Recommend
|
![Recommend [frogenyozurt]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/arkayne-media/img/badge/logo-recommend-badge-medium.png){kind=icon}
|
Looking at attributes like identification of keywords, discovery of minimal context, choice of appropriate transformations, generations of responses in the absence of keywords… Isn’t that exactly what we are looking for in a search engine?
Billions over billions of Dollars have probably invested in optimizing search engine algorithms. Just think of Microsoft’s recent release of Bing, designed to challenge the mighty search engine power of Google, not mentioning all those smaller, less attractive, and less effective search websites, living a miserable life in the shadow of the big two (I exclude Yahoo as a search engine these days.) Add to this the numerous, yet unsuccessful attempts by start-ups all over the world to provide better search results.
Having a masters degree in Electrical Engineering myself, I don’t doubt the necessity of complex algorithms that allow to produce search results from millions of websites within seconds. I don’t doubt the massive investment of money and manpower to provide us, the Internet users, with the information we are looking for.
However, I am nothing short of stupefied by the dumb-as-dumb-can-be search results I receive frequently. We are living in the 21st century. Computers listen to our voice, and they answer. Computers recognize traffic patterns and control traffic accordingly. Yet, computers cannot distinguish between the city of Boston and the rock band Boston. They tell you to enter your question like a regular sentence as if you were talking to a human. But this is where the intelligence stops. The search results – millions of them – are discouraging.
The ineffectiveness of presenting search results has been confirmed by an article I read recently in the online version of the New York Times (See: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/google-buys-metaweb-to-improve-search-results/?hpw). Here is an excerpt:
There are some Web searches that Google doesn’t handle so well — like finding a famous person’s birthday, or searching for a word that means many different things. Search for “Boston,” for example, and all the top links are about the city in Massachusetts. But Boston is also the name of a band and 26 other cities.
Google said Friday that in an effort to improve these tricky types of search queries, it was buying Metaweb, a San Francisco start-up that says it makes Web sites smarter.
Hey, Google and Bing! Meet 44 Year Old ELIZA!
You may call me old-fashioned, but many, many years ago in a different lifetime of mine I played with a programming language called BASIC. I don’t even know if versions of BASIC still exist. The latest version, I believe, comes in form of Microsoft’s VisualStudio that includes an advanced version of VisualBasic. The most interesting, because interactive, program I found was ELIZA. The program listing (i.e. the source ode) for ELIZA fits on three pages of a standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper sheet. The results are, nevertheless, amazing.
ELIZA asks questions and responds intelligently to the user’s input. In scientific terms, “ELIZA is concerned with: (1) the identification of key words, (2) the discovery of minimal context, (3) the choice of appropriate transformations, (4) generation of responses in the absence of key words. ELIZA is a program which makes natural language conversation with a Computer possible.” (Source: ELIZA – A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language Communication Between Man And Machine by Joseph Weizenbach, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., January 1966)
Looking at attributes like identification of keywords, discovery of minimal context, choice of appropriate transformations, generations of responses in the absence of keywords… Isn’t that exactly what we are looking for in a search engine? I wouldn’t mind some additional responses like “Do you mean the city or the rock band?”
Isn’t it amazing that Google spends millions in an effort to keep up with Bing? Bing, after all, provides better search results, but it still is no ELIZA. You can buy the document ELIZA – A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language Communication Between Man And Machine for a mere $15! Just log on to http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=365168&dl=GUIDE&coll=GUIDE&CFID=95147346&CFTOKEN=39216600.
Demo Session With ELIZA
Well, the most popular application for ELIZA was resembling a psychologist, and that is clearly demonstrated in the session demo below. The responses are, nevertheless, amazing. The session also demonstrates convincingly the effective analysis of keywords and the generation of intelligent responses. As I mentioned before, the program listing is amazingly short. See http://home.cmit.net/rwolbeck/programmingtutorial/code/eliza.htm as an example.
Men are all alike
IN WHAT WAY
They’re always bugging us about something or other.
CAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE
Well, my boyfriend made me come here.
YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE
He says I’m depressed much of the time.
I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU ARE DEPRESSED
It’s true. I am unhappy.
DO YOU THINK COMING HERE WILL HELP YOU NOT TO BE UNHAPPY
I need some help, that much seems certain.
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU IF YOU GOT SOME HELP
Perhaps I could learn to get along with my mother.
TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY
My mother takes care of me.
WHO ELSE IN YOUR FAMILY TAKES CARE OF YOU
My father.
YOUR FATHER
You are like my father in some way.
WHAT RESEMBLANCE DO YOU SEE
You are not very aggressive but I think you don’t want me to notice that.
WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I AM NOT VERY AGGRESSIVE
You don’t argue with me.
WHY DO YOU THINK I DON’T ARGUE WITH YOU
You are afraid of me.
DOES IT PLEASE YOU TO BELIEVE I AM AFRAID OF YOU
My father is afraid of everybody.
WHAT ELSE COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK OF YOUR FATHER
Bullies.
