Note: This is a paid review.

I've been a user of Text Link Ads (TLA) for a while now, and so when a request came to review them, I jumped on the chance. I've used them only as a publisher, never as an advertiser, so my comments below are based on this experience.

In short, the money you earn from TLA is a great source of income. For me, it more than compensated for the ever decreasing AdSense income. From the comments I've seen on forums, some webmasters use Text Link Ads as a supplementary source of income, some use it as part of their larger earnings strategy, and some use it exclusively. The simple matter is, it really depends on the site, the niche, and the traffic.

The system is easy to work with (sorry, I can't remember the signup process!). Once you log in, you're presented with a simple 'dashboard' type of interface. The links are logically presented and everything makes sense. The one serious lacking feature for me is that the money earned interface is terrible: you get to choose the month and the year from drop down lists, but you cannot manipulate this more, like look at date ranges. I hope they fix that

The real power of Text Link Ads though is their automated system. You basically install a server-side script that automatically fetches the links you're supposed to be publishing and displays them on your site. Setting it up is like setting up any script really, with the permissions changes and the like. Handily, they have plugins/code for the popular publishing platforms such as Wordpress and Drupal. For eKstreme.com, I used the PHP code and integrated into the CMS.

Payment-wise, I've never had any problems. Every month the Paypal transfer came in like clockwork.

So would I recommend them? Definitely! Would I advertise with them? I'm certainly consider them, and will probably use TLA ads in the near future. The key thing for anyone considering them is this: what are you trying to achieve? As long as you have a strategy (which you should), I have no reservations giving them a try.

Question for my visitors: this is the second paid review I've done, and no one has mentioned anything good or bad about this. I'd be interested in hearing your comments. Thanks!

Technorati Tags: text link ads, review