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Archives for May 2006

Google AdSense Ads as Pop-ups

May 31, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Adimpact.com, the company that powers ads in DHTML Layers (pop-ups that don’t get blocked) has launched functionality that allows AdSense publishers to run AdSense creatives through Adimpact.com.

The technology from Adimpact.com is known as their Floating Layer Technology, and their site claims that using Adimpact.com with AdSense will produce as many as 2-3 times the normal click-through rates for your AdSense ads.

According to Adimpact.com, the creatives are not actually pop-ups, as they are part of the page (DHTML Layers), so they abide by Google’s terms and conditions.

There are a two different levels of accounts at Adimpact.com (bronze and silver) – this service is available only in their Silver plan.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

CJ Link Management Initiative – A Study in Backlash and Confusion

May 30, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Last week, Commission Junction announced their Link Management Initiative, Phase I. A notice in the Advertiser side of things at CJ.com indicated that this is “a program which will make it easier for you to get the most out of your publisher relationships.”

According to the announcement, this initiative will be released in multiple phases, with Phase I launching on June 23, 2006.

Forums and blogs quickly lit up on the issue with all sorts of hysterical notions and speculations. The item that got everybody worked up was that CJ will be updating their link code to JavaScript.

Pundits and pontificators quickly took one part fact and mixed it with three parts speculation on this issue. The result was an industry whipped up in a frenzy. There are FAQs that spell out lots of the details when advertisers and publishers log into CJ, but most of the “coverage” I read didn’t bother with technicalities like contacting CJ with their questions or reading the FAQs to get basic answers.

I’d say the post that most perfectly summarized the whole situation was one from Scott Jangro when he wrote:

Lighten the f$%@ up.

It’ll be ok. Really. 🙂

CJ will be addressing the Link Management Initiative on the new CJU Online Podcast Series. The first podcast in the series takes place Tuesday, May 30 at 3 p.m. EDT.

I’m curious to hear what they have to say about the whole issue. According to the FAQ, “the industry standard is moving towards JavaScript links.” Time will tell whether CJ’s Link Management Initiative is an example of affiliate marketing 2.0 or affiliate marketing beta.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Google Diet Affiliates – The Postscript

May 29, 2006 by Shawn Collins

I wrote about some Google News a couple of days ago – it seems Google is spelling out to affiliates which sorts of “common forms of deceptive or manipulative behavior” to avoid if they hope to be indexed.

The whole issue comes down to whether an affiliate adds value to the Google search results.

Anyhow, I’ve since received the following from an individual who claimed to be on the Google payroll to sniff out “thin affiliate” techniques.

I was one of those Google search quality folk. It’s not clear in your article, so I thought I should pass on that the search quality team do not, and do not cause, any sites to be manually removed from Google. Their efforts are purely to help the engineers tweak the algorithm to stop such pages appearing.

As a super-affiliate, and a frequent searcher, I applaud Google’s approach.

In general…Thin Affiliate Doorway Pages are basically spam, they are made by folk seeking a quick buck from as little effort as possible, they add nothing to the experience of web searchers, they don’t help merchants, and they tend to use black hat SEO techniques.

Although I do well from Thin Affiliate Doorway Pages myself, I’d rather they all disappeared, and all affiliates were forced to be really useful to merchants and consumers.

He requested anonymity, as he said he is still working with them. Interesting stuff – just more mystery into that elusive Google algorithm.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Ask Shawn Collins: 24/7 Affiliate Manager

May 28, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Do you think that affiliate programs must have 24/7 support? And if so, what is the biggest benefit for the ones that do, for the ones that don’t?

I was not aware that any affiliate programs were offering 24/7 support to affiliates. In fact, I don’t recall any e-commerce sites (they may well be some) that offer such support to customers, either.

The reason being that there is not demand for such service. I’ve been availing myself as an affiliate manager seven days a week to affiliates for years. There haven’t been any emergencies to date.

Plenty of routine questions that were answered in off business hours.

If you were to offer such a service, I think it would be worth highlighting to your affiliates. But if you pay staff to wait for issues overnight, how long will you give it before you determine it’s not the best use of resources?

And are you willing to be woken up by a call at 3 AM from an affiliate halfway across the world that is wondering if you can make then a 300×250 graphic for their blog?

I don’t think 24/7 support is an issue out there, but better support in general is needed by most affiliate programs. Take a look at your FAQ – are the questions in there actually those that are frequently asked?

Create an affiliate resource site to provide tools and resources for affiliates, as well as an affiliate sales guide that gives an overview of your target audience, company history, products/services, etc.

It’s also helpful to provide sample creative, your PPC bidding policy for affiliates, and a copy of your affiliate agreement in a place that is readily accessible by affiliates.

And consider starting up a blog for your affiliates to communicate the latest news about your affiliate program.

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Filed Under: Ask Shawn Collins

Affiliates Going on the Google Diet

May 27, 2006 by Shawn Collins

It was nearly a year ago the AssociatePrograms.com newsletter shared a report indicating that Google employs people at a rate of $10 to $20 an hour to check search results at Google every day.

Back then, it was big news that Google apparently had a criteria guide which identified some sites in their results as “Thin Affiliate Doorway Pages.”

