In September of this year Google launched its much anticipated browser, Chrome, to the public. This is a move that will see Chrome pitted against the might of IE and Firefox; Google will be hoping they can decrease Microsoft’s dominance in this arena.

While IE8 is still in beta, both this and Chrome feature a private browsing mode that will automatically block and delete third party cookies when users are browsing with these safety modes switched on. Blocking third party cookies is and has been available in all browsers for sometime, but never at the touch of a button so prominently displayed for all to see. This new “one touch” function will be sure to highlight third party cookies to a public before unaware of their existence.

Previously an understanding  of cookies by internet users, as well as slight technical know how in order to block them, would have insured that this would not really have been an issue in previous browsers.

This development has led industry experts to questions the validity of cookie tracking and look for alternatives, one such alternative is in the form of Flash Cookies. Flash cookies are stored outside of the browsers temporary internet files, and are therefore left untouched by the new browsers privacy modes. As an industry built on the very foundations of third party cookies, now more than ever is the time to ensure we have an understanding of these new technologies, and how they can help our merchants as well as affiliates. Sales tracking has always been a bone of contention for affiliates, robust and trusted technologies are essential in ensuring both affiliates and merchants trust the reliability of your affiliate programme.

The current economic crisis seems to have taken yet another victim, the shock announcement that after nearly 100 years of trading, Woolworths has officially gone into administration with over £385 million worth of debts.

No surprise then is the announcement that they have also terminated their affiliate programme and ended their relationship with Affiliate Window, a decision I am sure savvy affiliates were expecting.  No company or network likes to be in this position of telling affiliates that a programme is going to close, especially from a well known and trusted brand such as Woolworths. I am sure Affiliate Window will have done all they could to prevent this from happening, the announcement from them that they will still honour payment of confirmed sales is yet another reason affiliates speak highly of Affiliate Window.

In these turbulent times no one is safe, not even huge brands that have been a staple of all our high streets for as long as I can remember. As an industry, now more than ever it is important we are working together to ensure Affiliate Marketing can weather the forthcoming storm. An industry that prides itself on transparency and return on investment for its merchants will no doubt be under the spotlight again.

The first month working at R.O.EYE has been a very eye-opening experience to say the least. Before I started here if anyone asked me to run an affiliate programme my response would have been- “No thanks, I did the Krypton Factor last weekend, I’m shattered.” How naive I was.

Cashback –site, aggregator, merchant, affiliate- what had I let myself in for? These are the words that haunted my dreams for the first two weeks at R.O.EYE but now they are regular words used in my vocabulary. Some people say to learn more about affiliate marketing you should visit blogs regularly and check out the up to date information on the industry, which is true, but I have learnt almost everything I know from my colleagues and also our very informative training days.

From my experiences so far, the affiliate marketing industry is all about building strong relationships with key people that can make your programme a success. A bond has to be built with your merchant, your affiliates and also the networks as they can provide useful information on managing different types of programmes. The ideal scenario is to be in the office managing your programmes for half of the month and for the other half be out wining and dining your key affiliates. We can always dream….

By building these strong relationships with your affiliates you may call upon them to compromise at times but be wary that they are more than likely going to do the same. Affiliates may be prepared to promote a programme they are unsure of if there is a bond of trust, and similarly this can go the other way when affiliates need something extra from their agency, e.g. client/merchant requests.

There are always chances to build these relationships and do a bit of networking such as gallivanting at Expos or going out to lunch with affiliates and merchants. This is all an important part of the wonderful world of the affiliate marketing industry that I have not yet tasted and I am very very hungry.

To end my first blog entry I will introduce my not yet famous “Tip of the month” section. This tip is for all of the new beginners here at R.O.EYE.

Tip# 1: Speak to every employee working in the office as they can teach you a lot about affiliate marketing and the different verticals (finance, retail, travel etc). You should get a good grasp of everyone’s programmes so you will firstly be able to inform affiliates of these programmes and also be able to cross sell between your areas and your colleague’s areas.

