Moose on the Loose

Isn’t it disappointing that during the busy christmas shopping period some merchants are reducing commissions to a whopping zero percent on Wii’s (one of the most sought after items again this festive period).

I will give the list of culprit merchants in a moment, but a lesson learned is to remember who your friends are (and I use that word very loosely), for shunting affiliates on popular products. Yet these merchants quite merrily sell them in bundles with other games & accessories for which they receive obvious margins (stock levels permitting).

As a result, perhaps they should be not given or expect any favourable treatment when their need arises & start pimping off us. However, some affiliates with gold fish memories will no doubt embrace them.
What surprises me is that their products have been & a few still appear in their product feeds from various networks, giving them free traffic. Come on networks, please have some consideration & sort out your clients.

• Toys R US – No commission on all consoles ! Read Here

• Comet – No commission on Wii’s
• Game – No commission on Wii’s (also complaining about their server load, please get a grip, oh and this is a merchant which restricts bidding on the generic term Game – lol – which in my opinion is a keyword which is fair game)
• Woolworths – No commission on Wii’s
• PC World – No commission on Wii’s & bundles.
• Currys – No commission on Wii’s
• Dixons – Commissions reduce to 0.5%. Yet again, DSG group & their amoebic brain approach to affiliate marketing
• eDirectory – No commission on Wii’s & bundles.

Come christmas why is it that a few merchants (a rafter) seem to go devoid of reasonable logic & reasoning?

Note: A group of turkeys is called a rafter.

On the plus side it has helped me indentify a couple of other excellent merchants, courtesy of being in Affiliate Window Shopwindow, which shall in future gain precedence over those turkeys mentioned above.

So in effect this woe does have a silver lining.

“However, every cloud has a silver lining (except for the mushroom shaped ones, which have a lining of Iridium & Strontium 90). “

Bringing up to the present date the immortal words from Queen Victoria on the toilet in 1901

“Wii Are Not Amused!

I am really glad to see that Fraser’s Podcast’s are now back, with his latest interview being with larger than me ( sorry, I mean larger than life) … Victor Meldrew … (sorry, I mean John Lamerton from Big Idea Media) .. who is one of the old school. As you know Fraser was recently a proud father of Anna Elizabeth, so he had plenty of good reason to be off the scene for a while, but its good to see him back in production.

Click Here for Fraser’s Podcast Interview with John Lamerton

There is a necessity for Trend Graphs illustrating the conversion rate for a prescribed rolling number of clicks, i.e. 1000 for an individual affiliate  or 1,000 to 5,000 network wide depending on merchant traffic volume, which all parties can visbly see & have access to. This would illustrate & flag potential downward spirals & problems within any program on any network with respect to tracking (sometimes it’s a case that the tracking works, but the reporting doesn’t).

With a baseline on the trend graphs, when the point drops below an accepted level it is flagged to both affiliate, merchant & network. I asked for this before years ago across networks but I don’t think any network has really done it properly, if at all.

This would assist in identifying in tracking has gone array, even if only for a short duration, so that affiliates can be alerted to wasted traffic & suitable remunueration whilst the network & merchant fix the issue.

Don’t networks realise that TIT (Trust In Tracking) is one of the most important concerns for affiliates. These trend graphs may go some way to instilling a bit more trust in those networks who develop it, as well as flag potential problems for all a parties for that peace of mind.

If we cannot trust the network with this simple solution, then we may as well abandon the CPA model & revert to primarily CPC.

Why hasn’t this been done? Well apart from networks allocating needless time to a batch of superfluous 468×60 & misfit, non-standard sized, non flexible banners & creatives … (whoopee blooming doo) … paranoia is possibly one of them by the fact that if tracking does go array, it is often undetected by a network / merchant & often firstly detected by an affiliate. Not just paranoia from the network, but also the merchant / agency.

Another excuse is that a network does not have enough time or has minimal resources to develop … yet superfluous 468×60 banners again take precedent.

Therefore giving affiliate TIT might win the hearts & minds of affiliates & could induce / instil a bit more faith.