Some affiliates were in an uproar that Google would dare enforce some quality control over their results pages.

Earlier this week, Peter Figueredo wrote on ReveNews how Google recently updated their Quality Guidelines to include language geared to affiliates.

The new guidelines for quality Google results instruct Webmasters to adhere to a number of best practices, including:

  • Avoid “doorway” pages created just for search engines, or other “cookie cutter” approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
  • If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

Sounds like the “thin affiliates” are going on a strict diet of organic traffic this summer.

Predictably, some affiliates are up in arms. But why?

As far as I am concerned, any affiliate site that doesn’t add value should be removed from both Google and the respective affiliate programs it promotes. Nobody is entitled to placement in Google and the traffic that comes with being indexed.

The sticking point is exactly what does Google consider to be value?

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Toys “R” Us Affiliate Guessing Game

May 25, 2006 by Shawn Collins

Toys “R” Us will be terminating its e-commerce and merchandising agreement with Amazon.com by June 30 of this year. Then on July 1, they start up a multi-year deal with GSI Commerce.

This has affiliate marketing pundits guessing which affiliate network will be the new home for the Toys “R” Us affiliate program.

Earlier this month, Scott Jangro pointed out that DicksSportingGoods is moving over to LinkShare from Be Free. And Dicks is one of the e-commerce sites run by GSI Commerce.

Jangro commented “Given that they (GSI) left CJ for Be Free years ago and mass-moved about 30 properties, it only stands to reason that they won’t go back.”

So the assumption out there is that affiliate programs run by GSI Commerce will be following DicksSportingGoods over to LinkShare as their Be Free deals expire.

If that happens, it looks like Toys “R” Us may well return to LinkShare, where their affiliate program resided years ago before they inked their deal with Amazon.

This could be a hot, sticky affiliate marketing summer.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Text Link Ads Calculator

May 24, 2006 by Shawn Collins

The million dollar question for any affiliate is “how much can I make putting ads in different areas of my site”?

Text Link Ads has the answer, at least in terms of selling text links, with their new Text Link Ads Calculator.

The Text Link Ads Calculator will calculate an estimate of market prices for text ads on a site when the following information is input: URL, Web site category, number of links to be sold, and whether links will appear on a single page or site wide.

After this information is submitted, you can select the area on your site where you will place the text link ads by clicking on areas of the page in the calculator tool.

According to the Link Building Blog, the calculator factors in:

  • Traffic of your website – the lower the Alexa ranking, the higher the price.
  • Link popularity of your website – the more links (and more quality links), the higher the price.
  • Theme of your website – there is more demand for some themes than others.
  • Number of links to be sold – the fewer the number of links on a page, the higher the price.
  • Site wide or single page placement – “site wide” vs. on a single page of your website (slightly more value given to links that appear site wide).
  • Location on the page – more value when the links are placed in an area where they have the best chance of being clicked.

Visit www.text-link-ads.com for more information about selling text link ads on your site.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Email Deliverability Secrets Seminar

May 23, 2006 by Shawn Collins

I just came across a teleseminar that looks to be a no-brainer to attend for any affiliates doing lots of e-mail activity.

On Tuesday, June 13th at 7:00 Eastern, ISIPP CEO Anne Mitchell and Delivery Monitor CEO Tom Kulzer are running a call that will reveal the secrets to email deliverability.

The cost is $379.00, and for that you get…

  • Private call with email delivery masters Mitchell and Kulzer
  • Secrets of email deliverability revealed
  • Permanent recording of the call
    –

  • Advance copy of The Email Deliverability Handbook ($79.97 value)
  • Test drive of a new delivery monitoring system

They are limiting registrations to 47 people. Register for the Email Deliverability Secrets seminar before it fills up.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Secret Information Revealed on Affiliate Marketing

May 23, 2006 by Shawn Collins

I recently had a chat with Daniel Hall, host of The Secret Information Revealed Show, about affiliate marketing.

Shawn Collins wants to interview you

We discussed both the affiliate and merchant sides of the industry, and how each can be leveraged to grow your business.

Some of the topics covered include:

  • Which affiliate networks are best to find products related to your niche
  • Which products sell best
  • How to evaluate affiliate programs
  • Easy ways to establish your own affiliate program
  • How to recruit super affiliates
  • Building communities of shoppers for your affiliate sites

Unfortunately, this podcast is no longer available online. Visit GeekCast.fm for free business podcasts.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Direct Deposit from Yahoo! Publisher Network

May 21, 2006 by Shawn Collins

The Yahoo! Publisher Network now offers a Direct Deposit option for all publisher accounts.

Yahoo Publisher NetworkThe direct deposit option requires $100 in earnings before payment is made, just like their pay by check option.

However, if you’re signed up for direct deposit, they will credit your bank account on the 26th of each month, rather than by the 10th of the following month by check.

In order to sign up for direct deposit from the Yahoo! Publisher Network, do the following:

  • Log in to your publisher account.
  • Click on the Account Information tab.
  • Click “Payment Options”.
  • Select “Direct Deposit” and follow the instructions provided.

According to the announcement from the Yahoo! Publisher Network, it can take up to ten business days to process the request and begin the direct deposit payments.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

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