The GoogleAd and Amazon Adverts on this blog

Hi, everyone!

Traffic to this site is up about 500% from what it was this time last year. When I look at the numbers of folks who read the blog each day, I'm humbled and pray, "Please use it for Your glory, Lord." Not everything I post is about faith in Jesus Christ, of course. But I do hope the central message of new and everlasting life with God through faith in Jesus comes through as you visit.

But what's the deal with those Google and Amazon Affiliate advertisements that appear on the site?

I'm signed up with both companies. The two programs are not the same and I thought that I'd explain them both to you.

Google Ads appear here in the sidebar on the left and at the end of each post. I have almost no control over what ads Google decides to place on the site. (The one  exception is if I learn of an ad that appears in your feed, meaning you would have to let me know about it so that I could inform Google. You can also block individual ads that you may see on this site.) I only receive payments for the Google advertisements if you, as you're reading the blog, click on the ad. For every click, Google pays me between one- and two-cents. Since September 9, 2004, I've received a total of $689.70 in payments for the Google ads. (You can see that I'm well on my way to becoming a billionaire.)

The Amazon Affiliate program allows me to select from a variety of ad formats as well as ads for specific items that I recommend for purchase from Amazon. When a reader from my site clicks on an Amazon ad, it takes them to Amazon. If they remain on Amazon from that click and make purchases, I receive credits for future Amazon purchases myself. So far, Amazon has given me credits amounting to...drum roll, please: $0.00.

Just a little FYI.

Big problem with Google cars...

...They obey all the traffic laws.

One Google car, in a test in 2009, couldn't get through a four-way stop because its sensors kept waiting for other (human) drivers to stop completely and let it go. The human drivers kept inching forward, looking for the advantage — paralyzing Google's robot.

The idea of a self-driving car appeals to me a lot. But the four way stop on my daily commute, where some drivers are intent on not taking their turns, show me why the obedience of self-driving prototypes present them with obstacles.

About Those Google Ads

Readers of Better Living will notice that Google ads appear both near the top and at the bottom of each page to which you go here.

Some of the ads promote what I consider fairly "fringie" expressions of Christianity--speculators about the times and particulars of the apocalypse (something Jesus says we have no business doing), pseudo-theologians offering their own unbiblical theories on how Jesus saves us from sin and death, and so on.

I just wanted you to know that I have nothing to do with the advertisers that appear here and their appearance on this blog doesn't denote endorsement.

The ads appear as a result of my participation in the Google AdSense program. Through it, bloggers "earn" a few cents every time readers click on an advertiser's link appearing on their page. So far, as of November last year, after six years of blogging, I'd received $105.78 for the ad traffic generated from this blog. And I don't expect any more income to be generated here until about 2033. (Google only cuts checks once the clicking adds up to $100.)

Admittedly, this is the poor side of the Internet. That's OK.

But remember that just because someone's ad appears here doesn't mean I endorse what they're promoting.

I Guess I'm a "Professional" Blogger Now

I've been toiling away in the blogging world--I hate the term "blogosphere," which has always sounded to me like some early-1960s Disney imagineer's attempt to sound futuristic--for six years now. I enjoy it and obviously don't do it for the bucks, of which there are none.

At least there weren't any bucks for this blogger until the other day.

Back in September, 2004, I signed up for Google AdSense. The deal is that Google places ads, in the case of this blog, at the bottom of the page. Every time a reader clicks on one of the ads, a few pennies are placed into an account in my name. Google doesn't even bother to send a check until the clicks amount to $100.00.

Frankly, after having earnestly checked at my click-count back in late-2004 and seeing only pennies being added, I had all but forgotten that I had Goodle AdSense on the site. In fact, the only time I ever did think about it was when I thought, in consideration of what a silly waste of page space it seemed to be, I should just get out of the agreement.

But, now I'm a professional blogger. A few weeks ago, the people at Google--yeah, the people I've criticized for letting the Chinese government limit its people's access to information, made a professional out of me. (See here and here.) It seems that after 3-years and 11-months, there had been enough clicks on the ads Google placed on this site for Google to cut a check to me.

The amount? A whopping $105.78. At the rate of little more than $26.00 per year, I am clearly on my way to making a mint as a blogger.

Yeah, I'll declare the check as income for 2008. But I don't think that I'll add "professional blogger" to the occupation line on my 1040.

By the way, the clicks for November so far amount to 11-cents. At roughly a penny a day for the month, it appears that my pace of rapacious material acquisition is falling off. At this rate, it'll take me twenty-seven years to get my second AdSense check.

Whenever it shows up, I'll be excited! And shocked.

[Instead of clicking on Google AdSense below, you can donate to this site. Of course, clicking won't involve any investment on your part. But 75% of what you donate, will go to three important causes. I'm still not in blogging for money. But if the AdSense people are willing to part with some pennies for my hobby or if readers are willing to donate on the PayPal button to the right, that's okay too. See here for more information.]

Today is the First Time...

I've ever noted a vistor to this blog from Malawi.

Of course, I can't tell anything specific about the visitors who come here. But SiteMeter does tell me the cities and countries from which they log on. I check my blog traffic several times each day and, like most bloggers, usually have visitors from all over the world. But, so far as I know, this was a first.

So, what do I know about Malawi? Let's see...almost nothing, I must confess.

Maybe you're in the same boat. You might want to read here. Which is really the same as this.

So, how did the person from Malawi land on this site? She or he did a Google search, "and Hannah prayed" and ended up here.

Welcome, Malawi!

More on Google's Cave-in to Chinese Government

We're told:

Google's new China search engine not only censors many Web sites that question the Chinese government, but it goes further than similar services from Microsoft and Yahoo by targeting teen pregnancy, homosexuality, dating, beer and jokes.

In addition, CNET News.com has found that contrary to Google founder Sergey Brin's promise to inform users when their search results are censored, the company frequently filters out sites without revealing it.

While it appears that some of the poor search results on the new Google.cn site are because of errors, most are attributable to Google's volunteering to help the Chinese government censor the exchange of ideas. Read the whole thing.