PandaPassport.com – China Blog

I was just reading Ryan’s post over at DaobyDesign about how he guides his readers to upgrade to at least internet explorer 6:

My parameters were simple. If the person visiting the site had any browser other than Internet Explorer – they could come in. And to show I’m not a complete brute, I decided that those visiting with IE7, and IE6 could also come and play. Otherwise you get redirected to a page that informs the visitor that they might want to reconsider their choice of Web surfing app.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of any version of internet explorer, so I went a step further. Now if anyone lands on any of my single post pages, they see this alert just above the post headline:

Internet Explorer is BAD! Get Firefox with Google Toolbar, because unlike IE, Firefox loads the top of a webpage first so you can experience faster web-browsing.

The link is usually a firefox referral text link, though because this one was within the post, it might not always show, so I just linked to mozilla. Yes, I’m encouraging users to download, and I’ll get a small referral commission if they download it. But as this is a product I personally use and believe in, it’s one have have no hesitations recommending to readers. Readers who are using firefox already will not see this alert. Only IE users.

Here’s the code for how I made it, in case you’d like to use it one your site as well:

['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'MSIE') !== false)) return true; else return false; } ?> { ?> Internet Explorer is BAD! [INSERT FIREFOX TEXT LINK REFERRAL SCRIPT HERE] because unlike IE, Firefox loads the top of a webpage first so you can experience faster web-browsing.

For webmasters here in China, you might also recommend the Firefox Flickr addon, to help your readers get around the Flick block.

I don’t make much from my Google ads, and I apologize if they annoy anyone. But I like the fact that my bank account back home has at least one steady trickle of cash flowing in, while there’s a marginally larger trickle flowing out for those pesky student loan payments.

In any case, Google’s Inside Adsense blog just announced that they now do rounded corners, and they do look pretty sharp. I’m gonna implement them on my main page for now, and I’m gonna scale the size down a little from what it once was.

I’m still going with big-ass image ads on my single post pages, just to mix it up a bit. I originally selected the 200×200 image unit for the single post pages, but it seems that the only China related ad that was coming up was that friggin’ Trains to Tibet ad. At least now there’s some variety…

That said, I have to admit that the most productive of all the ads I have running is the pink link unit across the top.

Go figure…

Anyway, I suggest you subscribe to the Inside Adsense Blog, to stay on top of developments and changes to adsense. It’s a blogspot blog so you may find it’s blocked here in China. But subscribing through bloglines (as I do) will put you in business.

No need to put too much thought into it, but spending a few minutes tweaking a few times a year might do you some good.

And put a few cents in your pocket.

Ok. Even though I don’t make a hell of a lot from having google adsense on my website, it does cover the hosting costs — so why not, right?

Now there are referrals for firefox, adsense, and adwords available to anyone with an adsense account. But Google just announced it’s new Beta Referrals Programs, and they’ve explained in detail on their Inside Adsense blog:

With our new referrals beta, you can select products and services from our base of AdWords advertisers. This is good news for those of you who have wanted to use referrals in the past, but couldn’t find a product to match your site’s content. With the referrals beta, you can search for products that match up directly with your site’s content. And you can customize your referral units to match the look and feel of your site, making it easier than ever to find a referral ad that fits in seamlessly with your site’s design and content.

What’s more, Google can help make sure you find and display the most relevant, best-performing referral ads on your site. Simply provide a few keywords to describe your site and your users’ interests, and you’ll see ads automatically displayed that perform best for your site. No more constant updating, rotating products, or guesswork.

By the way, it seems as though blogspot blogs are blocked once again, at the whim of the Chinese firewall demons. If you have trouble accessing them – like you might with Inside Adsense, as it is a blogspot blog – I recommend you subscribe to it using bloglines. It’s a newsreader, and you can use it as a way to bypass the firewall — and well, it’s just way more convenient than regular internet surfing.

Anyway, for anyone who’s blogging in China, and using Google Adsense on their site, you may want to consider applying for this Beta program. China related ads seem to fall into the category of “chump-change ads,” and your only consolation for low revenue is that it’s not paid in Chinese RMB.

Having the ability to choose the product that you refer might make a small difference to your income. Because every little bit helps, doesn’t it?

China Stolen Media of the Day

I spoke of this show before, but I think it deserves another mention. I think it’s showing on CBC back in Canada, and I highly recommend it. It’s called Hustle, and it’s a really neato show from the BBC. Check out the entire first season of Hustle via tudou.