Whenever I see the name Chitika (pronounced CHIH-tih-ka), 
I think of Chiquita bananas.
And then I think of that Gwen Stefani song,  
“Hollaback Girl“ B.AN.ANAS. Bananas.
So here I am in today’s free shirt from Chitika Advertising Network.

I have never been a big fan of contextual / in-text ad programs, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and decided to try them on a site of mine.  At first I tried Kontera ContentLinks, but didn’t find the ads to be anywhere near relevant, thus the click-through conversion rate sucked.

After seeing that PerezHilton.com uses Vibrant Media in-text ads that shows totally relevant ads, I decided to apply.  Well, they denied me saying I didn’t have enough traffic.  Ok, I’m not exactly Perez Hilton yet anyway, but you gotta start somewhere.

So, right now I’m using Chitika Linx. And I just went to check the relevancy of the ads…
“gossip girls” brought up “Raquel Welch”
“black leather” brought up “McCain for President”
“hot pink” brought up “Sarah Palin Tanning Bed”
Now considering the page did talk about Sarah Palin and Raquel Welch wigs, the ads themselves may be relevant, but the words they chose to highlight the ads on is a fail.

Since I have yet to earn enough to receive a check from Chitika, I think I’m going to remove the Linx and try Chitika eMiniMalls – their new flagship product that they’ve been bragging up (and Joel Comm recommends) that claims to provide users with relevant content and comparative shopping information.

And then I’m gonna reapply to Vibrant Ads.

Want to see me wear your shirt? Click for details.