DOES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE
I have to admit that to this day I had underestimated the power of Sitemaps. I had in mind to install a Sitemap plugin, and yesterday I finally did it. So far I was very satisfied with an exponentially rising number of website hits on my personal blog (2000+ unique visitors so far in March 2010, resulting in 20,000+ website hits), but since installing the Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress the increase is incredible! What I like most about the plugin is that it reports updates to Google, Yahoo, and Bing immediately after you have added a new page or post.
I have to admit that to this day I had underestimated the power of Sitemaps. I had in mind to install a Sitemap plugin, and yesterday I finally did it. So far I was very satisfied with an exponentially rising number of website hits on my personal blog, but since installing the Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress the increase is incredible! What I like most about the plugin is that it reports updates to Google, Yahoo, and Bing immediately after you have added a new page or post.
The plugin requires some settings, and the setup may be a bit difficult for the non-technical person. You also need to apply for aYahoo Application ID, which is basically a formality, but nevertheless it’s something that needs to be done, and the whole setup requires your full attention. But, after all, it is worth the efforts!
What are Sitemaps?
Sitemaps are an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling. In its simplest form, a Sitemap is an XML file that lists URLs for a site along with additional metadata about each URL (when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and how important it is, relative to other URLs in the site) so that search engines can more intelligently crawl the site.
Web crawlers usually discover pages from links within the site and from other sites. Sitemaps supplement this data to allow crawlers that support Sitemaps to pick up all URLs in the Sitemap and learn about those URLs using the associated metadata. Using the Sitemap protocol does not guarantee that web pages are included in search engines, but provides hints for web crawlers to do a better job of crawling your site.
Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress
This plugin generates a XML-Sitemap compliant sitemap of your WordPress blog. This format is supported by Ask.com, Google, YAHOO and MSN Search.
More information about what XML-Sitemaps are and how they can help you to get indexed by the major search engines can be found at Sitemaps.org and the searchenginewatch blog.
Note: The XML-Sitemap format was introduced in 2005 by Google and adopted in 2006 by YAHOO, Bing (formerly MSN Search) and Ask.com so thats why it’s often called “Google Sitemaps”.
Installation
To install the plugin go into the Plugins page, select Add New. Search for “Google XML Sitemaps”, select the plugin offered by Arne Brachhold, and install it.
For further information on the plugin go to the plugin website at http://www.arnebrachhold.de/projects/wordpress-plugins/google-xml-sitemaps-generator/.
To apply for a Yahoo Application ID (highly recommended) Request one here.
Following these guidelines will help Google find, index, and rank your site. Even if you choose not to implement any of these suggestions, we strongly encourage you to pay very close attention to the “Quality Guidelines,” which outline some of the illicit practices that may lead to a site being removed entirely from the Google index or otherwise penalized. If a site has been penalized, it may no longer show up in results on Google.com or on any of Google’s partner sites.
Google Webmaster Guidelines
Following these guidelines will help Google find, index, and rank your site. Even if you choose not to implement any of these suggestions, we strongly encourage you to pay very close attention to the “Quality Guidelines,” which outline some of the illicit practices that may lead to a site being removed entirely from the Google index or otherwise penalized. If a site has been penalized, it may no longer show up in results on Google.com or on any of Google’s partner sites.
Google Image Guidelines
With image search, just as with web search, Google’s goal is to provide the best and most relevant search results to our users. Following the best practices listed below (as well as our usual webmaster guidelines) will increase the likelihood that your images will be returned in those search results.
Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
This document first began as an effort to help teams within Google, but Google thought it’d be just as useful to webmasters that are new to the topic of search engine optimization and wish to improve their sites’ interaction with both users and search engines. Although this guide won’t tell you any secrets that’ll automatically rank your site first for queries in Google (sorry!), following the best practices outlined below will make it easier for search engines to both crawl and index your content.
I personally run a number of blogs and websites filled with advertisement through several affiliate programs, and I still don’t make enough money to cover my monthly grocery bill. I have heard of one blogger in Singapore who is very successful by making roughly $800 per month, but he got there through very hard work and he got there after years of creating websites.
Much has been written about creating income through your website or blog, and, as many posts on my blog prove, scammers profit heavily from the desire to earn money through the Internet. After all, almost everybody has a high-speed Internet connection and creating your own website or blog is easy.
Just a fair warning upfront: Creating sufficient income through advertisement on your website or blog is virtually impossible!
I personally run a number of blogs and websites filled with advertisement through several affiliate programs, and I still don’t make enough money to cover my monthly grocery bill. I have heard of one blogger in Singapore who is very successful by making roughly $800 per month, but he got there through very hard work and he got there after years of creating websites.
The boom of making money through websites or blogs is over! Click rates are declining, i.e. readers are more and more reluctant to click on online ads.
Note: Google is still very successful, but not necessarily based on a few, very effective websites. Their success comes through volume, i.e. the vast number of not-so-effective websites producing a few clicks per month.
One of the Affiliate programs I had joined mentioned that you need a minimum of 30,000 unique visitors a month to create sufficient income, which is very difficult to achieve on a long-term basis, i.e you need to maintain that level through frequent updating of your website(s).
