I have successfully taken down the PJ Media ads without crashing the website or ruining something, and have google adsense ones up in their place. Over the next few days I will work to get some other stuff up and running. If anyone remembers how to use blogads, I could use some help.
As for PJ Media, I wish them the best of luck. They always kept their word with me, and from my standpoint, there was nothing else I could ask of them.
Napoleon
Well it beats seeing an ad from my largest home town employer, Progressive Insurance, instead of JTP.
Laura W
Oh it’s very exciting, and very fun to read the new ads. I’ve only been here a while and so far these are on the top of my favorites list:
Christian Mom Makes 5k from comfort of own home
Ann Coulter – Free
The GOP Comeback
"I’m Happy I lost my job"
and so far my bestest favoritest:
UnFilled Balloons, Cheap!
shortstop
I would like to make an extra $5K a month from the comfort of my home! Is the Christian + mother part a requirement, or is that optional, d’you think?
gbear
@shortstop:
OMG!! Cole is fronting for a prostitution ring!!
EnderWiggen
The tower add for Progressive Auto I see currently sucks in comparison to the four ads for balloon related products from AdSense.
rom wikipedia
Congratulations John. Your conversion to the Orange side is now complete.
Joking aside, I own a web development company. If you need cheap / free help making advertising or layout changes now that you are out of the PJM space, email me. I am pretty much a lurker here, but Balloon Juice is daily reading for me.
TheFountainHead
Yay. No more Joe the Plumber!
Bob In Pacifica
Nothing like tapping a Christian mother on the side.
Does she accept food stamps as payment?
Laura W
@shortstop: If it’s still up top, click on the Happy I Lost My Job ad. No Christianity required:
Would You Like to Make $5,000 a Month Posting a Link on Google?
Get paid $5 to $30 for every website link that you post on Google. No one needs to buy anything from you or Google in order to get paid. Weekly paychecks are sent you can work from your home computer or anywhere with internet access.
What kills me about this new line of ads, and I’ve seen a couple recently, is that the person making the big money claims seems to be living in my little town! What are the odds of that? The guy pictured in this one is from a very small town next to mine. Uncanny! I don’t think anyone is "from" that town. It’s a wealthy second home/retirement community. Let me know if you click through to find that the Real Normal Person sharing their story with you also happens to be your neighbor.
The Other Steve
What’s Joe the Plumber gonna do now?
Is he gonna have to go find a real job?
valdivia
is a congrats in order? I will click to amazon from here since I buy a lot from them.
OT this Dani Rodrik blog response to the Simon Johnson article everyone is hyping is excellent. It is also, I think, the first time I see an economist say what I have been thinking–that they should have a little humility because they actually do not know how to solve crisis and that the hubris with which they usually behave when pushing solutions has lead countless of times to disaster. It is a good pushback against Krugman and Stiglitz who act as if they know it all. Very worth a read.
The Other Steve
Problem with Google AdSense…
The more we joke about making $5,000 from home for doing little work… the more Google sends ads about making $5,000 for doing little work. :-)
Balconespolitics
@The Other Steve:
More importantly, will no longer being pictured on Balloon-Juice make Joe more or less horny?
Ked
Hooray!
Now I can visit my favorite blog without feeling like I’m wading in a sewer.
gbear
I’m glad you’ve got that link to Amazon. I promise I will use it. I was on an Amazon feeding frenzy last fall so I wish I could have taken advantage of it back then. Is the Amazon link new or has it been there all along?
geg6
I know you have nothing but nice things to say about your relationship with PJMedia, John, but I can’t tell you how happy I am to not have to see promos for Malkin and JT(N)P when I get here.
I’m usually a little nauseous early in the morning and they never helped matters much. ;-)
Laura W
@The Other Steve:
Unfilled balloons
Balloons that are unfilled
ISO empty balloons cheap
Cheap balloons no juice
Juicy balloons
Juiceless balloons
(let’s test your theory)
@gbear, the amazon link is new because I was hoping for one when I bought new teevee in Jan. IIRC, it was a violation of John’s contract with PJ. Went up last night. Moroccan Mint Tea for $16 which is exactly what you would expect the first ad to be, considering the elitist bias here.
