Affiliate or CPA Spam?
Looks like the “affiliate spammers” are starting early at Penn State University.
Although, this is more of a CPA network offer (email/lead based) than an affiliate offer, but few people in online marketing can actually cite the difference between affiliate and cpa, let alone innocent bystanders who get creamed with this sort of unsolicited garbage.
Penn State Affiliate Marketer Spamming Fellow Students: “I can’t believe someone on the PSU domain is spamming me with an affiliate offer. I received this email from the President of ‘PSU Free Student Offers.’ This character named Samantha Volley is obviously fake, and I confirmed it because the name is not in the Penn State Directory or even Facebook.”
Again, this raises the Calacanis Keynote question of how to “clean up” the affiliate industry but also brings in the interesting component of how affiliates should kick their often less-than-honorable lead based cousins to the curb…
GeekCast Episode 3: Racing Stripes
Shawn Collins, Jim Kukral and Sam Harrelson expound on web celebs, affiliate network interfaces, iJustine and Jim's GuyLights (about an hour)
Show Notes
- TechCrunch Presidential Endorsements: TechCrunch
- Spammer Sam: CostPerNews
- ShowYourAdHere.com: 45n5
- Shawn in Middle of CJ/Pepperjam Spat: Pepperjam Blog
- Super Affiliates For Sale: Affiliate Summit Blog
- Zac Johnson Doing it Right: Zac Johnson’s Blog
- Jim is a Twitter Hater: Jim Kukral’s Blog
- Affiliate Summit Exhibitors Are Missing Out (By Not Doing Video)
Visit GeekCast.fm for More Great Geek Marketing Podcasts!
CPA to Eventually Beat Out CPC?
Forget the age old CPA networks vs affiliate networks argument.
What about CPA vs CPC? That argument stirs up fun fighting words.
Aaron Goldman has an interesting piece on SearchInsider about this issue and the potential for macroeconomic trends to have a very real impact on the search and direct response industries:
Will CPA Get its Day?
There are a couple macro trends that lead me to believe a move to CPA might be in the cards. The first is consolidation in the space. For the first time, each of the Big 3 owns reputable ad serving technology. Not only does this provide access to conversion activity, but it delivers more reliable data that marketers will accept for billing purposes. The second is a movement toward transparency that’s pervading all facets of the marketing landscape. The inherent conflicts within GoogleClick, MicQuantive, and YahRightMedia demand a level of transparency heretofore unseen in the search space. There is simply no more transparent pricing model than CPA.
My take is that it is clear that marketers across the board have yet to realize the impact that CPA can have on the overall market economy given the reliance of more and more web2.0, mobile, video or social platforms on response instead of click or impression.
Clearly, there’s a need for improved and evolved metrics in online marketing. I think CPA could be hinting at the possible future of all online advertising and marketing.
Thoughts?
Are Affiliate Networks Doomed?
Can an affiliate network grow so large that it loses contact and communication with its affiliate base?
Yes.
Can that loss of contact and communication drive away affiliates who are looking for better relationships and communities in which to find suitable ways to monetize their inventory?
Yes.
There is a great deal of content and inventory waiting to be monetized. Why haven’t many of the larger networks been able to adequately monetize the inventory available on blogs, podcasts, widgets, RSS, social networks and video?
Because they have grown too large.
So what will the online or affiliate network look like in 5-10 years?
It will be smaller, leaner, meaner and focused on a relationship with just a few merchants with a niche focus and the ability to monetize inventory across a variety of channels. These will slowly replace the large one size fits all, one stop shopping networks which have loomed over the landscape since the inception of affiliate marketing.
Environmental conditions dictate evolution, and we are in for the age of the smaller and smarter network in the coming decade.
Sponsored by:
Register for Affiliate Summit 2007 East Miami - July 8-10, 2007
PREMIUM Contributors:
AffStat 2007, SecondLifeVideo.com, Marketing Resources at Cumbrowski.com
Contributors:
ShareASale, AffiliateTip Blog, WaynePorter.com, 5 Star Affiliate Forums, Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Jim Kukral Caddy 4 Hire, Mike Payne - PartnerPerform.com
Tumblr: Useful Tool?
Twitterin’ luminaries such as Merlin Mann, Robert Scoble, Steve Wozniak and (especially) Leo Laporte have been debating the merits and usefulness of Tumblr over the weekend (see what you’re missing out by not using Twitter?).
