Apparently NewTwitter has been gradually rolled out since September 14 but I only get to play with it a few days ago. The improvement or upgrade is much welcome, considering that there were not many (major) innovations coming from the microblogging giant since day 1 of its launch.

Honestly, the upgrade is not revolutionary. Twitter just added features which have long been demanded by its loyal users or are pretty standard on other social networking sites. Nevertheless, I believe this represents the first step for it to bring many more innovations to the table to improve users' experience in the near future.

The new interface of #NewTwitter

New features

• New design with multiple tabs (@mentions, retweets, searches, etc.) in the timeline, recent and suggested activities and actions on the right.
• Embedded content such as pictures and videos can be previewed and viewed directly on Twitter.
• Users are able to discover related content of a Tweet such as additional information about the author and subject.
• Mini profiles allow previewing of users that you come across without leaving the page (their account information, bio, recent Tweets, etc.).

 Major concerns by users and developers alike

• Old Twitter background will not be displayed correctly in the new design.
• Twitter desktop client softwares such as TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop are rendered less useful and relevant now that some of their features have been incorporated in #NewTwitter.

Same old same old (things we are glad did not change)

• Tweet still consists of 140 characters or less. Duh!
• #NewTwitter seems more like an interface upgrade and functionality addition rather than a complete revamp. Hence existing applications using Twitter API should still function perfectly.

What are the responses to #NewTwitter? 
At this initial stage, we can only conclude that there are mixed reactions to #NewTwitter. Some hate it, some adore it, others are indifferent. Of course, there are also thousands of Twitter users who plead to be given access to the new Twitter. Here are some Tweets in response to this upgrade.

Nobody is forced to have the #newtwitter at this point, it's only a preview.

Tweeted by @DanOfficial

Yes but won't all of us need to switch to #newtwitter, eventually?

#newtwitter so far very cool, but still missing some nice #Tweetdeck features
Tweeted by @BizTechMBA

Really? I'm not sure what are those missing features. But being able to view embedded medias on #newtwitter is pretty cool!

I don't like the #newtwitter! And it thinks I'm in #Poland :D Ok, that's kinda cool:D:D
Tweeted by @Natalie_C_Sweet

I think you have to embrace #newtwitter, better sooner than later :D

To see more conversations about #NewTwitter, you could search for the hashtag or follow this link here:
Twitter.com Search Results for #NewTwitter

Finally, here are some resources for you to find out more about #NewTwitter:
Introducing new Twitter.com Video Hosted on Youtube
10 things missing in the new Twitter interface
The New Twitter Is an Attack on All Desktop Apps
The Best Subtle Things About New Twitter (highly recommended, contains many useful tips for using new Twitter)

Hope you like this post and if you do, kindly retweet or share it with your Facebook friends. Have a nice day!

P.S. How do you find #NewTwitter? Do you like it or not? Why? What other features you would like to see in Twitter?

In conjunction with the launch of its new website appearance (redesign), WPWebHost announced a crazy one time discount up to 90% for its WPWebHost Freedom Plan.

What is offered under WPWebHost Freedom Plan?

• Total web space: 50GB
• Monthly data transfer: 500GB
• FREE lifetime domain name
• Host up to 50 domain names per account
• cPanel
• Unlimited subdomains, MySQL database, FTP accounts
• Nightly backups
• One-click WordPress auto-installer
• Extensive free WordPress tips and video tutorials

To summarize, this Freedom Plan is suitable for small and medium business and individual use especially if you do not expect more than 30,000 unique visitors per month. You can always upgrade to higher plans later on if you need to expand beyond that figure.

Unfortunately, there are limited units under this promotion (first come, first served, while stock lasts). As I am writing this post, the discount code for 90% (10 units), 80% (30 units) and 70% (50 units) discounts have been fully utilized and those units have sold out. There is currently less than 300 units remaining under this promotion for the 60% and 50% discounts.

As shown in the image above, you can save even more if you immediately sign up for 2 years hosting. Based on the features in Freedom Plan, it is almost impossible to find another quality web host which could offer a better price than $2 / month. This is truly affordable hosting at its best!

Don't wait any longer, lock in the offer at the 60% discounted price now. Click on the link below to sign up:

WPWebHost Freedom Plan Discount Up To 60% Off (affiliate link)

  

P.S. How about me? Did I grab this irresistible offer? Yes, I signed up for 60% discount for 2 years. Over to you now!

Mine is apparently worth $103.

$103

Created by WhatsMyTwitterAccountWorth.com

What's yours worth? Find out at WhatsMyTwitterAccountWorth.com and @bobbytco me to share it with me.

Add my twitter to social network and interact with me. Looking forward to interacting with you!

Yesterday when I logged into my Project Wonderful account, I noticed that I have accumulated enough funds to cash out or withdraw (the minimum amount before withdrawal is permitted is $10). Each withdrawal are charged $1 regardless of the amount withdrawn, I guess this is fair for the company, especially after the introduction of PayPal fee lately.

Project Wonderful is a good opportunity to make money for small publishers and also to gain exposure for advertisers who run a tight budget. Project Wonderful is a advertising network which automates the task of buying and selling ad spaces at their marketplace. Its unique system is based on auction of ad spaces, i.e. whoever bids the highest will get the ad space. You can start advertising for as low as FREE (due to default minimal bid value being set to $0.00 to promote initial bidding) to several cents a day up to the amount you are comfortable to pay for the ad space (the highest bid amount I have seen is about $45).

