Adgitize: Not Worth the Hassle
Sat, May 1 2010
I noticed something interesting the other day when I signed into EntreCard (which I wrote about quite some time ago) and visited some of the listed blogs. The more active I am, the more blogs apply for advertising via the widget in my sidebar. Of course, I earn credits on the site from ‘selling’ the ad space and, in turn, I can buy advertising on other sites or shop items.
Even though EntreCard hasn’t benefited me greatly, I like the idea. I really do. I’m just constantly disappointed by the overall quality of the blogs which are listed. Perhaps that is an indication that most people who use the service view it as a “get hits quick” scheme and are less “legitimate” than bloggers who do not need to rely on a service such as EntreCard.
Either way, I noticed some blogs which used similar services, such ad Adgitize and I thought I’d check it out. Mostly, I’m looking for a way to connect with other bloggers on a more solid, personal level and not necessarily a way to make money (although, I wouldn’t turn it down). I definitely am not going to spend money on advertising for a hobby site like Reviews by Cole. Sorry, ol’ gal.
When you sign up as a publisher on Adhitize, you must choose a type of ad space to display on your site. I chose the 125 x 125 px ad and inserted it into my sidebar. An ad displayed, although I’m not sure why or how it was chosen. There is a little badge beneath the ad which links to Adgitize but nothing to clearly indicate to my visitors what the point is (it might be different if more people had heart of Adgitize but an “advertise here” link would be more useful than just the service name). Not a good sign.
What really gets me, though, is the completely unuseable site that Adgitize has. I mean, come on. It’s 2010. How can your site suck so badly? There are a million–okay 18–links above and below the header. It was easy enough to read about the options as an advertiser or blogger (although; my questions weren’t really answered) and sign up but then you’re lost.
Here’s a few major complaints:
- The login link is in the middle of a list of links, not emphasized by itself
- Looking for an “acocunt” or “control panel” area? Adgitize uses the ridiculous uncommon terminology “member’s lounge” for this area.
- The site gives the impress that you sign up for one type of account (advertise, affiliate or blogger) but you have access to all types (access is good, confusing set up is not).
- No blog list. There is a preferred publishers list but I’m not entirely sure why they are preferred. Maybe it’s something you buy? I do like EntreCard’s “campaign” which lists and allowed you to search blogs, categories and other information.
- Community link. Because that doesn’t sound like the exact same thing as “Member’s Lounge.” Apparently it’s a sort of updates blog but it’s not the blog; that’s something else.
- And what the hell is the leaderboard? Apparently you earn points (again, no idea how) and you get listed there.
- There is a Help page and a FAQ which could and should be combined into one page–they’re both in Q&A format.
In short, the Adgitize website has too much going on and most of that is promotional material which does not aid the user. I would suggest a complete overhaul of the website, condensation of content, removal of unnecessary links and “widget” update. That is, if the service even wants to be seen as a legitimate advertising solution. Right now, it looks like a joke.
Tagged: 
Categorized: 
Commented: 
Please use the image provided to link back to 
I'm Cole, a 20 something female newely returned to Central Wisconsin after my divorce. I review products in my free time. I also enjoy reading (fantasy), TV and movies (sci fi), music (mainly rock and metal), maintaining my numerous websites, chatting, and spending time with my friends and kitties... 
Guess you should simply read my Secret to get an ad paid by Adgitize. When you read this guide you will see how easy it could be to earn a decent amount of money or to get at least between 40 – 100 visitors/day from Adgitize (without doing the clicks you make in EntreCard).
Sure it costs money, exactly slightly less than 0.46 $/day for a one month ad… updating your blog daily & visiting 50 blogs takes half an hour which gives you the possibility to earn back your investment + getting the mentioned visitors daily. My profit in 2009 has been around 100$ for 7 months.
In case you have any questions, shoot me one, i’m glad to help you!
Hi, thanks for commenting. A couple thoughts – posting links like you did in my comment is absolutely not acceptable commenting policy on my blog and most other bloggers would agree. I have removed your link.
Secondly, you will see that I am mostly in the market for a site which will help me connect with people vs increase hits and I’m not interesting in paying at all. It seems that neither EntreCard nor Adgitize promote commenting which is a shame because I value comments far higher than other stats. EntreCard really could provide that service if it restricted its membership to higher quality sites but I doubt it would do it because its memberbase would have to shrink exponentially and whether new, high quality bloggers would apply is dubious at best.
I’m not even in it for the profit and everything you described seems like a lot of work for such a low payout. It may work for you but I have other, more rewarding demands of my time. Regardless, the site is so damned frustrating that even if I had 30 minutes a day to waste, I couldn’t.
Of course, maybe I’m just an unusual user. That is often the case!
Hi Cole, I haven’t used Adgitize, but I’ve seen a lot of sites that are difficult to use. I’m the developer at CMF Ads and I built it to be really simple to use. If you run the widget, you can earn enough to place ads without putting any of your own money into the system. I see you’ve already joined – please do stop by our forums if you have a chance, we’re a friendly bunch :)
Hi Ben! I did just sign up and think your site is drastically easier to use than Adgitize. I will definitely be spending more time with CMF Ads in the future!
I was here to drop on your blog, but after learning how you feel about the quality of entrecard blogs, I decided to skip it.
Thanks for your opinion. Really. I had no idea my blogs were of such poor quality. I am glad you are here to clear thing up for me.
LOL Considering as I’ve never been to the blog you linked here, how could I possibly have been talking about it?
Many blogs on EntreCard consistently load slow–even slower than my blog here and I’m already pushing it. They’re loaded with ads or only semi-relevant banners. They’re half readable. The content is spammy at best and, yes, I notice it. In fact, most of these things do not apply to your blog.
It’s likely many of these bloggers have not been around as long as I have or that the trends in certain communities are different but I cannot help but notice it.
Hi Cole, I found your site as I was looking for comparative reviews of Adgitize and CMF Ads.
I agree with you and I also like the idea of Entrecard although so many other people don’t. One hint: you can add blogs as favourites and then only visit the really good ones. You can do this from within Entrecard itself or the really old fashioned way of adding them to your browser favourites (my browser can open groups of favourites at a time). That was, I am able to visit only good quality blogs and yes, if I see an interesting advertisement, I click on it. Isn’t that the whole point!?
Thanks for commenting. I admit, I haven’t fully made use of the favourites within EntreCard (although, I did add a few recently). I just wish more of the sites jumped out at me in the first place.