… what would motivate a person to try and get another person kicked out of their affiliate programs.

In looking through my stats today, I’m seeing a really high number of consecutive clicks into this site, and from there to an ad on my site; then back to the site, and to another ad; then back to the site, and to another ad.

Oddly, most of these clicks seem to be coming from one computer, all at the same location. In fact, I got more clicks from 5:30 - 6:00 Mountain Time than I generally do in an entire day. This is the sort of thing that raises red-flags with ad providers, especially when those clicks account for more than 80% of the traffic during that half-hour period.

Research seems to indicate that normal click-through rates are typically between 0.5% and 4% … what do you think is going to happen if an ad-provider all of a sudden sees click-through rates jumping from that level to 25% or more, and nearly 80% during a given time slot?

I wonder if there is a way for a content-provider to restrict certain IP addresses from accessing a particular domain.

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

On the Web, Signs of a Click Recession
Google Feels Pinch As Ad Growth Slows; Sweeter Deal for Yahoo?
By KEVIN J. DELANEY
February 27, 2008

Internet advertising may be showing itself more vulnerable to a consumer slowdown than many in the industry had hoped, according to new search-ad data released this week.

The report from research firm comScore Inc. showing a decline in the number of consumer clicks on Google Inc. search ads in January amplified existing concerns about the effect of a broader economic slowdown on the Internet. Many online-ad experts have played down such worries, predicting any economic weakening will be offset by a continued shift in ad spending from traditional media to the Internet. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said the company hadn’t seen any impact from macroeconomic softening when the Internet company reported earnings Jan. 31. But some investors and analysts have grown anxious in recent months that any pullbacks in consumer spending would hurt online ads.

From Online Spin » Blog Archive » Advertising Terminology 2.0, about Addictionary.org:

Some of the funnier ones that I came across on the site were terms like “wiitard,” which refers to a person who is incapable of holding a Nintendo Wii properly and even less capable of playing a game on the console (It might refer to me, but who’s telling). Another term that I found humorous was “adnausea,” which refers to a feeling of sickness or discomfort in the stomach prompted by excessive advertising. I sometimes have this feeling when visiting sites that still employ pop-ups and pop-under ads, both of which have served to give online advertising a bad name in recent years.

Thanks to Fastgrrrl for the heads-up.

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So Kim just started a new job yesterday, working for McCann-Erickson, which is a division of the Interpublic Group. The Interpublic Group is a consortium of the world’s largest advertising agencies; Kim will be the Technical Project Manager (exactly what that entails, I haven’t a clue), working on one of the firm’s largest accounts.

She started yesterday. Today, she’s flying to Seattle to meet with the client. Talk about fast. When they asked if she had any “familial hindrances” that might restrict her ability to travel, they weren’t kidding.

I’m learning that buying older cars and trucks also means buying older cars’ and trucks’ problems. We’ve already had the timing belt replaced on the Trooper, more out of preventative maintenance than anything else, since we weren’t sure if it had ever been done. I’m told that a timing belt should be replaced every 60-75,000 miles. According to Intermountain Isuzu, the timing belt on my Trooper looked like the original one. Keep in mind that my Trooper has 132,000+ miles. It was definitely time to replace that, at about $450.00 parts & labor.

They also found a leak in the power steering line. So far the estimates are coming in between $275.00 and $350.00 to do that work. I’m still shopping around, though, to see if I can find anything less expensive, at least from a labor perspective.

I need to get an owner’s manual, a shop manual, and to gradually increase the size of my tool collection so I can take care of some of the more mechanical issues myself.

Thankfully, the dealer we bought the Trooper from replaced and balanced all 4 tires, 3 power window regulators, the glass in one window, the serpentine belts, the air and oil filters, as well as changing the oil as part of the purchase price. They should be sending someone out to the office today to do a windshield replacement as well.

And, according to Kim, our insurance ought to actually go down, despite adding a second car, because of the “multi-vehicle discount”. We’ll see what happens when I call Liberty Mutual later this afternoon.