For the past few days, my eyes have been bombarded with Chitika ads (on Google AdSense, which is even funnier imho), where they use the image of Darren Rowse, one of the best known ProBloggers, in which he says: “Chitika is my No. 2 source of revenue“.
Here’s the proof from a random internet website where I saw this ad running:
Leaving aside the fact that any company should brag about being the first, not the second, I was pretty surprised to find out today that actually Chitika is far from the No. 2 source of revenue for Darren Rowse who just posted a monthly update on his April earnings over at ProBlogger.
Check out the screenshot of his revenue split below, proving that what I say is right:
Now, no matter how you put it, Chitika is certainly far from No. 2 for Darren Rowse, who admits that revenue from that company is somewhere at 6% of his total revenue, at place number 6. I am sure that the amount of money, even at number 6, is pretty impressive, but that was not the point and the Google Adsense ads are misleading.
It is true that Google Adsense itself has no fault on the matter and probably Chitika was indeed Rowse’s second revenue stream back when the ads were created, but right now it is obvious that things have changed. Drastically.
Please note: I am not telling you not to use Chitika. I have used their services and, even though the revenue generated by their units was not big for me, they paid on time and I never had any problems using their services.
Thanks for the post. A quick clarification (posted this on another blog also).
Chitika was my #2 source of income for a long time (over a year). In fact until recently (yesterday) it was listed as #2 on the page I listed my split of income.
I did an update of that page yesterday, as you mention, Chitika is #6 on the list. That position varies from month to month but it’s unlikely it’ll rank at #2 from now on as I’ve grown other income streams past what it earns.
I notified Chitika of the change a few hours after the post went up – I probably should have done it before I posted the update (my fault). Anyway – within 30 minutes of me letting Chitika know that their ad was no longer accurate they emailed back to say they’re pulling the ad.
So yes – the ad is no longer accurate but Chitika are now pulling the ad (and to my knowledge this is now done).
There’s no conspiracy and as far as I can see Chitika continue to act in good faith.
Thank you too for the quick reply – your words and Chitika’s pulling of the ads certainly prove that there was no intention of misleading advertising and both you and the advertising company are complete Pros.
Once again, thanks for clarifying the matter!
Grade A stuff. I’m uqnuestiobnlay in your debt.