My voice is still strained and raspy from last night’s non-stop networking event sponsored by the Bay Area Affiliate Managers Coalition. The dinner to celebrate the sixth year anniversary of the group was a smashing success. And I’m not just saying that because Revenue was one of the sponsors along with PartnerCentric and Affiliate Summit.
The event was jam packed with great affiliate managers from around the Bay Area and some special attendees from far-flung exotic locations such as New Jersey (Brook Schaaf of Schaaf Consulting and the co-founder of Affiliate Dinner) and Chicago (Brian Littleton, president and CEO of affiliate network ShareASale).
Also in attendance was the newly relocated Beth Kirsch, who left LowerMyBills.com in Santa Monica to join Silicon Valley-based Riya as its director of marketing, and Brian Caldwell, formerly with Commission Junction, who is also about to join Riya.
It was a who’s who of affiliate marketing: Sean Crotty from Art.com, Lily Shen and Ali Croft from eBay, Candice Nobles from SnapFish, Chelsey Langan of HomeGain, Todd Taylor and Chris Petz of TaxBrain, and Randy Almond of Wal-Mart just to name a few.
I also had the pleasure of in introducing our soon-to-be new publisher to our former publisher, Chris Smith, who joined LinkShare in June. Both are amazing individuals that I feel honored to work along side. Our new publisher, Linda Holbrook, doesn’t start until the end of October, but eager beaver that she is; she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to meet so many great affiliate managers at one time.
I’ll be telling you more about Linda soon. Stay tuned. Plus, if you are planning on attending Ad:Tech in New York in November, Linda will also be at the show along with me and some other Revenue folks.
And of course, I want to again thank our gracious hosts Phillip Kidwell of eHealth.com and Michael Brucker of WebEx for all their hard work in pulling off this very fun gathering. I hope there will be more to come.
Let me know if you’ve been to any good industry events or New Jersey BBQs lately. lisap@revenuetoday.com
It seems like about twice a year I get all juiced up on Robitussin and Wal-Fed (not sure why the names of the Walgreen’s versions of brand-name cold remedies make me giggle) and write a blog. Directions for taking these medicines clearly state that I should not operate heavy machinery. However, they need to update the packaging with warnings about the dangers of the simultaneous use of a keyboard and cold meds.
Because I’m feeling a bit under the weather and sort of scattered, this entry is part housekeeping, part hodgepodge and totally random. So here are some things on my mind right now:
*A new study from WebSideStory finds almost identical conversion rates for both organic and paid search. The study tracked the traffic and conversion data from 20 business-to-consumer e-commerce sites during the first eight months of 2006, finding that paid search had a median order conversion rate of 3.4 percent, compared to 3.13 percent for organic search.
*According to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. online advertising revenues for the first six months of 2006 were approximately $7.9 billion, a 37 percent increase over the first half of 2005. In addition, Internet advertising revenues totaled nearly $4.1 billion for the second quarter of 2006, representing a 36 percent increase over the same period in 2005 and a 5.5 percent increase over the first quarter of 2006.
*Revenue is a sponsor of the Bay Area Affiliate Managers Coalition gathering on Thursday night here in San Francisco. It’s a dinner to celebrate group’s six-year anniversary. If you’re local to the San Francico Bay Area and can’t make the dinner be sure to check out the group, which was
founded to facilitate regional interaction among online advertisers on issues pertaining to affiliate marketing. The group of more than 90 members meets bi-monthly to network and share insights about the affiliate space.
Also our magazine is giving away two prizes: $1,000 towards advertising in Revenue and $2,000 towards advertising in Revenue. Good luck!
*I hear ShareASale CEO Brian Littleton will be in SF and may stop by the event for a drink. I’ll be there and going double fisted that night – Kleenex in one hand, Purell hand sanitizer in the other. Living on the edge, huh?
*Speaking of SAS…the affiliate network is sponsoring a discussion forum event called Think Tank in Las Vegas in early November. It’s a group of about 30 affiliates and affiliate managers gathering for an in depth discussion and some presentations on pressing issues facing the industry. Because when I think of Vegas, I think of elevated intellectual discussions that yield, revolutionary and industry changing ideas.
