Affiliate Marketing Blog by James Little

If you managed to catch yesterdays article focused around brand name bidding then you may remember that the second part of the article was still to come and on another hot topic in the affiliate industry - merchant de-duping.

For those of you that are unaware it’s potentially worth reminding us all what I mean by de-duping before going on to talk about how I feel that it’s a disgrace that networks let merchants get away with it.

Imagine for a moment the following customer journey€¦

A web user, who we’ll call Bob, decides that they are in the market for a widget and goes searching on the web for different widget reviews to find the right one.  After spending a long time finding what he feels is the right widget Bob eventually clicks on the link to widgetstore.com.  He decides that he is not going to pay straight away (maybe he does not have the cash till pay day, maybe he wants to check with his wife, Margret first - who knows).  A few days later Bob decides to go ahead with it but as he didn’t bookmark the widget review site he searches for widgetstore.com and clicks on their PPC advert.

Bob pays for the item and is happy to find out that his item will be delivered in just a few days time.  Bob is happy, Widgetstore.com is happy but all of a sudden the Widget review site owner is not.

What happened, I hear you cry?  Well the agency that looks after the widgetstore.com marketing has decided that the sale did not originate from the widget review site, even if the cookie triggered, they have decided that it was of course their hard work in bidding on the widgetstore.com brand name that got the customer into buying mode and rejected the affiliate sale for that very reason - makes their CPA look a little bit lower too.

I may use a little comedy above but the reality is far from funny.   As merchants and agencies €œget smart€ more de-duping is done both network and client side and it’s not just brand terms in my mind that are unjustifiably causing affiliates to lose out on commission.

Yes - we all know that the last click €œwins€ is an industry standard but the issue here is massive and brings more questions than answers, here’s a few that I have..

1)    Why should content affiliates who spend hours and hours every day writing quality comparisons like the ones on widgets suffer and lose out because of multiple activity occurring.
2)    What kind of response do you think you would get from google if you tried to claw back the valid fees because of de-duplication?
3)    Why should affiliate networks sit on their back and let this happen?
4)    Why do affiliates have to put up with this crap.

I work in an agency and would never dream of doing this.  Here is an example of how we work it.

We work on an affiliate campaign and a huge PPC campaign with a sports retailer.  As part of the reporting process we look for duplications of order numbers across both the affiliate and PPC campaign.

We report back to the client on this happening and explain (quite rightly) that affiliates should not be screwed over just because the customer was not in €œbuy€ mode.  We explain that if we were to start reversing sales then less and less content affiliates would be in business and eventually it would get harder to get the sales in the first place.

Report - do not punish!

So how does it get sorted?

I think networks need to take a stance here and stop letting the retailers think they can get away with this; perhaps there is a better level of tracking required to stop it from causing problems and perhaps the last click wins needs to be revisited.

At the very, very, very minimum I think that the industry needs to ensure that the situation above in relation to widgetstore.com does not happen - perhaps de-duping will never go away but it should not happen on the brand name level like it is now.

Obviously the 3-2 loss to Croatia a few nights ago may still be a sore point for a few of us and whilst I’ve never really enjoyed being the bearer of bad news it’s fair to say that the loss wont be going away anytime soon.

It is expected that the own goal by England will cost the country over £2bn and affiliates will be one of the ones to foot the bill after the British Retail Consortium predicted that they would have seen an extra £1.2bn in sales if England had qualified.

So what does this mean for affiliate sites I hear you ask?

Here are some of the things that customers may no longer be rushing to the shops for next year:

• HD Widescreen TV’s/DVD Recorders (multiple programs)
• Pizzas (Pizza hut launched/launching soon?)
• Replica shirts (multiple programs)
• Collectables / Patriotic items (multiple programs)

Let’s hope that the next manager has more luck in getting us qualified for the next world cup.

I’ve mentioned it on the affiliates4u forum and on the Altogether Ads blog so through I might as well go all out and put it on here as well!

There is just 22 days left to be part of the first prize draw of the Altogether Ads golden ticket campaign.

(Above is the Mazda RX8 - not the best photo of it but shown in white especially for Kieron)

To recap, Altogether Ads are giving away 15 golden tickets over the next few months.  The ticket contains a £200 cheque and a VIP ticket to an event being organised later next year where each of the 15 winners will battle it out on stage and one of them will walk away will walk away with a brand new Mazda RX8 to keep for life.

Altogether Ads believe it’s the largest value prize ever to have been given away as an affiliate incentive in the UK.

The first ticket will be given away in a prize draw to any affiliate that signs up by the end of November 07.

You can find out more about Altogether Ads at www.altogetherads.com

This is neat.  It’s been announced today that BT (British Telecom for those who were unaware) have partnered up with FON - a Spanish Wifi company.

Ultimately the partnership with see “hundreds of thousands” of Wifi hotspots created across the UK with the vision to give the whole nation free Wifi internet, well, BT customers at least.

