The CelebrityContest.net Entertainment Directory

Pretty much all webmasters know how hard it is to find good niche directories, especially in the entertainment and celebrities area, that are really helpful for your site and that don't cost too much: so it's very good news to know that the CelebrityContest.net Entertainment Directory finally got into the play - as this PR4 clean, uncluttered and SEO friendly directory is one of the most useful and powerful resources for every celebs/entertainment webmaster.

As a gift to all users, also, the directory owners just released a free and accurate link price calculator - an essential tool for all webmasters and SEO experts out there.

AdSense Shopping Carts

Check out the new ads making appearance on a web page near you - AdSense for content with shopping carts. The new ads indicate which sites accept Google Checkout as payment. If you don't know what Google Checkout is don't be too upset, because not many other people do either! It's kind of a poor man's alternative to PayPal - same functionality, but flagging brand awareness. You'll also notice Google Checkout buttons springing up on your Google search results in future - seems like they're really trying to push this brand (because it's the poor man's alternative to PayPal, like I said).

Get the full story at Inside AdSense.

Referral Endorsement

An important clarification regarding referrals has just been issued by the AdSense Team in the program's official blog, Inside AdSense. The clarification confirms that AdSense publishers are allowed to give "explicit endorsement" of the referral products. An explicit endorsement, although falling short of saying "click my referral buttons", does allow the publisher to imply that the visitor should download the referral product and experience the benefits of it. Statements like "this page is best viewed with Firefox and Google Toolbar" and "get Google Pack on this page" are permitted. Any endorsement must be in a way which supports the intended use of the product or service associated with the referral.

The logic behind this is that referrals are a "Cost Per Action" (CPA) product - the visitor has to complete at least 2 actions (click and download) before the publisher receives any sort of payment, which reduces the likelihood of click fraud via these ad formats. Furthermore there are some built-in constraints that prevent the same visitor from downloading a referral product, thus earning payment for the publisher, on more than one occasion.

AdSense for content ad units (the standard ads) remain an endorsement free zone - you must not draw any unnatural attention to these units on your page. It is not possible for a publisher to give an endorsement of these units because the content delivered by them is unpredictable, rendering any previous endorsement false and misleading. Encouraging clicks on these ads not only drives lower quality traffic to an advertiser’s site but provides poor data for an advertiser to make an appropriate bid on the click. This results in a poor experience for visitors and advertisers, which isn’t good for you as a publisher.

Check out the full statement at the Inside AdSense blog.

Agloco

I've recently heard about a program called agloco and have done a few searches on google about it.

Basically, it rewards members for downloading a toolbar, keeping it active while surfing and inviting friends to do the same.

It seems that quite a few people are promoting it, and I have to say, the best agloco promotion team I’ve come across has to be AglocoVIP.

They offer a free blog, hosted on your own sub-domain, a free e-mail account and free promotional graphics.

Of course, should you have a question regarding the program, free support if offered, and the owner of the website is just an e-mail away and will do his best to help you make the best out of your experience.

I have to say you can’t beat this offer, so that visiting their website is highly recommended. After all, joining is free, there is absolutely no financial risk involved, and the benefits could definitely prove to be worthwhile.

Let’s face it: there’s nothing easier to promote than a free product or service, and, since a pretty penny can be earned in the process, the risk vs. reward ratio seems an excellent one, making this one a "must-join".