Don't Touch My Ads Review

Right from the start this program has intrigued me.   Not just the concept, but the diversity of opinion surrounding it. When I discussed this program on the Net Marketing Forum, the majority of people rejected it out of hand.   Some of the criticisms were perfectly valid, other points of view revealed a lack of understanding of how the program worked. Incredibly, I found a review on one website, recommending the program but, again, showing a basic mis-understanding of the concept. Some months ago, a lot of hype surrounded a program called ScreenBlaze.   This program was essentially an auto-surf program, masquerading as a screensaver.   The idea being that, while you were away from your desk, new websites appeared on your desktop.   Every time two were shown, your website appeared on someone elses computer.   You were even encouraged to leave it running overnight, racking up huge amounts of credits in the process. I posted a support question, asking how anyone was meant to see my website if it was running while the viewers were in bed.   The response suggested that it might be seen when someone first sets the program running or when they shut it down in the morning. This sounded like extremely slim odds and I ignored ScreenBlaze as I would ignore any auto-surf program. When I first stumbled across DTMA, it looked like a similar concept.   Every time you stop typing for X number of seconds an advert appears on your desktop.   Once you have dismissed five adverts, your advert appears on someone else’s desktop. The difference being that the advert stays there until you close the window.   While it may take longer to rack up credits, this means your adverts are always seen before being dismissed or, hopefully, clicked on. So I gave it a try. After signing up I downloaded a small program that, when loaded, sat on my task bar at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.   When I stop typing for any length of time, a new browser window opens, appoximately 1/8th the size of the screen (larger if using 800x600 resolution) containing an advert.   This advert remains in place until I close the window down. The delay between typing stopping and an advert appearing can be set anywhere between 30 seconds and 10 minutes.   Either way the browser window is stationary and a new advert does not appear until you close the window and, once again, stop typing for the period you assign. In practice this means, whenever I leave my computer to get a drink or visit the bathroom an advert is waiting for me upon my return.   I don’t find this annoying and the window doesn’t get in the way.   It can be closed instantly and, if I am particularly busy, the software can be paused or closed. If I set the idle time to just 30 seconds, this means that whenever I stop working for whatever reason an advert appears.   I especially like this because I usually keep a surf window open when I’m working.   Every now and again, when I need a break, I “Alt-Tab” to the surf window and browse a few websites.   DTMA allows me to do this automatically.   Every time I stop working for a few moments an advert appears. Now let me dispel some myths: 1)   DTMA does not interfere with your screensaver.   Your screensaver will load even after an ad appears and, when you move the mouse or click a key to cancel the screensaver, the ad will be waiting. 2)   The ads do not fill the screen and can easily be paused when you are not in the mood for them. 3)   The ads do not rotate unless someone has programmed their ad to do this.   This means that when your ad appears on someone else’s PC it remains there until someone closes it. Your ad is created in your members area.   For anyone proficient with HTML, this is a snap.   If you are used to promoting replicated websites, you will need to be a bit more creative.   The program, however, is simple enough that you should be able to produce something attractive without too much problem. The members area even has a selection of videos that take you through the process of installing and running the software, using the members area and creating your ads.   If you need additional help, please feel free to contact me for assistance with creating the ad. The possibilities are endless and the limited size forces you to think up something extremely focussed.   You can insert text, banners, links and (I especially like this one) if you are building a mailing list or ezine you can insert your subscribe fields right into the ad. I love that my credits allow my subscribe form to appear right onto peoples computers.   Someone even emailed me after discovering The Nettle via DTMA, which is very pleasing. But, like any new concept, there are problems that must be taken into account. The most serious is the 5:1 ratio.   You must view five ads before having your ad shown.   This is a very poor ratio and although you get 100% of your downline’s credits in addition to your own, this doesn’t help the people at the end of the line who can’t get sign-ups. Mike Filsaime who created the program has been extremely responsive to my questions and wasn’t ashamed to admit that this approach has helped him build the user base very quickly (well over 3000 now) and make him a tidy sum of money. While this lack of altruism may shock some people, I can’t bring myself to condemn Mike for trying to make a living, even if I disagree with the method.   (See When MLM’s Go Bad) In fact even if you can’t build a downline you can still earn a healthy amount of credits through your own use.   Next time you’re surfing a handful of exchanges at once (see How to Cheat Traffic Exchanges) set DTMA to a 30 second delay.   Since ads are only held back while typing is in evidence, they will continue to display while you are surfing.   They aren’t affected by pop-up blockers which means you can earn 24 adverts an hour alongside your normal surfing with very little additional work.    I also have a suspicion that these ads can be more effective than regular surfing.   I certainly click-thru these ads far more than regular banners or pop-ups (which I block). Other concerns are the frequency of certain ads, suggesting those with large downlines are dominating the exchange.   Other ads are mixed in there but their quality is poor suggesting, again, a lack of understanding by the users.   While it would be churlish to blame Mike for members not reading the instructions, the prevalence of faulty information in circulation suggests things could be made a little clearer. Large steps have been made in this area with the use of video and Mike has demonstrated an excellent standard in replying to emails. Additionally I found ads appear while I work in Microsoft Excel.   The software appears not to react to this program because ads interrupt me in the middle of typing in a cell.   This is the only time this problem has occurred for me, but there may be some other conflicting software out there.   Looks like there may be one or two bugs to fix.   Until then pausing the program when using Excel is a simple solution. Criticisms aside, I believe this program is, at the very least, worth experiencing.   It is quite different to anything else out there and can happily sit alongside your other marketing programs without displacing anything.   Once your advert is set-up the amount of work involved is minimal. I’m sure it is just a matter of time before someone copies the program and, maybe, improves upon it.   Mike Filsaime has certainly shown himself willing to add to his product so I would like to respectfully suggest the following modifications be considered for the future. Adjust the exchange ratio to 2:1 with downlines contributing a smaller percentage of their credits.   This will provide more encouragement for the solitary user to persevere with the program.   This approach will also give the program more credibility amongst traffic exchange users. Implement an anti-cheat system.   It is only a matter of time before someone develops a program to close ads automatically.   A simple skill card appearing randomly would provide reassurance. Create more of a community for DTMA users.   A forum for members to discuss effective ads.   Competitions for members to win credits.   A monthly newsletter discussing updates, etc. If you would like to try DTMA, you can use the link below or you can add your name to our downline builder below.   Either way, we would like to know your opinions on this program.   Appreciation, criticism and good, old-fashioned vitriol are very welcome.   Visit The Nettle Forum to post your review. This review first appeared in The Nettle Ezine. If you enjoyed it, why not try The Nettle Magazine at www.thenettle.com