There does seem to be a false assumption, that because a network (whoever it maybe) sees sales being reported, that all sales are being reported for all affiliates. I don’t know how networks work, I do remember a few years ago when publicly another network had different affiliates reports on different servers. It took some effort by me to persuade their CEO when this was reported by us to come clean to all affiliates and acknowledge there was a problem, which dissipates backlash.

I guess what I am saying, is just because another affiliate may not have the same problem re tracking or reporting, it doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist, and some parties / support staff have been known to be quite dismissive by adopting the alternate train of thought.

Come on networks, please develop Trend Graph Tools so affiliates can have TIT.

One day, Man Flu will be recognised as an actual medical condition, and not dismissed by women as “just a sniffle”. Man Flu, as men know is a particularly debilitating variant of the influenza virus which only afflicts men, causing sever symptons & discomfort which women generally don’t appreciate. It’s when every tough guy becomes a snivelling wreck with good reason.

When “The Man” in your life rings that bell, he requires constant care & reassurance ranging from plenty of rest in bed or as couch potato with the television in very close proximity together with his favourite dvds. Don’t forget the remote control, the man must always, always have the remote control in hand.

Also ladies don’t forget to be on call when beckoned, when you hear his… DINGALING ! DINGALING !…, be ready with a plentiful supply of hot drinks & soup, symptons can also be alleviated by the internal application of a steady stream of alcohol, vapour rub on the chest followed by a general body massage in a warm environment.

Remember ladies, a total holistic nursing approach is required to be administered with constant reassurance. As a suggestion anxiety can be alleviated by tender affection and gentle rubbing of the forehead … “There, there, there my poor little bunny” is known to be a successful chant from ancient civilisations.

Here is a clip which was passed to me on YouTube, some of you may have seen it, others may not, but there is some good solid advice in there. If you are a man & have a woman in your life, remember to give her a bell, for that eventually in life when you get Man Flu.

Man Flu Tip – Remember To Give Your Missus A Bell !

Enjoy the YouTube clip below …

Oh, and not forgetting the ladies, get a grip, there is Lemsip here for you.Secretly, I guess many lads would agree, but would they dare back the thread if their good lady may see you agreeing, don’t worry we can call it one of those silent rules.

Roving reporter Shane, has been hot peddling it on his papparazzi moped, hot on the heels of the merchants across networks who have been reducing their commissions on Wii’s or not offering any at all.

However, as charismatic Kieron fairly pointed out in his blog, Toys-weRe-Us have gone one step further and reduced commissions on all consoles to a whooping 0%. Shane, our knight in shining armour, now known as The Hoff, quickly scooted down to Toys R Us at the Local Retail Park, only to be greeted by Geoffrey the Giraffe (who we thought was made redundant) to be handing out flyers to potential customers walking by … like the one you can see below.

There always seem to be some merchants acting as prize turkeys leading up to Christmas, will they ever change for better, of course they will….. Ouch my ears are bleeding .. There goes the distinct “oinkey” sonic boom of a pig flying past my window (courtesy of Kirsty).

Note: Please also read the disclaimer at the foot of the flyer, as one of the things our roving reporter Shane managed to pick up. And expect to receive some junk mail in your letter box very soon.

All postings & images on this forum are without prejudice.

Affiliates ranked the most important element of the Affiliate relationship with both Merchants and Networks as getting paid for the work they have done, and getting paid quickly.

Well with Paid On Results, that is exactly what you got … so how about we give them more vocal support & applauding their efforts which were announced on Wednesday 24 October 2007. Perhaps because this coincided with a4uexpo, it may have missed a number of affiliates radars. Because the commission is much better in our bank accounts earning interest than any other networks.

Well done Paid On Results, it is much appreciate for accomplishing what many affiliates have strived for, but not enough actually saying thanks when it is delivered.

Paid On Results – Network Blog 

Announcing Payment On Request 

So how about doing the decent thing & giving them a little thanks on the a4uforum, their blog or you own blog (You do have a blog, don’t you? If not why note?)

