Google Maps - Coming Soon to a Street Near You!

One of the great things about Google is that they're always so innovative when it comes to developing new products or refining existing ones. One of their newest party pieces comes in the form of Street View for Google Maps. I'm a huge fan of Maps anyway but this new technology takes it to an even more impressive level that simply can't be matched by its rivals. Street View places you right in the heart of the action on your Google Map. Get closer to your favourite destinations by clicking on the Street View tab and seeing high quality 360 degree photography of your location on the map. It's the closest you can possibly get to exploring a brand new location from the comfort of your own home. Best of all it's absolutely free. Keep a close eye on Google Maps because very shortly Street View really will be coming to a street near you!

AdSense Click Mishaps

AdSense click paranoia is sweeping the globe with publishers terrified of accidentally clicking their ads and even, in severe cases, the ads of other publishers. This concern is perhaps understandable with the high number of horror stories about publishers being unduly banned that are circulating the web. In an attempt to quell the unease Inside AdSense recently published an article entitled 'Accidents Happen'. In the article Google attempts to reassure AdSense publishers that their click analysis tools are so well developed they are able to recognise genuinely accidental clicks from something more sinister - and fraudulent. Just like the article title suggests, Google understands that accidents do occasionally happen and there's no need to report them every time. Accidental clicks will still appear in your account stats, but the earnings will be deducted so that advertisers are not left paying for the clumsiness of publishers. Publishers are also reminded that if they're genuinely interested in the destination of one of the ads they are displaying, they should use the preview tool to explore further.

Blogger Autosave

A brand new autosave function is hitting Blogger for the first time this week - and not before time. This means that you'll never have to worry about losing your draft when your PC crashes in the middle of a long-winded post (see my main blog for long-winded examples). From my own observations it seems that post data (text, titles, labels etc) is automatically saved on the Blogger server every 20 - 30 seconds.

There's also a little bit of a change to keyboard shortcuts - CTRL+P publishes a post, CTRL+S saves a post, CTRL+D switches a post from published to draft and CTRL+SHIFT+P switches to the preview window. With it's friendly drag and drop widgets Blogger still remains the free blog host of choice for most blog newbies.

For more information check out Blogger Buzz.

AdSense Phone - No One Home

As some of you will know, since the beginning of the year Google has been adopting a more 'belt and braces' approach to verifying AdSense publisher information. One of their recent brainchilds is verification of publisher's phone numbers. It's now necessary to confirm your telephone number at the same time as your PIN is released - the magic $50 earnings mark. Your AdSense account (My Account > Payment History) will prompt you to verify your phone number when the time is right. Some publishers have been having trouble verifying so Google have issued to the following advice:

• Use a touch tone phone.
• Rotary phones are incompatible.
• If you have any trouble verifying try switching your phone number.
• If everything else fails contact AdSense Support via the Help Center.

For more details on the phone verification problems check out Inside AdSense.

Your Chance to Buy A Nation!

I've just come across a brilliantly original idea for online advertising. It's an alternative form of pixel advertising but this time, instead of buying boring old blocks on the screen, the idea is that you Buy A Nation! Nations are priced according to their size, on-screen prominence and desirability. As with all the good dictatorships once you've taken over your own nation you can use the pixels for pretty much anything you want to - maybe you'll want to place your website logo in there. There's also a profile page that accompanies each nation to give your campaign that all important extra bit of exposure. An imaginative site - snap up a nation quickly before they all go!

WordPress Themes - Sponsored by AdSense4Dummies

If you're a WordPress user you might be interested in jazzing up your blog with one of these 3 great themes brought to you by AdSense4Dummies. We sponsor them so you can enjoy them absolutely free!

Theme 1: Tech Green.
This theme, designed by AKSinfo, really does live up to its name! The diagonally striped header and shadowed title give this theme a sleek contemporary look that really would prove ideal for a tech blog. Test drive and download it at the WordPress Theme Viewer:

http://themes.wordpress.net/columns/2-columns/3095/techgreen-10/

Theme 2: Green Prosper.
This attractive natural green design by the Virtual Marketing Blog has two fixed width columns and is very easy to modify. Green prosper, with its pastel green header and silver-grey backdrop, is the elegant look for a professional individual. Test drive and download it at the WordPress Theme Viewer:

http://themes.wordpress.net/columns/2-columns/2906/green-prosper-10/

Theme 3: Lemon.

This attractive lemon yellow design by askgraphics certainly isn't going to get lost in the dark! A contemporary theme guaranteed to liven up your otherwise plain blog. This user friendly theme has two fixed width columns and widget support. Test drive and download it at the WordPress Theme Viewer:

http://themes.wordpress.net/columns/2-columns/2903/lemon-10/

We'll have more great WordPress themes for you later on!