Leo and Merlin are big fans and have set up their own Tumblr sites. Scoble and Woz seem less than enthusiastic so far…
Scobleizer What the heck is a Tumblelog and why do we need yet another blogging tool?
stevewozniak tested out Tumblr… but I think that I have to much stuff to keep updated already
What is Tumblr?
A tumblelog platform.
What are tumblelogs?
To make a simple analogy: If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks.
You can also look at tumblelogs as slightly more structured blogs that make it easier, faster, and more fun to post and share stuff you find or create.
Blogs are great, but they can be a lot of work. And they’re really built to handle longer-form text posts. Tumblelogs, on the other hand, let you easily and quickly post and share anything you find or create.
I’ve set one up athttp://sam.tumblr.com/.
So, in a world of blogs and Twitter, is there a place for Tumblr?
I’m still not sure, but I think so… imagine a network such as ShareASale, CJ or Linkshare offering a tumblelog platform where affiliates or merchants could post random thoughts in a scrapbook like scenario, complete with RSS feeds. Could be powerful for community nurturing.
[Edit: Dane Morgan has some worthwhile thoughts about Tumblr on his blog… well worth the read!]
Sponsored by:
Register for Affiliate Summit 2007 East Miami - July 8-10, 2007
PREMIUM Contributors:
AffStat 2007, SecondLifeVideo.com, Marketing Resources at Cumbrowski.com
Contributors:
ShareASale, AffiliateTip Blog, WaynePorter.com, 5 Star Affiliate Forums, Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Jim Kukral Caddy 4 Hire, Mike Payne - PartnerPerform.com
Wiki Marketing?
Wiki’s are difficult to describe because they are so versatile. However, they can improve your marketing program’s effectiveness.
Wikipedia’s definition covers most of the bases…
A wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.kiː] or [ˈwiː.kiː] [1]) is a website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change available content, typically without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring.
However, Wikipedia is not the best example of a wiki. Jason Calacanis has pointed out the technological obscurification that exists on the platform, and for the most part, I agree with him. The barriers to participating at Wikipedia are extremely high and require the ability to interact using platforms such as IRC and html markup language, that most citizens of the globe have little knowledge (or concern) for.
So, let’s at some good examples of what a wiki can do:
- SpursLine: A wiki set up for fans of the San Antonio Spurs
- ProductWiki: A wiki where people share information about consumer products.
- WikiTravel: Travel wiki built, updated and maintained by travel enthusiasts
- WikiHow: collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest how-to manual.
Individuals love wiki’s. I’ve realized that students love wiki’s in my college classes. Conference attendees love wiki’s. Even pinko marketers love wiki’s.
Affiliate networks, CPA networks and merchants should be using wiki’s.
Why?
- Community involvement nurtures community
- Forums and blogs are great, but wiki’s enable collaboration and involvement
- Transparency breeds respect and influence
- Working together makes for a better product or service
- Democracy always trumps meritocracy: let everyone be heard
Perhaps one of the most exciting news I’ve heard about wiki’s (since Google’s acquisition of JotSpot and PBWiki’s recent funding round) is the partnership between 30boxes and PBWiki. I was one of the first to sign up for the beta testing of 30boxes and I’ve been in love with the service for well over a year. In my opinion (and the opinion of my non-tech savvy wife), it blows away Google Calendar.
As the 30boxes blog lays out,
“It’s a great match. They get a best-in-class calendar app and we get to provide another use case for our technology as well as an ability to market into their user base.
It is perfect for workgroups, teachers, committees, heck, anyone with a wiki probably needs a calendar.”
So, if you’re a network or merchant looking to nurture your community, start your wiki. Chances are you’ll learn a great deal about your service, you’ll improve your service, and you’ll allow for the organic and spontaneous growth of a dedicated affiliate base around your network. That’s powerful!
If I were in charge of community development in a network, or at all concerned with how healthy of an affiliate community existed around my network, I’d set up a wiki right now.
Sponsored by:
Register for Affiliate Summit 2007 East Miami - July 8-10, 2007
PREMIUM Contributors:
AffStat 2007, SecondLifeVideo.com, Marketing Resources at Cumbrowski.com
Contributors:
ShareASale, AffiliateTip Blog, WaynePorter.com, 5 Star Affiliate Forums, Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Jim Kukral Consultant 4 Hire, Mike Payne - PartnerPerform.com
Google Apps for Bloggers or Affiliates
There’s no shortage of coverage of the launch of Google Apps Premier Edition.