Here are further details of what they announced:

“Paid On Results are proud to launch our new Affiliate payment system ‘Payment On Request’. It was no surprise to us that Affiliates ranked the number 1 most important element of the Affiliate relationship with both Merchants and Networks as getting paid for the work they have done, and getting paid quickly. Paid On Results has been working hard since the start of this year to get all the elements in place such as upgrading our banking services and systems, improving Merchant invoicing, payment administration and much more to offer our new payment solution.

Payment On Request is a BACS only option, it’s payment when you want. Simply submit an invoice via the Affiliate control area (you click just 2 buttons and the invoice is fully generated for you) anytime you like subject to meeting the minimum of £25 validated commission in your account, so no more waiting 6 weeks to get paid.

Cheque and Paypal payments will remain on the traditional payment model, so now is the time to convert your account to payment via BACS, so you can start submitting your invoices to be paid on request starting the 10th of November.

Payment On Request is yet another example of Paid On Results listening to our Affiliates and taking it that step further.

FAQ:

Q: How often can I get paid?
A: As often as you like subject to having minimum £25 of validated commission in your account.

Q: What bank will my payments come from?
A: Payments come now via Bank of Scotland.

Q: What kind of information can I expect to see on my bank statement about the payment?
A: You should see that payment has come from Paid On Results and should included the reference of your Affiliate ID and invoice payment relates to, for example “1000-0004” would be Affiliate 1000, invoice number 0004.

Q: Why can’t I use Payment On Request for cheque payment?
A: Cheques are very time consuming, and need payment authorised company directors to be around to sign them. BACS on the other hand is very efficient and with the bespoke interface programmed by Paid On Results to output the needed files direct to our banking partner we can speed up the whole process and is why we can now offer this service to Affiliates.

Q: I am a brand new Affiliate, will I get paid on request a few days after joining and generating £25 in commission?
A: Payment On Request system will become available to you only after you have received two payments from Paid On Results, after this your free to submit invoices when you like, as often as you like. The reason for this safeguard is to allow us time to ensure you are a genuine Affiliate and to see how your account operates.”

If you have read this far down the fold, then do the decent thing & show your appreciation for what they have done for affiliates. 

Okay, the Ghost of Christmas Future has vanished for the moment, hence why we created the Buyagift landing page for you. No don’t worry, time permitting we might have another one for you shortly, hopefully, so he must have rubbed off on me a bit … bah humbug!

Anyway, you may have noticed how the networks section of a affiliates4u forum has become swamped with their posting of promotions by both networks, agencies & merchants, which is all well & good, and encouraging they are actually posting & it’s warmly received.

However, I am beginning to wonder if each network should have two sections, one with them & their merchants posting promotions & the another dealing with affiliate concerns & discussions, though the politically correct will argue it’s not a support forum, and yes if a fairly general problem contact the network first, if not resolved then look for the support of the forum.

As mentioned before it concerns me that important issues & discussions for an affiliates, no matter how few or many are affected or simple dialogue about the network or merchants gravitate towards lower pages and are perhaps not get attended to or read by other affiliate parties which may actually be affected.

On a side note, there seem to be a number of excellent incentives run by merchants over the festive period, it would be an idea to aggregate these together, so that the merchant is rewarded for their generosity with an increase in incremental sales.

I would also like to see a directory of merchant & agency contacts, with emails and/or telephone numbers, now some networks allow publishing of these on program page, a couple are still prehistoric, but a central resource would be more convenient & beneficial. Currently we simply harvest these from emails, transfer to a spreadsheet and when the need arises we have it available to contact them.

To expand this further, perhaps develop an affiliate directory where affiliates can post their websites into the appropriate category to allow merchants to easily find more affiliates within their vertical sector, niche, product offering, field, etc.

