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Since I announced that PerformancingAds can now be used just with a bit of JavaScript, I've been keeping an eye on my stats and browsing around their site. This post is a short review of how things have gone so far.
Good things
Adding the code is easy: The JavaScript code is a lot easier to include. I am very glad they did this. Requiring PHP was not a good idea, not least because a lot of non-WordPress users wouldn't be able to use the site, but also because it's unnecessarily complex. Now, PerformancingAds is easier to use. Well, not entirely... see below for more.
People have bought ads on my site: So far, I've had a couple of ads. The first one I rejected as I did not consider it to be appropriate, but I accepted the second one. I found that lowering my ad price to $1.00 made a big difference.
The 125x125 ad is unobtrusive: I like the ads in my sidebar. I am glad I didn't have to use an image that didn't fit with my existing ads.
Bad things
The site navigation is terrible: You log in and see the basic info. No issues there. But then try going into your site. Clicking the image allows you to edit, clicking the site text allows you to view the details, then there's links below to edit/delete or view regions/reports. There's no way to edit once you're viewing the site, and clicking the image to edit just makes no sense when there's a separate edit link just beneath the image.
Editing your site allows you to change the name, URL or description, plus the tags and categories your site appears in. How do I edit my price? OK, I need to go to Regions. Editing regions is easy enough, but notice the "breadcrumbs" across the top - they never change. Add a site - Add a region - Exchange Ads. It would be a lot better if these showed you where you were on the site so you could easily jump to different sections. The "Publishers" link just isn't enough on its own.
Affiliates should not be a separate button way over in the sidebar... it should be merged into the upper navigation bar. There are far too many different places to look for ways to navigate the site - this makes the site extremely slow and confusing to use.
For the record, I'm not just being picky... I really found it difficult to get around the site and I often go into every page just to find what I'm looking for - if it's even there.
No overbooking? It seemed odd that I could see a "Book" link on one of my own regions - why would I book an ad on my own site, isn't that what the "Alternative Advertisements" section on Edit Region is for? And why is it that if an ad spot is booked (I only have 1 spot) you can't reserve a spot for when it becomes free?
Confusing pricing: OK, my ad spot is currently set to $1.00 per week. So why do I only have $0.45 in the last month (August)? Was the ad split across two months? Possibly, but then why do I see zero in September? Did they only pay for three days? $1.00 divided by 7 doesn't go exactly so how are the daily prices calculated?
Not enough information on affiliates: When I go to the Affiliates page, I see that I have 2 Total Joins and 19 Total Clicks. The rest of the numbers are just zero. Now I did see in the Help section (I think) that you only get paid if people sign up and then they get bookings on their site. OK... so how much would I get if they book some ads? Would I only get paid once or would I get payments in future if they book more ads? It's not exactly a big incentive for me to push PerformancingAds to other people if I don't know what I'll be paid, or when.
No communication of changes, and no response to support queries: Read the comments on my "now available in JavaScript" post, above. Chewru came to tell me that the code had changed from ads1 to jserve. Furthermore, we only got the code in JavaScript because Chewru pushed for it a lot. When I asked, I never got a reply.
Here's an idea. Firstly, please reply to people who ask questions. Maybe provide a ticket system or support forums, or both. Secondly, if the code changes, put a notice in the control panel and/or send an email out to your publishers.
Using Alexa for rankings is fundamentally flawed: Turnip of Power has a post explaining why Alexa is unreliable. My site doesn't have a bad Alexa rank, but using that measure alone is a really bad idea. I know, the sites in question actually display more than the Alexa rank, but when searching for sites the only traffic option you've got is the Alexa rank. Unless the overall rank is a combination of all the stats... in which case this is a moot point.
Not enough ads: This may not be the fault of the network. Maybe it's because even $1.00 per week is too high for my site, or people aren't finding me, but I can't help thinking the overbooking problem is not helping here. I can hear people saying "add a 2nd ad", but let's face it, you can't put every ad from every advertising network on your site. Nor can you give them all 2, 3 or 4 ad spots each. You have to draw the line somewhere.
Summary
I'm still going to use PerformancingAds for the time being. I haven't given it enough of a chance to determine if it will work for my site in the long run. I'm also swayed by other blogs who have said it works well for them. That gives me a reason to keep using it for a little longer.
However, that doesn't mean I think it's any good. Right now I'm not sure if it'll work for my site or not, but one thing's for sure, the navigation on PerformancingAds is really, really poor. Especially when clicking onto a page, then another page, then wanting to go back without relying on the Back button. It's a mess and it's very confusing.
If you do want to sign up with PerformancingAds, or if you're already using it, let me know how you get on.
Tags: performancingads, advertising networks, navigation, ease of use, make money online
Posted by Ben on September 07, 2008 13:53 / Edited: September 07, 2008 14:34
Comments
Hey Ben!
I have your blog pinned to my homepage so I never miss it. I was wondering if you have ever used ProjectWonderful, and if so, what's your take? If not, I'd love to see you do an experiment similar to what you've done with PerformanceAds.
