However, the end result may be an improvement for both the advertiser’s value and your potential income as the site visitors begin interacting with more of these units.

If you run AdSense on your site/blog, how do you think this new (increased number of) format will increase/decrease the value of ads and the return rate?  Have you seen any increase in earnings since these units began testing?

While the AdSense team intended the Ad Manager to be for businesses with several employees, it is likely that even smaller-scale bloggers will take advantage of the free service to help increase revenue and productivity. 

From the AdSense blog:

If you operate a site with remnant ad inventory as well as reserved ad inventory that you sell directly to advertisers, then Ad Manager is for you. It can help you sell, schedule, deliver, and measure directly-sold and network-based inventory. Google Ad Manager offers a wealth of features, including an intuitive user interface, automated yield optimization, and proven Google speed and reliability. Best of all, Google Ad Manager is free.

When the Ad Manager is released to all publishers, there will surely be an increase in advertisers’ views of blogs in terms of legitimacy.  Instead of viewing a shady, not complete advertising page, they will be able to advertise through a secure Google page with all the details. 

Main Benefits of Using Google Ad Manager

• AdSense Integration - You will be able to integrate with AdSense when all advertisement spaces aren’t filled or to compete on price against other ad networks.
• User Interface - Features such as search, intuitive workflows, AdSense channel integration, and browser session support allow for faster navigation around the manager and a more productive experience.
• Administration - Access controls allow others to view the advertising information, so other sales managers, sales reps, administrators, and traffickers can add ads, or manage the account.  Within the contacts area, you will be able to store and manage advertiser and agency company information.
• Reporting and Data - Successful advertising begins with being able to analyze statistics to attain a better ROI and efficiency.  The Ad Manager features multiple reporting options, detailed reporting, fast report generation, as well as interactive views.  Publishers can track the number of impressions each ad has delivered as well as the CTRs and CPMs.
• Ad Tracking and Delivery - Within this category, several potent options exist including: five different delivery types will determine how ads are delivered, multiple levels of frequency capping, fast loading time, and support for various ad pricing models.  Ads can also be targeted to your visitors’ geography, bandwidth, browser, etc.

Along with the recent acquisition of DoubleClick Inc., the Google AdSense platform hopes to make advertising for small, medium, and large businesses much easier.  It also means more business for the AdSense side - with Google ads being sold on spots not filled by independent advertisers.  It will provide serious competition to smaller companies that managed private ad selling.

Currently, Google Ad Manager is only open to beta testers and a limited number of publishers.  However, you can request an invitation. 

A Brief Overview

• Inventory management
• Yield optimization
• Ad targeting
• Trafficking, ad delivery, and order booking
• Creatives and rich media management
• Reporting
• User interface navigation
• Account administration

FAQ

1. What ad management problems is Google Ad Manager designed to solve?Many publishers with direct ad sales experience the following problems:
   • Confusing, slow, and complicated workflows
   • Inflexible site tagging
   • Uncertainty about which ad source to deliver to optimize yield
   • Unreliable inventory forecasting
   • High ad-serving costs

   In response to these challenges, we designed Google Ad Manager to offer you:

   • A clear user interface: Increase your staff’s efficiency and productivity.
   • Simplified tagging: Tag your site only once.
   • Yield optimization: Automatically maximize your CPMs.
   • Reliable inventory forecasting: Always know what inventory is available to sell.
   • Higher ROI: Save costs, because Ad Manager is free.
2. Is Google Ad Manager right for me?Please consider Ad Manager for your business if you:
   • Operate a website with reserved and network ad inventory.
   • Sell your ad inventory directly to advertisers (or plan to sell directly to advertisers in the future).
   • Want to improve the efficiency of the sales process and feel confident in your forecasting.
   • Need a consistent way to deliver ads that make you the most money.
   • Find that some of your inventory always remains unsold because you couldn’t accurately forecast availability.
3. Is Google Ad Manager really free?Yes. There are no sign-up, ad serving, feature, or support costs for Google Ad Manager.
4. Does Ad Manager require exclusivity?No. Ad Manager doesn’t require exclusivity. You’re free to use other ad management and ad serving products along with Google Ad Manager or switch to another provider at any time.
5. Will I be restricted to AdSense as my ad network?No. You can use any ad network you like. With Google Ad Manager, you can optionally enable AdSense to deliver the best-paying ad source for each impression.

Further support and information:

• Ad Manager Help Center
• Detailed Features List
• Tour
• Home Page (Ad Manager)

More coverage and tester feedback:

• Wall Street Journal
• ShoeMoney
• Success stories (Ad Manager)

In a snapshot, the program will allow you to take advantage of the growing online video community.  When publishing videos, the opportunity will be available to share your video across the YouTube network and sites using the AdSense video units (better explained and previewed in the video below).

Advertisers will be able to display ads (text overlay ads and InVideo ads), paid on a CPM and CPC basis, respectively.

However, there are several things that will prevent most users from taking advantage of AdSense in video.

1. Publishers must serve at least one million video streams each month.
2. Publishers must be based in the U.S. with English language sites.

Publishers outside of the US and/or with less monthly streams will have to wait until the program is expanded in the near future.

[via Google AdSense Blog]

Three unique solutions have been created to solve this issue.

1. WordPress Plugin to allow you to seamlessly embed the BidVertiser Ads in your feeds. You can download the plugin from your publisher account.

2. Solution for FeedBurner that allows you to embed the BidVertiser Ads in your current FeedBurner address. Click here to learn more about the FeedBurner solution.

3. Solution for Blogger/Blogspot that allows you to embed the BidVertiser Ads in the footer of each of your post feeds. Click here to learn more about the Blogger solution.

These can all be found within your publisher control panel under the ‘Get Feed Widget’ button after registering a feed.

With this latest announcement, Bidvertiser is definitely a viable solution for adding advertisements to your feeds.

After last week’s changes to the AdSense referral program (which primarily affected overseas AdSense promoters), a follow-up to the announcement was made today.

The changes are a result of feedback received from publishers, affecting those promoting AdSense.

• Regardless of your location as a publisher, promoting will depend on where your users are located.
• North American, Latin America, or Japan referees who generate at least $100 in AdSense revenue within 180 days and remove all payment holds will earn the publisher $100.
• All other countries’ users who join will not earn you any earnings.
• Changes take effect the last week of January.
• The option to add a referral unit for AdSense will reappear when you target any referral unit to Japan and/or any countries in North America and Latin America.

The display errors relating to past conversions being removed in association with AdSense referral earnings is also addressed in the post.

Upcoming changes for additional referral programs - Google Pack and Firefox.

• Google Pack earnings will be decreased from (up to) $2 to (up to) $1 when a user downloads and runs Google Pack for the first time after clicking one of your links. All publishers will be affected and also applies to all referrals.
• Firefox earnings from referrals in China will be reduced, independent of your location as a publisher.
• The above changes will take place the third week of February.

In another attempt to make the advertising campaigns more effective and sustainable, AdSense publishers will see yet another reason to drop AdSense from their site and find another higher paying program.