Author: adam

  • Heading to Affiliate Summit West 2008

    Affiliate Summit West 2008 is almost here, and I think it is very interesting how social media seems to be at the forefront. Twitter appears to be the conference networking channel of choice, and I have heard rumors of a live twitter feed at the summit that will show any twitter containing ASW08 in it live on the big screen.

    Converseon has a complicated social media contest going trying to turn affiliates into poperatzi hunting down convverseon employees to try and win a desk chair… Oh my! It is interesting how they are using flickr to allow anyone to send in pictures. I have already sent a dealzam logo and a shot of shawn collins in tuxedo from last year’s vip event at the wynn.

    Of course the days are already filled up with meeting requests and the nights with dinners and parties.

    I think I might need a vegas vacation after this one.

    I’m still waiting for SOMEONE to organize an affiliate texas holdem tournament. Not this year I guess. I am willing to donate ALPT.NET to the cause if someone is interested. (affiliate legends poker tournament?) anyone???

    See you in vegas!

    Adam

  • Quick Domain Research for the Affiliate Summit Live Domain Auction

    At the affiliate summit in Vegas, there will be a live domain auction.  Here is a list of some of the premium names that will be auctioned off.  I ran the list quickly through my Domain Research Tool and pulled some facts for you.  Google PR values, Link Popularity values, Estimated Value (Note only based info it has, this is typically low and you can adjust what settings add what value).  DRT can pull a lot more, but I thought you would enjoy this information.

    Domain Name
    Auto-Appraised Value
    Google LP
    Yahoo LS
    Wayback Age
    911parts.com
    $0.00
    *
    1
    2000
    affiliateadvertisingnetworks.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    affiliateconsulting.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    2002
    affiliatelists.com
    $0.00
    *
    1
    1999
    affiliatemarketingcompanies.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    affiliatemarketingdirectories.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    0
    affiliatemarketingmagazines.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    affiliatenetworkdirectories.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    affiliatenetworkmerchants.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    affiliatenetworksales.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    0
    affiliateprogramconsultant.com
    $0.00
    *
    1
    2003
    affiliateprogramconsultants.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    2003
    affiliatetrafficrevenue.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    affililate.com
    $0.00
    *
    1
    0
    cancunflight.com
    $1.00
    0
    *
    2004
    certifieddiamonds.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    2001
    cigaretteattorneys.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    comedians.tv
    $1.00
    2
    1
    0
    computer.us
    $16,028.00
    0
    1
    2002
    con.com
    $576.00
    *
    1
    1998
    consumerprotectionlawyer.com
    $0.00
    *
    11
    2001
    consumerwarranty.com
    $0.00
    *
    1
    2004
    corporateamerica.com
    $100.00
    *
    *
    0
    countrymusicians.com
    $0.00
    *
    2
    2004
    cpc.com
    $626.00
    7
    1
    1996
    democrat.tv
    $208.00
    *
    *
    2007
    dietcookbook.com
    $0.00
    *
    1
    2001
    digitalmemory.com
    $0.00
    1
    *
    1998
    directmailmanagement.com
    $0.00
    *
    5
    2001
    fastshipping.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    2001
    filmlabs.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    1999
    findalender.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    2002
    fineapparel.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    1999
    freshvegetables.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    1999
    garagesales.com
    $289.00
    *
    1
    1999
    greatdeals.com
    $1,484.00
    *
    12
    ?
    hotdatesonline.com
    $31.00
    776
    87
    2002
    lm.com
    $340.00
    *
    *
    1996
    mortgageprovider.org
    $0.00
    0
    0
    0
    motoring.mobi
    $22.00
    *
    *
    0
    musiciansforum.com
    $0.00
    *
    15
    2000
    newswire.net
    $10.00
    0
    1
    2001
    nytheater.com
    $100.00
    *
    2
    1999
    onlinefinanceguide.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    2004
    onlinemedicalguide.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    2004
    ornament.com
    $1,086.00
    *
    *
    1998
    overnightservice.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    1999
    passoverfoods.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    ?
    pay.com
    $123.00
    6
    *
    2000
    peru.tv
    $746.00
    *
    *
    2002
    pianodealer.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    1999
    pitboss.com
    $3.00
    *
    *
    ?
    prospecting.com
    $264.00
    *
    *
    2000
    publicityagent.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    2001
    racehorse.com
    $132.00
    *
    1
    1999
    replicating.com
    $1.00
    *
    0
    2001
    republican.tv
    $228.00
    *
    *
    0
    restorations.com
    $424.00
    0
    *
    1999
    revenueshareaffiliates.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    senorita.net
    $30.00
    *
    *
    2004
    sexeducationclasses.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    0
    sleighs.com
    $0.00
    0
    *
    2001
    snowboardingequiptment.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    0
    staffingonline.com
    $0.00
    *
    *
    1999
    temps.com
    $174.00
    *
    3
    1999
    vintageairplanes.net
    $0.00
    *
    0
    ?
    watchbrokers.com
    $0.00
    *
    1
    2000
    webmastersconference.com
    $0.00
    *
    0
    2005

    If you have never tried D.R.T and you are into domain names, it’s a must have tool.  Take it for a test drive sometime.