Dennis-SGMM
John didn’t leave Pajamas Media, Pajama’s Media left him.
robertdsc
Just imagine what the AdSense ads are going to say about Tunch.
Cain
Gosh, no big american flag and the democratic party anthem playing in the background? (wait, does the dems have an anthem? what would it sound like? I suspect it’s the theme of The Muppet Show)
cain
scott
Just dropped you a note via email re: your BlogAds query.
I’m the administrator for one of the BlogAds networks (we call them "hives" — I know, I know!) so drop me a line with any questions you may have and I’ll try to help.
gbear
@Cain:
Democratic party anthem c/o Johnny Nash.
Argive
Ah. No more President ZoBama. Nice.
jibeaux
And I never even learned who that guy was who wanted us to know that we were living in Zobama’s Zamerica under Zod, or something like that.
gbear
@scott:
There are treatments for hives.
TheHatOnMyCat
So, noting the apparently faster performance and cleaner appearance of the site …..
What’s the new revenue model? Is user support now the mainstay? Or is it too early to bring that up?
argh
Cole: …"there was nothing else I could ask of them."
Except maybe to stop trying to kill the rest of us.
Their $$$ gave you happy feelings toward them, regardless of the fact you know what they stand for. An illustration of why the Right (ie, Wealth) will always have a willing constituency. It is not easy to keep one’s soul in the face of an offer to sell it for an easier path.
They gave you money. In return you gave them not only the space but your warm feelings, your heart … how cheap a human is, really, when it’s all about money. The ads are gone, but the stain remains. So your soul forced you to take sides and speak out yet again, and you did … with the wrong side, again.
Argive
@jibeaux: I did. Trust me, you’re better off not having seen his stuff.
John Cole
@argh: Do you proofread that drivel before you post it?
When I signed up for PJ ads, the goal was to create an advertising network that would take care of the technical stuff while bringing ad content to websites. I didn’t sell my soul anymore than I have now sold my soul to google adsense and amazon. The first couple of years, the ads were from nationwide, florists, any number of businesses. It was only the last 5-6 months when advertising dried up that it was nothing but links to wingnuts and JTP.
Quit being an idiot.
Ash Can
Just spotted an AdSense link labeled "Coles Kids." I guess there are no secrets on the intertoobz.
And I’m not going to miss the PJ Media WTF-ery in the margins either, although it was good for a chuckle now and then.
Evinfuilt
At last, i now know where to buy Helium online. Thank you Balloon Juice.
DRD 1812
The word you’re looking for, John, is drivel.
Does this change mean that Michelle Malkin is no longer a national treasure?
Das Internetkommissariat
I have a question regarding that Amazon link:
When I click on that link I am redirected to Amazon USA, where I am greeted by a HUGE Union Jack and the question "Shopping from the UK?". (This is because I actually am surfing from Europe. I guess they analyze my IP)
When I click on that humongous Union Jack I am redirected to Amazon UK.
Does this count for you? I mean, do you get some revenue if I buy stuff on Amazon UK that way? Or does it get lost in the redirection from the States to Old Blighty?
ChrisB
@Dennis-SGMM:
Great comment.
lee
john, since you’re doing some site maintenance is there any chance you’d consider moving the left side content (search field, site meter and ads) to the right side of your page? i have a real problem with your postings getting squeezed from both sides. thanks, lee
Michael
This runs a lot smoother now.
TheHatOnMyCat
@argh:
Do your laundry, for crissakes.
shortstop
People ask way too much of proofreading. It can’t fix comically turgid prose or de-drama queen the writer, y’know.
Prospero
My favorite ad on the sidebar is asking: "Should Hillary Clinton quit the race for the White House?".
Martin
Balloons
Balloons
Balloons
Tom Campbell
Balloons
Amazing, 5/5 ads selling bags of air.
Ricky Bobby
THANK YOU for getting rid of those craptastic ads. I am sure it was a lot of work since I share your inability at computer mastery. It was worth it, makes the site much more readable.
different church-lady
Hmmm… well it may be a coincidence, but the site loads about eight times faster for me now than it has over the past week.