I think Project Wonderful is offering an advertising alternative which has not been made available before. There is no weekly or monthly commitment, you only bid for a particular day which you can cancel anytime. It also allows advertisers to display their ads on multiple sites at cheap rather than pool all their resources on a single site which may or may not bring desired traffic or attention. On the other hand, small advertisers benefit by being able to try out the efficacy of a campaign on a high traffic publisher site without being tied down for long term.

Other advantages/benefits offered by Project Wonderful:

• easy to set up for publishers (select the ad types you want, copy and paste the code into your site)
• payment by PayPal (minimum amount to cash out is $10 with $1 withdrawal fee)
• no fixed payment dates (you can withdraw anytime, unlimited times per month provided have minimum cash out amount)
• detailed statistics and reporting system (with export to spreadsheet capability!)
• easy to use and effective marketplace (https://www.projectwonderful.com/adsearch.php)
• multiple ad sizes supported

It took me quite a while to accumulate $10 with Project Wonderful because I was only serving their ads here on this blog, which is not very popular to be honest. However now having received payment from them, I can trust them, throw caution to the wind and use them on more websites. I look forward to having a pleasant time as a publisher with Project Wonderful.


P.S. At this moment I am also experimenting with Adgitize, will report back about my experience later on. Do you have experience with any of these advertising networks? Do share your experience with us.

Today I would like to share with you a review about Infolinks, an "In-Text (Contextual) Advertising" company. It acts as the middle person between advertisers and publishers (blog and website owners). Advertisement relevant to a publisher's content (hence CONTEXTUAL) is effortlessly integrated within the text, taking up no extra real estate space on publisher's site.

This review will be in the form of questions and answers (Q&A), because it is a format which I would like to try out on this blog. Questions will be denoted by 'Q' while answers by 'A'. My answers are in bold for emphasis.

Q: How did you hear about Infolinks?
A: Honestly, Infolinks is not as famous as Google Adsense or Yahoo! Publisher Network but I have no doubt that it is catching up with them, while establishing itself as the leader in "in-text" advertising. I have heard and seen its ads 6-8 months after I started blogging and I joined them as publisher about half a year later.

Q: How fast was the integration and configuration of the ads?
A: Very fast, publisher only needs to copy and paste the Javascript code provided into their web templates. There is also minimal configuration needed. I am positive that any web users who could use Facebook can integrate and configure the ads effortlessly.

Q: Did you receive good support?
A: I have only approached the support team once to enquire whether I am allowed to share (show) my earnings screen shot with other web users. The support team responded promptly within a few hours and was very helpful and patient, even making the extra effort to refer to their administration before getting back to me.Such level of support is satisfactory enough for me. I am glad I do not have to approach them for problems regarding the advertisements, so far.

Q: How happy are you with the earnings?
A: I am quite satisfied with my earnings so far. The click through rate (CTR) and effective cost per thousand impression (eCPM) that I received are comparable to industry standard (meaning the ads are relevant for my web visitors and the ads clicked also give fair earnings). Figures and screen shot will be shown here once I get Infolinks' permission.

Q: Did you get paid on time?
A: Unfortunately I have not reached the minimum payment threshold of $100. However, I have no doubt that Infolinks will pay its publishers on time (within 45 days of the end of the payment period which would be each month as long as the balance is above or equal $100, as stated in its FAQ).

Q: What do you think of Infolinks as a company and its approach towards its publishers?
A: I would like to believe that Infolinks consider both the advertisers and publishers as its priorities and that one of its main aims is to help us earn better money and provide us with pleasant advertising/publishing From my observation, it is a people friendly company, it keeps us updated about the network's progress, activity and promotion and encourage us to interact with it, making us feel like a part of a big family. Its website of the month and Double with a Bubble contest (see video at the end of review) are testimony of its efforts to provide us with a better experience. Other publishers seem to echo my sentiments as well.

Q: Would you recommend Infolinks to other publishers? What are the advantages of serving Infolinks' Contextual ads?
A: Yes, I would highly recommend Infolinks to other website and blog owners. The are many advantages: Firstly, it is user friendly and beginners can begin making money almost as soon as they are registered. Other advertisements such as Google Adsense requires more configuration and optimization to earn a healthy income for publishers. Secondly, big and small, local and even international publishers are wanted by Infolinks and will (usually) be approved quite quickly (again contrast that with Google Adsense and Yahoo! Publisher Network). Thirdly, it is the highest paying in text advertising solution (quote), while it gives us the highest paying ads against minimal site space, it also allows its ads to be served together with Google Adsense and other forms of advertisement (Google Adsense also approves of being served together with Infolinks).

Q: What are the improvements that you wish to see at Infolinks?
A: I hope its report can be more detailed, showing the CTR of each page as well as eCPM of each keywords and keyphrases. One of these days, I also hope Infolinks can expand beyond in text and conceptual advertising, bringing in other forms of advertisements such as widgetized ads (like Chitika, Amazon, etc.) and ad boxes (similar to Adbrite, Bidvertiser, Adsense) although that may not be the company direction.

Q: Is there anything new that you learn about Infolinks while preparing this review?
A: Actually yes, I just found out that Infolinks can process payment via Prepaid Mastercard® (powered by Payoneer) which I already own. That is definitely good news for me as I have another option to receive money from Infolinks.

Q: Any last words to say to Infolinks?
A: Yes. Happy New Year 2010 and congratulations for standing strong and being the industry leader of online in text advertising. Don't lose your identity as you grow bigger and always take care of your publishers (and advertisers) the way you are doing now. They made you what you are now and they will decide what you will be in the future. I am glad and proud to be a part of the family. Thank you!

Let's see how the family party together (Double with a Bubble contest)