My experience with Infolinks In-text advertising

Did you notice it? Few of words on this webpage carry a double underline and a link is associated with them. These links expand when cursor is brought over them. These are in-text advertises powered by Infolinks. As per the information with me, Infolinks now serves more than 250 million unique users and its ad network continues to expand at a dizzying pace. In this article, I intend to share my experience with Infolinks in-text advertising. The purpose of this article is to serve as a source of information for website owners and administrators, who are looking forward to make their webpages more interesting or want to earn some easy dollars from their efforts. The article is purely based on my own experience published with due permissions from Infolinks representative.

My first encounter with in-text advertising was about five months back. Eager to know more about the concept, I started my experiment with two available options at http://shakes-forever.blogspot.com/ . One of the two was Infolinks. I dropped the other since it was not financially pleasing. Satisfied with the experience, now I have added these to my other pages at http://need-junction.blogspot.com/ and http://flipsideopinion.blogspot.com/ . Though I have not yet received my first earning from Infolinks but whatever amount accumulated in the account is enough looking at the very less effort that is required for integrating Infolinks to the webpages.

4 things, I liked about Infolinks in-text advertising:

1. Easy Integration Process: Once the account is created and website is added to the account, the integration code can be found under the tab "Integration Guide". It is approximately 5 lines of HTML code, which is to be added to the website to enable Infolinks for that website.
2. Color Theme match and Ability to set maximum number of linked words:  The double underlined word appear in the color chosen by the integrator. An intelligent integrator would match the color to the theme of her webpage. This can be done at "Advanced Integration Wizard" tab available under "Integration Guide " Tab. Also available at the tab is the variable parameter for max. number of links. One can set this parameter as whole number between 1 to 12. (Also there are many other customisations available)
3. Advertise relevance: The advertises associated with the words are not only relevant to the content and meaning of the word but also to the region from where the user is approaching these words. For example, Indian and German users at my webpages have reported that they see words getting associated with the information in their respective regions.
4. Some handsome silent cash: Last but not the least, the in-text advertises powered by Infolinks, serve as a source of some handsome silent cash for the website owners. This is a good value for the little effort put into integrating Infolinks into the website.

4 things, I feel that can be improved about Infolinks in-text advertising:

1. The "Sign-In" page: You type in the username and password. Now as a habit, if you press enter then you expect to start the log-in process. But this do not happen at Infolinks log-in page. Rather one has to manually click the "Login" button.
2. Activity on a click: When clicked, the advertiser's content is loaded in the same page. Rather than this, it would be appreciated when this content gets loaded in a different webpage. With this, the users of webpage can continue with their job at my webpage and also get informed about the advertiser's content.
3. Display of the Link-content: User at my webpages liked it when the linked words drove them to a page similar to some search-engine results rather than those liked directly to the advertiser's website.
4. Multiple links to same advertiser: It is often observed that multiple words from the same webpage are linked to the same advertiser during the single display. Rather than this, it would be appreciated if any advertiser's link appears for only one set of linked words at that time of display. In my opinion, this would build an image of the information provider for Infolinks.

With these "Pros and Cons", I would recommend Infolinks to those website owners / administrators who have decided to integrate in-text advertising feature to their website.

About Infolinks: Establised in 2007 and backed by Prima Capital, Infolinks leads the In Text Pay Per Click advertising industry with the most attractive business model and guarantees the highest revenue sharing basis to all partners.

Shopping Gateway – the new buzz in the internet world

Internet came into existence as interconnection between different networks. The prime goal was to use this for information sharing. Soon, more and more computers were connected to this network and now it is at the stage when huge amount of public can access internet very easily. This public has started using it for various purposes and shopping is one of these various purposes.
When it comes to shopping over internet, one can get thousands of resources here. These may be soft-services like download of software OR can also involve purchase of precious articles. Each of this involves high money transactions. So how does it work? Normally different articles available for sale are listed on various web pages – the so-called Online Shops. These can be accessed by the internet users. They can choose what they need and then make a payment through online money transfer means.

