Bigmouthmedia search engine news: affiliates

Google “pages from the” Affiliate Opportunity

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Google tries to offer the most relevant search results whether from a worldwide pool of websites or from a regional pool. And one of the features of Google search is the ability to select the option to only show search results from a particular geographical location.

This means that if you visit Google UK you can select to only show pages from the UK. Google's algorithm looks at factors such as hosting, domain TLD and Google Webmaster Console options to decipher whether or not to show your website under this search.

In April 2008, Robin Goad, Research Director at Hitwise UK did a study titled 'how popular is Google's "pages from the UK" search option?' and discovered that on average, around 13% of searches when the pages from box were ticked.

This very interesting fact offers a great opportunity for affiliate marketers. Why? Well, if there is a merchant who has a fairly well known brand, but has not configured their website to rank within pages from the UK search results, an affiliate could easily generate a few pages to try to capture that 13% of brand searches. Brand searches typically convert more highly than non-brand which could have the affiliate running all the way to the bank this Christmas.

Example

Let's say a merchant receives 5,000 referrals for brand keywords per day, take 15% of that and you get 750. That is a very attractive number of referrals you could potentially turn into conversions. Let's say only 1% of that brand traffic converts, that's 7.5 conversions at £75 per conversion. A nice little stocking filler for the credit crunch and recession times ahead.

Affiliates are often perceived as lower members of internet society when in reality, they merely exploit the inability of brands to fully adopt the full spectrum of digital marketing.

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Would Google benefit from buying an in-text contextual link network?

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Google loves to be perceived as an innovative organisation; if Google spots an emerging company or technology that it deems exciting or potentially revolutionary it's quick to snap it up and add new services to an already substantial portfolio.

One form of advertising that is seen occasionally, but has never fully taken off, is in-text contextual advertisements. Google already offers contextual advertisements in the form of AdSense. Through this service, Google looks at the contents of a page and then matches it to relevant advertisers. Currently, it comes in the form of ads blocks or links which are displayed on the page.

However, this is not the only form of contextual advertising available. In-text contextual advertising, also known as content linking or contextual linking, is the linking of keywords or phrases within copy to relevant advertisers based on the keywords.

Here's an example from our own homepage:

There are few companies that offer such advertising, but most are associated with scumware - a duplicitous device that plagues web users worldwide. The user downloads software while a sneaky program installs itself and links words on pages to its advertisers.

There is also a form of contextual advertising that is seen as unethical by many search engines - this occurs when a user signs up with a network, pays a fee and is then awarded a contextual link to their website within a possibly unrelated page with the intent of using such links to gain search engine rankings - e.g. the link was not generated on merit, but rather on money.

In-text contextual linking can be used in an ethical and potentially profitable way and the innovators at Google may wish to consider adding another string to the company's bow either by buying a company or developing the technique themselves.

This could be a relatively simple process. A webmaster could sign up and place a piece of JavaScript on the page, thus allowing Google to scan and highlight words.

Advertisers could sign up and then, in a process similar to that utilised by AdSense, use such links to drive traffic to their site for a fee. The webmaster would then also get a cut of the fee based on the number of clicks or impressions. This could all be done via JavaScript, resulting in no passing of link value so the scheme remains ethical.

High quality blogs that currently receive a lot of exposure would be an ideal venue for advertisers to tap into this form of marketing. Many advertisers don't feel this method appeals to them at the moment, as the links are not clearly marked as advertisements. However, this is an area that Google could explore and in which it could clearly define the process to make it easy for advertisers to see the potential benefits.

Such forms of marketing would also be ideal for affiliates trying to promote their merchants' websites. Affiliates often use blogs to drive traffic to merchants - for example, writing product reviews and then linking keywords to the merchant's site. And since Google owns an affiliate network, the creation of in-text contextual advertising could be upon us in the near future.

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The hunt for online bargains intensifies

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Over the past month or so, Hitwise has been reporting on the ways in which online shopping habits are changing as a result of the credit crunch and have come to the not too surprising conclusion that we like to save money!

More and more shoppers are going online to find the best deals for the products they are planning to purchase, which has lead to an increase of traffic to price comparison sites by about 37% over the last year.

Microsoft also recently reported an increase of 15% in their searches in the month after they launched Live Cashback.

Historically, when it comes to saving money online, price comparison sites have been the most popular direction for users to go for. Over the last year however, voucher and cash-back sites have been increasing their market share too. To compare these, Hitwise put together information for the top 10 price comparison sites, voucher sites and cashback sites over the last few years:

Looking at the graph above we can see that although price comparison sites took a dip mid 2007, this has started to climb again for 2008. Looking at voucher and cashback sites however, we can see that they have gradually increased over the last 2 years. Vouchers sites have managed to double in size over the past year and receive twice as much traffic as cashback/reward sites, but still receive less than a third of the total that goes to the ever popular price comparison sites.