This years R.O.EYE sponsored Affiliate Marketing Report 2008 shows that we, as a community, must act together to drive the industry forward and move away from the quick wins that have arguably been evident for the last few years. This affects us all as agencies, affiliates, merchants and networks as we must ensure that we collectively pull together to ensure the long term development of the channel.

The decline of ppc affiliates for example shouldn’t really come as a surprise to those actively working in the industry, but the figures are certainly a wake up call. The changes from Google and the smartening of merchants either doing their own search management or strengthening their strategies has certainly removed the fruit hanging on the low branches. I’m not totally sure that the statistics for the growth of SEO / Content sites are truly reflective of the entire industry (as this is a sample) because Incentive and Cash back sites are certainly dominating in most areas. Just look at the levels of debate on blogs and forums across the web following the Quidco’s decision to drop Affiliate Window. However it does stand true that there has already been a move towards content which in turn will favour SEO listings.

A split in the question regarding merchant’s resource would have been a useful one to inject following the increase in the percentage of merchants where affiliate marketing is part of their online role. My concern here is that it is only a part, and in some cases very little of their job. Admin, validations, promotions and then a bit of strategy all takes considerable time and its not surprising that the easiest option in terms of sales becomes the only option; lack of communication, over dependence on ppc affiliates, less than 5 super-affiliates and a high percentage of duplications are all the makings of a time bomb. More dedicated resource in these areas would generate significant results.

So it is true to be said that we must work together to increase the portion of budget that affiliate marketing is allocated and increase the portion of sales as a result. It is still a very cost effective channel and a higher percentage responded to say that it is more cost effective than last year. The investment will have to be on resource and content tools, as opposed to straight increases in the affiliate’s cost per acquisition.

In the four years that R.O.EYE have been managing affiliate campaigns we have had the pleasure of launching upwards of 30 of our merchant’s programmes to the affiliate community. In our experience we have seen some very slick and effortless programme launches as well as some which have had more than the odd spanner thrown in the works.

So what makes the difference? What are the factors involved? What can be done to ensure a stellar programme launch and avoid a spluttering start?

Well we think we have some answers. Below we’ve put together some bullet point tips and wisdom that will help you identify areas of focus to make sure your affiliate programme gets off the ground and delivering your objectives when you need it to:-

- Put your technical team in touch with your affiliate agency or network.
Problems with implementing tracking is possibly the greatest obstacle to a programme launch and direct lines of communication will help ensure this goes smoothly and timely.

- Make campaign materials available as early as possible.
It is likely you agreed a launch date with the affiliate agency at the planning stage, and whether this can be achieved depends a lot on when the necessary materials such as; product info, USPs, creatives etc can be made available.

- Set and work to realistic and agreed timeframes.
We recommend you assess your internal resources and ability to deliver the required materials and then agree timescales for all parties to work towards. This will facilitate effective time management for all and ensure that momentum is not lost during the launch phase.

- Consult your affiliate agency on the design of creatives and landing pages at an early stage.
Creatives that have been designed for a branding or media campaign may not be suitable for an affiliate campaign, if for example there is no strong call to action. Landing pages which are not ‘affiliate friendly’ and contain leakage points such as telephone numbers can affect affiliate take-up and inhibit the programme.

- Keep your affiliate agency informed of your other marketing channels’ activity.
There may be some great opportunities if synergies exist to tie the programme launch in with your existing marketing activities. On the other hand there may be potential conflicting messages that can be avoided if spotted early on.

In summary, many of the most common set-backs and issues that delay the launch of affiliate programmes can be avoided. While there are potentially hundreds of variables involved when setting up an affiliate programme depending on many factors, there are some fundamental points which can be applied in most circumstances and it is these we have focused on in this blog.

By Chris Worthy, Senior Programme Executive

Anyone who has read a paper or watched the news over the past couple of months would be forgiven to think that the UK is on the brink of economic collapse. Recent reports supporting claims like unemployment is rising at the fastest rate since 1992 as companies cut back their staff in light of rising costs. Inflation is set to hit a new high with it highest increase of 10% since 1986, and don’t forget we are in the midst of a ‘credit crunch’. All this then sums up what looks like a grim prospect for the economy, consumer spending, marketing budgets and advertising. Therefore should affiliate marketing be worried about the uncertainty ahead and the effects it will have on its growth?

