OK, I promise this is going to be my last post about Chitika’s notorious “curiosity clicksâ€! So, we got more data about what they actually meant by that from their blog. For those of you guys that have experience with creating ads (on-line and off-), doesn't that sound weird? The product titles and the images ARE the most prominent places in the whole ad piece! By making them non-clickable you actually confuse the visitor because they naturally assume they are links. I just can't think of, say, AdSense deciding to change their ad layout so the title in not clickable. If you are looking for more effective ads, this would certainly be counter-productive. Disable product image links? Also sounds like a joke because those were actually the thing that set Chitika apart from other CPC programs. These are real attention getters (check out the threads about images above ads for AdSense - the most popular threads on DP site), and you let this attention go to waste? Well, the reason they say is low conversions from title and image links. This is the lowest point of the whole deal. Why should I let 30% of the ad space I allocated to Chitika ads go to waste only because the merchant does not know how to convert well? Re-arrange the ad so that the click goes to the best converting one, I don't care. Learn how Google does it! To sum it all up, that was NOT a smart move.
I wonder if Chitika has to maintain a certain conversion rate for their deals with dealtime to stay active?
I don't understand the issue. If they are showing significantly lower conversion rates than it makes sense to make the changes they did. If people clicking on the image only convert .5% of the time and people clicking on the merchant listings are converting 5% of the time, then there is an issue there. If adsense ads were as multi-faceted as chitika ads there might be a valid comparison. Personally I am not in favor of short term gains at the sacrifice of long-term earnings. By reducing actions that create a reduced return on investment for advertisers, you are creating a more stable long-term envioronment for advertisers and publishers alike. Higher conversion rates eventually lead to higher payouts per click.
I think Chitika had two choices. They could either optimize their ads for conversion, which is what they did, or they could give you significantly less per click. I agree it's weird. The image should be clickable. But since their paying per click, and not per sale, I think they had to do it. Just my $0.02.
I think Chitika is going the right way with the curiosity clicks. Chitika is still small fry compared to the likes of AdSense so it's influence over merchants isn't as strong. In this case, it's wise for Chitika to first cater to the merchants - because if the merchants go away, Chitika is finished. When the merchants are happy and start competing amongst each other for ad space, the payout that we get will be the reward for our patience while seeing it through this beta stage. Each of us is running a business and must protect our interests. If this means reducing or dropping Chitika ads, then it must be done. Chitika is also protecting it's business - even if it means losing some publishers in the short run. Chitika does consult successful publishers though (e.g. ProBlogger), so it's a safe bet that they do keep an ear open on our side too. My advice would be to reduce/drop Chitika if you are really sure that it doesn't work for a site - not just out of sheer frustration or by being a lemming.