This of course leads to retailers and what they should be thinking about to maximise the potential of this current shopping trend: Which type of sites deliver the most traffic?

Looking at the above graph we can see that the upstream traffic trend that retailers receive is very similar to the three sub-categories market shares. If this is looked into even deeper though, it becomes clear that different money saving sites suit different types of retailers. Price comparison sites are more traditionally suited to gadgets and white goods retailers (ever gone looking for the cheapest mobile phone?) while voucher sites are better suited to fashion and entertainment areas.

It will be interesting to see how this online shopping trend progresses and also how retailers will harness the potential of these sites to their advantage - and to the advantage of the bargain-savvy consumer.

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Affiliates4U launches new site

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Leading affiliate marketing community site, affiliates4U has launched the latest version of it's website in beta (public testing status) today. The site has spent a small amount of time offline due to these upgrades.

Numerous improvements to the site were launched this morning, mainly to the front page, blog aggregator and individual blog pages. The team at affiliates4U have promised lots more to follow with what Matthew Wood, the CEO of Affiliates4U, describes as a "wireframe and ideas that are quite lengthy".

The homepage now features more Ajax capabilities which means you can drag and drop content units to personalise the page in a similar way to iGoogle. Users now have more control over what is displayed on screen - you can change the number of blog posts and comments displayed and can even hide certain parts of the display if they are not useful to you.

Other features add more interactivity to the blog pages, allowing the user to agree or disagree with comments made about the blog post as well as a number of enhancements that are not immediately obvious at first glance such as an improved tagging system.

Over the coming weeks, new content units have been promised which will include individual forums, verticals, events, incentives promotions and voucher codes.

Bristol based Affiliates4U is at the forefront in helping to coordinate cross network affiliates and communicating affiliate news in the UK. The site has grow as a community and allows affiliates, affiliate networks and agencies to get together online to share ideas, discuss the latest news in affiliate marketing, improve their knowledge of the industry and help each other do business.

Matthew Wood is the founder and driving force behind affiliates4U and his site has a monopoly in the UK affiliates market. It now boasts around 25,000 members and the forums have over 300,000 posts. It is fair to say that almost everyone in the UK who is involved in affiliate marketing has visited the site at some point and many are self confessed A4U addicts.

Affiliates4U has grown with the affiliates market in the UK which has gone from almost nothing to become a huge industry in only a few short years. A4U now organises affiliate conferences, exhibitions and events and this year hosted the second A4U Affiliate Marketing Awards at a glitzy hotel in Park Lane, London. The venue of the awards is a good indication of how quickly the industry is growing. Last year the event was held in a pub in London's Docklands.

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AOL undergoing a Platform A reshuffle

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

AOL announced this week that it would restructure its commercial operations to revolve around its ad-targeting business Platform A. Created last year to house ad sales for all its sites, ad network properties and supporting technologies, Platform A integrates sales for Advertising.com, AOL-run sites, Third Screen Media, AdTech and Tacoda.

The most high-profile reshuffle of staff sees Platform A's UK business headed by Michael Steckler, currently managing director of AOL UK. All of AOL UK's ad staff will be moved to Platform A and Steckler's previous role of managing director of AOL UK will not be replaced. All AOL UK staff, who will primarily work on content, will now report to Dana Dunne, chief executive of AOL Europe.

Other structural changes at the online publisher, outlined in an internal memo distributed by Brendan Condon, head of Platform A's international operations, reflects a three-division structure incorporating the ad platform, the publishing platform and the people network, following its recent acquisition of social networking site Bebo for a reported $850m.

In an attempt to attract developers to the ad platform, AOL announced that it will guarantee CPM revenues to developers on Facebook and Bebo's platforms if they opt to use its Platform A ad technology, claiming the CPM rate is one of the highest in the industry. CPM is a term for cost per thousand page impressions (with M representing the Roman numeral of 1000).

As David Jacobs, Senior VP of Publisher Services at Platform A, put it: "Advertiser interest in social networks is rising at a steady rate, and Platform-A is making an unprecedented flat-fee commitment to help application developers generate revenue and guarantee monetization of their applications."

The currently undisclosed guaranteed rates apply to the first three ad impressions for each unique U.S. visitor. As ardent bigmouthmedia readers will know, CPM rates on social networking sites are notoriously low - generally measured in pennies - and Google is having trouble monetising the social web.

Applications, however, may fetch a few more pennies, leading some industry experts to believe that Platform A's guaranteed CPM is in the 70 cent or so range.