Let’s apply some realistic numbers based on my experience with Google Ads: CTR – Click Through Rate = 0.5% and $0.50 per click. Assuming 30,000 unique visitors per month, you will create 150 clicks per month and create an income of $75 per month.
Yes, you can increase the income by adding advertisement from other Affiliate programs, but 1. creating 30,000 unique visitors per month requires extraordinary work, and 2. excessive use of online ads may have a negative impact on your website’s acceptance.
The following represents my personal experience with a number of Affiliate systems:
- Google Adsense - Click Through Rate (CTR) is roughly 0.5% with roughly $0.50 per click. These numbers will vary from website to website depending on content and value to the Internet community. Needless to say, their ads are usually of good quality and are clearly adjusted to the website’s content. Payment options are very flexible, and they pay quickly. Over all my rating is “Good.”
- Infolinks – CTR = 2+% with roughly $0.12 per click. It seems that visitors are much more inclined to click on “inline” advertisement, but the downside is a lower income per click. In the end, Infolinks evens out with Google. Advantage: You can easily mix Google and Infolinks on your website, and it doesn’t look cluttered. The ads are not well adjusted to the web page content; I assume their variety of ads is limited compared to Google. What I don’t like is their payment policy. They don’t offer direct deposits into your bank account. Payments per direct deposit require a minimum of $400(!); PayPal $50; Recommended payment is per prepaid MasterCard. Also, you have to apply to add more websites, which is more or less a formality, but takes up to two days. Nevertheless, I am very satisfied with the daily income created through them. My rating: “Good.”
- Kontera – No data available; I only tested them briefly and discarded them quickly. Their pitch is that they’re better than Infolinks due to better “inline” ads, a statement that does not match my experience. Their ads are very limited and are by far not relevant to the website’s content. They allow only three inline ads per page, and they load very slowly (Infolinks shows a lot more ads without looking intrusive). Their payment options are very flexible, and you don’t need to apply to add more websites; you just add their code to any website you run. My rating: “Don’t bother.”
- Amazon.Com – Tough to compare with Google or others, since Amazon doesn’t pay per click. They pay a percentage of an actual sales made through the online ad, which can be up to several Dollars. Amazon provides a great number of different ads and different products, but they require more work to set up than other programs. This month I managed to create more than 300 clicks, but created only one sale (which is not typical). My rating: “Okay.”
- AdBrite – To say it upfront, I removed all AdBrite ads from my websites. CTR was 0.13%, and they paid in average $0.06 per click. You can choose between two levels of advertisement, the better one being the “family-friendly” version. “Family-Friendly” means you get ads from, for instance, Toyota or Porsche, which are promoted as high-quality, but in reality nobody clicks on their ads. The non-family-friendly version allows ads of the worst kind, including weight loss programs and other questionable services (to put it diplomatically). If you don’t care much about reputation, you can use them as a Google alternative. My rating: “Two thumbs down!”
- ClickBank – Terrible! Terrible! They work on the same principle as Amazon; they pay you per actual sales, which is acceptable. However, the quality of the product and service ads represents the lowest level I have experienced so far. First, they only provide you a link to the actual product page, which also includes your specific ID. You, as the ad publisher, are responsible to create a dedicated page for the product and include the hyperlink, meaning there is quite some effort involved. They offer a great number of products you can write about, but most of the product pages are maintained by what I consider to be scammers. The web pages are longer than my arm, filled with all kinds of success slogans, and you can’t leave the website without specifically clicking on the “Okay” button. My rating: “Stay away from Clickbank!”
I wish I could report two other services that seem to be the best when it comes to creating income:
- Text Link Ads – They rejected my website within 24 hours. Apparently, they have very high standards in regards to the website traffic you create. My 400,000+ web site hits per month didn’t do it for them.
- Chitika – The response from Chitika – four weeks after I applied- was especially interesting:
“We would like to apologize for the delay in your Chitika application review for account. As we prepare to transition to a new upgraded version of Chitika, we are temporarily holding off on approving new domains and accounts. Note: We are currently running an exclusive beta test on the new upgraded Chitika ads for large/ComScore 500 domains. If you are earning more than $10,000 USD per month from advertising on your domain (with AdSense, direct advertisers, etc.), please send us an email, or give us a call to speak with a Chitika team member.”
The London, UK Job Report announces “Work At Home Mum Makes £4,397/Month Part-Time.” You find the article on the fake News Daily 7 website. Here we go again, Kelly Richards made it into the United Kingdom. See also my post Kelly Richards a.k.a. Melissa Johnson Sighted in Great Britain.
News Daily 7 - Click image to enlarge
The London, UK Job Report announces “Work At Home Mum Makes £4,397/Month Part-Time.” You find the article on the fake News Daily 7 website. Here we go again, Kelly Richards made it into the United Kingdom. See also my post Kelly Richards a.k.a. Melissa Johnson Sighted in Great Britain.