An obvious problem would be affiliates being reluctant to post their websites … whether this be pride, modesty or fear of being sites being copied or plagiarised. On the bigger plus side it would be a good way to showcase, & maybe, like a matchmaking system, allow new relationships to be forged & flourish. Also via a matchmaking tool, some might be apprehensive about publishing their contact details, this could be overcome with a straight forward mutually agreeing permission based solution, where a party allows one or each other to view their contact details. Obviously this can be elaborated in more detail, but surely there are merchants who would like to encourage more of the right kind of affiliates onboard, especially the appropriate content sites, which may get overlooked in favour of .. wait for it .. closed groups on ppc .. or if you’re a real pretentious wally “strategic group” or better still “strategic paid search management group”

On a further point, apart from search functionality to assist in finding historical threads, I don’t know how feasibly practical it would be, but maybe one way of mapping threads pertaining to individual merchants by the form of a directory, so that forum members have the opportunity to see previous postings about that merchant, thus being better informed to acquire their own inference.

Finally, some idiot(s) mistakenly tag affiliate concerns & postings as a rant, simply because it either affects them or their company or they don’t agree with it, these are the ones who cry to mummy in a grandiloquent manner because they are simply wrong. They don’t like anything untoward, even though true, being on a public forum because they claim it tarnishes the name of industry or that a moderator shouldn’t voice concerns or negative aspects within the industry.

Perhaps they can’t differentiate between when somebody rants and when someone is factual, I guess these doughnuts are probably not attuned to the mindset of the affiliates.

Who, if anyone, is being pertinacious? It depends on your interpretation.

Answers on a postcard.

As you maybe aware Buyagift are running an awesome incentive this Christmas for affiliates. I was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky winners last year Click Here , it was without doubt a few of the best days in my life (not including time with my kids & family of course)

They have surpassed last years incentive with this below, click the link for further details.

Win A Fighter Pilot Trip to Las Vegas with Buyagift

Part of the Buyagift’s current incentive of being a Fighter Pilot for the day, is something I have always dreamed about doing, even when I was in the Royal Air Force.

And I would like nothing more than other affiliates to experience the generous hospitality of Buyagift in Las Vegas for a few days.

Therefore we have created a landing page for you below, we have used Crazy Egg to ascertain the better positioning & order of creatives.

Please feel free to download the following file, which you are free use for your promotions related to Buyagift Only. Courtesy of The Moose & My Wingman & Good Friend Eric.

Click Here to Download

Click Here to Preview Page

If you have any problems please get back to me.

We do intend on updating this by rotating images of various categories, to make it feel a little more dynamic, which we have already on Here , and we do realise something is required to fill space in the bottom right hand corner, we are working on ideas of a Happy Santa or Snowman there presenting the page.

PLEASE NOTE : There are a lot of our affiliate links in there, so please, please, please ensure you change the affiliate ID to your own, check & double check, as we created plenty of clickable points.

In the meantime, feel welcome to download, fill your boots & hopefully you will be one of the lucky winners of to Las Vegas with Buyagift

Good Luck !!! And One More for Luck !

PS We shall continually evaluate the landing page, utilising Crazy Egg, from a user/visitor perspective and update the zipped download when we intrepret changes are required.

It’s always encouraging to observe affiliates partake in the affiliate4u forum posting their thoughts, concerns, opinions and imparting some solid advice or support. Though I guess some may seem a little disappointed when their thread quickly descends down the pages & new posts & threads precede them, when they were hopefully anticipating a bit of constructive feedback.

However shouldn’t there be more blogs? All too often good posts probably get missed by many forum members, when a post is submitted today, it becomes yesterday’s fish and chip wrapping paper, a few networks take the pompous approach of not addressing issues head on, in the forum, while still merrily posting promotions as part of their advertising vehicle to purposely push the important post down the fold. But some networks are good, let’s get that straight.

But issues & lack of resolutions aside there are so many affiliates who have good insight & opinion on differing topics who simply don’t blog. Perhaps when they do post, it would be nice if they would also expand further on their blogs before the forum post it disappears by gravitating downwards (like my moobs, i mean pecs) onto page 13.

By only posting on the forum, is like fishing with a small pond dipping net (i.e. it will be viewed on just one site & deeply submerged in a short period of time) but with more affiliates blogging, we can cast something more akin to a fishing trawler net, increasing the chances of creating more exposure & insight into the trials, tribulations & wonderful aspects of the affiliate marketing industry.

