SUMMARY

Adsense CBRss-
Feeds Affiliate-
Sensor ClickBank-
Buddy CBPlugin CBProsense CBEngine Affiliate-
AdServer CBGlobe

modify ad format
at admin panel no no no yes no¹ no no no no

modify font no no no yes yes yes² no no no

modify text, URL &
background colors yes no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes³

Horizontal
Ad blocks yes no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

Square Ad blocks yes n/a yes yes yes yes yes yes no

Image Ad blocks yes no yes (beta) no yes no no no no

Link opens in new
or same window same new same new new new same same new

price free free free free⁴ $67 $69.95⁵ free⁶ $29 free

Ad blocks/page 3 multiple multiple multiple multiple 1 multiple multiple multiple

Ads/block 4 variable 10 variable 5 1-100 1-5 5 1-10

Requires UNIX no no no yes no no no no no

Requires PHP no optional no no no no no yes no

tracking and
reports yes no no no no yes⁷ yes no no

display ads other
than ClickBank yes no no yes⁸ no no no yes no

searchbox yes yes no yes yes yes no no yes

Spidering yes no no no no yes no no no

Notes:
1. CBPlugin can modify only text ad formats at the admin panel.
2. CBProsense can only change font face.
3. CBGlobe can modify border and background colors.
4. ClickBankBuddy is $97 for full version.
5. CBProsense is $69.95 for 6-month subscription, $89.95 for a 1-year subscription.
6. CBEngine is free with a $9.95 3-month subscription.
7. CBProsense provides information on "clicks and impressions".
8. ClickBankBuddy can display non-ClickBank ads with paid version.

Key:

modify ad format at admin panel: Whether ad block styles and formatting can be modified without requiring HTML code to be edited and uploaded to the host. Some can; Adsense can't.

modify font: Whether the font can be changed. Some can't be changed at all, some have a limited range of font sizes and styles.

modify text, URL & background colors: Indicates whether the color elements can be modified. Some can't, some provide whole pallettes for for text, link and background colors.

Horizontal Ad blocks: Whether ads can be displayed side-by-side without resorting to side-by-side adblocks of single ads. All products reviewed can display vertical ad blocks.

Square Ad blocks: Best we can tell, a square (or rectangular) ad block is a squat vertical block; either a single ad or small number of ads, dimensioned to occupy a square or rectangular area.

Image Ad blocks: Indicates whether image ads can be displayed. Of the products reviewed, only CBPlugin can supply image ads (see their "Best Selling" panel).

Link opens in new or same window: Identifies whether a visitor will be taken away from your site by displaying link in the same window, or keep your site's window intact and open a new window for the ad. Using a "new" window means the visitor can still return to your site.

Price: Usually free or a specific price, or free version of a paid product, or free with site membership.

Ad blocks per page: Indicates how many ad blocks the server will allow per page. Adsense limits you to three, CBProsense to 1, other feeds don't indicate a limit, but tests indicate multiple blocks can be supported.
Note: When using multiple adblocks, try to use a different category, sub-category or keywords to ensure you get a different set of ads for each block.

Ads per block: Indicates how many ads can be displayed in a single ad block. Some max out at 5, some at 100 ads. For others the number is largely unknown, but limited by space available on the page, or by number of ads that meet category, sub-category or keyword preferences.

Requires UNIX: Whether the program requires a UNIX or Linux server to run perl in order to execute cgi scripts. For current reviews, only ClickBankBuddy needs perl.

Requires PHP: So far, only one reviewed product can use PHP in place of Javascript; all products reviewed can use Javascript, and one (CBRssFeeds) can optionally execute host-resident PHP scripts.

Display Ads other than ClickBank: Identifies whether the product can handle RSS ad feeds from other database sources.

Searchbox: Whether the program will provide a searchbox for your visitors to use to find products they're interested in.

Spidering: Identifies whether the RSS server will "spider" your site, extracting keywords that will help identify relevant ads to send to your visitor.