This morning I received an e-mail from Derek in Bristol, UK, saying:
“Hi Wilfried,
I found your site whilst searching for reviews of the following site advert.
I see the infamous Kelly work at home Mum has moved to Bristol UK, http://newsdaily7[dot]com.
You have saved me some money so I have now invested in your book “A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog”
Best Wishes, Derek.”
Well, I am always glad when my posts on this website help people to save their money, may it be here in the United States or somewhere else in the world. I have received responses from as far as Australia. Some of them thanked me for saving them. After all they did their research.
Others were not so lucky, and asked what they could do to get their money back. My advice would be to get in touch with your bank or credit card institution a.s.a.p. and dispute the charges. There is no guarantee that this will work, and it will take some perseverance. The Kelly Richard scammers are extremely clever and ruthless, but they also have made their operation fool-proof which may make it difficult for banks to help their customers.
For all those who read this post, please feel free to leave a comment below. The more information we share the better we can help prevent further damage.
Jennifer Theuriau and James Field, top news anchors of CNNews, report on the CNNews website “Work At Home Mom Makes $8,795/Month Part-Time.”
“I actually make $8,000 to $9,000 a month working from home.”
- Kelly Richards
Screen shot TheCNNews.org - Click on image to enlarge
Jennifer Theuriau and James Field, top news anchors of CNNews, report on the CNNews website, “Work At Home Mom Makes $8,795/Month Part-Time.”
In the article they write, “Have You Ever Considered Working Online? Kelly Richards of Griffith, IN never thought that she would, until curiosity got the best of her and she filled out a simple online form. Before she knew it, she discovered her secret to beating the recession, and being able to provide for her family while at home with her three children. I read Kelly’s blog last month and decided to feature her story in our weekly consumer report. In our phone interview she told me her amazing story. “I actually make about $8,000-$9,000 a month working from home. It’s enough to comfortably replace my old jobs income, especially considering I only work about 15-18 hours a week from home.” – Source: CNNews. Copyright 2010 © CNNews. All Rights Reserved.
Well, if CNNews’ top people report about it, it must be true. Right?
The truth is, what we have here is a blatant, if not illegal, attempt to create creditability by copying the CNN logo (not an exact copy, but close enough to violate trademark rights) and impersonating a reliable news source such as CNN. I haven’t investigated whether or not the featured reporters Jennifer Theuriau or James Field actually work for CNN, but I seriously doubt it.
On a side note: Looking at the screen shot of the CNNews website, notice that Kelly Richards, besides living in almost every city all over the United States at the same time (see my articles series about Kelly Richards at Making Money From Home), can also change appearances (Maybe we should tip off the Men in Black that one of their aliens has left New York). The hyperlinks on top of the website (Subscribe, News, Comments, and E-Mail) are not hyperlinks; they’re just plain fake.
Needless to say, the “Online Work at Home Program” including the “Google Profit Library” and the “Web Profit Club” are all scams, and they are defrauding unsuspecting American citizens. The problem is that the service they offer plus their marketing methods, if you ignore the trademark violations, are basically legal. The service they offer (making money through Google AdSense) is legitimate. However, Google AdSense is a free-of-charge service by Google (who is not part of the scam). In other words, there is no need to sign up for a monthly subscription to incorporate Google ads on your website. What the scammers present as the ultimate way of becoming rich, is common knowledge in the Internet community. And yes, you can create income through Google ads, but in all regularity you will not create sufficient income to cover you monthly grocery bill, let alone your mortgage. See also my article Does The Google Adsense Get-Rich-System Work?
For instance, this very website you are looking at received 110,000+ hits last month alone, and it took me a mere 15 months of continuous work to get there. This last month I made less than $20 through Google ads. I have to admit that I should place more ads per page, but my primary purpose of this website is to promote my books.
Chances are, the Google ads you see on this web page are dedicated to other getting-rich scams such as “My Million Dollar Edge,” or others. Do me a favor: Click on these ads! By clicking on the ads you will support me free-of-charge to you, and, at the same time, it will cost the scammers. But please, do not believe what they tell you on their websites! If something sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is.
Last, but not least, I was made aware of the CNNews scam website through a reader’s comment. Please feel free to share your comments by using the comment box below. I’d like to hear from you!
Uh, the gravity of an irresistible (yet misleading) headline! Yes, I am guilty of reading “The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging”. On page 74 the book lists the “Top Ten Horrible Publicity Stunt Ideas”, and by using above headline I ruthlessly copied and modified the horrible publicity stunt ideas 6 and 9.
Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, and lessens the frictions of social contacts.
- Clare Booth Luce
Uh, the gravity of an irresistible (yet misleading) headline! Yes, I am guilty of reading The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging. On page 74 the book lists the Top Ten Horrible Publicity Stunt Ideas, and by using above headline I ruthlessly copied and modified the horrible publicity stunt ideas 6 and 9.
