I also like to see a reminder about the password requirements BEFORE I submit once. If it's a 6-character minimum, tell me up front so I can use that password instead of my 5-character one.
 

I totally agree with both your observation and Matt's.

I'll also add that I'd like all login forms to retain the username on the page that displays the login error message. Don't make me type it again...
 

Matt,

Password creation is another worthwhile topic. I use the genpass javascript password generator, which creates secure passwords from a master key.

http://labs.zarate.org/passwd/

Sites with random restrictions on which characters must or must not appear can be very annoying. And yes, many of them don't tell you why they aren't accepting your passwords...
 

I have been on a steep Google AdSense, AdWords, MFA, arbitration, parked domain learning curve lately.

And I have to say that I just love, love, love your blog.

What did it for me was when you told the supposed Ad Sense expert that there was no way Google was giving publishers 78%.

Well, duh. I was totally stunned that so many people, including the "expert," said, "Yeah, sounds right to me."

You are a voice of sanity in a crazy world.

And I wonder if I could ask you a question I still can't find/figure out the answer to?

Why do Google and Yahoo allow ads on parked domains? It seems like it's been a PR disaster and why not have placed the ads on legit sites instead? Were there not enough legit sites wanting to publish ads? Did they need to use the domains because they had pent-up demand? And why don't they just end it all now before they do any more damage?
 

Ann, thanks for the compliment.

I'd say parked domains make a ton of money for G and Y!. There have been recent studies that show that type-in traffic (i.e. to parked domains) converts damned well.

Google is trying a bit to clean up its act, and it does keep it's parking practices pretty quiet. So maybe they will change eventually. Yahoo, on the other had spams the world with Overture feeds. At least with Google, as an AdWords advertiser, you can opt out of placing ads on parked domains.

Anyways, the whole "parked domains is evil" thing isn't something I subscribe to. I'm on the Frank Schilling side of things there. see: http://sevenmile.com for his blog.
 

Yeah, they do make a ton of money, but why not put the ads on real pages where presumably they would make the same amount of money and not piss people off?

I've read different interpretations of how "direct navigation" converts. Apparently the high conversion rates are due to lumping together bookmarks, e-mailed referrals and type-in.

I don't think domains are evil but if they're causing you problems -- which they are obviously causing Google -- why not just cut them loose?

And Yahoo makes so much money from them and has so many other problems, that I guess it's really going to hurt when it quits its domain dependency.