*You can let us know what you think by taking our survey. It’s on the home page and awaiting your responses. I can’t wait to find out more about you.
Earlier this week a study about customer satisfaction caught my eye. Since I was formerly an editor at CRM Magazine all things about customer service and satisfaction tend to pique my interest. Plus, as a consumer of lots of products and way too many services, I also feel that I, like you, have a big stake in how companies treat their customers (us!!).
Findings from the study, which was conducted by The Customer Respect Group, focused on site usability, communication and trust.
It’s important for online marketers to note that customer service is a key business differentiator and one that already often puts online entities at an immediate disadvantage. Some consumers are fearful of not being familiar with sites (trust), they can’t find where on the site to contact someone or ask send questions when there are problems (usability). And if they send an email to a general box it’s often ignored or they receive unsolicited promotional emails from the company (communication).
An eMarketer article on the study states that: “It is important to remember that delivering customer service online is already a compromise.”
That article also cites a June 2006 Forrester study that found “most US businesses think that phone representatives and retail branches are better at taking care of customers than Web sites, e-mail or IM/online chats. In fact, this makes it even more important to get the online experience right.”
And remember if you don’t get the experience right, it’s very easy for people that are already online to spread the word via the same medium - whether its sending an email to a friend or multiple friends, giving your business a negative review on site that encourages user reviews and comments, or by blogging about it.
I find all of this information particularly interesting in light of recent horrible customer service experience I had with T-Mobile. It was a trivial matter that could have been resolved online, quickly and amicably and without harm or financial loss to either party. Instead the situation has dragged on.
This continuation has bred such distaste on my part for the unsavory and unprofessional business practices that T-Mobile uses to hoodwink and hamstring customers that I am appalled. And rather than simply retelling my customer service nightmare to my sweetie and a friend or two, I have already spread the word of T-Mobile’s less than upfront policies regarding my specific story to a much wider circle of family and friends. I felt obligated to prevent them from encountering the same problems. And yes, I was very quick to take advantage of all the new online avenues available to all consumers who want to share their customer experiences.
I think the old generally accepted figures were that if a customer wasn’t satisfied they might tell 10 other people. The Web has made it possible for them to tell hundreds or even hundreds of thousands. Remember Dell and Jeff Jarvis?
There was a great story our local San Francisco newspaper about this topic earlier this month.
Check it out and then let me know some of the ways that you are insuring good online customer service. lisap@revenuetoday.com.
I have some folks down at CJU in Santa Barbara that generously agreed to call me or email me with details from the event. I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty of each session since you can find that info elsewhere, but here are some CJU observations in no particular order:
*The general consensus on CJ rolling out Web Services was very positive. Most people called it “very cool” and are looking forward to digging into it.
*More than one of my spies noted that Tom Vadnais, general manager of ValueClick’s Commission Junction and Mediaplex divisions, appears to be separated at birth from former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen Vadnais and I can’t find an image of him on the Web to judge for myself. Let me know what you think.
*Sarah Fay’s word of mouth session was interesting but some reported that it was not aimed at affiliates – more for agencies. Still, most found it enlightening. One person told me that it got them thinking, which in my opinion, is a good thing.
*The CJ Performers presentation didn’t get high marks from my moles, who said it “seemed scripted.” Others noted that everyone was in agreement about every issue. While another spy told me that the sessions was boring and it seemed like they were seeing the same people over and over.
*Good food. Bad food. Can’t please everyone I guess.
*A big wildfire in the nearby Los Padre National Forest left the beautiful city of Santa Barbara covered in smoke and ash.
*The highlight seemed to be the CJ Connect session, which was held outside on the lawn of the resort. While, some called it a “feeding frenzy of advertisers waiting to descend on publishers,” others claimed it was a great networking experience and very valuable. Most people stayed and hung out long after it is over.
I’m not in Santa Barbara at CJU but to coincide with the big event, Commission Junction today formally announced its new Web Services offering, which has been in beta testing for over a year. I talked briefly with Frank Gerstenberger, director of product management, about Web Services on Friday.
