Your thoughts about Chitika

[ChitikaDan]

Hi Webmaster World, I'm Dan Ruby, the new marketing director at Chitika. I'm slowly but surely getting a grip on Chitika and the industry, but I'm very curious about how people see us. Are we doing something you like? Hate? Do you still think of us in terms of the affiliate marketing (eMiniMalls), or do you know that we're now search-based? Or, do you know nothing about Chitika (shoot, if you simply don't care about Chitika, that's interesting to me)?

Any input would be hugely appreciated, and if you've got questions about anything Chitika related, I'm happy to answer them here.
Thanks in advance!

Dan Ruby

[edited by: tedster at 1:28 am (utc) on April 21, 2009]

[Compworld]

Forth tier network.

[ChitikaDan]

@Compworld how so? We're one of the biggest in terms of advertisers and publishers, and our revenues are generally very competitive. Plus, our targeting is arguably better, since we target visitors' search keywords rather than all the keywords on a site.

Just curious about how we're fourth-tier, and how you think we can change that?

[LifeinAsia]

We'd be interested in your timeline for rolling out inventory for additional languages. We have several multilingual sites and would be interested in looking into Chitika once there's some inventory for other languages.

[ChitikaDan]

LifeinAsia, it could be a while... our advertiser base is strong, but not outside of North America. I'll talk with my engineers and advertiser relations people, but it won't be in the immediate future.

[JS_Harris]

I like the Chitika Premium service but the shape of the ad boxes are fixed and distinctive, I can't always place them where I want them. There's always a border with file-like tabs on top, more options would be great.

I see your primary competitor as adsense because that's who you would replace on my site but adsense ads fit better into the content, especially the 468x60 boxes where Google doesn't even post the advertisers url.

edit: after posting i re-visited Chitika Premium, the tabs are gone. I like the newer look. The "you searched for" feature looks cool but I'd like an option to remove it... i'm sure that's in place too though.

Removing the border and making pictures optional would be great.

[edited by: JS_Harris at 1:20 pm (utc) on May 13, 2009]

[ChitikaDan]

Hi JS_Harris,

Thanks for the feedback, can't tell you how much I appreciate it! Glad you like the new Chitika ¦ Premium look. Unfortunately, it's not customizable to remove the "You Searched For" feature; the only way to get rid of that is to go back to the old style, with the tabs.

We actually do have a 468x60 banner that doesn't display the URL, called "468 x 60 Mini Blog Banner".

I'll see what I can do about removing the border, but that might be something you'd need to contact client services about. It may be possible... I honestly don't know.

[edited by: tedster at 5:34 am (utc) on May 17, 2009]

[Digmen1]

I have been advertising on Adsense for the last few months with hardly any hits for my new product.
I advertise on Facebook and get lots of hits, and some sales but it has got too dear large corporates paying far too much per click.
What would my chances be on Chikita. (never heard of it)
I cannot spend much (anything) right now, but if I get hits and sales I will increase my spending like mad as our sales target is in the millions of units !

[SlimKim]

Hi Dan Ruby,

I've been working in sponsored search since 1999 and today is the first time i ever actually visited Chitika - so this thread is a good step in the right direction.

What is a chitika anyways? It's not listed in the dictionary at m-w.com and maybe a name change would help ... or launch a new sister brand and be ruthless. May the best name win.

The chitika website has a nice feel and the Family page is a real winner. It enhances your credibility and professional status. It looks like a great team you guys have.

The earlier poster calling chitika 4th tier is an indication that the perception is less than good. But from what i can dig up - i say they deserve another look.

I'll pm you Dan.

Good Luck
Slim

[bgd2006]

I've used Chitika before with limited success because most of my traffic isn't search driven. Setting up alternative ads is too time consuming and confusing. What would get me to use Chitika more...simple, make a non search driven ad option that would display an ad no matter where the traffic originated.