Textlinks.com Update

[}:8) Supermoo]

Dear TextLinks.com affilaite,

The TextLinks.com program has been working much better than anticipated
during testing and we're
happy to pass some of this success on to you.

Effective today, 6/4/01, the minimum bid requirement has been REDUCED to
$0.12 (twelve cents). This
has opened up thousands more potential text links for you to use on your
website.

Also, we have posted a list of 6,000 suggested text links that you can
use. This list will be
updated weekly and the next update will most likely double the size of the
list to over 12,000
suggested terms.

We hope that these changes allow you to increase your profitability in
using the TextLinks.com
program.


A quick Re-cap, 18c minimum bid reduced to 12c minimum.

A list of 6,000 useable terms, avaliable here (http://www.textlinks.com/termlist.html).

Hopefully we should see a little increase,

[venomx]

I wouldnt trust SI as far as I can throw them.

[Cheap Bastard]

let's waste our time finding funny words!

[}:8) Supermoo]

This was a simple announcement of the program changes, I'd reccomend limiting conversation to about the changes.

If you'd prefer to voice your opinion about SI, please do so in a new thread. I'm not a moderator, and please do not consider me as one, I'm simply trying to guide you.

Thankyou for your time,

[Weapon]

Originally posted by Cheap Bastard
let's waste our time finding funny words!
australia, hahaha lol, oh wait that isn't funny.....

[Cheap Bastard]

right, sorry...
i wasn't implying anything with that last post... just something to do :)

anyway, i think this change is good for webmasters in the program. I hope they'll get a lot more revenue now that 6000 extra terms will allow them to be more targetted.

[Czar]

It is indeed a good change. Under the 18 cent rule, only the most generic of terms were comfortably accepted, since TextLinks is aligned with only the second-rung pay-for-placement search engines (ie, not GoTo).

This change makes the program far more accessible, usable and, quite likely, profitable since CTRs will undoubtedly increase proportionally with the improved targeting that publishers may now offer to their visitors.

[WabbyTwax]

May I ask for any information regarding the reliability of this company's ability to send checks to members?

I would just like to know whether or not anybody has actually used this company before and gotten screwed out of their earnings.

thanks!
- John

[venomx]

Lots have been not paid. But expect the supporters to say I am wrong and the other nah sayers to be blocked or deleted if they try to put down the great SI..

[Czar]

Venomx, may I ask where you received this information?

I have been using TextLinks.com since it was in beta test mode, and have been consistently paid on time - which is more than I can say for my experience using Mr Stilwell's own affiliate program which was being managed through FreeFiliate. Venomx promoted his 5 cent/click program through this very forum, before reducing the pay rate to 0 cents/click (without sending notification to his affiliates), making it impossible for previous members to reach the minimum payment threshold.

John, before you criticise other programs, maybe you should analyze your own ethics.

[venomx]

Excuse me but I will not repeat my story here. Do a search on SI.

As for my program ALL affiliates were emailed about the change. If you did not get the email talk to Freefiliate. I closed the affiliate program until they figure out what they are doing.

One minute they are goinng to chaarge $19.95 a month then the next day $4.95 then the next week its $1.99. When it becomes stable and they stop the run around we will reactive the affiliate program again.

Plus people on WHT told me it was unprofessional to use a shopping cart that was not on my server to sell web hostinng. I go with what people tell me.

Again talk to Freefiliate about why you never got the email because others did and have emailed me with questions which were answered.

[Haze]

I have recieved about 4 checks from SI from searchtraffic and popuptraffic. They are so far the most reliable ad programs I have encountered on the web.

Venomx: Leave the thread alone if you have nothing to contribute. You are completely off topic.


Originally posted by WabbyTwax
May I ask for any information regarding the reliability of this company's ability to send checks to members?

I would just like to know whether or not anybody has actually used this company before and gotten screwed out of their earnings.

thanks!
- John

[jiminsd]

Can't speak directly about payment at this time but I've recently started using TextLinks.com and I really like the results for my small site. I think it is brilliant in concept. I was tired of trying to send traffic to some product that didn't directly apply to my site and then "hope" that the advertiser might convert them. That was too much out of my control. TextLinks.com puts the results directly on me and (so far) the results are 2-3 times more than what I'd done with CJ, ClickXchange and WebSponsors.

As far as being paid... take a look at GeekVillage. Those are heavy-duty Ad revenue users and there is nothing but praise for SI payment history. That is enough for me.

[Cheap Bastard]

Originally posted by jiminsd
As far as being paid... take a look at GeekVillage. Those are heavy-duty Ad revenue users and there is nothing but praise for SI payment history. That is enough for me.
GeekVillage block any bad comments about any advertiser. Course there's nothing but praise...

