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Review of Chitika
To discuss this program or provide feedback on this review, please visit the relevant forum thread linked to below (registration required to post). If you find this review and this site useful, do yourself a favour and sign up for our newsletter. Disclaimer: This review was compiled in June 2012, but this is the
internet and things change quickly (so this information is provided without
warranty). CHITIKA REVIEW Chitika Quick Facts:
Chitika is one of the largest ad networks, serving more than 100,000 websites with many high-profile destinations and popular blogs among them.Chitika is one of over a hundred such programs we review on experienced-people.co.uk. They specialize in search-targeted ads, known as “eMiniMalls”. These are typically shopping-focused ad units that appear as “interactive merchandising kiosks” where visitors can see the latest products in the niche that interests them. Behavioral targeting ensures the ads to be relevant to the reader and in select countries (US, CA, UK, GB, DE, IT, ES NL, DK, NO, SE and India) premium ads with high CTR that use the search query to show the most relevant results are also available.
Here is a typical eMiniMall from Chitika's blog archive
Apart from their signature eMiniMalls, Chitika also serves local ads that are relevant to each user’s particular location and, depending on the availability of local advertisers, can convert extremely well. Chitika also offers mobile advertisement options through their pay-per-call mobile ads. These allow publishers to show mobile banner ads to visitors accessing their sites via iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android devices. Even though their official website is not exactly brimming with useful information for beginners, the program boasts excellent live support (M-F 9am-5pm EST) as well as a well-designed help portal with lots of useful articles for their publishers. Their publisher report system is light and useful as it does not burden publishers with nonessential information as all stats are available through a single dashboard and all campaigns can be controlled with minimal hassle. Chitika enjoys a nigh-spotless reputation and has become immensely popular among many bloggers particularly thanks to their eMiniMalls that convert well for niche blogs reviewing video games, tech gadgets and other “hot” products available online. Online reviews and comments seem to reflect Chitika’s good reputation and are almost exclusively positive, giving particular praise to the high profitability of their search-targeted ads and the numerous innovations (such as their mobile ads) they have introduced so far. However, there have been some controversies regarding Chitika in the past that deserve a mention here. In 2010, Chitika removed their ads from thousands of websites, without any prior warning, placing them under “pending review” status. This action aimed to increase the quality of Chitika’s network but it alienated many publishers along the way. All things considered, Chitika is one of the best ad networks out there and one that can be seriously considered as an alternative to Google AdSense on all levels; especially for niche sites focused on gadgets and other “cool” products available from online retailers. So, if you own such sites do consider applying to Chitika’s publisher program; we certainly think it’s worth a try! Read about other monetizing programs at experienced-people.co.uk/1200-make-money-from-websites/ and you can leave your own comments and feedback about Chitika at our Chitika forum thread. Found our site useful? Do yourself a favour, sign up for our newsletter.
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