Tea with AK71: Mini facelift of ASSI and return of AdSense.

I have finally gotten around to tidying up my blog which some readers think is a bit busy looking (which is a nice way of saying it is messy, I guess). I really didn't find my blog messy. It is just like I don't find my bedroom or my study messy. I can find my things, right? Hahaha... Yes, I have been like this forever. I would claim that there is system in my mess.

Well, I have to admit that a blog is different. It is not just a private diary for me and me only. I am sharing ideas with people on a public platform and it is only plain courtesy to make it friendlier to navigate and to find things. Oh my, I have been lacking in plain courtesy before. My apologies.

I did the mini facelift last night, rather late last night. Yawn. The major changes happened on the right sidebars. I have taken away most of the slimmer right sidebar boxes and moved them up to become wider and, I guess, easier to read boxes. I have also further broken down the blog posts under the old "Recommended" and "My strategies" headings which were boxes I threw quite a few blog posts under and didn't give them much thought. I know, yah, "Recommended" and "My Strategies" sound so helpful, right? Nah.

I have kept some old headings and together with the new headings, the blog posts are now under the headings of "Passive Income Journey", "Wealth Creation", "Stock Market Strategies", "Fundamental Analysis", "Investing in REITs and Business Trusts", "Healthway Medical" and "Precious Metals". I did actually remove some blog posts and boxes which I thought are no longer helpful as well. I showed no mercy!

The left sidebar has the same components as before except that I shifted their positions. I shifted the box which encourages readers to share ASSI right to the top while aggregating all the ways in which readers could stay in touch with ASSI under a single heading. The two headings are "Sharing my blog" and "Staying in touch". I know, pretty original, isn't it? Haha.. I also included a nifty widget from Twitter. This is just another way in which readers could stay in touch with ASSI.

Also, after 24 hours of removing all the ad spaces for AdSense or Ads by Google in ASSI, I am hazarding a guess that all readers would have read my blog post from yesterday on how I was removing the ad spaces temporarily. It was a self imposed ban, so to speak. Now, I am serving Ads by Google again.

If you have any comments at all regarding what I have done with my blog, please feel free to let me know. Have a great week ahead. :)

Related post:
Removing AdSense from ASSI for now.

Tea with AK71: Removing AdSense from ASSI for now.

You might or might not notice that I have removed all the ad space for AdSense or Ads by Google from this blog.  This is because I have noticed multiple clicks on these ads from possibly the same source for several days now.

I understand from other bloggers that Google is quite strict in policing and weeding out fraud. Having multiple clicks within 1 minute from possibly a single IP address could quite possibly be classified as fraud. This could result in my AdSense account being terminated by Google.

Although I appreciate the support, I would like to appeal to readers who have been super supportive in clicking on the Ads by Google to refrain from the behaviour described.

Why am I taking action only now? I was wondering if it was an aberration but it seems to be an established pattern now. If it is apparent to an IT dinosaur like me, it would not escape an IT giant like Google.  So, I am suspending all ad space for AdSense or Ads by Google on this blog for the time being.

If you guys are worried about a loss of income for ASSI, just visit my other sponsors, Ads by Nuffnang. Also, give my ZUJI banners a chance if you are planning to travel and I would get a small commission if you find a good deal.


You might also want to visit my other blogs:

http://investgoldsilver.blogspot.com/

http://travelphotosvideos.blogspot.com/

Of course, you could also choose to contribute some money if you really like what ASSI is doing. A $15 donation is equivalent to 50c a day for a month or you could think of it as 10c a day for 5 months! Haha. ;-p

The donate button is on the left sidebar and looks like this:



Thank you and have a great weekend. :-)

Tea with AK71: First cheque from AdSense.

Not long after I started this blog in December 2009, I signed up with Google AdSense to serve ads in the hope of making some pocket money on the side. A few months later, I took down all the ad spaces. This was after hearing rather negative stuff about bloggers being "banned" with little chance of being reinstated. I didn't want to have the same experience. Could be quite depressing, I thought.

However, a couple of months ago, while chatting with a fellow blogger, I was advised to just put up the ad spaces for AdSense again and if I did get banned, then, too bad for me. If I got paid, it would be a bonus. Mentally prepared thus, I ventured forth with AdSense once more.

Today, as I was sorting through four days worth of mail, I found a cheque from Adsense! My first cheque from AdSense! It added some cheer to a wet Sunday. :)