Now that I am blogging for a mere 15 months I wasn’t quite convinced that a book published in 2008 would be able to present interesting insights on blogging on top of what I already know. After all, these days technology changes fast within two years. In fact, there are a few minor details that have changed since the release (for instance, the Yahoo self-service platform for small publishers, also known as Yahoo Publisher Network Online was closed as of April 30 this year). However, the book’s content is so much more than a mere instruction on running your blog. This is a book written by the very best blogging professionals in the Internet business world, and, regardless of whether you are a blogging novice or a blog professional, you will not put this book aside unless you have read it in full.
Yes, there is information on starting a blog, increasing web traffic, making money online, etc., but I wouldn’t recommend this guide for that particular purpose. There are other, much more detailed works available. The guts of this book is – as strange as it may sound – about the nature of blogs, their history, their impact on today’s world, and, most importantly, the passion that comes with writing a blog. The passion is emphasized by comments from people like Nora Ephron, Harry Shearer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gary Hart, John Ridley, Steven Weber (Hey, Steve, I don’t hate you! I just miss Wings!), and others.
Reading the Complete Guide to Blogging effectively convinces you that you need to start your own blog immediately, and if you already have one, the authors give you the feeling that you are one of them. There is no looking down on the poor blogger with his/her mere two pages. The guide is full of advice for everybody. The language is clear, comprehensive, and professional. The reader will learn why The Huffington Post is so incredibly successful in times where traditional newspapers are struggling to maintain readership.
This book is a must-read for every blogger at every level, including those who work for the online versions of traditional newspapers. It is made to learn from the top professionals in the business.
The only complaint I have is about the extremely sparse table of content, now that I am looking for the definition of Fair Use and Copyright (Here it is – page 50). I hope it is “fair use” when I quote the horrible publicity stunt ideas 6 and 9 here in this post. If it’s not, please contact me, and I will humbly repent.
Horrible Publicity Stunt Idea #6:
Start a rumor that a book based on your blog is the next Oprah selection (and, OMG, you’re giving out tickets to the show where she’ll discuss it!).
Horrible Publicity Stunt Idea #9:
Write an open letter to the National Parks Service offering $10 million if they’ll have the Statue of Liberty hold a sign with your blog name on it for a day (in place of the torch). Since you know they’ll say no, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have $10 million.
For eight more horrible publicity stunt ideas I recommend reading The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging.
Book Description
- Source: Amazon.Com.
The editors of The Huffington Post–the most linked-to blog on the web–offer an A-Z guide to all things blog, with information for everyone from the tech-challenged newbie looking to get a handle on this new way of communicating to the experienced blogger looking to break through the clutter of the Internet. With an introduction by Arianna Huffington, the site’s cofounder and editor in chief, this book is everything you want to know about blogging, but didn’t know who to ask.
As entertaining as it is informative, The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging will show you what to do to get your blog started. You’ll find tools to help you build your blog, strategies to create your community, tips on finding your voice, and entertaining anecdotes from HuffPost bloggers that will make you wonder what took you so long to blog in the first place.
The Guide also includes choice selections from HuffPost’s wide-ranging mix of top-notch bloggers. Among those who have blogged on HuffPost are Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Larry David, Jane Smiley, Bill Maher, Nora Ephron, Jon Robin Baitz, Steve Martin, Lawrence O’Donnell, Ari Emanuel, Mia Farrow, Al Franken, Gary Hart, Barbara Ehrenreich, Edward Kennedy, Harry Shearer, Nancy Pelosi, Adam McKay, John Ridley, and Alec Baldwin.
A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog
Last, but not least, if you want honest information on how to start a web site or blog and make money from it, check out my book, A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog(There is also a preview of the book). Honestly, I wrote it after learning about the so-called “Google Profit Library” and reading the book “New Path to Riches” by Nick Usborne (Don’t buy it. It’s a huge waste of time!). I deemed it was time to stop the nonsense. The book shows you step by step how to set up a professional blog with some advice on how to run it, and maybe even make some money from it. The difference is, you don’t pay me at all (I would appreciate that you buy the book, paperback or PDF), and the required investment of roughly $120 per year goes to your Internet service provider for running your web site. Also, check out myprofessionalblog.com. This is the web site I created to write the book, meaning I created the web site, made screen-shots and included them into the document.
The principe is easy: You create a website or blog, then you add Google ads. As I explained before, the Google Adsense service is free of charge and is available for everybody who runs a website. As soon as somebody comes to your website and clicks on one of the Google ads, you will have created an income between a few cents and a Dollar depending on the ad. Adding these ads to your website is fairly easy; the Google website will provide you the code that you just copy and paste. Also through the Google website you can keep track on your income, and Google pays you on a monthly basis.
Lack of money is the root of all evil.
- George Bernard Shaw
Just the other day I received another comment on the current Internet scam, may it be the Google Profit Library or the Web Profit Club, famously promoted through the “success” of Kelly Richards, a.k.a. Michelle Richardson, Melissa Johnson, and other names.
Let me quote the comment:
“I made the mistake of “fooling myself” and submitting my info for the internet scam fraud you wrote about in January, but because your article popped up, I called to cancel my account. They have an address, a billing department and a customer service department. I was able to cancel my account and avoid the $139 charge, but is the company valid? I see from your article that the advertising is fake, but what about this business? Are people doing this?”