It seems as though experiences with SI have been either really good or really bad. I suggest you try SI and see after a month which side you're on. Most everyone should agree that the risk of getting rejected is far outweighed by the possible profits... I myself was not so lucky though :(

[venomx]

Try to post a bad review on GeekVillage with proof andd watch how fast it disappears and if you omplain watch how fast your acount goes bye bye.

[Czar]

Cheap Bastard, venomx, GeekVillage does not delete or block bad comments about any advertiser. As has been mentioned on several occasions before, complaints are to go through the official complaint resolution procedure. When they do so, complaints remain visible, and the merchant in question is encouraged to respond publicly. Geek/Talk would serve no-one if it were a place at which publishers could make wild accusations without providing evidence and contact information to support their claim. Performing a search on GT for "SI" or "AllClicks" will reveal a balance between praise-filled threads and complaints that remain public.

You may both have noticed that Peo has recently announced that this forum will be guided by a similar complaint procedure. The following point taken from the new terms may be especially relevant to venomx:

If you wish to submit a complaint about a company you are only allowed to do it once. You are not allowed to post it again every time that company is mentioned.

[Robert from SI]

On the front page of the GeekVillage money making forum there are currently 7 threads (out of 20) which discuss various programs in a negative light and or raise complaints. The previous 2 comments (before czars) posted here are inaccurate.

If you have a serious complaint GeekVillage has a disciplined, fair, and effective method for airing them. And they remain in the archives indefinitely.

I'm very glad that Peo has taken similar steps. Hopefully more ad network representatives will participate at this forum as they do at GV.



evilhaze, czar, and jimsd I'm glad you have had a positive experience with TextLinks.com.

A novel way to make $$$ with TextLinks......A few webmasters have brought up discussions about the inability to find affiliate programs that will pay commissins on pre-sales of the xBox and GameCube systems. An effective method to make money of the coming hyteria surrounding these games would be to use TextLinks.com (or a competing program) to generate searches for xBox pre-sales. I wouldn't be surprised if you made more this way than getting a small % on the game sale itself.

[jiminsd]

Hey Robert, while I got your here... Thanks for the great program.

The other guys can think what they want. You guys are helping me.

[Robert from SI]

We have over 35,000 active affilaites and probably 3x that many that have come and goneover the years. If 1/10 of 1% of those webmasters are unhappy it's over 100 webmasters that have issues. We do our best, we can't do any more.

I think CJ is a great company. Most folks do. But go look at their forum ( http://cju.infopop.net/2/OpenTopic?a=frm&s=772094572&f=169094572 ).

95% of the posts trash them. count the number of times the word "scam" is used. Is CJ a scam? Hardly.

If our programs work for you than we're both happy. If not, then business is business and you use someone else.

[venomx]

He asked if anyone was ever not paid. I answered yes. You asked how I can say that and I told you to do a search. (We are still waiting for the proof from Robert that we will never see.) I did not bring up my story again.

Czar are you sure you are not an employee of SI? I mean 50 people could post a bad review here and you would call all of the liars. Get real.

[}:8) Supermoo]

Originally posted by venomx
Czar are you sure you are not an employee of SI? I mean 50 people could post a bad review here and you would call all of the liars. Get real.

Venomx,
I do not believe Czar has called you or anyone else on this board a liar, please be aware that a statement like that may be interpreted as a personal attack and could result in you being banned.

Also, Venomx under the new rules you are allowed to link back to your previous complaint. If you wish to do so you will find it here (http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8413).

WabbyTwax,
As I have not yet answered your question I would like to say that I personally have been paid by SI, and on time aswell.

[WabbyTwax]

Thanks Moo .. helpful as usual!

Im gonna try them out for a while and see how they do. 6 cents a click isnt bad at all considering you don't have any advertisements to annoy people with. At my average of a .10% clickthrough rate I'll make about $500 a month from them.

[}:8) Supermoo]

Well WabbyTwax, I hope you make that small fortune from them. Although remember it's 6c per second click (click on their results page) in their TextLinks and ClickThruTraffic programs. :)

Oh, and don't forget to come back and tell us weither or not they pay. :)

Best of luck,

[Czar]

Czar are you sure you are not an employee of SI?
Total disclosure: For the second time, John, I am not and have never been an employee of SI. Also, I have never collected or requested any monetary compensation from SI other than revenues earned through their affiliate programs. I'm simply a happy camper - and one that has been reviewing affiliate programs and ad networks since 1996, so I've certainly seen my fair share of shady programs come and go. I know that SI does not belong within this category, and thus am willing to defend their honor when one of their unhappy ex-affiliates makes public statements against the firm that are unrepresentative of the experiences of the majority.

