Saturday, September 1, 2012

For Bloggers

This is very interesting.

My primary blogging application is "blogger," owned and supported by Google.

Occasionally "blogger" has gone down and I've set up an alternate site, using "WordPress" as the blogging application.

Today, out of curiosity, I did a "google" search to see how my "MillionDollarWay" site was doing. The first hit (for the words I googled) took me a WordPress site for a post I did on Slawson, and rumors that it was drilling in the upper Bakken shale. That is one of my least visited posts, and yet it was the first hit on "google" using very generic search terms for the Bakken.

I scrolled to the bottom of that Slawson post and a YouTube advertisement for Yoplait was there. I never place "paid" advertising on my site. I checked the "blogger" application (my primary site), and checked out that same Slawson post: no YouTube advertisement.

I went back to WordPress, and the advertisement had changed to another YouTuber advertisement.

So, it appears:
a) WordPress has monetized their site by posting advertising directly on blogger's posts;
b) WordPress has found a way to push those posts with their advertising higher in the google search hierarchy (that is easily done, by the way; I get pitches all the time from folks willing to move my blog higher on google for a small price); and,
c) it appears WordPress placement of those ads are pretty indiscriminate. Of the 8,000 posts I have uploaded, that one post was pretty obscure and uneventful.
Google's "blogger" has also monetized their application, but not to this degree.

Now, just checking that site again, the ad is gone. Very interesting. Perhaps more to follow.

The good news: it reminded me -- I need to check up on those Slawson upper Bakken shale wells that were supposedly permitted in the 2008 time frame.

3 comments:

  1. Maybe google is printing the 600 Billion in QE3 circular bonds..

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  2. Bruce:

    Wordpress will place advertising at the bottom of your posts unless you pay a fee for no ads, around $29 if I recall correctly. I’ve not chosen to do so yet and as a result when I look at my posts without being logged in to Wordpress I usually see an ad.

    I don’t have any insight on them somehow pushing those pages higher in the search results. With the number of posts you have and the amount of page views, I would think all of your posts will get a high result from a google search.

    Jim

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    Replies
    1. Jim,

      Thank you. I did not know that about the advertising/fee schedule.

      But, it sure is strange to see the "Slawson" story at the top, considering all the things I've talked about. But that's fine. The explanation about monetizing the site was very interesting.

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