1. Is the Company valid?
Yes, companies offering a getting-rich-system based on creating income through Google ads, despite a despicable business attitude, are valid – as far as I can tell. In turn, the services and advice they offer are are valid as well.
The Web Profit Club, for instance, is located at 11136 Ferragamo CT, Las Vegas, NV 89141, if you can believe their web site information. The first warning sign, though, is their very limited web site where the majority of links lead to the same page. The disclaimer, terms and conditions, and the privacy policy on their web site are written and presented in an amateurish way, and, when push comes to shove, they might not hold up in court. My estimate is that this is a one-man operation, proving that you can make money through the Internet… It is easy to set up a web site like this and pretend you have a customer service department, You just set up an e-mail address such as support@webprofitclub.com, and everybody is convinced that the service department, in fact, exists.
So, what’s the real scam, you may ask?
What these companies sell you as a service is common knowledge in the Internet world!
The scam starts with the simple fact that you don’t need these companies to start your own website and add Google ads. The Google Adsense service is free of charge, and it is available to everybody who runs a website. You can avoid services, such as the Web Profit Club, by buying Google Adsense for Dummies (a much better and at the same time cheaper investment for the same thing), or even use the vast information on the Internet, or even have a look at the Google Adsense tour.
The scam continues with promising fast cash and getting rich very fast. All you have to do is paying their monthly fee – an initial $2.97 sign-up fee plus a (hidden) monthly fee of $49.00 and $139.00 for additional services. The service description and charges may change, but the pattern is the same: You pay good money for something that doesn’t work for 99.99% of the users. On top you don’t need their services and you don’t need to pay them to go through that kind of experience.
2. Are people doing this?
I interpret the question as: Are people using the system as offered by the scammers? I don’t have any solid information, but I am sure that some users actually are using the system, and they may even make money out of it.
The question arises again, why should we not sign up with the Web Profit Club?
The answer is very simple: First, as I explained before, you don’t need the Web Profit Club (or whatever term they use these days; there is a multitude of similar services out there) to create your own website with Google ads. Secondly, the system will not work for the vast majority of users, and I will explain why.
How to get rich through Goole Ads – or not
The principe is easy: You create a website or blog, then you add Google ads. As I explained before, the Google Adsense service is free of charge and is available for everybody who runs a website. As soon as somebody comes to your website and clicks on one of the Google ads, you will have created an income between a few cents and a Dollar depending on the ad. Adding these ads to your website is fairly easy; the Google website will provide you the code that you just copy and paste. Also through the Google website you can keep track of your income, and Google pays you on a monthly basis.
Sounds easy enough, but there are a few obstacles; the most serious of them is creating web traffic. The other problem is that you cannot create sufficient income through only one website or blog; the average income will not be sufficient to pay for your monthly grocery bill, let alone a mortgage.
Okay, the solution is to create more than just one website, let’s say 500. Let’s apply some math to calculate the possible income: You run 500 websites, and each website draws 2,000 visitors per month. You assume that 2% of these visitors will actually click on an ad (it’s called the average CTR – Click Through Rate, and 2% is low). With an average payment of $0.25 per click and 40 clicks a day you will have made $10.00 per day per website. With 500 websites you make $5,000 a day! That’s $1,825,000 a year!
The saying is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. On the other hand, you may say, it’s not about getting filthy rich, and maintaining 500 websites seems a little out of reach. We just want to make a reasonable second income, and even if we are not quite as successful, we just might make enough money to keep us happy.
Okay, rule #1 in any business: Success comes only with blood, sweat, tears, and time – a lot of time. It doesn’t come with working 15 hours a week, and the rest of your time you sit at your swimming pool sipping your martini. Even if you spent 80 hours a week you will not see instantaneous success. As I wrote before, creating a website and adding Google ads is easy, but you will have trouble creating web traffic. Your web site is only one out of countless others in the world wide web.
My personal blog, at the time of this writing, attracts 4,000+ unique visitors a month. I got there by adding to my blog on a constant basis plus applying a ton of measures to attract attention. I reached the 4,000 mark after roughly 14 months. I, too, use some Google ads, but I have to admit my main focus is on promoting the books I wrote. The income through Google ads on my blog is roughly $20 a month. It could be more if I filled the whole place with ads, but, again, that is not my intention.
My advice, in case you still want to jump on the wagon:
1. Do not sign up for the Web Profit Club or similar services promising you the ultimate path to riches.
2. Open an account with a reputable Internet service provider such as GoDaddy.com, BlueHost.com, or others. Believe me, it’s easy. The costs will be around $120 a year, but it’s money well spent on a legitimate and honest business.
3. Create a website or, even better, a blog. My recommendation is to install WordPress on your website. This very website you are looking at was created with WordPress.
