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This might be a bit off topic from our usual affiliate marketing news, but I couldn't resist posting this. I came across this advertisement in Fortune Magazine for Unico. I guess they do facilities management, but I thought this was an interesting choice of pictures... Do you see what I see? Maybe this should have been a viagra ad!
I received an email from Yahoo Search Marketing today, it starts out like this:
The purpose of this e-mail is to inform you about the savings you have received for your account(s) due to Pricing Discounts.
So far so good, sounds like I got some money back! The email goes on to explain that pricing discounts are designed to take quality into account in pricing traffic from their partner sites (their content network), and that that we were charged less for some clicks based on this quality indicator. Next the email explains that I have savings and there is an attached spreadsheet detailing those savings. Cool!
The email further says:
Next Steps
We would like to discuss potential opportunities for reinvesting savings you have received as a result of Pricing Discounts, including:
Expanding keyword coverage.
Increasing bids on keywords that are impacted by Pricing Discounts.
Increasing bid on keywords that were otherwise unaffordable.
Adopting new tactics and channels (Advanced Match, Feeds Products).
Please contact your Platinum representative Sothea Keo at sotheak@yahoo-inc.com to answer any questions you may have and to schedule a time to discuss your Pricing Discounts.
All sounds good until I open up the spreadsheet!
| Week of: | Client Name | Account Name | Discount |
| 12/02-12/08/07 | imwave, inc. | imwave (halloween) | $ 2.59 |
Whoopee! I have saved $2.59 in quality discounts. I think I will be reinvesting ALL MY SAVINGS in stamps this year! I can send out 5 holiday cards for that!
Happy Holidays!
We received a note today informing us that Commission Junction has decided to shut down their own affiliate program. Many affiliate networks have affiliate programs that pay for new advertisers and publishers to the network. Not CJ anymore, I guess I will have to remove their banner from Wiseaff.com!
Here is their note:
Dear CJRP Publisher, The Commission Junction Recruiter Program has surpassed the goals set at the start of the program. We would like to thank you for being a part of the Recruiter Program. The business needs for the Recruiter Program have changed, and the decision has been made to close the account. The account is targeted to be closed December 14, 2007, with all publishers set to be expired on December 12, 2007 and final leads batched in prior to closure on the 14th. Commission Junction wishes you much success in your future endeavors with your publisher account at Commission Junction. Thank you, CJFP Program Manager Commission Junction So the program has surpassed it's goals and is being shut down? Is this the same kind of advice they give their advertisers. "Hey, your program is doing great, better than anyone expected, time to shut it down!" Not only does the cobbler's kids have no shoes, they are actually burning the ones they had! Wrong message, wrong decision. Sorry CJ, we still love you...
We are traveling up to Rhode Island this year for the holidays, and Sara and I had discussed the various presents we were going to buy for our children and parents. I found ALL the items I was looking for at Amazon, and everything was "in stock". I put all the items in my shopping cart (well over $1,000) and then re-confirmed the list with Sara. The idea was to pay for gift wrapping and ship everything to our destination to make traveling easier. We were willing to pay for convenience.
Great! So here we were, it wasn't even Dec 1st yet, and we had 80-90% of our gift list done and ready to order, so I started the checkout process.
Guess what? Even though everything was in-stock, Amazon was telling me that 80% of the items wouldn't be able to be shipped to Rhode Island by Christmas (4 weeks away!). I thought maybe they were trying to up-sell the more expensive shipping options, but even with 1 & 2 Day shipping only about 50% of the items would make it by Christmas. I wonder what "in-stock" means to Amazon.
So much for one-stop shopping and convenience, I spent an extra 2-3 hours of my life, found all the items at other stores and had them gift-wrapped and shipped.
Sorry Amazon, you blew it!
I won't even start there next year...
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