Archive for May, 2006
Who Creates The Web?
Posted by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine in Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Marketing, Best Business Practices Tuesday, 30 May 2006 18:03 3 Comments
Ok, I confess, the title is disingenuous. Everyone knows no single entity dominates, much less creates, the web. But if anyone was still in doubt on that point, the latest Pew Internet study should finally put the issue to rest.
According to Wendy Davis’ story on Online Media Daily:
“As of last December, 35 percent of Americans had posted to a blog, created a Web page, shared online photos, or otherwise generated content. That proportion is more than double the 16 percent that had posted any content to the Web in January 2002, when Pew first researched the topic.”
That translates to 48 million Americans, according to ClickZ’ Enid Burns.
Not only are the base numbers increasing, but the demographic spread is widening. It isn’t just young, techno-savvy web geeks anymore, it’s everybody.
That shouldn’t be too surprising, considering the growth of social networks over the past few years. MSN Spaces, for example, now has more than 100 million unique visitors, according to comScore Media Matrix data.
And, says Hitwise, MySpace.com now constitutes 8.7% of Google’s traffic, the largest single source. (Hardly any wonder, then, that the two companies are rumored to be in talks on some kind of deal.)
It’s anybody’s guess � because I sure don’t have a good one � what happens after everyone is talking and showing everything to everyone in every way. But there’s no need to guess about one likely result: More dollars for affiliate marketers who cash in on the trend toward non-traditional advertising.
So the answer to the question of the title, at least in part, would be: you do.
Commission Junction Changes Their Links…
Posted by Anik Singal in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Programs Monday, 29 May 2006 12:25 5 Comments
Commission Junction Changes Their Links…
This is major news. CJ has announced that they are changing from HTML links to Javascript links. What does this mean?
Well, instead of having links that you would use typically, you will now have to place “coding” into the page for a link.
What does this mean to you?
Well the way you insert links is completely different now. Affiliate links are becoming a bit more like Adsense links. They will be “fed” directly onto your site by CJ.
Some of the implications are that this does give the merchant/CJ much more control over your site and what is actually showing (as in the text for the link – not as easy to change any more as just changing a few html text).
However, CJ is still saying that they will allow affiliates to control text and look/feel over the links – but havn’t exactly said how that will be possible.
Also, if you use data feeds or have a comparison shopping website, it is still unclear how easily you’re going to be able to automatically have JAVA links inserted.
Now for all you e-mail and PPC affiliates
You don’t need “me” telling you that you can’t exactly insert JAVA script into an e-mail or into a Google Ad…
CJ’s response is that they WILL still have HTML links for you to use – but they will be case by case and monitored to make sure they are not being used on websites.
There is NO way they can completely eliminate PPC affiliates – way too much revenue comes from there, they’d probably cut their revenue in half!
When does all this go into effect? June 23…
When do the HTML links go Bye-Bye? No announcement yet…
What are my feelings on this change? To be honest, I’m not sure yet – but definitely something to watch…
Mobile Makes Great Platform for Podcasts
Posted by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine in Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Marketing, Web 2.0 Marketing Saturday, 27 May 2006 17:00 3 Comments
The web is growing in every conceivable direction. Total number and demographic spread of users, international reach, variety of technologies, you name it. One of the most rapidly growing, and most interesting, markets is mobile video.
Out of a total U.S. Internet population of 172 million, more than 2 million subscribe to mobile TV, according to Telephia data reported by ClickZ master of statistics, Enid Burns. (23% of those are Hispanic users, a very under served, but very active, Internet demographic.)
In China, mobile users have outnumbered fixed-line users there since October 2003. They now number nearly 417 million, according to data from the Ministry of Information. (A questionable source, but made plausible by figures from other sources. In particular, eMarketer reports Informa data showing over 376 million mobile phone users in China, compared to 208 million in the U.S.)
Though the latest Hollywood blockbuster probably isn’t great source material for a cell phone (and they don’t serve in-program ads anyway), there are other options � options more useful to affiliate marketers.
Video or audio podcasts make perfect content for those small screens and they are well integrated with both local search and contextual ads. Heidi Cohen has some excellent tips in a recent ClickZ column on how to make a podcast that attracts business. That advice doesn’t depend on serving the content solely to a desktop or laptop user, either.
With Microsoft looking to bring classified ads to China with Live Expo, the triple witching hour may just be approaching.
MySpace In Talks With Google, Microsoft
Posted by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine in Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Marketing, Blog Marketing, Web 2.0 Marketing Friday, 26 May 2006 17:22 No Comments
MySpace is reported to be in talks with either Google or Microsoft for a deal to provide enhanced search and ads to the MySpace community.
Emphasis on that word ‘community’.
Social networks, blogs, and the like, began with the goal of sharing opinions, experiences, and so forth online. They’ve met that goal and then some. Social networks are not just the latest hyped buzzword, but an online reality worth, potentially, billions in ad revenue.
Obviously, both Google and Microsoft know this. (Yahoo! is reportedly less interested. Maybe they were turned off by the process carried out among the Big Three over AOL.) So does Rupert Murdoch, media mogul and now owner of MySpace. (Murdoch’s News Corp bought MySpace last year for nearly $600 million.)
Even more than Brin and Page, Murdoch knows how to turn eyeballs into dollar signs. He’s been in the business, like it or not, for decades. Political leanings aside, he turned Fox News from a sleepy also-ran into a serious competitor to the major networks. He turned a failing New York newspaper into a competitor of the vaunted New York Times.
When someone like that gets interested in the web, things change.
How they change in detail is anybody’s guess. But everybody is guessing it will mean some kind of deal that solidifies MySpace’s lead as the largest social network.
I don’t know about other affiliate marketers, but I tend to bet with the guy who has demonstrated he knows how to make a buck out of advertising.
May 2006 Affiliate Classroom On The Stands
Posted by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine in Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Marketing Thursday, 25 May 2006 14:32 No Comments
If you’re interested in some highly effective “white hat” methods for increasing your AdSense revenues, you’ll want to download the May issue of Affiliate Classroom Magazine. In it you’ll find:
* How to cash in on high-paying topics, even in a low-paying niche.
* Ways to find high-paying keywords using Google’s own tools.
* How to change your site design to get higher CTR.
* What pays best – AdSense, Chitika, or Amazon?
Excellent case studies by top-notch AdSense arbitrage and keyword experts.
PLUS THESE EXTRAS:
Click Fraud: Should you be worried?
How Web 2.0 affiliates take data feeds and APIs to new heights.