A friend of mine, who ended up moving to Wales and living on a farm, once started a small Wireless network across an area of Blackpool a few years ago and even back then when less people had wireless it seemed to do well - this is certainly the kind of news that could convince people to switch back to the troubled phone operator.

It’s also worth noting that not only will BT customers get access to the UK hotspots, but also in countries all over the world.

If you’re a broadband affiliate in the UK it may well be worth updating your sites as this is a major new selling point.

Well done BT & Fon!

If you are an affiliate, affiliate manager, network employee or agency worker then the chances are that you are registered for the a4uexpo at the end of October.  The event is hosted on the 25th/26th October in the London Excel centre and looks by all accounts to be a right corker!

I’ll be standing around for most of the day on the altogether stall but aside from that here are some of the sessions I’m looking forward to attending..

Day 1:

11.30-12.30: Let’s Get Social

The Affiliate 2.0 Session. Uncovering how affiliates are uniquely placed to profit from Blogging, Viral and Social Marketing. Real life practical examples on facebook applications, bebo and second life. With an update on what’s hot this Autumn.

NB.  This one is with our SEO/Social Director, Ciaran Norris & the famous Lee McCoy.  A must.

13.00-13.45: Ad Exchanges & Ad Marketplaces Uncovered

This session will introduce you to the emerging world of Ad Exchanges & Marketplaces. Starting with an explanation on how ad exchanges & marketplaces work, the session will take you through how advertisers and to publishers can benefit from using an ad exchange.

14.00-15.00: Meet the Super Affiliates

Driving sales of over £500 Million for their merchants last year, these super affiliates answer your questions on strategy and hot issues within the industry.  Ask the questions you’ve always wanted to!

15.30-16.30: The Interactive Insiders’ Guide to Selling Your Web Business

Join Duncan Jennings & Sean Lafleur as they share their complementary experiences in selling & buying web businesses (with more or less success).

17.00-18.00: Extreme SEO Q & A

Extreme SEO Q&A session on Search Engine Optimisation, with both black, grey and white hat experts from SEO.

Then of course there is the a4uawards in the evening

Day 2

09.30-10.30: £2bn & Growing. Where Next for Affiliate Marketing?

Leading industry figures predict how affiliate marketing will evolve with this keynote session. Speakers inc. the President of Linkshare, COO of TradeDoubler, Chief Exec of Buy.at, and the CEO of Affiliate Future.

11.00-12.00 The Changing Nature of Search

The Internet is maturing at lightening speed and the very definition of “Search” is changing with it.

From “Google Universal” to “personalized search”, not only are the search engines changing the way they see search, but so are the users changing their search methods and in particular they are changing their perceptions of who they trust on the internet to point them in the right direction.

This talk looks at some of the roots behind these potentially seismic shifts in user search behavior and the search providers themselves to see the dangers and the opportunities that face both merchants and affiliates alike.

12.30-13.30:  Widgets, Blidgets and the Implications for Affiliate Marketing in the long term

How widgets and blidgets will affect affiliate marketing in the long term. Widgets, Blidgets this session won’t make you Fidget!.

14.00-14.45 -  Case Study - The Online and Offline PR Campaigns for the MillionDollarHomePage.com

Imal will be speaking on the topic of The Online and Offline PR Campaigns for the MillionDollarHomePage.com & The Mount Madonna School Raffle ( 2.9 million dollars raised).

Discussed will be: Public Relations and marketing strategy before launching a campaign, Global vs. Regional campaigns - how to make each a success, Positioning key messages in the media, How to be effective in interviews, Outreaching to the media both online and offline.

15.00-16.00 - Will you need a network in 2008

This session examines the recent trend of full service agencies establishing micro networks.
Some say designed to cream the top performing Paid Search affiliates. Here we compare and contrast these with traditional affiliate networks, and what this means for the sector and the traditional relationship triangle. I’m on this one - so please do come and ask some questions!

16.30-17.30 Paid on Performance Search - The Future?

Are traditional agency models such as charging a percentage of search spend viable in the increasingly competitive paid search space?  This session compares and contrasts them against benifits of paid performance search as popularised by Affiliate Marketing.

Phew.  I think that’s it - along with actually being on the stand it’s going to be a busy few days - look forward to seeing many of you there!

A big thanks to Affiliate Future for their Performance Booster event at Park Hall in Chorley on Friday afternoon. We ended up driving up and getting stuck in traffic (partly due to a pretty bad downpour of rain on the M6) and didn’t get there till 4pm - this meant that I missed the rides at the Theme Park (!) but managed to have a quick do on the dodgems and was not purposely aiming at Lee McCoy & Mary…. honestly.

The evening event did not disappoint - the product showcases in the dining hall gave a fantastic insight into some of the merchants on Affiliate Future and certainly gave some fuel to thought for new promotions on some of my sites. The fashion show by TightsPlease was certainly interesting and a few of the blokes seemed to be enjoying it and taking a few photos! The sit down three course meal made a nice change and after aiming to win both the Poker and Wii Tennis tournament I did manage to come away with a few prizes to take home (So thanks to Firebox for the Helicopters, The Hut for the DVD & Football Manager game and of course to Virginia Hayward for the £140 Christmas Hamper.

