Chitika Text Ads Launch, Resemble Google AdSense
One of the top blog & site monetization stories of 2005 was that of Chitika eMinimalls, which are interactive web ads which display products, reviews, ratings and links from merchants carrying those porducts. After its initial launch, Chitika eMinimalls were garnering higher cost-per-clicks in some situations than Google AdSense which led to an all out mass blanketing of sites with Chitika ads.
Then, the Chit Hit the Fan when Chitika (which ironically translates to chicken poop in Brazilian slang) delayed revenue audits, changed eMinimalls, and dropped CPC rates as the boost in exposure did not lead to the intended purchases from the merchants.
Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration, a site monetization guru himself, has a nice rundown on the new Chitika Text Ads which have launched. The Chitika Text Ads were originally offered pre-eMinimalls, but were scrapped to concentrate on the grpahic eMinimalls popularity. And now, they’re back.
Still, considering that the service is still in Beta, Chitika is still a good alternative to Adsense or YPN. And now, in a bid to restore lost publisher’s faith, Chitika is working on new Ad formats that completely resemble the text ads offered by Yahoo Publisher Network or Google Adsense.
This screenshot shows a square 250×250 Chitika text ad displaying contextual ads from comparison shopping merchants like Dealtime or BizRate. The “Ads By Chitika” link takes you to the Chitiak Inc. homepage.
Chitika Text Ads are available is nearly all size and formats that are offered by Google Adsense. The user clicks in Chitika Text Ads are tracked by ads1.chitika.net [eMiniMalls clicks are tracked by mm.chitika.net] It is not immediately clear when the Chitika Text Ads will be available to publishers.