However, it seems that very few bloggers are thinking beyond the “Google vs Microsoft” mentality and really considering how this application shakes things up (or doesn’t).
Even fewer bloggers seem to be actually trying out the service to see if it is worth the hype or if it is applicable for specific niches, such as affiliate marketing or blogging.
I signed up for a premiere account this morning for CostPerNews and have been playing with the interface and offerings to see if there’s any potential impact on the way we do business in affiliate marketing or the blogging world.
In short, the answer is no.
“Google Apps for Affiliate Marketers” or “Google Apps for Bloggers” would be composed (in my mind) of:
- GMail (email)
- Google Reader (feed reading)
- Google Analytics (stats, metrics, AdWords optimization)
- Google AdSense (money)
- Google AdWords (traffic)
- Google Webmaster Central (sitemaps, site optimizaton)
- Google Docs and Spreadsheets (invoices, stat sheets, IO’s)
- Google Calendar (appointments, reminders, meetings)
and
- Anything But Blogger (for blogging… I’d suggest Wordpress.com)
Those services are all available for free. If you have a Google account, you can synchronize them fairly easily.
Google Apps becomes a viable option (even though it’s only $50) at the 10 or more employee situation. In that circumstance, I’d definitely suggest taking a closer look at Google Apps and seriously considering the savings compared to Office and Microsoft products. With the offline addition of Open Office, there’s no reason that Google Apps can’t seriously compete with Microsoft in the office setting.
Here’s the run down on what Google Apps does offer for those interested:
The interface is clean and quick, nice and easy. The age of the “tech guy/gal” is quickly coming to an end in that respect. If you can navigate GMail, you can work this system.
The ability to customize, configure API’s and decide on whether or not to serve ads are compelling features for the corporate marketing and network sector.
Are there any affiliate networks or CPA networks considering making the move to Google Apps?
In my opinion, they should strongly consider. Affiliates and bloggers, however, should continue to make use of the free (and wonderful) resources already available from Google.
Sponsored by:
Register for Affiliate Summit 2007 East Miami - July 8-10, 2007
PREMIUM Contributors:
AffStat 2007, SecondLifeVideo.com, Marketing Resources at Cumbrowski.com
Contributors:
ShareASale, AffiliateTip Blog, WaynePorter.com, 5 Star Affiliate Forums, Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Jim Kukral Consultant 4 Hire, Mike Payne - PartnerPerform.com
Affiliates, CPA Networks, List Suppression and Legitimacy
Last Saturday, I wrote a post concerning the need for better supression lists from online marketing (specifically CPA) networks. The post stated the need for better communication between networks and publishers in the context of these supression lists.
This is especially pertinent to email marketers and publishers dealing with direct marketing methods who rely upon suppression lists to stay within the bounds of the law, and who are dealing with a different sort of data than a traditional affilaite marketer placing ads which have been pulled from an affiliate network such as ShareASale, Commission Junction or Linkshare.
These types of affiliates or publishers are most likely making the bulk of their revenue from the world of CPA networks.
In response to that post, I’ve received a few interesting email suggestions from readers, but I wanted to highlight two of the commenters on that post because of the similarity of their suggestions for a certain service…
Ross V. of Xeriton Corporation wrote:
We battled internally whether or not to even deal with affiliates or opt-in DM’ers who couldn’t handle MD5 suppression lists, much less allow them to mail at all. Of course, it meant losing all of those sales and that’s not an option. But here’s what we did: we began to use UnsubCentral’s APIs to distribute our suppression lists to affiliates in a way that worked for everybody. Advertiser doesn’t have MD5? No problem, their UnsubScrub application pings your suppression list and looks for those on your mailing list. It’s been a god-send for us because the affiliate never actually sees your list and there is not of that awkward back and forth “list tango” between publisher and affiliate. The genius of it is that the risk factor vanishes. Do yourself a favor and look into UnsubCentral.
and Jack Hogan of LifeScript agreed…
We use UnsubCentral for our external suppresion list management. They have an API that makes real time updates simple and centralizied. It makes it really easy for us to work with our affiliates and affiliate networks. Also, the suppresion lists that affliates use are encrypted with MD5 so no worries of list harvesting. You should check them out.