CJ’s Web Services is based on industry standard protocols, such as SOAP, and is intended to allow advertisers and publishers to develop their own applications to create unique products or consumer experiences in the CJ Marketplace.
Advertisers can now offer affiliates enhanced access to their product catalog data feeds. Advertisers can also create their own branded experience for their affiliates. For publishers Web Services provides the ability to perform searches based on keyword, UPC, manufacturer, model number, advertiser, SKU and more. That means that a shoe affiliate doesn’t need to download an entire product catalog from a merchant they can simply define download criteria such as only get product information on “red shoes.”
There’s no charge for advertisers and publishers, they just need to sign up for the services. Gerstenberger says there is sample code that can be downloaded for publishers to start programming. All the Web Services details, along with additional info, resources and a place to discuss ideas, can be found here.
Several CJU attendees that have agreed contact me with updates from the conference. I’ll be sure to get some feedback on this announcement as well.
I just wanted to let everyone know that Affiliate Fair Play Testing Service went live yesterday. This is the service from Kellie Stevens of AffiliateFairPlay.com. Here’s all the general information.
I have been beta testing the service for over a month and I think it’s going to be a very valuable resource for the industry.
Just in case you haven’t seen the latest issue of Revenue, here’s the article (page 122 of the Sept./Oct. issue) I wrote on the service.
All’s Fair
AffiliateFairPlay.com is looking to provide a new service that promises to unearth data about affiliate behaviors – good and bad.
The subscription-based service – called Affiliate Fair Play Testing Service – delivers specific data on affiliate behavior and affiliate programs to a variety of groups including merchants, networks and affiliates, according to Kellie Stevens, president of AffiliateFairPlay.com.
The service offers different-tiered levels of information and access to various subscribers. There is a level for merchants and networks and another level for affiliates. Merchants and networks will have access to affiliate IDs, while affiliates will not see that type of information.
There are separate areas that include factual data and reports on specific subjects and there will also be distinct discussion forums where everyone can comment on those issues. Each member has access to only the discussion forum for their group’s level. There are forums on adware, typosquatting, forced click (cookie stuffing) and others.
“I want to keep the factual information separate from the opinion and emotion of this,” says Stevens, who notes that the service is based on forum software because it is the most familiar type of application for most users and typically includes robust search capabilities.
In addition, anyone using the service can submit a private request for testing and that criteria threshold for testing may be included in the report.
There is an adware forum, where Stevens is testing for 15 or 20 behaviors – including what names companies are operating under, the version of the adware being used in the action, if controversial behaviors are happening or not, the affiliate ID associated with the adware and other notes as well.
She is testing for how revenue is being generated: Is an affiliate redirecting a pay-per-click campaign? Are they redirecting another affiliate? Is it happening via affiliate links, media buys, comparison shopping or PPC? She is not testing and documenting drive-by installs. She is also documenting which merchants are working with which affiliates.
This is not a certification service, according Stevens, who claims that it’s much too resource-intensive to attempt to certify affiliates. Also affiliate behaviors change too quickly for a certification process to actually ensure that affiliates are not engaging in rogue behaviors once they have been certified as clean.
Stevens is also quick to point out that although she has “distinct beliefs and philosophies” on what is appropriate affiliate behavior, that it’s not up to her “to impose my beliefs on other businesses. I can’t say for everyone’s business what is best.” Instead she’s simply providing subscribers with information that in turn allows them to make informed decisions.
Providing this type of information to people is not new to Stevens, who has been providing similar services on an ad hoc basis (and for free) for many years. As a courtesy she will often IM or email affiliate managers if she sees bad behaviors.
At press time the service was currently being beta-tested by about 35 people, and was slated to go live at the end of August.
One beta tester says the value of the service is the time it saves by allowing subscribers to get an idea of what programs are making money and converting, and weed out those programs that allow technology players that have shady or unethical practices. That’s very useful when there are more than 14,000 programs out there for affiliates to choose from, the beta tester explains.
