Just within the past day or so Google Adsense units have been displaying something new.  A set of small arrow icons that users can click to scroll over to view more advertisements.

In some cases the text, “Show More” replaces the arrows. Will many users use these arrows or even know what they are for? It doesn’t appear to be worth the effort. There hasn’t been a post about it yet on the Adsense Blog.

Jcink has released the latest version of the phpQuickArcade. Version 3.0.20

The most noticeable updates to the script are:

• Avatar upload - members can now upload avatars.
• Favorites - members can upload favorites.
• v32 IbProArcade game tar import support.
• Arcade time zone adjustable by admin in ACP.
• Email a user when their championship of a game is defeated.
• Guest access - guests can play games, if allowed, but can’t submit scores
• CAPTCHA CODE on signup to prevent spambots

More improvements include:

• Better MySQL debugging error function
• If not installed; won’t display error message, will point to installer file
• Session security keys added to many areas requiring user action… vsess(); function added
• Pages style is changed. No more Next page () Previous page (). Instead, it’s Pages 1 2 3 4 … >> Last
• Email validation
• Ban function fixed
• Ban by email and username on signup
• AdminCP no longer displays “idx” “editor” “addgame.” Real navigation text has been added. Other areas of CP are now more clearly explained; ie badword filter.
• Cleaned up table HTML in AdminCP and within the arcade - styles editor made a little nicer.
• Fixed email bug with new lines on non-linux email servers
• New default stylesheet! to match the new website. Old gray default and black default still available. Stylesheet now contains detailed information about what element controls what part of PHPQA.
• /examples/ folder including: 3 plain examples I am asked for on how to add to a website; a display for latest champion, newest games, and newest game block.
• Annoying login problem fixed, removed some javascript from login form.
• Top menu no longer collapses on playing a game; an anchor brings the focus right to it instead.

[Download the latest version of the phpQuickArcade.]

ESO will soon be releasing several modifications for the quickarcade script!

It’s become the norm for most arcade owners to join banner exchanges to drive traffic to their sites. Many users enjoy the free traffic and many use these exchanges to purchase impressions for an extra boost of traffic. Whether you are buying or just exchanging impressions from these exchanges, probably the most important factor you should consider is the CTR (click thru rating) of the banners you are using. Banners with a low CTR can mean you are giving away more traffic than you are bringing in and if that’s the case, you may as well not even bother using the exchange.

After testing out many banners, it seems that overall the more flashy the banner, the better the CTR. Many webmasters make the mistake of using branded images that are not animated enough. It may be natural for a webmaster to dislike these seizure-inducing gif’s on our sites but the truth is; people definitely click these things!

The key is to include your website branding in these animated gif’s.
Here are some tips for creating your 100×100 animated banners: (more…)