Sponsor's Message

Their smart ranking and ultra-efficient search algorithms have produced a search engine second to none. What's more, their low-key approach to the presentation of advertising has done wonders for the company's reputation in the industry.

Within a very few short years, Google has become the world's most popular search engine, bar none.

And now it appears that they're about to do the same with the syndicated advertising market through their AdSense service.

I've got to admit, this is very impressive stuff and other online advertising networks should be worried, very worried.

By writing some slick software, Google has done something no other service has managed to do before -- effectively harness the web realestate that is made up of the many millions of smaller sites that would otherwise be uneconomic to place ads on.

What's more, AdSense automatically ensures that advertisements placed on a page are targeted to that page's content.

If you've got a hobby site all about patchwork or quilting, Google will drop in ads for things like sewing machines, needles, fabric, etc.

The advantage of this very wide coverage and excellent targeting mean that Google's ads are probably somewhat more effective than those placed on a smaller number of high-traffic sites by traditional agencies.

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination.

Thanks to the kind sponsorship of IHUG, Aardvark Daily I don't have to carry any other advertising on the daily commentary (be grateful, I am) but I have experimented with AdSense on the jet-engine pages of this website.

In the case of my site, the average click-through rate is somewhat higher than the industry standard, but your mileage may vary.

Okay, so the dollars it returns it's not going to pay the rent, but considering that it's money for jam and required me to do nothing other than paste in some HTML, I think it's a pretty fair deal.

And, it would appear, I'm not the only Kiwi webmaster who thinks this way.

Regular visitors to the NZ Herald website will have noticed the appearance of Google's ads, as will those who drop in to the Government-owned Met Service.

The Xtra Challenge
Ask any ISP and they'll tell you that the cost of running a helpdesk is horrendous.

To that end, most ISPs try to make such operations as efficient as possible.

Of course if you're Telecom/Xtra, you probably take the much cheaper and easier route of simply not listing the email address or phone number of the helpdesk on your website.

Today's challenge is:

Pretend you're an Xtra customer with a problem. You can still browse the web and send email but perhaps your connection drops out every few minutes or something.

Now go to the help page of Xtra's website and find a phone number or email address through which the helpdesk can be contacted.

Your time starts.... NOW. (lowest time wins).

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

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