I had a good look at my site yesterday and discovered a number of things!
- I should update WordPress more frequently. Until yesterday I was using a version that apparently enabled a third-party to add a bunch of spammy text at the end of pages (the usual “buy meds quick” crap), so that my Google ads were all for shady online pharmacies.
- Google Adsense. I’m not impressed, I’m really not. You have the option of blacklisting target sites in the Adsense interface, but that blacklist doesn’t seem to be in use at all, as ads for blacklisted sites still appear even though those sites have been on my blacklist for months. And it’s going to be a while before the damage is undone, so I’m afraid it’s Amazon ads for now.
- Another weak point for Adsense and Google in general — it’s supposed to be able to identify SEO cheats like the “spam attack” on my site, and those certainly matter when it comes to page rank. However Google AdWords clearly makes a mint selling ads to companies that make products that are chiefly advertized through spam (like shady meds). How motivated is Google to identify such blatant gaming of their AdSense system? Not a hell of a lot, apparently. If anything by ignoring factors it is itself aware of Google seems to be encouraging site hijacks of that nature by making them profitable.
- What’s more, Adsense’s byzantine generated links make it difficult to identify the site a Google ad links to. It’s important if you want to add a site to the blacklist that doesn’t work. But don’t click on your own ads because this will lead to your being kicked out of the program without notice, explanation, or any form of appeal.
- Google Analytics. I am impressed by the data it provides, but I learned that it doesn’t work if you insert it into your code after the </body> tag. I really can’t blame anyone but myself for this goof. It’s a bit of an embarassing mistake to make, really… if you have WordPress, make sure you insert the script tags in the cshk_footer() function before closing the body tag! To paraphrase The Simpsons, “Don’t do what Tony Don’t does!”
- Against all odds it appears I have some traffic! Yay!