If you are unfamiliar with the UnsubCentral product, the homepage spells it out in clear language:
UnsubCentral, Inc. offers solutions to manage the opt-out processes for:
- Third-party & joint email campaigns
- Refer-a-friend programs
- One-to-one emails sent from sales personnel
- Synchronizing suppression lists across email delivery systems and service providers
All UnsubCentral suppression components are designed to snap on to the client’s centralized suppression list, hosted on the UnsubCentral system.
There is even a testimonial by MarketingSherpa’s Anne Holland on the frontpage, so the service screams legitimacy.
However, do automated, and evidently well put together programs such as Unsubcentral, help to validate email marketing and direct marketing practices in the eyes of general affiliate marketing?
In other words, could legitimation of (what should be) simple things such as suppression list technology help to bridge the ever widening gap between the email marketing crowd along with the CPA networks that cater to them and the more traditional affiliate crowd?
Having been on both sides of the fence, I think the largest obstacle for affiliates and CPA networks to overcome is this question of legitimacy and ethical practice.
If CPA networks can show that they are scum ware free, include unique offers and be trustworthy in their unsub process for email marketers, then I think they can gain general affiliate acceptance. If affiliates can show targeted traffic and the ability to market to either niche crowds or open up channels previously unavailable to the networks, then more traditional affiliate marketers can find a revenue generating place within the CPA networks.
It seems that no one is talking about this great divide which still separates our industry. Let’s figure out how to bridge the gap.
Sponsored by:
Register for Affiliate Summit 2007 East Miami - July 8-10, 2007
PREMIUM Contributors:
AffStat 2007, SecondLifeVideo.com, Marketing Resources at Cumbrowski.com
Contributors:
ShareASale, AffiliateTip Blog, WaynePorter.com, 5 Star Affiliate Forums, Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Jim Kukral Consultant 4 Hire, Mike Payne - PartnerPerform.com
Is Network CrossPublication Effective?
The DirectTrack affiliate platform includes a feature known as CrossPublication.
CrossPublication™ is a community for DirectTrack® clients to promote one another’s offers.
• ONLY DirectTrack™ users can participate
• Over 400 current offers available
• Over 10 Billion ads per month are served through CrossPublication
• Access to over 213 + Affiliate or CPA Networks can promote offers
• Any type of offer can be CrossPublished including CPS, CPA, CPC, CPM, or hybrid payouts
• Only one tracking code needed – reporting is synced up in the background between the two DirectTrack® systems
• All creatives, marketing materials, and suppression information is instantly passed to the Networks once an offer is CrossPublished
• NO FEES – We do not charge to use CrossPublication™
There are well over 200+ (and growing daily) affiliate or CPA networks using DirectTrack as the basis of their technologies. Is this a selling feature for new networks interested in finding a suitable affiliate interface? Aren’t we limiting the CPA side of affiliate marketing to filler material for new networks by promoting such features?
Does CrossPublication create more problems and complications for merchants rather than revenue (as I think it does)?
In other words, how many merchants or affiliates (not networks) actually utilize and prosper from CrossPublication?
Sponsored by:
Register for Affiliate Summit 2007 East Miami - July 8-10, 2007
PREMIUM Contributors:
AffStat 2007, SecondLifeVideo.com
CostPerLove Contributors:
ShareASale, AffiliateTip Blog, WaynePorter.com, 5 Star Affiliate Forums, Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Jim Kukral Consultant 4 Hire
Vertrue Acquires NeverBlue
NeverBlue Ads, a Canadian performance marketing CPA network, has been acquired by fellow Canadian online marketing firm Vertrue. Also part of the acquisition is Neverblue Media’s sister company PhoneInterviewed.com, Inc., a direct phone contact center. Vertrue currently owns two other subsidiary companies based out of Canada, including the popular online dating services company, Lavalife Inc.
Neverblue Media will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Vertrue.
“We are excited to have Neverblue Media as a new subsidiary of Vertrue. Neverblue Media brings with them a specialized knowledge of the online marketplace and will be an integral part of bringing Vertrue into new areas of the Internet,” said Gary Johnson, President and CEO of Vertrue.
“We believe that this is a great opportunity to continue to service all of Neverblue Media’s current clients and further expand our client portfolio through Vertrue’s direct marketing expertise,” said Todd Dunlop, President of Neverblue Media.
2007 continues to bring about more acquisitions in the online ad space. Things will only continue to heat up as we enter the Spring months shortly. So, let’s start a wager on which CPA or affiliate networks will be acquired in the coming months.
Even their names rhyme (like possible future acquisitions??)…