If you are currently are an affiliate, and don’t have a blog related to affiliate marketing, don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today, it doesn’t matter how often you blog, even if only once a week. GET YOURSELF AN AFFILIATE BLOG!

Note it has also been encouraging noticing networks launching blogs too.

In general chat today, I was bemused by a comment from a network referring to “closed groups” as being an inappropriate phrase and being called … wait for it .. “strategic groups” .. then an affiliate friend forwarded a nice simile … “and I call the devil, satan” which made me smile, let’s get the pompous proclamations out of the industry and stick to good old fashioned layman’s terms or would these dignitaries in the self perceived upper echelons of society prefer to refer to us common affiliates as pond spawn with the misplaced snobbery within certain sections of the industry which only serves to stifle the true potential of affiliate marketing from its’ realisation.

I mean … come on. some offices must have massive termite mounds or mole hills in their carpet from what is swept under it.

If anything though, the crux of this posting without all the waffle is that I would like to see more affiliates blogging, they make a good reading & most of us, well definitely me, enjoys reading them.

Let’s hope so.

Whilst at auexpo, I had to miss a segment of one of the morning sessions by sloping off quickly to ask a small team (after being collared by them) involved in the affiliate marketing industry about their latest tool, cherily named The Grim Reaper.

Whom Are The Creators Of The Grim Reaper?

“As for whom, we do wish to remain anonymous at the moment, sounds a little pretencious we know, but we could be likened to multiple Keyser Soze’s of The Usual Suspects, where quite a few people know him, but those people don’t know who he is.”

What Is The Grim Reaper?

“In theory it is a Search Engine Bidding Abuse Monitoring Tool.”

Why or What Inspired You To Develop The Tool?

“The initial inspiration behind the tool was to identify, but not necessarily disclose, which affiliates or parties we feel are maybe receiving questionable preferential treatment both past & present for various affiliate programs, which we feel is having a negative impact on the industry. The Grim Reaper allows us to easily shortlist & isolate those merchants, affiliates & networks we suspect that fall into this category & those networks whom haven’t been transparent with mentioning which programs have closed groups on program information pages.”

Are There Other Reasons?

“Absolutely, the operation of the tool is functionally the same & can serve several purposes, for example it can identify which affiliates are repeatably & systematically abusing a merchants brand on a deliberate basis, and we do empasise deliberate basis, when merchants have clearly stated otherwise. Though we are fully aware of the lack of clarity & changes in keyword policy without sufficient notice & can symphasise with the genuine affiliates to try to correctly adhere to frequently changing T&C’s”

Do You Feel That Monitoring Affiliate Brand Activity is Part of Networks Remit As Part Of the Override They Earn?

“Erm, yes & no. It depends on the network & what agreement they have set up with the merchant. Most are ethical, however In our experience some turn a blind eye & simply say carry on until busted by the merchant, however networks are genuinely in an awkward predicament & policing brand shouldn’t necessarily have to be part of their uneviable role, when more focus & resources should be on new technologies for affiliates & genuine affiliate support. However, a few have fallen into the the abyss with little regard to their incestuous closed group approach and as a result we decided that part of The Grim Reapers role is to purge the culprits. Some networks proclaim they have tools to monitor affiliates bidding on banned terms, but from our experiments, it clear that it’s questionable as to how effective these really are. On the swing side, yes it should be part of networks role to to promote & control affiliates to ensure they are working within reasonable terms & conditions, for whom most do a decent job”

I Notice Your Natural Disdain for Closed Groups?

“The Grim Reaper can also ascertain whether closed groups are adding value for their client by hunting for traffic beyond brand, such as generics or targeted product terms, it appears many are not & some only recently starting to add wider terms away from the brand. It doesn’t make particulalry good reading when inferring the results, but not all can be tarred with the same brush. We would like to add there is an inherent problem, with the familiar groups & networks relying on a cushy nest egg, without which they maybe wouldn’t be around today, it really needs to be addressed by all involved in the space.”

What About Arbitraging These Unfavourable Programs?