As Robert noted, over 100,000 publishers have given SI a go, and of those only a very small minority have legitimate complaints. I'm not doubting that your experience was bad - that's not a question here. Whenever an affiliate manager is handling 10s of thousands of unique accounts, there are bound to be a few legitimate publishers burned unrightfully (just look at the experiences of MailBits, CJ, and other popular affiliate ASPs - it goes without saying that the silent majority of their affiliates are happy with their treatment from these solid firms, but there is always a vocal minority who make repeated public posts that attempt to tear away at the comfort of others). What's happening on this forum is that one or two unhappy affiliates are repeating their negative statements again and again, with painful predictability - and those of us who have a more rounded view of the firms in question (in addition to being the editor of Net-Ads and an SI affiliate, I'm a Geek/Talk moderator and SitePoint mentor, so I hear dozens of stories regarding SI each day) are here to add balance.

I can't remember exactly how much you lost during your relationship with SI, but I seem to recall that it was something in the range of $25. Is it really worth pursuing your agenda in the name of $25 that may or may not have been dropped out of an accidental flagging of your account almost a year ago? The mere fact that SI have survived this long since that time (when others in the field have continued to burn through their cash reserves, all while withhold payments en-masse, breaking contracts, dumping 1000s of affiliates and slicing pay rates several fold) should be testament to their strength - and in these times, knowing which firms are the strongest, most flexible and most reputable is life-or-death information for professional publishers.

As a side note, I have witnessed several successful conflict resolutions involving SI, in which publishers voiced their legitimate complaints publicly, before following this up via email and having their accounts and earnings reinstated. If you honestly were dropped unfairly, then pursuing this route, and avoiding making fiery accusations would have been a far wiser avenue.

To claw my way back on-topic: Good luck, WebbyTwax. Hopefully your experience will be more in-line with the 99,000 affiliates who have never had a bad word to say about SI. ;)

[Archbob]

Textlinks and clickthrutraffic are great programs. Clickthru traffic pays 20 cents per click-thru for the term "casino" . SI pays on time. I've always gotten my checks. They're good people although my stats have dropped drastically since searchtraffic went click-thru instead of click. I'd take 3 cents per search over 6 cents per click-thru.

[NC_TOM]

I've looked at the programs pretty quickly awhile back, but I haven't used either yet. What are the benefits that TextLinks offers over ClickThruTraffic? I don't see any benefits from Textlinks, as they look like basically the same thing as ClickThruTraffic with lower payment.

[}:8) Supermoo]

NC_TOM,

You'll find that while ClickThruTraffic offers 13 high-paying bids TextLinks.com offers you a variety of several thousand 6c keywords. (Anything with a top bid over 12c)

Hope that helps,

[WabbyTwax]

I gave them a shot for a week, but what I didnt realize before i signed up was that not only did a visitor have to click on the text link, but they also had to click on at least one of the search results links that popped up. I did like that there were virtually any keywords available that I tried. But I wasnt making enough to amount to anything.

[NC_TOM]

Oh, thanks a lot Supermoo! I get it now; so these two programs are similar to AllClicks and BulkClicks (BulkClicks pays higher but less text linking options) except on a second-click basis right?

[jiminsd]

Originally posted by NC_TOM
so these two programs are similar to AllClicks and BulkClicks (BulkClicks pays higher but less text linking options) except on a second-click basis right?

NC_Tom
That's right... I like Textlinks (even though it's less) because I can get real specific. In my case I have a real estate referral site and one of my best text link goes to "forclosure". I get quite a few clicks on that one but with Bulk Clicks I'd be stuck with their general topic link and very few of my visitors would click on it. In the big picture, I make much more with TextLinks.

[Robert from SI]

Looks like you got it mostly figured out...

-TextLinks.com pays a flat 6 cents but allows the webmaster complete flexibility in using text links that fit their site. If you have a website that deals with antique TV remote controls you can make up text links that deal with that exact topic. The only requirement is that there be at least a single $0.12 bid on the term. We provide a "bid monkey" tool in your stats are for you to check on the bid rates.


-ClickThruTraffic.com generally pays more (in some in cases more than triple the TextLinks rate) but it's only for about 10 or 12 specific categories. (ie Automobiles, Finance, Adult, health, etc.). You can use buttons or text links that we provide or you can make up your own.