Cris
Besides the basic Amazon link, you definitely should have a Product Link for the Furminator.
Cris
The flames are all long gone, but the pain lingers on
Trollhattan
Good heavens, where I once was apprised of where JTP was (waxing salon?) I am now informed that bacon is the real economic stimulus package and that Coors is introducing clear beer.
While there’s still room for a bump in…uh…relevance it represents a nearly infinite improvement over PJ.
Chuck Butcher
In celebration of the absence of teh stupid I clicked a couple ads. That may be a first for me.
The site loads much faster. Advertisers who are so fond of moving ads should be shot.
Surabaya Stew
I’m just happy to open up the home page and not see Joe the Plumbers’ mug! The Amazon widget is quite an improvement and I never even notice the "targeted" Google advertisements anyway.
Origuy
I’m getting an ad for Amazon Blogs. I’ve clicked on a few. Are they choosing the ones to be promoted based on the content of BJ? Wag Reflex (a pet blog) and a couple of food blogs look interesting.
Origuy
It just showed up under "Products We Endorse".
Jon H
@argh:
Oh, Christ, any minute now you’re going to start singing a lame ballad that didn’t make the cut in Hair and/or Fame.
Oh Doris, you’ve sold out forever
Chris Johnson
I advertise on Project Wonderful too, John. You should drop the minimum bid and either accept that some ads will be kinda generously priced, or do the same and shut off the ‘your ad here for $0.02’ bit if it’s embarassing. Placeholders mean you’re doing it wrong :)
Project Wonderful is basically webcomics, and as a comic artist myself I think it’s really cool you’ve got them in such a good place, but you have got to let people start placing stuff and let the price go up naturally. With Balloon Juice’s traffic I am sure you’ll see some action but you can’t START it at $5 minimum. You’re basically hoping it’ll hover around something like that and spike up at times. I’ve spiked up to around $0.60 at times, with a thousandth, nay millionth your traffic :)
Laura W
[email protected]@KIT John Go! A dedicated Furminator ad, and an expanded Amazon panel that shows up much better than the tiny little thing that was up earlier.
When you start slapping up the exfoliating foot bath apparatus, the nose hair clippers, and the Rachel Perry French Massage Formula with Cayenne Pepper (Capsicum), Hemp Seed Oil and Alpha Lipoic Acid you will be one wealthy and pampered dude.
Miriam
I immediately clicked through and bought a Furminator. I’m looking forward to getting it.
Origuy
@Laura W: Don’t forget the Neti Pot!
Ben
Please just don’t put up any ad company that will feed us Joe the douche nozzle nonsense.
Woodrowfan
It does load faster, a lot faster actually, and I have a nice cable connection. Bonus: No more "Zobama" ads or ads touting Plain or Malkin or some other wingnut…
Laura W
@Origuy:
Every day that I visit this site I struggle to forget the neti pot and the disturbing image of John clearing his clogged sinuses.
But hey, thanks a lot!
KDP
Hey! I feel cheated! The best price I found on Amazon two weeks ago for a Furminator 1.75", just perfect for my Tibetan Spaniel mix, was 17.93. Figures there’d be a price drop right after I bought one.
Still, it was worth it. Didn’t get quite the volume of fur as shown for Tunch’s first use, but Shadow generated a respectable amount, and he is much more tolerant of the furminator than of the wired slicker brush. It assuredly helps to keep the shedding here to a minimum.
Chris Johnson
There is a Project Wonderful box, and I use those for Tally Road, and I’m a cartoonist.
So if an ad annoys you and enough people whine about it (or if it’s just immediately horrible *AHEM* coulter…) I can parody it. Then it’ll be funny :)
Yes I’m buying the ad space and paying John via PW. It’s well worth it, and if the wingnuts don’t like it, they can try to outbid me, which will make John happy ;)
JenJen
Interesting… I was under the impression that PJ Media was yanking its support from many of its blogs, but not all. However, I see Michelle Malkin no longer has PJ ads either; I thought she was a PJ blogger as well, and I imagine she gets a lot of hits?
Cheerleaders, you know. Everybody loves Cheerleaders.