Archives for June 2004

I just got off the phone with MyAffiliateProgram/KowaBunga! Technologies, and was very pleased to hear confirmation (and some details) about their soon to launch affiliate network called “Kolimbo.”

Similar to the other affiliate networks, Kolimbo enables affiliates of MyAffiliateProgram powered affiliate programs to do one-click signups to new programs (that are powered by MyAP). Also, Kolimbo features the requisite centralized login, as well as a training and support center.

I am really excited about ClubMom becoming part of this network, and the potential for additional, organic affiliate recruitment.

This move by MyAP could be the start of a seismic shift in the landscape of affiliate marketing. In the past, one of the knocks on MyAP was the fact that they didn’t have a network (i.e. built in affiliate recruiting for the cost of the technology).

After all, their tracking and reporting has long been top notch, and their price-point has been just right for even the smallest companies (they also have a lite version of their service called Affiliate Clicks).

With the network, I think MyAP is truly ready to elbow their way into the competitive arena of their high stepping siblings (Commission Junction, LinkShare & Performics).

Stay tuned!

Since January 1, the overall numbers in the ClubMom affiliate program have suffered due to our restricting affiliates from sending out solo HTML ClubMom email.

Now that the year is nearly half over, we’re finally getting our act together and contracting with a third party to make a list suppression solution available to our affiliates, so they can return to sending solo emails.

But as most of you can probably attest, Spam doesn’t seem to be declining. While the law has successfully thrown a monkey wrench into the operations of legitimate companies, the shady characters seem to have found their way around it all.

This opinion is only fortified when I read an article today from eMarketer, “CAN-SPAM a Dud.”

So the spammers are continuing their practices without intervention from the government, while I am jumping through hoops and incurring costs to comply with the law.

It’s time for everybody to clean house and stop working with these creeps.

Personally, I’d love to see the FTC hammer any affiliate program/company that is enabling and encouraging the spammers.

The Federal Trade Commission is proposing new regulations to permit consumers to opt out of receiving marketing communications from affiliates of companies with which they do business.

The proposal is typical FTC confusion, but something certainly worth giving your attention. I’m not clear is this is redundant to CAN-SPAM or more harsh. No matter what, it’s bound to be another layer of complexity for good, clean affiliates to battle.

The full text of the FTC’s Federal Register notice of the proposal is available in PDF format at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2004/06/040609factactaffiliatefrn.pdf.

You can send comments on the proposal to the FTC until July 20. Comments may be submitted at http://www.regulations.gov.

After an extended period of self-imposed exile from the affiliate marketing scene, Revenews is back and brazen as ever.

If you don’t remember ReveNews, it was the top site for breaking news and discussion in affiliate marketing.Then one day it was gone.

But the frequent stories and news postings are now back at http://www.revenews.com/, alongwith the ability to comment on the stories.

Now if only they’d take down that link to CashPile (a dead site for quite a while), “the most exhaustive directory of revenue-sharing programs on the Web, to make sure that you’re still be able to locate and compare offers from competing merchants in a category.”

Welcome back, ReveNews!