Let’s start with Google. In a press release on Friday it was announced that shares in the giant fell 9.4%, worrying news you may think until you read further to discover that Google’s profits rose 35% in the second quarter. Google may not be showing the expediential growth it once did, but it along with online marketing is still expanding at a rate of about 30%. To put this into context media giant Group M predicts that in 2008 TV, Press and Radio will see a decrease in marketing spend as companies switch budget to online channels.

The switch of budget to online channels is of no surprise when you look at the recent consumer internet spend figures. Despite the ‘credit crunch’ internet spend was up 38% on the same period last year according to the group IMRG. Customers are fleeing the streets and heading online to find the cheapest bargains. Retails spend may be going down on the high street but it is going straight back into the online retailers.

So do fears of a recession and the grip of the ‘credit crunch’ pose a risk to affiliate marketing? If the recent figures are to be believed then it appears not. Indeed quite the opposite effect may be seen especially amongst certain genres of affiliate. As customers go in search of cheap prices and discounts, affiliate cash back sites, voucher code sites and price comparison sites could see a boost, especially as the public are becoming increasingly savvy to such sites. Retail may be in for a tough time over the next few years but this will be the time for online and affiliate marketing to show how diverse and resilient it is.

In August I will be launching 3 affiliate programmes for a new merchant here at R.O.EYE. We will be running these both on a closed and open network and I got to wondering… what is the general perception of this kind of strategy in the affiliate community? Are the benefits and drawbacks of both widely understood? To throw my two pence worth out there I’ve put together some observations which may help to explain some of the thought processes involved.

In my experience merchants face two very important considerations when deciding on which strategy to employ depending of course on the industry and product, and these are typically reach and control.

For example, a non-premium branded retail merchant will be more concerned with driving sales than brand compliance and have few reservations about allowing affiliates from as many different genres join the programme as possible. In contrast a premium-branded, FSA regulated finance merchant will need considerably more control over the programme as they need to consider compliance as well back-end quality if the programme is paying out per lead for example.

Closed networks offer the merchant a good degree of control because the affiliate manager or agency can keep affiliates close and develop mutually beneficial working relationships with them. Good communication then facilitates effective programme optimisation from a quality perspective and compliance management, ticking two very important boxes.

Another big box to tick is of course volume of sales (or leads) and for this it helps to have access to large numbers of affiliates. Open networks offer considerably more reach in terms of accessing affiliates and depending on the network can attract specialist affiliates in a variety of different verticals. Other benefits include the extremely valuable add-on services such as XML product feeds, widgets, APIs, etc which can be of huge benefit and often integral to making the programme a success.

However it is also true that these add-ons are not always required and in some instances are left completely redundant, which then brings into question the justifiability of the network override. This becomes a very important consideration where for example the programme objectives involve working to a cost-based KPI.

If only a standard tracking solution is required then a closed network is preferable as this eliminates the inflationary impact of network overrides and creates cost efficiencies. This means the programme is not inhibited in its ability to deliver to the cost based KPI and the maximum commissions can be passed on to attract, recruit, and nurture top performing affiliates.

In summary it’s very much ‘horses for courses’ but decisions whether to run an affiliate programme on a closed, open, or mixed strategy often stem from some of the considerations covered in this blog. In all instances however the decisions made must satisfy the merchant objectives and provided that is the case there will always be a successful programme for affiliates to be part of.

Google, earlier this week, launched their own affiliate network offering. DoubleClick Performics Affiliate will now be called Google Affiliate Network. Effectively Google have taken the network under their banner and will look to bring it more and more in line with their business over the coming months.

What impact will this have? This remains to be seen. Some will be worried about the dominance of Google in the search arena spreading into affiliate marketing where it will now control not only the PPC adverts that many affiliates use, the analytics software that they monitor it with, but also now the affiliate programmes that they are advertising!