“If that is a publishers perogative, go for it, Ebay & Ask.com as you mentioned, could be perceived as doing it. It might make the merchants or networks wake up and smell the coffee. After doing the math, vast .. infact obscene earnings could be made this way, but it’s a concious decision any publisher has to make & be comfortable with both for themselves & within themselves. But The Grim Reaper, already knows who is.”

Are You Concerned About Being Perceived As a Supergrass?

“Ha, ha, ha, no not at all, we aren’t the one’s that should be worrying !, why would we be ?., although having said that the Grim Reaper is NOT going to send top secret reports to networks, why should we do their work for them.

The Grim Reaper allows us to create a more accurate accessment of the affiliate landscape on the paid search front. We are supportive of ethical paid search affiliates & content sites, though because we feel quite strongly about this we may disclose the affiliate ID’s to the public domain of those we are confident of being in closed groups that’s not adding value, it’s not exactly rocket science to find out, but a matter of time one allocates to it. The Grim Reaper automates the process.”

Are You Simply Scaremongering?

“Nope, not amongst hard working affiliates who adhere to reasonable terms & conditions or those inadvertently breaking pay per click guidelines, it’s easy to spot the accidents from the systematic abusers, so honest, regular everyday affiliates have nothing to worry about. It’s only the calculating rule breakers & undisclosed closed groups or exact match brand only affiliates on closed group terms which should be wary.”

How Does The Grim Reaper Work?

“Basically we monitor the paid search advertisments of any desired list of keywords, for example brands, misspellings, variations & even their URL’s. Where an instance for a keyword is found triggering an ad, it’s recorded into the database and fed into our reporting system for later analysis.”

What Do You Record?

“Initially it harvested just the affiliate ID, and thus network being used, any attributed display URL and destination URL, competitor merchants bidding on rival brands. If the ad features a non affiliate link and leads to a landing page or site, we visit the destination URL and collect off site urls, logging any affiliate links on the way, On top of that we now even conduct a whois to try & obtain the owner of the domain name, though we appreciate this is easy enough to disguise & can be misleading. We know some closed group or perpetually rule breaking affiliates may cloak their tracks a little, so we try to get inside their mind what they may possibly do, a few should be chastised.”

But Won’t You Be Incurring Costs for Those Paid Advertisers & Assisting with Increase in CTR’s?

“No, we don’t click links, there’s no need, we log affiliate urls if direct to merchant and visit destination urls if not, we have no need to click any links, incur any cost or boost anyone’s CTR, so rest assured it incurrs no cost or benefit to anyone from clicking ads.”

At What Time Intervals Do You Monitor the Ads?

“Any, currently it is once per hour, but we can easily set the time frame to whatever is desired, even every five minutes, realistically there is no finite time limitations, we simply do what is most practical, so weekend and or evening rule breakers won’t get a look in.”

Is The Grim Reaper Monitoring All Paid Search Platforms?

“Initially it was only Google, because it was easier, but …”

Sorry To Interrupt But, Does This Mean MSN AdCenter & Yahoo Search Marketing As Well Because They Encrypt Their Links?

“Oh, yeah for sure it took a while but we managed to crack the encrypted link conundrum, granted it took our inhouse team some long nights a red bull drip fed army of amazing coders and big pot of cash, but we got there in the end so now there’s nowhere to hide on the big 3, in fact we can monitor any country too in our quest.”

You Maybe Aware My Repetitive Bug Bear is Ebay UK & Ask.com Bidding on Many URL’s & Almost Anything Going. Do You Have Any Thoughts?

“We think you summarised much of it within your blog, but there does seem to be a different ruling for them in the way they are treated by Google. The merchants or networks having little inclination to address these two parties, all very hypocritical if you ask us. The Grim Reaper reveals the scale of this problem & we are bemused by the inertness of affected parties.”

Thanks For Your Time, Is There Anything Else You Would Like To Add?

“Yes, please can you remove this spot lamp from shining in our eyes & turn the strobe off so we can get back to the a4uexpo. Oh, by the way, you might want to check the keyword policy of that merchant, which changed without notification, you are appearing for the brand.”

Oops!