I did a two week campaign with PW and honestly can't seem to make heads-or-tails as to whether it helped me. I'm still running ads at .03 an ad but am not "investing" more cash at the moment. Thanks! Love your work and your insight. With gratitude, LaurieB.
I've been using them for a few weeks now too, and so far no bookings - good tip about lowering the price, I may try that. Mind you, if you're struggling to get bookings at $1 with your Alexa, I'm not sure I stand a chance at the moment.
I've just started using them on Lightening's Blogworld so it will be interesting to see how they go. I have found navigation a little confusing but then I'm used to being confused. LOL.
Thanks for the overview of your experience so far Ben.
In week two of using the system, I had two ‘real’ ads appear on my site (ones that were not from the so called sxchange network). I logged into performancingads.com and could see the booking in my account. Great! Until about three or four days later, when the ads stopped displaying on my site. I assumed this meant that The weeks slot was over. So I logged in again to check the earning were in my account and much to my surprise, they were not. There is no record of these ads ever being displayed on my site. I have since contacted the company and had no response. I am strongly of the opinion that PERFORMANCINGADS IS A SCAM.
Tom, I'm in the same boat. My site received a $.98 ad (after following Ben's lead by dropping the price) which I was thrilled about. After the slot was over, though, my account still says $0. I don't really understand the mechanics of their 'system' and it's very poorly documented. On many occasions, even though I have 2 slots available, my site shows the main PA-ad and a blank space where a presume a second 'exchange' ad or even another PA-ad ought to be. Customer service is hit and miss; I was able to push through a Javascript build but subsequent emails to them are going answered as well. It's a great idea with dismal implementation right now. I'm going to stick with it for another month or two, but after that I may just roll back to google ads.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Laurie - I have used PW, and made very little. Probably a bit more than PerformancingAds on a good way... but the prices are silly. They fluctuate too much. People were paying up to 20 or 30 cents... then suddenly all of the ads get cancelled and one person has bid at 1 cent. They won't buy at the higher prices and the ads keep falling to 1 cent. Bit silly really. I might review PW if I use them again, but so far, there's not really a lot to say about them.
Great post.
Personally I'm giving PerformancingAds another week or two before I replace them again with ProjectWonderful spots. From my experience, PerformancingAds have terrible reporting and when I've emailed them I've received no response. I was hoping it was just teething problems, but I'd expect them to have sorted those out by now.
For them to take 50% (or i think it's 40% at the moment) is ridiculous when you consider what little they provide in terms of feedback and support.
Thanks for the word of advice about Perf. ads! I was going to join it, but now I'm having second thoughts about it. I will do some research and see what comes up.
I embrace you,
Razvan Dobre
Thanks for the feedback. :) Looking back at what I said in my previous comment, despite the poor results with PW, those ads did a lot better than PerformancingAds has done!
The part I don't understand is why so many people have been raving about PA? Sure, if a site is good, plug it... but is it really good? And whatever happened to being a little cautious? Maybe people are just hoping for sign-ups under them...
I still haven’t received anything from PA and now we’re into October. I can’t imagine we’re the only one with problems. I’m now going to take my pleas to the top bloggers on the internet.
Hi Stan, I'd be very interested to hear how you get on. I deleted my site from Performancing Ads and as Turnip said, my account reset to zero. Not that I had a lot of money in there (I think I had $1.65) but it's not right to zero out the balance.
Ben, I feel bad about the PA issues. I was one of the people who advertised on your site through PA and I can honestly say it was well worth the price for the exposure.
I had PA's running on my site and earned $9.60 in one month, which I guess I'll never see. Although I didn't delete my site, I just removed the ads once the paid ads expired.
As for the referral program. I have over 20 confirmed affiliates, most of which sold or bought ads, yet I never saw a dime in earnings from them.
Oh well, chalk this one up with Widgetbucks, AuctionAds, ScratchBack, etc... You can rest assured Performancing Ads will be featured in my next article entitled "How to sell ads on your blog and not get paid".
If you're interested in selling two 125x125 spots directly to me, hit me up at my blog (listed here) or my forums (code4gold.com).
Very helpful post, Ben. However, I would have placed their affiliate program in the "Good things" section. I think it is the best way to make money with this program. Yet, to get paid for a referral of yours, he must either buy an advertisement from them or host their banners for one month in his blog.
Dave, the ads are currently back up as I give the network another try.
aktenium, the affiliate scheme is in the list of bad things because it didn't seem to make any sense. The lack of information meant I couldn't possibly call it a good thing.
I'd have to agree with your assessment of performancing ads. They make changes with no announcements or a news page. Their affiliate program remains a bit of a mystery. I've had several people receive bookings and no mention of when I will get paid. Only my own bookings show up with a dollar amount of what I earned.
I did learn that ads get placed on your site as exchange ads, and they show up as 0.00 bookings.