I decided recently to add Google ads to my main site, Greenwich Guide. I don't really have any expectations of retiring early on the proceeds, but they should, I hope, help offset the server fees. I must say that Google make it fairly easy to add their ads, and they are fairly configurable. I had some trouble adding the code to the site as I used 'Find and Replace All' to insert the code on each page. Unluckily, the 'Quiz' page on the site uses JavaScript and the code was accidentally inserted in the middle of the script as well, totally breaking the page. Luckily I was able to find the problem by running Aptana (see previous entry) and it immediately found the offending lines in its 'Problems' view and enabled me to delete the offending lines.
I use Opera 9.01 as my default browser, and I was rather worried when the Google ads didn't show up in my browser, although they worked fine in the other browsers I use, IE6, IE7, and Firefox 1.5. I was about to post a frantic query to the support forum when I realised the reason. Opera has the ability to block certain content from being shown; at some stage I must have blocked an ad from Google and so it refused to show them. I checked, and, sure enough, a Google server showed up in the list of blocked sites.Panic over!
I also signed up for Google Analytics, which provides some detailed statistics on visitors to the site.