4. Sign up for a Google Adsense Account at adsense.google.com.
5. Don’t expect to get rich overnight.
Start out with a blog in a niche, about a topic you are knowledgeable and passionate about. The main rule is to create unique and valid content. The next rule is to create as much content as you can, and you need to do that on a regular basis. If your blog runs well, you can think about starting another one, and another one, applying the same principle. Nevertheless, the process will take time, and, still, there is no guarantee for success.
A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog
Last, but not least, if you want honest information on how to start a web site or blog and make money from it, check out my book, A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog (There is also a preview of the book). Honestly, I wrote it after learning about the so-called “Google Profit Library” and reading the book “New Path to Riches” by Nick Usborne (Don’t buy it. It’s a huge waste of time!). I deemed it was time to stop the nonsense. The book shows you step by step how to set up a professional blog with some advice on how to run it, and maybe even make some money from it. The difference is, you don’t pay me at all (I would appreciate that you buy the book, paperback or PDF), and the required investment of roughly $120 per year goes to your Internet service provider for running your web site. Also, check out myprofessionalblog.com. This is the web site I created to write the book, meaning I created the web site, made screen-shots and included them into the document.
A few months ago, the web information company Alexa redesigned their website and since then I’ve been noticing these incredibly distasteful advertisements pitching weight loss products, wrinkle removers and suspicious get rich quick schemes.
This article is part of a series on Online fraud. Read more…
pulse360 – in their own words “The Leader in Content Targeted Sponsored Links on the Web’s Best Sites – is a leading provider of links that lead to web sites with blatantly fabricated content. See below a few references I found on the Internet.
For the love of god, I don’t want whiter teeth
Note: Interesting article, especially since msnbc.com and pulse360 are business partners… The same ads, the reporter is complaining about, appear on the same web page as his article.
And so we come to the networks, the most irresponsible and hypocritical of our cast. Let’s take Pulse360, the ad network that serves up many of TBM’s scam ads, as another case study. I talked to Jaan Janes, the CEO of Pulse360, for an infuriating 45 minutes. My objective: figure out whether these kinds of ads comply with Pulse360’s ad guidelines. Janes repeatedly said that every ad and its corresponding site is hand-screened at Pulse360, primarily to ensure that contact information is visible on the site. But they do not call every phone number to see whether anybody actually picks up the line. (They say they do spot checks.) Logic implies that if the ads are personally screened and then end up in the network, they comply with the guidelines.
Q: How do you stop a pulse 360 ad from popping up?
A: Some Pulse ads are downright fake. There’s a weight loss one that lists the woman as from my home town “Susi from xxx lost 40 pounds!!”, but when I was out of state, I noticed the same ad listing the woman from the town I was now in..
It just gets the city your IP is from and inserts that into the ad. Deception makes me want to buy!!!
I clicked the ad and it’s totally bogus. They even use Rachael Ray’s likeness but spell her name wrong.
In the about us page, it even say’s “We know we mis-spelled Rachael’s name, but it was too late to fix it.” To late to fix it, but not too late to write text right underneath it saying it was too late to fix it????!!!!
Nice integrity!
Are Alexa.com Ads by Pulse360-Kanoodle Violating FTC Truth in Advertising?
A few months ago, the web information company Alexa redesigned their website and since then I’ve been noticing these incredibly distasteful advertisements pitching weight loss products, wrinkle removers and suspicious get rich quick schemes. While these type of advertisments are nothing new on the internet, what stood out to me was each advertisement appears to be placed by a person who is located in the same city as myself.
If you look up any of these blogs in Google, there are numerous bloggers warning that these flogs (as Jay Weintraub calls them)are blatant by scum of the earth affiliate marketers (Lincoln Adams’s affectionate term for the unethical blackhat set) scams.
Pulse360 – how to get rid off it?
Note: The following is a forum inquiry. I, personally, suspect that pulse360 is (or has been) actively using some kind of malware to promote their ads. Many references I found on the Internet point into that direction.
Recently, I started to get Pulse360 pop up window. My pop-up blocker is on, I removed Pulse360 from the Registry, deleted cookie, but the next day it was back… How to get rid of Pulse360?
Ads by Pulse 360
Does Pulse 360 do anything other than advertise for a miracle substance that “gets you ripped” in 4 weeks? The only other thing I have EVER seen there is a very disreputable looking “miracle” teeth whitener. It seems like this “ad network” is composed of nothing but disreputable crap. I guess this is nothing new, just the second (or 3rd, 4th, 5th…) coming of the Thighmaster style product.
I’m actually seeing this advertising on major sites like NBC sports. Everyone but the most gullible of us knows you can’t “get ripped” in 4 weeks unless you are already very low % body fat. If you click the ad and go to the landing page it is your typical “scammy” web site, it even brings up a pop-up window that asks if you are sure you want to leave when you try to navigate away. I actually read the page and this stuff is flat out GARBAGE. It literally tells people not to “waste time” working out.
How can I stop Pulse360 (sponsored listings) from popping up when I open up msnbc.com – I have Adblock Plus installed but no luck
Note: The following confirms my suspicion that pulse360 is in some way promoted by malware.