Ultimately, this move is hoped to increase interest in Platform A's WidgNet publisher network, which puts ads on widgets and other social network applications. The company said that there are currently more than 30,000 applications across the Bebo and Facebook directories.

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Britain loves an online bargain

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Britain's savvy online shoppers are always looking or a bargain, especially in today's uncertain financial climes, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that according to Hitwise UK internet users are hunting out ways to save money. Vouchers are a way of promoting discounts to those looking for a bargain online, and with searches for the term 'vouchers' having increased 12-fold over the last three years it seems that they are becoming ever more popular.

The online research company recorded almost 10, 000 variations on the search term 'vouchers' over a period of only ten weeks. While generic searches for discount or free vouchers were prominent in the top ten phrases, the list also included searches for shop-specific vouchers for big names such as Tesco. The top five variations of voucher searches they found were:

Discount vouchers
Vouchers
Tesco vouchers
Childcare vouchers
Tesco clubcard vouchers

Viral voucher campaigns can be an effective way for retailers to entice consumers onto their sites - in December Hitwise showed an increase in traffic for a number of sites who released voucher campaigns.

As the demand for vouchers rises, enterprising sites materialize to capitalise on the demand. There a number of dedicated voucher aggregation/affiliate sites and Hitwise charted the top five. The comined market share of these five has increased almost five fold over the last year - with MyVoucherCodes and VoucherCodes currently outperforming the rest.

However, by studying clickstream data Hitwise surmise that people are browsing multiple voucher websites in the hopes of finding the best possible deal - voucher sites sent 62.4% of their traffic to Shopping and Classifieds last month and 24.3% of that went to their Rewards and Directories category.

If users carry on searching for vouchers that will save them cash on their online shopping - a trend that's likely to increase in the run up to Christmas if last year's figures are anything to go by - then affiliate and voucher aggregation sites may be on their way to having stuffed stockings over the fireplace too.

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Online Retailers turn Facebook Users into Affiliates

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Affiliate Window has launched a new Facebook app that will turn the social networking site into an affiliation scheme that could benefit both retailers and users.

The new application, dubbed Facebook Wishlist, offers Facebook users the chance to customise personal shopping lists on their Facebook accounts, which are then shared with friends. This allows brands to spread awareness to a wider audience with the aim of generating more revenue and higher profits. Affiliate Window's blog explains that the company believes it has created an answer to the long puzzled question of how to make social networking truly profitable.

Facebook has advertised the new commission based enterprise as a great way to earn pocket money. User profit, named as a 'Social Reward', will be paid to users through Paypal. Users signed up to the app can earn these 'Rewards' by using and promoting their Wishlist and hoping that their friends click through their links and make a purchase.

Retailers are able to make the most of this new affiliation scheme by adding a Facebook logo next to their products on their web pages. Facebook users can click on this link, which will add the product to their website without taking them away from the retailer's site, making use more acceptable to both users and retailers.

So far, over four million products have been added to the database for users to browse, including those from companies such as Play.com, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Comet and Woolworths, with many more being encouraged to join.

It'll be interesting to see how many Facebook users sign up to the scheme. The thought of a 1-5% commission is pretty tempting, but how many users will be keen to add a new application to their profiles? If you do, and your friends like your wishlist, you might find that social networking could work in your favour in more ways than one.

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Tax Law on New York Affiliates does not die with Spitzer

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

New York tax law is already confusing enough. Not only do the rates change unexpectedly, get completely dropped or even disappear entirely at certain "tax holidays" throughout the year, now New York is trying to get a piece of the online pie.

The new tax law for affiliates started with the former governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer who was recently forced to resign from his post after being linked to an high-priced prostitution ring. The law which requires that Amazon and other online retailers collect New York sales tax, did not disappear along with the resignation however, as the new governor Paterson could clearly see the revenue potential of taxing New York based affiliates.

This new law is a huge blow to big online retailers like Amazon.com who have already been fighting the issue with a lawsuit against the state of New York, which was filed in early May.

Other retailers have already started dropping their New York affiliates to avoid the issue altogether: Borders, the mammoth book and music retailer, has announced it will begin selling its own products online.

Complicating things further, the suit filed by Amazon begs the question - how important is location in the internet age? Locations across the globe are accessible by a simple Google search, creating the potential for consumers to buy anything from anywhere. Affiliate programs such as Amazon, Overstock and countless others have simplified the seeking out of merchandise for consumers. Why should a Seattle-based company like Amazon be required to collect New York taxes on behalf of a state the retail giant doesn't even reside in?

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim has been closely following the story. In a recent post on the site, Janet Meiners states that this law would only work as "a hindrance to business" and hopes that "the courts will side against the law".

