Google Ads at schlockmercenary.com

In an effort to defray the costs of hosting, I’ve gotten the Google Adsense ads running throughout the Schlock Mercenary archives.

Most of the ads are just “Comics” things that I doubt any of my readers are really interested in. You read Schlock Mercenary (if you do, that is) because you enjoy that strip, not because you’re a comics collector. Since Google only pays on click-through, the archives are not going to generate much revenue… except for strips where there are footnotes.

I find this both creepy and hilarious. This strip, which has a footnote about the infamous chupaqueso, was sporting four ads for cheese. I think writing footnotes just got more interesting for me…”Gee, what kind of whacked-out Google ads can I get to load under THIS strip?”

It’s been a horrifically busy weekend, what with the move and the only-barely-preannounced arrival of relatives. All my time was spent working with chalain on the site, tweaking the look and feel, and realizing just how HUGE my installation at Keenspot was. We still have a lot of work to do. It’s a good thing Google is making me giggle, or I’d be a basket-case.

–Howard

37 thoughts on “Google Ads at schlockmercenary.com”

  1. I don’t see no stinking ads

    Should other people be able to see the ads yet? I’ve checked with both firefox and IE and so far, nothing.

      1. Re: I don’t see no stinking ads

        Huh, I just can’t see google ads on any site. My browser has the javascript invoking it in the page source, but IE and firefox don’t render them. I wonder how I broke that. 🙂

          1. Re: I don’t see no stinking ads

            You can switch off just popups and/or get adblock and do per item blocking.

            You can also switch off some of the more annoying javascript crap. I did it to a number of scum sites.

      2. Re: I don’t see no stinking ads

        Huh, I just can’t see google ads on any site. My browser has the javascript invoking it in the page source, but IE and firefox don’t render them. I wonder how I broke that. 🙂

  2. I don’t see no stinking ads

    Should other people be able to see the ads yet? I’ve checked with both firefox and IE and so far, nothing.

  3. I got “Grilled Cheese Sandwiches” “Cheese Slicers” “Cheese Knives” (of all things) and “Italian Cheeses”

    I just HAD to find out what a cheese knife is.

    BW

      1. I almost bought the cheese slicer with wire thing for my fiance (who loves cheese), but we’re _reducing_ the amount of clutter here right now, not adding to it…

        1. It’s typically per (non abusive) click, where non abusive is defined to be whatever the ad program says it is today. Per IP restrictions usually just serve to make your system not work well for AOL users. (But they can be useful for helping to find abuse)

          1. So does that mean that it is or isn’t a waste of time (from the viewpoint of someone who wants to support Schlock) to open each of the ads on the front page each day when I read the comic?

          2. It’s probably a waste of time. While all your clicks will likely get counted, the advertisers are paying for your click when you’re not interested, and losing their money. Which will reduce the amount they’ll pay for the keyword.

            Depending on how sophisticated their tracking and algorithms are, and how many viewers click the ads just to make money for the site, actions like that may end up flagging the site as abusive, which would be bad.

            If you’re interested in an advertisement though, you should feel free to click on it, and not guilty if you don’t end up buying anything from the advertiser.

            You have to remember that advertising is a balance between the advertiser, the ad network, the venue of the ads, and the users of the venue; and if some group isn’t getting any value out of it, they’re going to stop doing their part.

            (that was pretty longwinded… sorry)

  4. I got “Grilled Cheese Sandwiches” “Cheese Slicers” “Cheese Knives” (of all things) and “Italian Cheeses”

    I just HAD to find out what a cheese knife is.

    BW

  5. Mmmmm… cheesy goodness

    Re-reading the recipe made me hungry for some cheesy goodness. As I don’t have the manual dexterity today to be playing with cheese on a skilled, I made an ‘oh-my-god-how’d-you-fit-that-much-pepperjack-cheese-into-a-quesadilla-and-are-those-olives?!?!’ quesadillas. Cheesy goodness.

    1. Re: Mmmmm… cheesy goodness

      I started Atkinsing last week, and came up with a low carb pizza snack — I scattered pepperoni on a paper towel (to absorb the grease), put a tiny chunk of mozarella on each one, nuked it for like a minute, or until the pepperonis got crispy, and then used them as dipping tools for some pizza sauce. Stayed in kitosis despite the pizza sauce’s carbs, AND I got my pizza fix.

      I also tried making meringue cookies with egg whites, vanilla, and Splenda. 0 carbs, and the first one tastes kinda good. You MIGHT be able to eat a second one before the taste becomes nasty.

      1. Re: Mmmmm… cheesy goodness

        *Chuckles* Sounds like a good way to get your fixes 🙂

        I’m vegetarian, so no pepperoni for me, but I think I would have loved that when my body could process meat 🙂

        I couldn’t go no-carbs. I love my butterscotch-chip cookies too much. Everyone at work constantly asks me to make more to bring to them 😀

        1. Re: Mmmmm… cheesy goodness

          Once I work my way back to having a healthy-carb diet with a weekly cheat day, I’m eating cookies for breakfast.

  6. Mmmmm… cheesy goodness

    Re-reading the recipe made me hungry for some cheesy goodness. As I don’t have the manual dexterity today to be playing with cheese on a skilled, I made an ‘oh-my-god-how’d-you-fit-that-much-pepperjack-cheese-into-a-quesadilla-and-are-those-olives?!?!’ quesadillas. Cheesy goodness.

  7. I wonder if you could add the dialog/narration for each strip as hidden text. That way the adsense would be based on story as well.

    Would you be able to talk to those guys who did the schlock statistics?

  8. I wonder if you could add the dialog/narration for each strip as hidden text. That way the adsense would be based on story as well.

    Would you be able to talk to those guys who did the schlock statistics?

  9. I like the site’s layout, it’s really neat. Well done.

    I’d love to go through the archive from the beginning and see what’s the most bizarre adsense ad to manifest based on a footnote. I bet it’s something like “Used Phenyloptimon Warp Drives” or some such thing. If I wasn’t stuck on dial-up, I think I might do it.

  10. Personally, I like the ads generated for the notes on this comic. Seems to alternate between “He-man and the Masters of the Universe” DVDs, quantum physics textbooks, something about whether the Universe was created by God or Science, and “Psychic Warrior”.

  11. I think writing footnotes just got more interesting for me…”Gee, what kind of whacked-out Google ads can I get to load under THIS strip?”

    <Enabler>Do it! Do it!</Enabler>

    I love Google Ads. I’ve been online about 10 years now and I think I’ve maybe only clicked on banner/popup ads… well, I could count the number of times I’ve done that on one hand. Google Ads? Hee.

    I’ve found things I’ve actually wanted and purchased through them, and others are just so… “Bwah?”

    One such google ad which loaded on one of my character profiles over on GreatestJournal was for what was apparently a real “school of high sorcery” and whatnot. (“A fool and his money are soon parted” is what came to mind when I saw it.) I had great fun giggling over the WTFness of that site.

    Another time, in gmail, I’m discussing something game-related with a friend, and somehow or other, the keywords that got generated out of our discussion left me with an ad for salvation that said “Please don’t go to hell!”

    I was laughing so hard I had to try screencapping it several times because I kept messing up the command.

    Google Ads are great. (And yes, they do work, IMHO. I ignore banners and block popups, but I like reading those ads, and I’ve found sites I have made purchases on through them.)

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