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Squidoo: Content AdSense is King
For all you non-Squidooers, there’s been quite a controversy stirred up by the abrupt switch (made without notice) in AdSense placement on user-created lenses a few weeks back. (Whew!) In the midst of seemingly universal opposition (outside of the Squidoo offices, of course), they have announced things will stay as-is until August 1st, at the earliest.
I got a note from someone who was surprised to see a competitive product at the top of his Squidoo lens. He was miffed, actually, not surprised. What surprised him is that his sales went UP after the ad appeared.
So, no promises about what happens next to our ads, other than that we’ll keep trying new things and letting you know about them and listening to your feedback. But for now I wanted to share the thinking with you.
— Seth Godin, 2 Cents on AdSense
Well, at least now we’re hearing more of the thinking behind the scenes. We’ll see what happens. Me? I figure August 1st is far enough ahead that most folks will just be tired of arguing the issue. Quite a few “lensmasters” at that point will have only ever know the ads as having top-placement on Squidoo lenses anyway. Maybe it’s just not worth it…
I can’t help but wonder about a project that, just a month or two out of beta, is already selling out and ignoring their biggest fans and promoters. 
Popularity: 9% [?]
Ain’t no “free” on the internet these days, boy.
(I’m surprised they didn’t pull the plug on your lenses as they are essentially ‘advertising’ for Gemstone Publishing. Wait a few months — they’ll send you a bill.)
You know what? If people gave sucky reviews of our books, I’d put those up there! (“So send in those negative reviews, kids!”) In fact, you passed along a few like that. If I can whittle them down into soundbytes, I’ll put ‘em up.
“DuckTales sucks! Where’s Launchpad?! And Webby??! And Bubba?!?! And Scrooge wears blue, not red — they couldn’t even get that right!!!!!”
Alright, they weren’t THAT bad. But the one about “Donald’s sons” was mildly amusing. (He claimed it wasn’t as good as the TV show he remembered, but he obviously didn’t remember very much!)
Makes you wonder how some of these big name creators can get out of bed in the morning and turn on the computer. I mean, that one guy who wrote X-Men (Chuck Austen?) is considered the “worst X-Men writer of all time” and even has a relatively nasty write-up on Wikipedia.
YOWCH!
Dude, that is so wrong!
Chris Claremont (post-1991) is the worst X-Men writer ever.
Man, I haven’t read X-Men since Jim Lee was drawing it.
Hmm. Jim Lee on DuckTales, maybe? And we thought Rosa’s Scrooge was tough!
Hey, you’d get more reviews — guaranteed!
Nah, Jim Lee’s old-hat. I say we oughtta get Kevin Smith and Frank Cho.
I shudder to think what Cho would do to poor Minnie…
Oh man. What a great idea for next year’s FCBD give-away…
“Mickey and Donald as you’ve NEVER seen them before. And boy, do we mean NEVER!”
I was thinking Scrooge’s elderly love-interest, Glittering Goldie O’Gilt.
YOW. I’m going blind just thinking about it. Make it… get out of… my head!
Speaking of feedback, you guys ought to post fan letters on the Disney Comics home page, or take excerpts and post them on the Squidoo lens — that’d be cool.
Um. There ARE fan letters, right?
Of course there are! The inside back covers are full of fan letters!
II knew that. Really.
OK then, post some of the good ones up on the website. Or the ones that won’t fit.
Ah, but it seems you’re assuming we can easily change the web site! (Or that I have permission to use “official” letters on my “independent” lenses.)
I’ll suggest it, of course! In fact, I’ve been itching to redesign that site for a while now.
Part of my Squidoo tinkering is playing around with things I would want to do on our own site — that way I’ve already tested ideas before I suggest them. 
C’mon, you’re the web guy — make it so!
And part of that redesign, of course, means a free daily comic page via RSS — right?
Or PDF previews… ?
And a message board… ?
(hadn’t thought about the “official” letters part — hmm)
“And part of that redesign, of course, means a free daily comic page via RSS — right? ) Or PDF previews… ?”
I don’t think Disney would go for that. Maybe quarter-story previews, but I think page-a-day might be going a bit overboard.
You fanboy, you…
Well… um… send ‘em out of sequence… and from different stories, yeah that’s the ticket!
Seriously though…
Give away the store? Sure I would! How many thousands of pages of Disney comics are there, and how many of those have been reprinted already? Doesn’t have to be a page per day, but something tangible so the casual Disney fan can see what the comics are all about. Maybe a story that’s already run. And rotate them, so they’re not just floating around out there.
Non-fanboys will most likely get sticker shock from the $6.95 price tag. Show them a sample of what they’ll be getting for their money — make ‘em want more.
Just my opinion, of course.
Then there was the online subscription service or downloadable PDF options (or .cbz file for use with Comic Book Lover — printed Scrooge $6.95 or PDF $3.95 — pick yer posion) I was gunna throw out there, but that might be WAY too zany.
Alright, alright… bah… THIS is what a corporate day job will do to you.
Oh, and don’t forget the Disney “comixpedia,” timelines, creator facts… all courtesy of poor, overworked David Gerstein.