Affiliates will undoubtedly agree with these sentiments as will all those consumers living in New York who have become used to making numerous purchases online. Why should a user in New York buying something online from a retailer based out of state pay a New York based tax on the item? This is an area that undoubtedly needs definition and hopefully will be clarified when a decision is made in court.

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Microsoft Live Search Cashback: Cheap Trick or Paradigm Shift?

Wed, 21 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Microsoft has finally unveiled its latest secret weapon in the battle to end Google's domination of the search marketplace after mounting speculation over recent weeks.

Announced today, users of the fledgling Live Search Cashback service will receive cash payments every time they purchase a product found through Microsoft's specialist shopping verticals. The move, which underlines the Redmond giant's determination to diverge from the core search market and pursue a greater slice of the online retail sector, also follows repeated recent rumours that Google has made a similar acquisitive approach to Expedia in an attempt to muscle into the travel sales space.

Launched utilising technology from Microsoft acquisition Jellyfish, in its initial phase the Live Search Cashback service will be available only to users in the US. Further details are thin on the ground, but amongst the key points to emerge so far are:

Users must be logged in with a Microsoft account and must purchase a product to be eligible for cashback.

Users must be citizens of the US and a minimum of 18 years old

A minimum spend of $5 is required to claim your cash

Each of the search listings will display the saving you make via Cashback as a % of spend

In an attempt to grab market share, Microsoft is pitting itself against online retail competitors such as Amazon and the recently upgraded Google Product Search with a strategy that is not a 100% search focused. This move into an area where the internet giants have traditionally had a poor presence is sure to provoke massive speculation, although the company has been very public about its efforts to improve relevancy and capture more of the search market.

The question on most people's lips will be whether the thought of cashback will be enough to lure users to choose Microsoft over other major search players, despite Microsoft Live's recent poor performance in the search landscape. In particular, complaints regarding the relevancy of Microsoft's search results and the relative ease with which spammers can game their SERPs have been rife and MSN has long fallen below Ask in UK Search Marketshare as a result.

In fact, it seems surprising that the service has not been rolled out in the - Google-dominated - UK. The UK market contains a large community of bargain hunters who discuss money saving options regularly on affiliate site and forums. Cashback sites are already a familiar sight, although some big retail brands are beginning to distance themselves to avoid branding issues. It's possible Microsoft have a big enough name for themselves to be unaffected by such problems - but it could be an issue they would be wise to keep track of.

The move looks to be a strategic one for Paypal. While they dominate the online payment systems market in the UK with a 90% share, the vast majority of its transactions come from Ebay in both the UK and the US. For Microsoft, the UK represents the chance to provide an innovative new product to challenge Google - a long held holy grail of the search engine players vying with the Goliath for the top spot.

Rumours are flying that Microsoft is trying to grab marketshare from all angles, citing their recent negotiations with Yahoo! as an example. But this new service could actually be a complimentary move to that proposed partnership. If Microsoft had all US based hotmail accounts combined with all Yahoo! email accounts - and therefore Live Search account and Cashback account friendly - their scope would be significantly increased. It certainly lends weight to the idea that a Yahoo! Deal has long been planned by Microsoft.

One thing remains certain: whatever Microsoft's masterplan for search entails, the search market is ready and waiting for a shake up.

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It looks like Ask.com is planning on having words with its competitors

Fri, 16 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

It's been reported that Ask.com has agreed to acquire privately-held Lexico Publishing - the company that owns word-heavy sites Dictionary.com, Thesauras.com and Reference.com - for an estimated $100 million.

According to the Guardian, the move will increase Ask.com's traffic by 11% globally and 9% in the UK, an increase that the company will hope could push them closer to the Search World's biggest players and which would justify the price tag - although the exact figure has not been confirmed by the search engine.

Ask.com claimed that March figures from comScore revealed that Ask Network (comprising all of the company's web properties), received around 145 million monthly unique users. Putting them ahead of sites such as Facebook and ranking them as the ninth most popular website in the world. The addition of Ask.com's reported 15 million visitors in the same month must have proved tempting.

The benefits of the acquisition for the search engine could be numerous, Dictionary.com sells ads and Ask.com has an advertising deal with Google - so Ask.com may be able to increase ad revenue. Moreover, the deal could serve as a way to generate more traffic for Ask.com as the sites will attempt to cycle traffic between them.

Apparently the search engine plans to create reference synergy, a fair point when you discover that 'dictionary' was the second most searched for term on the site last year. Jim Safka, Ask.com's chief executive said:

"More than 30% of all searches conducted on Ask.com are in the reference category."

This is just the latest move in Ask.com's offensive to drag itself out of forth place in the search engine rankings - languishing behind Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft at first, second and third respectively. Recent attempts have included plans to focus on a predominantly female market with limited success - maybe this acquisition will give them the clout they needs to continue snapping at Microsoft's heels.

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