scam | Piss and Moan

WordPress ads a scam?

One of the many things you can do here on WordPress is earn money from your blog. There are (apparently) quite a few ways to do this. One of the more simple ways to earn money (at least I thought) was to show ads on your site, specifically on your posts. Seems simple enough, right? Write something. Post it. Ads show up on your page as people view it. You make money from them seeing the ads.

I did this a while back and I am starting to wonder if its a bit of a scam as there doesn’t really appear to be a rhyme or reason to how you earn money. Yes, I am aware that the more volume/traffic you have is supposed to get you more ads displayed, which I thought in turn would also create more money added to your account. It doesn’t, however, seem that this is actually the case.

I experimented a while back, August of 2022, to see if I could figure out how to earn more. What I found is that traffic doesn’t exactly mean you earn more. As such, I am beginning to wonder if using WordPress ads is a scam.

Here’s the thing: If an ad (any ad) is displayed anywhere on my blog, shouldn’t I get paid? They are allowed to insert an ad in my content – literally renting space on my site to display an ad that a company paid them to display. Forget the whole “bidding” thing. Volume shouldn’t matter. If an ad takes space on my site, I should get paid (at minimum) $0.01 per ad. But it looks like they get to rent space for any ad for free, even though they were paid for the advertising by the company purchasing space. If they are randomly generated and randomly displayed, there is nothing to really debate here. If this post has two ads displayed each time it is viewed, I should get paid for the two ads displayed during each view.

But, apparently it doesn’t work that way. Misleading, isn’t it?

A few shots to show a comparison. The first set of pics displays one of the best months I have seen while having ads on my site. As you can see, “Ads Served” doesn’t necessarily mean more income since September 2020 had more ads served but October 2020 had fewer ads but more income. Seems rather random, doesn’t it?

So, that sure makes one wonder when looking at how this whole thing works. Doesn’t it? Here are the test results from (basically) two year later.

August of 2022 saw 846 ads served – the most ever since I set this up – and yet was only paid $0.01. Notice the month prior (July 2022) only 206 ads were served but the earnings were the same as the following month. Yet, June of 2022 saw even fewer ads served but there was triple the earnings.

Got questions now? Yeah, me too. But I am leaning towards WordPress cheating the people they “rent” space from.

They need to pay for ALL ads served. Pure and simple.

You must think…

Posted on January 22, 2021 by backuphill

You must think I am an idiot.

No, seriously, you must think so because you (and that is a collective “you” because there are a lot of you) seem to think I am going to be interested in your stupid money making scheme, scam, hustle, whatever. I don’t care if you’re the heir to a throne and need to dump money to hide in the US. I don’t care if you’re stranded in a foreign land and can’t get home but will double my “gift” when you return home. I don’t care if you have money to give me from some lottery I never entered as long as I pay a fee to get the money. I don’t care if your relatives are sick. I don’t care if you can’t feed your family. I don’t care if your crops or livestock died. I don’t care.

Stop following the blog.

I am not interested and I never will be – no matter how many times you change the name of the blog.

It doesn’t do any good to follow me because I won’t be following you back, not matter how good the “deal” or offer sounds.

So, if you must think I would be interested in your thing, think again.

I’m not.

Boosting BS

Posted on January 19, 2021 by backuphill

There is a commercial out there on TV and probably on your streaming service that has me questioning the whole validity (not that I didn’t already) of credit scores, and the credit services in general.

Have you seen it? The commercial from Experian that says if you go to their site you can get a “credit boost” and raise your credit score simply by following the instructions once you have logged in. *disclaimer: I have not logged in to do this because I don’t need to, so I don’t know the exact steps.*

It’s all a marketing ploy.

As a reminder, this is one of the “big three” credit monitoring services, a for-profit company, so they are one of the companies that reports to other companies about your financial status and health.

Now, they will give you a “boost” for nothing.

Seems weird to me and causes me to ask a several questions: What good are credit scores really if a company can just “boost” it? Are they artificially inflating the numbers to make you (and of course, them) to look better in the consumer’s eye? If they aren’t artificially inflating the numbers, then are they artificially suppressing the numbers in order to give you the “boost” you supposedly deserve?

We are told that your credit score will go up over time if you manage your money well, pay your stuff on time, keep your credit usage level low in regards to your income, and not have companies always inquiring about your credit. This can only be done over time. So, if they can boost your score then time really doesn’t have to be a factor in calculating that credit score.

If they are artificially inflating the number then your credit score really means nothing in regards to accuracy since it doesn’t really reflect your true score.

If they are suppressing your true score so they can gift you a “boost” then your credit score really means nothing in regards to accuracy since it doesn’t really reflect your true score.