It was great to see some many friends from the industry and to meet some more fantastic people and truly was a great event for both business and personal pleasure.

Another benefit that I came away with was a better understanding of affiliate marketing for my wife who is now sitting down to concentrate on her freebie site again and hoping that as a fun time mum she’s able to make a bit of extra income to spend on shoes and clothes!

A final thanks to the organisers, however after producing such a great event there are many high expectations for the next one!

Last month Direct Line, a large motor/home insurance company in the UK, decided to launch an above the line advertising campaign against what are known as €œAggregator€ sites.

Essentially these sites includes the likes of moneysupermarket & confused.com which allow you to enter in personal details and then provide you with quotes for your insurance; whilst acting as 3rd parties it’s fair to say that they are paid for new customers they send to the insurers, & may well promote some companies more, based on these payments.

Direct Line have claimed that these sites are simply middlemen and that the best way for customers to go is direct. In a Telegraph interview, Direct Line said the reasons for the ads were that they:

wanted to reassert our position that Direct Line always cuts out the middleman….By their very nature, these sites are focused primarily on price. As our ads make clear, we offer unique benefits which can’t easily be conveyed in an online best-buy table.

It therefore makes sense why Direct Line would refuse to use aggregator & comparisson sites (even if I don’t agree with their statement, this has been its policy since its launch - the ads just reassert this). But what is slightly strange is that they are still running an affiliate program.

Surely all affiliates are also middlemen and using them seems to go against their statement above. At the same time, Cashback sites such as Greasypalm & Quidco have recently been banned from the Direct Line program. Cashback sites offer money back to their customers when they complete an action such as taking out a new insurance policy and send all traffic directly to their merchant site; whilst we can see that they act as the sort of middlemen Direct Line want to exclude, they at least pass benefits on to the user in the form of cash, which normal affiliates do not.

Price comparison sites (and Cashback sites) have certainly changed the way lots of people shop and it will be interesting to see if Direct Lines’ high profile campaign will influence anyone else to follow suite. We would be really interested to get the views of Cashback and Price comparison sites on this advertising campaign and if they feel that if will convince potential customers to go direct; we’d also love to hear from Direct Line about how they differentiate comparisson sites, affiliates & cash back schemes.

It’s back to the real world after a week away in Barbados for the Affiliate Future 2007 Affiliate Incentive. Whilst I still have the jet lag I’m starting get back into the rhythm of things and already trying to look of ways of getting there again next year.

This really is one of the best incentives out there (though I think that they should take us to an all inclusive resort so we don’t need to worry about paying for food and drink) and as an affiliate manager have now sponsored affiliates two years in a row and would advice other merchants to do the same - it doesn’t cost much and can lead to a very positive ROI.

Ignoring the networking, workshops and speed dating sessions (!) there were a number of excursions this year, the best of which being the Jolly Rodger (a pirate ship) where the rum flowed throughout on our first full day on the Island.

Also managed to take a journey to the north point of the Island in a mini moke (with the brakes failing a few times!) to an amazing cave with a glorious natural lake that we were able to swim in - absolutely amazing.

Harbour Lights was one of the best nights on the Island - an all you can drink place for about £12 where a number of us performance a fantastic buttercup rendition on the stage followed by a dance off (which I apparently won) with some locals.

So much more I could write, but will not bore you with. A massive thank you goes out to Pete, Costa, Mary & everyone else at Affiliate Future for organising the conference and fingers crossed that I get invited again next year.

My desktop PC has started to give up on me and considering the amount it’s used for work I am tempted to buy a new one.   Looking around at prices I discovered the following on PC world.   I’m guessing it’s a typo considering the price, but if I order it do you think that I can claim under the fair trade act and get them to provide the extra?

£330 (inc VAT) for a desktop with 1,600GB sounds pretty good to me.

Interesting news - Will is a good guy and will do well I feel.  Congrats on the promotion if you read this.

From NMA

William Cooper has been appointed as CEO and president of Tradedoubler, the affiliate network.

Cooper has been acting-CEO since January, but now permanently moves up from his role as COO.

The move comes a week after the Swedish-owned network rejected a $900m (£459.6m) takeover offer from AOL.

“We are pleased to announce this appointment. William has a deep knowledge of the company having joined it soon after its launch,” said Kjell Duveblad, Tradedoubler chairman of the board.

“We have a number of challenges and opportunities in front of us and his experience will be invaluable as we continue to expand the business over the coming years,” added Duveblad.

“We have an unrivalled pan-European footprint and a market leading position in many of our products and services throughout the 18 European countries in which we operate,” said Cooper. “I hope that over time we can expand both our geographic footprint and our products and services in order to meet the requirements of our advertisers and publishers”.

In January the company said that profits for 2006 were up by 53% to SEK 480.3 (£34.9m), with a 61% increase in revenues.