PublisherSpot

Updated - 08/03/2008

Go to www.chitika.com

There’s a reason why Chitika is one of the most popular advertising networks used by some of the biggest tech blogs on the Internet today. They provide ads that are highly targeted and are particularly effective for niche blogs that talk about the latest gadgets, the hottest games, and the coolest products on the market. Better still, publishers have access to a wide range of creatives when it comes to their PPC/CPC campaigns.

Chitika is best suited for blogs that talk about specific products because the ads are not like those found in Google Adsense or the Yahoo Publisher Network. Instead, the ads are more shopping-inclined, highlighting specific products on sale at specific online retailers. Some of the ads will also show where site visitors can get the best deals on these products.

There are six main advertising products available to Chitika publishers, each of which is available with its own set of creatives, colors, sizes, and styles.

• eMiniMalls is the main Chitika advertising style and, like the rest of the Chitika portfolio, is based on a pay-per-click model. Ad creatives will typically display an image of a single specific product, along with its description, best deals, and the ability to search for similar items. Most creatives are also available with multiple products. Code can also be provided for Facebook applications.
• ShopCloud consists of a tag cloud for hot products. There are three rows of tags and the relative size of these tags can be adjusted. After clicking on one of these tags, site visitors are directed to a shopping site containing related products. This shopping site can be customized for every publisher, including custom branding.
• Owna is an advertising type that has been designed specifically for implementation on MySpace pages. After choosing a specific product, publishers can choose from five different skins – DJ, Lips, Girl, Urban, and Disco – and add a custom tag line. These almost don’t look like ads at all, but the size of the product featured is quite small relative to the skin.
• ShopLinc is a Chitika-powered shopping site that can carry the specific branding of each publisher. This is the shopping site that is linked to the ShopCloud ad type.
• Linx is a program that is still in beta. It works in the same way as Intellitxt and Kontera ContentLink, embedding links into the original content of a publisher’s webpage. The pop-over ads may be considered intrusive by some site visitors.
• RPU stands for Related Product Unit and it is a wholly text-based ad creative. It functions in much the same way as the Related Posts plug-in for Wordpress blogs, except it displays links to related products.

The ads served by Chitika are not contextual. Instead, it is through the control panel wherein a category hint can be selected, choosing from a list of nearly 50 categories. Many of these overlap. For example, there are categories for Video Games, Playstation 2 Games, Video Game Accessories, and Computer Games, as well as other categories also related to video games. For more targeted ads, specific keywords can also be set for each ad creative.

Other customizations that are available through the Control Panel include the various elements in the color scheme, channel tracking, and other features specific to each of the six advertising types described above. For instance, the size of the largest and smallest tag can be set for ShopCloud ads.

Each of the six main ad types can be accessed through the main navigation near the top of the Control Panel. It is also here that publishers can find reports on how the Chitika ads are performing on their various websites. Core information presented here includes total number of impressions, number of clicks, click-through rate, cost per click, and so on. Bear in mind that all earnings are audited and the reports may or may not reflect final earnings.

Registration into the Chitika blog advertising network is much the same as signing up for any other advertising network. Potential publishers are shown a standard form with personal information and information about the website where the ads will be displayed. The application does ask about the number of monthly page views that the website or blog gets, noting that Chitika ads work best on sites that have at least 10,000 monthly page views.

Even so, when an application for a site (with less than 10,000 monthly page views) was submitted, it was still approved within 48 hours. The relative popularity of the site does not appear to be a barrier to entry.

As publishers refer new publishers to the Chitika advertising network, they earn 10% of what the referrals earn. There does not appear to be a limit to the number of referrals one can have, but the earned commissions are only valid for the 15 months of the each referral’s approval date. The value of the referrals is effectively added to regular earnings and will be paid out at the same time.

Chitika is very strict on how publishers choose to promote their affiliate link. For example, they cannot start any PPC/CPC ad campaign (or SEO campaign) that directly promotes the affiliate link. The use of such campaigns is acceptable only if they link to a page that contains the affiliate link. Even so, publishers must make it clear to site visitors that they are acting independently of Chitika. They also prohibit the promotion of “tagged” links via postings on non-commercial newsgroups or forums.

Publishers have two main options when it comes to receiving payment from Chitika. The easier of the two is definitely PayPal, not only for the instant sending and receiving, but also for the lower threshold. The alternative is a check sent via standard mail. All payments are made in US dollars.

Chitika operates on a Net-30 model, meaning that publishers are sent payment approximately 30 days after the end of the month in which they earned their total generated revenue. This is similar to Google Adsense. The minimum payout level for PayPal and checks are $10 and $50, respectively. Publishers can choose higher thresholds through the Control Panel.

The customer support form is easily accessed through the Control Panel. Before submitting a ticket, users are highly recommended to check the existing knowledgebase. In fact, after filling out the form but before clicking on submit, a list of suggested FAQ topics are displayed.

When a support ticket was submitted on a fairly simple question – the choosing of a specific product for a specific ad type – a response was received within 24 hours.

Chitika can be a great advertising network for people who have product-based blogs, like those focused on consumer electronics or video games. They have a variety of different ad creatives and types, so if a publisher does not like the standard shopping site-styled ad, they can opt instead for the related products unit (RPU), for example.

Because payment can be had via PayPal, getting funds is also a very easy and seamless process, especially considering that they run on the standard net-30 payment schedule.

In terms of competition, standard Chitika ads work in much the same way as TTZ Media and ShoppingAds, but their alternative styles also mimic the services of IntelliTXT and Kontera ContentLink. Chitika requires proper implementation and optimization before the big bucks can be made, however.

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