On the Wikipedia, the TechCrunch article is up for deletion!

An interesting map of the blogosphere

Microsoft has released a tool which gives you rough demographics for you blogs. 51% of my readers are male, most aged between 25-24! Check it out.

Text Link Ads are a company which provide a marketplace for text advertisements. Text ads are much less obtrusive than large Google ads, and are better for SEO.

Text Link Ads currently earns me $27.50 a month (the advertiser pays twice this much, but TLA take a 50% commission), which I choose to receive through PayPal, though they do offer cheques. This is for a two words which I have in size 8 font below my Google ads. This is much less obtrusive the AdBrite and Google Ads.

Unlike Google adverts, Text Link Ads aren’t pay per click. This means, that no matter how many clicks an ad receives, I receive a certain amount per month. This amount is decided by TLA, depending on such factors as your PageRank and ad location. You have no control over pricing, however you can use this special calculator to gives you a rough idea.

TLAs can only be displayed through Perl, PHP, and ASP.net. This means that they can’t be set-up on hosted blogs, such as TypePad or Blogspot. However, I have being told a JavaScript version is in the works. There are plugins available for WordPress, MovableType and Vbulletin.

The advantage of TLAs for publishers is that they are non-intrusive, and can still bring in a few more dollars a month for the uptake of the blog. The advantage for advertisers is that it is an effective way to raise search engine rankings.

It is worth bearing in mind that direct advertising is more popular. Bizrate for example pays me £33 per month in order to have two text links. This can prove more profitable, as you cut out the middle man’s commission!

Also, TLA run an affiliate program. If you refer a new publisher or advertiser, who makes or receives a sale, you earn $25.

Tags: advertising, tla, adverts, text link ads, tla, adverts, ads, web2.0, web 2.0, web2, web 2

This blog post reports that in Digg 3.0, you must log-in if you wish to view stories which were not promoted onto the frontpage. This’ll force people to use BugMeNot logins, which’d spoil the essence of Digg.