“It’s an additional screening tool for the affiliates,” another beta tester says. “The technology is complex, and keeping tabs on merchant programs and what they are doing is not easy. This lets me know what’s going on in a matter of minutes.”
Annual subscription prices have not yet been set. But Stevens says she expects to charge more to the networks and merchants and less for the affiliates. Membership is confidential and there is a verification process to ensure that affiliates don’t attempt to get access to the data that is only for the networks.
Spyware expert Ben Edelman today released new findings regarding which anti-spyware programs delete which cookies and under what circumstances that occurs.
“When affiliate cookies and tracking get deleted there is a direct negative impact on revenue for affiliates,” Edelman says. “That’s why it’s such an important issue.”
You may recall the uproar about cookie deletion last year when a flurry of research groups, including Burst Media, Jupiter Media and WebTrends, released reports stating that anywhere from 30 percent to 60 percent of users claimed to distrust cookies and deleted them frequently.
Some groups, such as researcher eMarketer and SafeCount.org, urged online marketers to let consumers know of the benefits of cookies.
The new report from Edelman - “Cookies Detected by Anti-Spyware Programs: The Current Status” - was prompted by Click2Customers CEO Vinny Lingham, who approached Edelman with a specific question about cookie removal. The report grew out of that research to include more data and was ultimately sponsored by Click2Customers. The full findings can be found here.
The hands-on testing of 11 of the most popular anti-spyware programs and their treatment of cookies from 50 advertising systems show when affiliate cookies are deleted and “there is an incredible divergence,” in the results, according to Edelman.
“I’ve found some striking trends in cookie removal. For example, some networks’ cookies are deleted by fully three quarters of the anti-spyware programs I tested, while others are not deleted by even a single anti-spyware scanner. Affiliates and networks will be pleased to see that Symantec and McAfee have joined Microsoft in choosing a default configuration that does not detect or block cookies. Not so for PC Tools, Trend Micros, LavaSoft and Webroot, which all delete 40 percent plus of the cookies I tested.”
Edelman says Google has developed tracking technology that is success in protecting user privacy and escaping anti-spyware.
“Google’s approach is particularly noteworthy — not detected by any anti-spyware programs, even as more than half of scanners tested flag the cookies Yahoo places for similar ad-tracking,” he says.
Edelman claims that Google uses an interesting cookie mechanism, which combines the “efficiency of third-party cookies (with easy and fast implementation by the network alone, without complicated merchant-specific integration) with some greater privacy protections (by partial data decentralization using limited-path cookie scope.”
Google’s approach also ends up randomizing cookie filenames, making it harder for some anti- spyware scanners to identify which cookies are Google’s, he adds.
“Google has taken the network out of the network,” Edelman says.
The overall conclusion, according to Edelman is that cookies are not that bad, a stance that might surprise many who have followed Edelman’s staunch anti-spyware position in the past.
Just a quick acknowledgement that William B. Ziff, Jr., passed away earlier this week from prostate cancer. Ziff, 76, was a pioneer in technology publishing and a man I greatly admired and respected.
After some sports writing at local papers in Boston, I began my career in the mid 1980’s as a high tech journalist with PC Week, which was owned by Ziff-Davis. I remember Bill Ziff as a very smart man. He was gracious and generous and always listened to new ideas – even when they came from a youngster who thought she knew everything. Ziff awarded hard work and inspired enthusiasm for journalism and publishing. Working on and off for Ziff for much of my time as a high tech reporter and editor, I had the pleasure of meeting Ziff several times (as well as his son Robert, who worked with us a PC Week after graduating from Harvard). I am honored to have worked for his company. I am also grateful to have worked with hundreds of others at Ziff-Davis that were also inspired by Bill Ziff to be become industry leaders in their own rights. He will be greatly missed.
This week has been pretty calm so far – many poignant remembrances of September 11, 2001. I think lots of people are in a very reflective mood.
When I’m not pondering bigger world issues here are some of the upbeat things I’m thinking about today.
