Google Ads and IE Plugins

Back in August I added Google adwords to the IE Plugins page. If at all possible I plan to keep the site advert free but the IE Plugins, with the possible exception of my blogs atom feed, are the biggest bandwidth consumers by a fair way.

This was my first foray in to the world of Google ads and I’ve picked up some very useful information. Firstly adding adverts, and viewing the reports, is incredibly easy. Google has made the process both quick and simple. So 10/10 for that. Secondly the JavaScript code you use kicks up a number of warnings when you use FireFox in strict mode. Not so good. Thirdly the adverts it shows are actually dull as heck (who wants to click on an advert that says “Download Internet Explorer”?). That’s a combination of my content and Googles matching software so I can half fix that.

All-in-all it’s been a pretty painless process that’s not really netted me any cash. You’re not allowed to discuss how much you’ve made under the terms and conditions (as I understand them) but in my case it doesn’t pay for the bandwidth the plugins require; IE users don’t like clicking on adverts :) On the up side my plugins have been downloaded almost 680,000 times over the last two and half years. Which means at least a handful of people have found them useful!