Both programs send the visitors to TurboFind.com. There are NO traffic leaks of any kind on the search results pages. No ads, no banners, no buttons. If the surfer does not click on a link and make you money there is nothing else for him to do except return to your page. We do have a blank search box on the results page but your referral code is linked to it and you get paid if the surfer uses it.

[NC_TOM]

Thanks a lot.. Both programs along with SearchTraffic seem like a good match for a portal site I might make pretty soon.

Also, Robert, I might be using Allclicks in very high volume fairly soon (as in 1 million clicks/month or more possibly)

Is it true that you might suspend my account for investigation, and I wouldn't get paid for clicks during the "investigation" period?

[Robert from SI]

Tom,

No, thats not true.

If you're thinking of doing anything "creative" just touch base with us first. :)

[Cyberspace]

Does anyone pay on FIRST click? Is Goto.com still profitable? Getting a SECOND click is much much harder than getting the first click.

That is what everyone is missing here about SI's click programs. It is a SECOND click, NOT the first click.

Having said that......there are not too many first click programs out there but certainly some alternate 2nd clickthrough programs which are still profitable.

I would encourage people to try other programs such as www.adsearches.com and www.targetwords.com where you wont need to worry about keeping a minimum bid and fear not getting paid.

[NC_TOM]

I'd say for first click, GoTo is your best option. But like Robert said, there are no traffic leaks in the Standard Internet/TurboFind programs. You should get a pretty high click through ratio in most cases with these.

[Robert from SI]

Cyberspace,

SI pays a guaranteed 6 cents to 20 cents on the second click. The programs you mention pay a guaranteed 1 cent per second click.

[}:8) Supermoo]

Originally posted by Robert from SI
Cyberspace,

SI pays a guaranteed 6 cents to 20 cents on the second click. The programs you mention pay a guaranteed 1 cent per second click.

Robert,

I think you'll find that Cyberspace's post referred to TargetWords. This company pays a guaranteed 1c per FIRST click and up to 7c extra on the second click. (So a maximum of 8c per second click can be obtained, or a minimum of 1c per first click).

Their website also tells you the amount you are most likley to recieve on the second click-through, and from my own expeience I find that it is very accurate for up to two months. Then, if it does change it is typically not a very big change.

[Czar]

Cyberspace, just a few notes:

You're right about GoTo.com. They are a solid company, and their affiliate program can provide solid returns. However, their latest round of TOS changes saw them cancel acceptance of foreign publishers, while placing a ban on prefills - which is what made their program so attractive in the first place.

An alternative is GoClick's rising-star program, which also pays 2 cents/1st-click. This program has just two drawbacks, the first being that if your visitors fail to convert well, your flat rate will be reduced to 1 cent/click. The second being that since GoClick has yet to gain a critical mass of keyword-based advertisers, it's unclear as to whether they will succeed in the long-run.

Also, AdSearches is now a 2nd-click program, and my experience shows that your returns will likely be around 1-3 cent/2nd click, which is unappealing.

I have used, and continue to use, all of these programs (except TargetWords, which certainly is promising), and have found GoClick and SI's programs to provide the highest effective CPM rates. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on the responsiveness of your users and how well the links/searchboxes are integrated into your site, but you shouldn't discount programs of this type simply because they pay on a 2nd-click basis.

2 cents.

[jiminsd]

Originally posted by }:8) Supermoo


Robert,

I think you'll find that Cyberspace's post referred to TargetWords. This company pays a guaranteed 1c per FIRST click and up to 7c extra on the second click. (So a maximum of 8c per second click can be obtained, or a minimum of 1c per first click).

Their website also tells you the amount you are most likley to recieve on the second click-through, and from my own expeience I find that it is very accurate for up to two months. Then, if it does change it is typically not a very big change.

I finally got around and checked TargetWords. Sounds interesting but I found that when you do their search, you get a bunch of pop-unders (probably how they pay the .01 on the first click) before you can make the second click. I think you would loose some of your clients (being ticked off at the pop-unders) at that point before they would make the second click. I'm guessing that when all is said and done, you would have fewer second clicks (where the money is made) with TargetWords than TextLinks and probably less money.

[Lawrence]

Jiminsd,

We display a single pop under when the search results load and an exit pop up when the visitor leaves.

The minimum flat $.01 payment fairly compensates the webmaster for sending visitors away from their websites.

Lawrence

[jiminsd]

Hi Lawrence,

Thanks for the clarification. I do like your program but when I tried some pop-unders on my small site a few months ago, I got some angry email from clients. It looks like a nice program and I will keep it up front on my list.

[Lawrence]

Jiminsd,

Thanks.

Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions.

Lawrence