The latest buzz in this internet shopping world is Shopping Gateway. Shopping Gateways are the web pages which are only the link between the internet user and the Online Shops. These web pages only direct the users to the proper online shops through some kind of active links. There are no money transactions happening at the Shopping Gateway when the internet user makes a purchase. Also Shopping Gateways do not charge any amount to the internet users. Then, what is the reason for the existence of Shopping Gateway? Are these redundant?

The answer is Shopping Gateways are generating value for the internet users in the supply-chain. A huge amount of thinking and dedication goes into the art of building a Shopping Gateway. First, Shopping Gateways build value for users by providing them with high number of options for the article to be purchased. Second, Shopping Gateways have the leverage to negotiate with the suppliers on the behalf of its users. In this way, Shopping Gateways can provide its users with various offers, discount codes, etc., which are not available to someone who is not using these Shopping Gateways.

The biggest question is how do Shopping Gateways make profits? The simple answer is through the suppliers. A part of the sale made through these Online Shops is diverted to these Shopping Gateways in form of commissions or incentives. However, launching a Shopping Gateway is still a risk business since there can be no profits made until the actual sale takes place. So this model is likely to be the next buzz in the world of internet shopping.

“Find my Stuff: Need-Junction” is one such shopping gateway. The author, Shekhar Rameshsingh Pardeshi, actively negotiates the prices with the suppliers and offers its users with discount codes, offers, deals (which are comparatively cheap in cost). For Q1-2010, the focus for this Shopping Gateway is to provide its users with different options in Travel industry. It is recommended for all those who are planning their holidays or those who are looking for quick travels by cars, flights, etc. Currently, it is catering to the regions of USA, Australia, Europe, India, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Certificate of Deposit (CD)

(This article is specific to the United States.)


A certificate of deposit or CD is a kind of a time deposit offered to consumers by banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions.

CDs are similar to savings accounts in that they are insured and thus virtually risk-free; they are "money in the bank" (CDs are insured by the FDIC for banks or by the NCUA for credit unions). They are different from savings accounts in that the CD has a specific, fixed term (often three months, six months, or one to five years), and, usually, a fixed interest rate. It is intended that the CD be held until maturity, at which time the money may be withdrawn together with the accrued interest.

In exchange for keeping the money on deposit for the agreed-on term, institutions usually grant higher interest rates than they do on accounts from which money may be withdrawn on demand, although this may not be the case in an inverted yield curve situation. Fixed rates are common, but some institutions offer CDs with various forms of variable rates. For example, in mid-2004, with interest rates expected to rise, many banks and credit unions began to offer CDs with a "bump-up" feature. These allow for a single readjustment of the interest rate, at a time of the consumer's choosing, during the term of the CD. Sometimes, CDs that are indexed to the stock market, the bond market, or other indices are introduced.

A few general guidelines for interest rates are:
1. A larger principal should receive a higher interest rate, but may not.
2. A longer term will usually receive a higher interest rate, except in the case of an inverted yield curve (i.e. preceding a recession)
3. Smaller institutions tend to offer higher interest rates than larger ones.
4. Personal CD accounts generally receive higher interest rates than business CD accounts.
5. Banks and credit unions that are not insured by the FDIC or NCUA generally offer higher interest rates.

Example of a CD: Let's say that you purchase a $100,000 CD with an interest rate of 5% compounded annually and a term of one year. At year's end, the CD will have grown to $105,000 ($100,000 * 1.05).


CDs of less than $100,000 are called "small CDs"; CDs for more than $100,000 are called "large CDs" or "jumbo CDs". Almost all large CDs, as well as some small CDs, are negotiable.

This is only for money

Hey All,

I am back to blogging. It has been long 14 months, I was away from this world. My previous encounter with the blogging world was becoz' wanted to share my feelings. And this time, it's "Only for Money". I plan to share, ifs and buts of money world that I know. It will be nothing from heart, it will only be practical matters. If you find, I am committing a mistake, you will benefit as you shall definitely stay away from that. If I am on a positive way, you may follow. But this is with a note: "All practices, notes etc. discussed here are only a opinion. Whether to follow them are individual's decision. The author's shall not be liable for any profit / loss through those practices."

So keep on tracking the page. Till then CYA...
~Shekhar