  • Imwave launches Beta of DealZam.com

    We are happy to announce our first beta release of DealZam.com!

    This is our first major push into the deals and coupon codes field.  It’s a work in progress, but we would appreciate any feedback and feature ideas for future releases.

  • Invalid Clicks – Affiliate Networks Can Do Better!

    Forgive me for a mini rant here.  I have been dealing with affiliate marketing since 1996, when Amazon started their affiliate program and I owned an ISP called Cyberia in York PA. (Links: Cyberia 1996 | Tony’s Archived Site 1998)

    So, Affiliate Marketing has been around for a while now.  Why is it that the only network I have seen that is able to show me an invalid click report is Commission Junction?

    How hard is it to track the links that come through the network that not working because of dead links, inactive merchants, or disabled programs?

    This is invaluable information folks!

    When I log in to CJ today, it shows 6 invalid clicks, and I can tell that Earthlink (oddly enough the company who ultimately acquired Cyberia through a series of acquisitions) is no longer an active merchant on CJ and I have an old outdated link getting clicks on my Great-ISP-Deals.com site.

    Now I can take action to either remove them from my site, or figure out if they moved their program somewhere else.

    In the past CJ used to link those bad links to a "No longer active page", but appears to now pass the old expired link and traffic on to the merchant without compensation.  I am not so sure how I fell about that personally.  It makes it harder for me to identify bad links when I click on them, but can understand it’s a better user experience.

    Honestly, I think that if they are not going to pay us for the traffic, than it should be up to the affiliate how this invalid traffic is passed, it might be nice to actually let us define a url where the traffic goes so we can track it and monetize it, after all it’s OUR TRAFFIC, not theirs.

    What do the rest of you think?

    1. All networks should have an invalid click report, and show this number of invalid clicks on the login screen or via a daily email.

    2. Networks should not pass non-monetizing outdated links on to the merchant for free, they should let the affiliates define a URL where we would like this traffic sent so it can be monetized and tracked.

  • More Merger Mania!

    Yahoo / Microsoft
    comScore, Inc. came out with a media advisory today showing that the total world wide visitors of a combined Yahoo & Microsoft’s websites would have exceeded Google’s site visitors in December of 2007 by 77 million visitors.   However in the share of search traffic, Google would still lead with 58.4% U.S. market share and 62.4% worldwide vs. Yahoo & Microsoft’s combined 32.7% U.S., and a 15.7% search market share worldwide.

    AOL / Buy.at
    After having been rejected in their $900 million bid to by Tradedouber, AOL announced today that they have acquired Buy.at, a smaller competitor to Tradedoubler.  The terms of the deal are currently undisclosed.   Buy.at is the fifth advertising acquisition AOL has made in the past 12 months. (more info…)

  • Microsoft makes a $45B Bid for Yahoo (MSFT / YHOO)

    Microsoft made a bid of $31 per share for Yahoo today, valuing the deal at almost $45B.  This represents a 62% increase from Yahoo’s closing price yesterday.   This just after Terry Semel announced he would leave the board of directors, and Yahoo stock touches 4-year low.

    Microsoft and Yahoo explored ways to work together in late 2006 and early 2007, but Yahoo rejected the idea of being taken over.

    Yahoo’s stock has been troubled since 2000, dropping more than 80% from it’s high of 101.81.  Yahoo’s most recent high was 33.36 in October of 2007.  At $31 per share, Microsoft’s tender offer is clearly attempting to take advantage of Yahoo’s recent tough times and the current stock market uncertainties.

    Here are some links to some of the best coverage:

  • Wiseaff for Sale at Affiliate Summit

    This year at the Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas, they have decided to create a Super Affiliate Auction to support the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, a non-profit organization helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities.   

    Here are the details from the Summit site:

    Super Affiliate Auction

    Eight of the most eligible super affiliates will be up for grabs during Affiliate Summit’s First Annual Super Affiliate Auction to benefit the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation.

    Merchants, affiliate networks, CPA networks, technology providers and more will bid for the opportunity to meet and dine with one or more elite, hand-picked super affiliates to discuss affiliate marketing during Affiliate Summit 2008 West.

    I am honored to be on their list of eight and to participate for such a good cause.  So if your going to be in Vegas, and have always wanted to dine with a Wiseaff, bid away. 

    See you in Vegas!

    Other sites talking about the auction:

  • Interesting Choice of Imagery

    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!

  • Amazing Yahoo Search Marketing Pricing Discounts!

    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!

  • Has Commission Junction lost faith in Affiliate Marketing?

    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…