Partner Spotlight: Online Alarm Kur

onlinealarmkur.com is a free, browser-based platform that makes it easy to set alarms and manage your time without installing anything. Users can choose a time, select a sound, name their alarm, and receive a notification when it goes off. Beyond alarms, the site offers a range of handy tools including timers, stopwatches, countdowns, world clocks, date and age calculators, and more.

This month, we sat down with the site’s creator, Burak, who was inspired to build Onlinealarmkur.com while he was a student struggling to wake up on time. What started as a simple personal solution quickly grew into a hugely popular website. In this spotlight, we explore the story behind the platform, Burak’s favourite aspects of running it, and his advice for new and aspiring publishers.

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1. What inspired you to start your site, and what was the first big “win” that made you feel like you were onto something?

"When I was a computer engineering student, I always had trouble waking up, and both the traditional and online alarm solutions at the time did not meet my expectations. I also was not enjoying my university lectures, my grades were not that great, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could build something on my own. I taught myself web development through online documentation and Stack Overflow, then created my first website. It became my path. My first "win" was unexpected. I added a comments section without expecting much, but it became incredibly active. So active, in fact, that I eventually had to shut it down because moderation became a part-time job. That is how I realized real people were actually using my website, not robots."

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2. Running a site can be a wild ride, what's one unexpected challenge you've faced, and how did you overcome it?‍

"The biggest challenge is definitely Google core updates. When I first started, I did not even know they existed. I thought web development was just "try, fail, improve". Then I discovered there is a whole other layer beyond the standard search algorithm. You can guess what is happening, but you never really know. Staying competitive requires constant learning and adapting. Like a snake shedding its skin, you sometimes need to reinvent yourself. Otherwise, you simply fall behind."

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3. What’s your favorite part of the day-to-day work you do on your site, and what’s something people might not realize goes into it?

"I love answering emails and adding features that users request. Even if it is something a single user asks for, I try to implement it. Making people happy makes me happy too. As for what people do not realize, there are many edge cases you solve behind the scenes. Everything looks like a simple utility website, but there are so many details, and most of them are learned the hard way, after making mistakes, to be honest."

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4. What advice would you give to someone thinking about launching their own site today?

"Experiment a lot and accept failure. Most people think whatever they are doing is the only correct way, but that mindset holds you back. To succeed with websites, you need patience, seriously, a lot of it. Try things, fail, learn, and keep going."

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5. How has working with Publisher Collective helped your site grow or evolve?

"I think, beyond the obvious (better ad setup and great technology) having a dedicated team that actually understands publishers has made a real difference."

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6. Is there anything we’ve done in particular that you’ve loved?

"Great people and great company culture. Everyone I have interacted with has been nice. They always respected my decisions and never pushed for more ads like most other companies do, they care about UX as much as I do. Special thanks to my account manager Martyna."