Q: Pulse360 only “pops up” when I open an article on the msnbc.com website while in Firefox. I use AdBlock Plus and I have searched the “blockable items” list to try to block it but nothing shows up for Pulse360. When it opens it shows it is “sponsored listings” for the site. Please help – this keeps me from going to msnbc when I really would like to view some of their articles. Thanks.
A: Your list of installed plugins shows that you have the My Web Search Plugininstalled, well-known malware which you should remove.
Inactivity charges Pulse360?
One of the smaller PPC services we have tested is called Pulse360. (Purposely not linking to them). We made a small $100 deposit to do some testing, and ended up pausing the campaigns after so so results. Like every other service I have ever used, I expected the balance to remain there until I was ready for more testing. Imagine my surprise when I got an email from them stating that they had removed $10 from my account for “inactivity charges”. I have to say this is a totally lame and cheap way to squeeze money from an already paying customer. You could have gotten tons of money from me by just serving up good traffic, but this little stunt has sealed it for me. I’ll be closing my account before the rest of the balance is charged away by you guys.
Pulse360
Pulse 360 is bad ad source to use. They irritate me more than anything. I see popunders all the time when I visit websites that use them and have received warnigns of spyware and adware from their ads. They are a horrible source for ads and lack security to protect anyone who carries their ads for them. My antivirus program gave warnings of spyware when their ads popped up.
Kelly Richards of Conway, MA never thought she would have a job working at home until one day she filled out a simple form online. Before she knew it, she discovered her secret to beating the recession, and being able to provide for her family while at home with her two children.
This article is part of a series on Online fraud. Read more…
Well apparently Kelly Richards has moved from Greenfield, MA to Conway, MA. Since I am logging in from a different IP location, the web page changes the town name…;-) Wherever you are, the town will change when you log on to the Google Profit Library web site. Well, here is an excerpt/copy of the “Massachusetts Job Report” by “Online 6 News” (Note: The Massachusetts Job Report as well as Online 6 News are a fake.)
Work At Home Mom Makes $6,397/Month Part-Time
Online News 6 Investigates Google Work at Home Programs…
Have You Ever Thought About Working Online?
Kelly Richards of Conway, MA never thought she would have a job working at home until one day she filled out a simple form online. Before she knew it, she discovered her secret to beating the recession, and being able to provide for her family while at home with her two children.
I read Kelly’s blog last month and decided to feature her story in our local job report. In our phone interview she she told me her amazing story. “I actually make about $5,000-$7,000 a month using Google. It is enough to comfortably replace my old jobs income, especially considering I only work about 10-15 hours a week from home.
Working with Google has been a financial windfall for Kelly, who struggled for months to find a decent job during the struggling economy. “I lost my job shortly after the recession hit, I needed reliable income, I was not interested in the “get rich quick” scams you see all over the internet. Those are all pyramid scams or stuff where you have to sell to your friends and family. I just needed a legitimate way to earn a living for me and my family. The best part of working online is that I am always home with the kids, I save a lot of money.”
I asked her about how she started her remarkable journey. “It was pretty easy, I filled out a short form and applied for a work at home kit. There is a small shipping and handling fee, its not really free but it was under $5. I got the Kit and within four weeks I was making over $5,000 a month. It’s really simple, I am not a computer whiz, but I can use the internet. I post links that are given to me, I don’t even have to sell anything and nobody has to buy anything. They are constantly recruiting people to post links, you should try it.”
Online giant Google, worth over 100 billion dollars is the most used search engine and internet market place. Google is the #1 internet site in the world, over 50 percent of all internet traffic flows through them everyday. It’s a great company and they have been helping people work at home for over 10 years. Why not get in with the internets best and biggest company? there are plenty of scams on the internet claiming you can make $50,000 a month, but that is exactly what they are scams. From my conversation with Kelly, “I am making a good salary from home, which is amazing, under a year ago I was jobless in a horrible economy. I thank god every day that I filled out that form.”
Quickly, Kelly Richards was able to use the simple Google Profit Library kit with the Google Home Income kit to make it out of the recession.
Kelly had never shared her story before, and with her permission, we are putting it public.
Note: The grammatical errors/flaws are not mine. This was a simple copy and paste. Needless to say that a professional Online report would not be as flawed as this one. Also, to my knowledge, Google does not hire people to put hyperlinks on their blogs.
While these types of fraudulent jobs don’t really exist, there are plenty of jobs arising from online medical billing and coding courses.
Last, but not least, if you want honest information on how to start a web site or blog and make money from it, check out my book, A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog (There is also a preview of the book). Honestly, I wrote it after learning about the so-called “Google Profit Library.” I deemed it was time to stop the nonsense. The book shows you step by step how to set up a professional blog with some advice on how to run it, and maybe even make some money from it. The difference is, you don’t pay me at all (I would appreciate that you buy the book, paperback or PDF), and the required investment of roughly $120…200 per year goes to your Internet service provider for running your web site. Also, check out myprofessionalblog.com. This is the web site I created to write the book, meaning I created the web site, made screen-shots and included them into the document.