Eat: The Schaaf brothers – Brook and Forrest – of Schaaf Consulting, last week announced Affiliate Dinner. It’s a website designed to facilitate affiliate gatherings and industry networking.
The first event will be held during CJU next week in Santa Barbara. NO RSVPs necessary if you’re attending CJU – just hop on the trolley from the Fess Parker Doubletree hotel where CJU is being held and you’ll be taken the restaurant (Indochine) for a night of networking and schmoozing with other publishers.
Drink: The next Affiliate Dinner will be on the East Coast at New Jersey in September, but the big one will be an event in San Francisco in late October. Revenue is a sponsor and I’m looking forward to some great networking with top affiliate managers from the Bay Area over a few drinks.
Be Merry: It’s always a good time when affiliates gather. Many are making their way to Santa Barbara this weekend for CJU. I’ve got a handful of attendees who have agreed to call or email me with reports on the event since I’m not attending.
I’m particularly interested in who’s been invited to Commission Junction’s new Publisher Advisory Board, which has formed earlier this month. So far, I’ve seen two top CJ publishers – Vinny Lingham of incuBeta and Connie Berg of FlamingoWorld.com – publicly admit to accepting invitations to be part of the board. If you’re on the board, or know of others who are, let me know.
Having advisory boards is nothing new. LinkShare and Performics each have them to help better understand issues that face affiliates and merchants. Stay tuned for more information on advisory boards – I might just have a little something more to say on the subject in the near very future.
I have a bunch of friends and family with birthdays this month and I’ve been racking my brain about the perfect present for each person. I pride myself on being able to find the exact right item for each unique person in my life.
Over the years, I have received heaping helpings of positive feedback about my ability to select what seems like the perfect gift. The joy these gifts have brought the recipients gives me much satisfaction, but it also places an enormous amount of pressure on me. Your brother can send you a birthday email and an Amazon gift certificate, but if my loved ones or close friends received that from me, they would assume I was slipping or way too busy or just didn’t care about them.
It’s not about how much I spend or don’t spend; it’s really about taking the time to select something that is thoughtful. It’s not about what I want or like, but what the other person would like to receive and presenting that in a creative way.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the subject of giving and generosity – especially with the holiday season approaching so quickly. In the September/October issue, due out next week, our Business columnist Jay Conrad Levinson writes about guerrilla generosity in the context of holiday promotions. His theory is that giving (whether it’s freebies in the form of gifts or information) comes back to generous affiliates ten-fold.
I have recently been on the receiving end of some affiliate generosity. It’s not an easy place for me to be. I’m much more comfortable as the giver. However, a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the folks at Commission Junction would not give me a press pass to its upcoming CJU conference in Santa Barbara. Several affiliates contacted me to let me know they had been in touch with their CJ reps and asked about my situation. Most felt it was simply an oversight on CJ’s part and wanted to try and help straighten out the problem. Others offered me their extras passes to attend. I was touched.
Also, while in Chicago attending Andy Rodriguez’s Affiliate Manager Certification Seminar, I witnessed so many acts of kindness and sharing among affiliates and affiliate managers. It was amazing and eye opening.
Early on in covering this industry I noticed how secretive and closemouthed many people were in revealing anything - even the most basic information like their URLs – forget specific details regarding traffic, conversions and commissions.
But after attending this seminar and hearing the kinds of details and experiences that were shared among peers, I realized that this community is very much about sharing and giving back. They just don’t like to tell the press the specifics about their business. Duh!
During the Affiliate Manager Certification seminar there were several affiliates that volunteered to help mentor other affiliates in return for just one favor – that someday that affiliate helps another affiliate. Sort of a pay it forward concept.
There were many attendees of that seminar that volunteered to help me in a variety of ways: to understand some of the new concepts in the industry; to get a better handle on exactly how affiliate theft is perpetrated; to walk me through specific situations and problems that arise in the industry; to allow me to lean on them as a resource or sounding board for industry issues and more. These are wonderful and generous gifts.
And there are so many more examples of how generous this community continues to be. If you know of a case of generosity that involves online marketers, let me know. lisap@revenuetoday.com.
