Yeah, the “phoot” is almost like a separate character at this point.
I put the mouseovers in before Christmas, tho I can’t remember exactly when. It’s one of my few brave attempts to alter the css on this site. I’d also like to replace the button text with something more cartoony. That’s for after I get my store up and running.
I’ve been thinking about ditching the half-banner ads under the comic and going instead with the square ads under the calendar. What do you think? Do you have any square ads to go there?
Ach, I have been having the hardest time to figure out what to put in a 125×125 ad. And speaking of ads, what the hell is going on with that upward spiral deathlock that vizanime and hot women are in? I think some new ad buyer just found PW and seriously messed up the bid parameters and is competing with themselves.
Anyway, it seems like placement matters somewhat; from the sites I’ve seen, the more immediately visible ads get bigger numbers. That was what attracted me to your 468×60 ads in the first place, they’re right under the comic. But on the other hands, 1) there are also the campaigns, where people are likely just to bid on traffic stats without any real placement consideration, and 2) the 234×60 ads on my site are not doing as well as I would’ve thought.
Ha! Yeah, it’s never an easy decision. Thanks for your thoughts. I think I’m going to leave them up for now. The fact that they’re right under the comic means that they will appeal more to people who are advertising on sites that they hand pick, rather than just letting a campaign do the work, so ideally those ads will be more relevant (and I think they have been). Plus, it helps to expose me to the Project Wonderful webcomic community. The only real downside is the aesthetic of having the ads right under the comic. But since the ads are almost always webcomic ads, I don’t really mind, since I see it as helping to spread the love. If they were more random, I’d probably have ditched them by now. Final verdict… I keep them! I know they’re not performing super well, but I’d hate to not give them a proper chance.
Funny you should mention the Viz/hot women battle. It looks like it’s gone back to normal on my site. I was really digging it this morning, when my skyscraper was going for $3.20! Made me feel like a big shot. It was entertaining, that’s for sure. Just part of the awesome controlled chaos that is Project Wonderful, I guess.
Mine’s still at $5.90. It’s crazy. Like I’m actually getting a little irritated about it. Some idiot somewhere is doing something stupid. I’ll take his money, but still: doy.
I’m with you on cluttering the space, but I got over it. My previous site was really very minimal, but…well, one, I upgraded my UI, and two, ads can inversely make your site look more serious. Once I decided to work them into the design (rather than having a site and saying “where can I shove some ads” like I did with abevigoda.com), I kinda made peace with them.
$5.90! Craziness. Well, like you said, may as well take the money while they’re shelling it out.
I’m always afraid of having too many ads, but as long as they’re unobtrusive, and as long as they’re tasteful, I’m okay too I guess.
I’ll send you my leaderboard ad via regular email… It’s easier than uploading to my server and sending you the link. Plus, I’m not sure if it would be password-protected if you tried to view it. I’m not using it currently on PW, but I figured out how to do targeted ad placement through Google AdSense, so now I budget 2 bucks a day through there to have it run on PvP and Questionable Content. So it’s possible you saw it there. Although at 2 bucks a day, it doesn’t get shown there very often. But I find I get 20 to 30 hits a day from it, so while it’s a bit pricey, it’s still good to get exposure on those sites. I’d like to put more money into it, but that’ll cut further into my beer budget.
I used to run a Leader in my PW campaign, but I’ve since stopped doing the campaign. Right now, the micromanaging of ads seems to be getting me more bang for my buck.
No doubt. Checking my numbers is my new favorite thing. I missed out on WoW, only because I knew I would never come back if I ever started playing. But I think I know what you’re talking about… Dragon Age is busy destroying my life right now.
I dig the “phoot” in the second panel. It’s a nice atmospheric touch.
Are the mouseovers for the nav new? Or did I just not notice them before?
Yeah, the “phoot” is almost like a separate character at this point.
I put the mouseovers in before Christmas, tho I can’t remember exactly when. It’s one of my few brave attempts to alter the css on this site. I’d also like to replace the button text with something more cartoony. That’s for after I get my store up and running.
I’ve been thinking about ditching the half-banner ads under the comic and going instead with the square ads under the calendar. What do you think? Do you have any square ads to go there?
Ach, I have been having the hardest time to figure out what to put in a 125×125 ad. And speaking of ads, what the hell is going on with that upward spiral deathlock that vizanime and hot women are in? I think some new ad buyer just found PW and seriously messed up the bid parameters and is competing with themselves.
Anyway, it seems like placement matters somewhat; from the sites I’ve seen, the more immediately visible ads get bigger numbers. That was what attracted me to your 468×60 ads in the first place, they’re right under the comic. But on the other hands, 1) there are also the campaigns, where people are likely just to bid on traffic stats without any real placement consideration, and 2) the 234×60 ads on my site are not doing as well as I would’ve thought.
So, basically: I don’t know. You’re welcome!
Ha! Yeah, it’s never an easy decision. Thanks for your thoughts. I think I’m going to leave them up for now. The fact that they’re right under the comic means that they will appeal more to people who are advertising on sites that they hand pick, rather than just letting a campaign do the work, so ideally those ads will be more relevant (and I think they have been). Plus, it helps to expose me to the Project Wonderful webcomic community. The only real downside is the aesthetic of having the ads right under the comic. But since the ads are almost always webcomic ads, I don’t really mind, since I see it as helping to spread the love. If they were more random, I’d probably have ditched them by now. Final verdict… I keep them! I know they’re not performing super well, but I’d hate to not give them a proper chance.
Funny you should mention the Viz/hot women battle. It looks like it’s gone back to normal on my site. I was really digging it this morning, when my skyscraper was going for $3.20! Made me feel like a big shot. It was entertaining, that’s for sure. Just part of the awesome controlled chaos that is Project Wonderful, I guess.
Mine’s still at $5.90. It’s crazy. Like I’m actually getting a little irritated about it. Some idiot somewhere is doing something stupid. I’ll take his money, but still: doy.
I’m with you on cluttering the space, but I got over it. My previous site was really very minimal, but…well, one, I upgraded my UI, and two, ads can inversely make your site look more serious. Once I decided to work them into the design (rather than having a site and saying “where can I shove some ads” like I did with abevigoda.com), I kinda made peace with them.
Oh, also, I’m pretty sure I saw a 728×90 ad for you somewhere…you have a link to it?
$5.90! Craziness. Well, like you said, may as well take the money while they’re shelling it out.
I’m always afraid of having too many ads, but as long as they’re unobtrusive, and as long as they’re tasteful, I’m okay too I guess.
I’ll send you my leaderboard ad via regular email… It’s easier than uploading to my server and sending you the link. Plus, I’m not sure if it would be password-protected if you tried to view it. I’m not using it currently on PW, but I figured out how to do targeted ad placement through Google AdSense, so now I budget 2 bucks a day through there to have it run on PvP and Questionable Content. So it’s possible you saw it there. Although at 2 bucks a day, it doesn’t get shown there very often. But I find I get 20 to 30 hits a day from it, so while it’s a bit pricey, it’s still good to get exposure on those sites. I’d like to put more money into it, but that’ll cut further into my beer budget.
I used to run a Leader in my PW campaign, but I’ve since stopped doing the campaign. Right now, the micromanaging of ads seems to be getting me more bang for my buck.
And man it is addictive. It’s like spending hours in front of the WoW auction house all over again.
No doubt. Checking my numbers is my new favorite thing. I missed out on WoW, only because I knew I would never come back if I ever started playing. But I think I know what you’re talking about… Dragon Age is busy destroying my life right now.