Since your credit score has always been based on time and actual financial transactions, either of the two actions above would mean the company is being dishonest about your credit score. Doesn’t it? I can’t think of any other conclusion.

So, either Experian is full of sh*it or your credit score is actually meaningless.

What do you think? Can you think of another conclusion based on this so called “boost”?

Endorsement

Posted on October 13, 2020 by backuphill

These have got to stop because they really mean nothing. There is no credibility in giving an endorsement to a political candidate or issue, and what it really comes down to is that it is used as political manipulation of the populace.

Newspapers, news organizations, journalists, news anchors, media outlets, etc., are all at fault. Not a single one offers any legitimacy in their endorsement because it is an opinion. Opinions have no place in the news media. Period.

Sure, it is an “editorial board” that comes up with these endorsements and is in the “opinion” section of the paper (separate from the news) but that doesn’t really matter when it comes to the endorsement. The opinion is put out there for everyone to read and is readily seen as all the definitive answer about who a citizen should vote for. So, do we really expect that a media outlet that leans one way or the other is going to endorse something out line with their political leanings? In most cases, the media is liberal so their endorsements are going to support liberal candidates.

If you are an educated and informed voter, these endorsements should mean absolutely nothing to you. If you pay any attention to them and put any weight in them, well, quite frankly, you’re not as informed as you think you are. You’re just contributing to the reason why the media continues towards a ever quicker decline in credibility.

You should be seeing them as propaganda and nothing more.

When you see something like an endorsement come out for a political candidate or an issue, ignore it. They aren’t adding anything new to the debate. If you do read it, read it with a handful of salt.

Watch out

Posted on November 22, 2019 by backuphill

scam

Watch out. Someone is trying to jack your stuff and it ain’t cool.

More specifically, after doing a little research (not the info is a little old, but still applies), they are trying to jack your wallet via your phone bill. This is actually called “SMiShing.” Walmart has a whole page about different scams they have seen.

The scary thing here is that the text message had my correct first name and middle initial, I have used the Walmart app and have an online account, and I have recently shopped at the store. So, it would appear legit at first glance.

I am a suspicious person (as in I don’t trust easily) so I didn’t just click on the link they included in the text. However, if you aren’t a suspicious person, you may have just gone right ahead and clicked to see what it was all about – even if you didn’t intend on following through with anything once you got there. Don’t do it.

I have no idea who or what the phone number at the top of the screen shot is. Didn’t call it, but if you are brave you could do it if you like and let me know what happens. I don’t advise it, however.

People who try to scam other people are losers. They are big time jackwagons. They are (insert desired word here). Whatever you want to call them, it just ain’t cool.

Not even a little.

IT department

Posted on August 2, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Leah Kelley on Pexels.com

Chris in IT called yesterday.

From another state. With an accent from a foreign country. Weird, I thought IT was just down the hall…

Anyway, he called to tell me that my computer had a virus and it wasn’t operating at it’s best capability.

I told him I didn’t know that my typewriter could get a virus but was wondering if that is why the “B” key was sticking so badly. I let him know that it would just write an upper case “B” all the way across the page and sometimes I had to take the paper out before it would start the next line.

He said that my typewriter could get a virus…and then hung up. He hung up! That isn’t very good IT service.

Do people really fall for this crap? I supposed people probably do since we keep hearing about it.

Well, Chris from IT, see if you can figure out how to hack my typewriter.

How do you like to mess with these fraud calls or telemarketers? What’s your favorite tactic?

The “shipping and handling” lie

Posted on November 27, 2018 by backuphill

We all know it is a lie and yet we just keep putting up with it because we want our stuff, no matter what it is.

“Shipping and handling” fees are usually tagged on at the very end of ordering something online. They get you all the way through the process only to find out there is that fee…and in most cases the fee is totally outrageous but we’re stuck and they know it.

A prime example is school pictures for your kids. I typically just order the digital image download because they I can have pictures printed as I need them or just for the people who want them. It should be a quick and simple transaction. Instead, there is a company out here (maybe in other places too) that my kid’s school uses that rapes you with the fee.

I am getting a digital download, meaning you have my email address because I am supplying you with a credit card. There is NO REASON to send me a hard copy of anything! Yet, this company insists that you need a hard copy of the “copyright release”. So, they send you, in the mail (that takes a week) for a $1.21, a printed copy of the release and a code so you can download the image. Really? A hard copy?!? You could have sent that in an email, like the second I pressed the button to pay for the photo of my kid.

Nope! Dorian Studios has to send it to you for the tune of $7.00. The photo shows you that clearly it didn’t cost $7 to send the hard copy. Clearly they are making money on the “shipping & handling” when it doesn’t even need to happen in the first place. What a scam and a lie!

#smh