We’ve just released a new version of AdSenseLog. Google has made some changes in the login procedure, which required us to change something in AdSenseLog. You can download the new version now.

I’m happy to announce our latest release - AdSenseLog 4.5.4

It’s just a small update. We have added the ability to get EPC/CTR/eCPM statistics in the summary view, e-mails and SMS messages. Other than that there are some minor bug fixes.

More information, and the download can be found here.

We have just released AdSenseLog 4.5.3.

The reason for this new version? Recent changes that Google made to the AdSense account page. The login procedure has changed a bit, and the downloadbale CSV files (which AdSenseLog uses) were changed too - a new “averages” line was added.

So we had to make the appropriate changes to AdSenseLog. It now works, and can be downloaded here.

MyMicroISV (Bob Welsh) wrote a review about the Metalgrass web site.

It’s never easy to get criticized, but that was an interesting review, and should be read by anyone who is in the shareware busienss (this also goes for Bob’s excellent book). I’ll have to find the time and see if I can implement some changes that he suggests. Thanks Bob, for taking the time to review the web site!

When you work in a team, obviously you need some sort of Source/Version control. I’ve used two such tools - Microsoft SourceSafe, and Perforce. Perforce was a great tool, by the way, much better than SourceSafe.
On smaller software projects though, it’s not so straightforward to use a version control software, as it can be slow and can complicate your work. But it also has advantages even when you work alone.

I decided to take a look at a new version control software - SubVersion. It’s open source, free, and I have heard good things about it. Installation was quick and easy. I also installed a neat client called TortoiseSVN, which integrates into your windows explorer. There’s also a good Plugin for eclipse (which I use for PHP and Java development). SVN uses the Apache server, so if you already have it working, it’s easy to install.
So after only a few hours I had my latest PHP project working with SVN. I have yet to integrate it with Delphi (and I’m not sure if I can) for windows development.

Google changed the payment history page in the AdSense page. We had to quickly release a patch for AdSenseLog that suppports this. We also fixed another small bug, and also finally got rid of the need to specify whether your account is ‘updated’ or not (Which many users simply do not know). Hence, AdSenseLog 4.5.1

I want to recommend a book, for anyone who is thinking about starting a software company.

The book is called Micro-ISV, from vision to reality.

Most of the information is very useful whether you are setting a web service company or a desktop software company. It has some technical bits (how should you design the page, how to approach sales or marketing, how to do bug tracking, etc.) but the best parts are interviews with people who already started their own company. The author talks to all sorts of people - co-founders of succesful companies, and people who have just started. There are also interviews with people from Google, Microsoft and other companies that can help you with your business and marketing ventures.
It gives a lot of motivation - which is something that is really required when you work these long hours alone at your product.

AdSenseLog 4.5.0 was released today. The major new feature in 4.5.0 is the helper module. The helper includes two features - messages and markers.

We have also upped the limit of the free version to 100$. That means that if you earn less than 100$ monthly, AdSenseLog is free!

The new version is a free upgrade to all the users who registered in the past year. Upgrading for other users is just 20$.

AdSenseLog 4.5.0 details

In addition, we have opened new private AdSense forums. It’s private because only registered AdSenseLog users may enter the discussion. We hope that these will provide a sort of ‘professional’ club of AdSense publishers.

AdSenseLog 4.5.0 is now in beta with several clients. Hopefully it will be released soon.

It includes a couple of exciting new features, that I hope will be useful for AdSense publishers.

Stay tuned!

AdSense EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) is now available in Israel. This is pretty exciting. It means that -

• The deposit will be much faster. Usually it takes around 10 days for the check to arrive, and then after you deposit it, it takes 14 business days (!) for the check to “clear” in the bank (Because it’s a US check). And then another day or so to change the money from USD to Israeli Shekels. Altogether about a month and half earlier!
• It will actually be cheaper. You don’t have to pay check-deposit-fee (3$), and because Google deposits in Shekels, it means that you don’t have to pay US-to-IS conversion fee. Also, they say they use better conversion rates than the banks.
• It will be safer - no more checks in the mail…

So good news altogether. I opted in, my account was already verified (They send a small test deposit, and it arrived OK).

Not it means that about 1 day after I see the payment in AdSenseLog (There’s a payment-view report), I’ll have the money in my account.