netmeg - 6:36 pm on Nov 18, 2011 (gmt 0)

I'm not on the attack, and I'm not in the least need of deep breathing or relaxation. So you can knock off the condescending tone.

There are other ways to monetize, and if Google is displaying fugly ass ads that are an annoyance and an embarrassment, then either people aren't clicking on them anyway - so why run them at all? or people *are* clicking on them - in which case, maybe Google knows better on this one.

You have to remember that Google has managed to vault every anti-trust/competition law there is

I would only have to remember this if it were true. Google isn't preventing Microsoft from running a publisher network (or search engine, for that matter) that actually works - Microsoft's own incompetence is. And there are others who could as well. No question Google has overstepped in areas, but every anti-trust / competition law there is? Now who's hyperventilating?

try telling of alternative ad revenue sources that might be of some use?

I say this frequently in the AdSense forum, but I guess I have to say it here too. AdSense is what it is. The publishers are not the ones driving the bus. Google cares more about the advertisers. Moreover, AdSense (coined for good reason by Incredibill as 'webmaster welfare') is the easiest, best paying and most reliable advertising network on the planet. If you don't break the rules, and you have a little traffic, all you have to do is place the code and wait for a check. Which (under normal circumstances) will come. Other forms of advertising are either a lot more difficult to implement, or pay a lot less (and less reliably) or both. Ask any publisher why they use AdSense instead of another network, and they will tell you that the others don't pay as well. The tradeoff for using Google's easy system is that you give up a significant amount of control. That's what you sign up for.

Your best bet is direct advertising, or affiliate marketing (if you can do it sanely). But those are a lot more work. Failing that, there are some other networks listed here.
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