In some ways this could help to monitor the black hat activities of some affiliates and monitor un-authorised brand bidding on a completely new level, if the areas of the Google empire are integrated effectively.

But, what’s to stop Google becoming an affiliate? This is a fear that has been expressed by a number of affiliates in the past. Why not place affiliate links as their search listings? I know it sounds a bit far fetched, but Microsoft have gone this way already with their Cashback site. Could we see this happen with another of the big three search engines? Or is it a conspiracy theory that will continue to be discussed half jokingly and half in mortal fear?

There are many other questions that are going to be asked in the coming weeks about what the implications of this bold step will mean: To what level will Adsense, Adwords and Analytics be incorporated? Which merchants are going to be drawn to the network due to the lure of the Google brand? Will Google follow Microsoft down the affiliate route?

We will have to wait and see. For now the only major change for all affiliates involved with the DoubleClick Performics network is the name.

SEO is hardly a hot new topic, quite the opposite, but fact is that it’s an important issue that needs to be addressed. Consider it like a trip to the gym. Put the effort in and your site will become a slick, greased up Adonis sitting atop of the pile. If you’re not really too fussed, your site will undoubtedly become a bloated loner, languishing at the back of the queue. OK, granted that analogy is fairly crass, I’m sure Barry’s Ferret Land (Search Term: Ferret Land) or HMH Vices (ST: Tube Fly Vice Converter) have more pressing issues than SEO on their mind, yet they have managed to sit atop of Google’s rankings. However they enjoy the rare and privileged position of being, to put it lightly, a tad niche.

This got me thinking about Sky. In an ideal world, the word as a search term should surely yield a mixed bag of results. The obvious TV and satellite deals from Mr Murdoch, their news and sports services, maybe a Patrick Moore fansite, or a met office page on Cumulonimbi? However, the entire first page of Google’s organic results (bar one) are all Sky.com’s various sites. Even the Wikipedia entry gets relegated to the middle of page 2. It is in fact the 3rd page that finally produces a rounded and objective list of results - I’ve never been so happy to see Vanilla Sky!

I got in touch with Richard Sliwa, who is the esteemed webmaster whose site gatecrashes Sky’s exclusive top 10 results party. He was kind enough to respond to me and pass on his SEO strategy. To find out how he does it, please send a cheque for £500 made payable to James Skelland…

I jest - but in all seriousness, he admits that it’s an old site of his that he last really took notice of around 3 years ago, when it was floating around the low 30’s. Richard cites a large portion of his page’s success to the old adage of KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid), involving the simple yet effective implementation of keywords, meta tags and backlinks - remembering content is king.

So how does Sky do it then? Of top 19 results in Google, 17 of them belong to Sky. Maybe the question should not be ‘how?’ - maybe we should be asking if it’s right to be able to monopolise an ambiguous word? I’ve got no qualms if, on searching for the word ‘Microsoft’, I get an infinite list of Microsoft subdomains. So does this mean that Sky is no longer even classed as an ambiguous word anymore? To be honest, the majority of people entering the search term Sky are probably only looking for a Sky TV site anyway, but it seems the knock on effect means that the only affiliates who get a sniff are the PPC’s. It’d be interesting to know the comments of affiliates on Sky’s programmes.

It’s at least a comfort to know that, despite corporations seemingly being able to take over any search term they wish, Richard Sliwa proves that there is always a way for the honest webmaster or affiliate to break into the big boys’ club. I shall leave you with a quote from the man himself to perhaps inspire you to give your site a little SEO workout…

“Online popularity is self-perpetuating even more than in the real world. Once one gets noticed to any degree, it just snowballs, and this is as true of search engines as it is with the real audience, with one feeding off the other. The most important thing, therefore, is to get noticed, by hook or by crook.”

The giant that is Microsoft, in its increasingly bitter battle with Google to gain a larger share of the lucrative search market has announced it will launch their affiliate ‘offering’ by offering cash back to customers. Called Live Search Cash back; it is part of a plan by the software company to come up with new approaches for its search business as its proposed take over of Yahoo now looking increasingly sour.

This is a good move on the part of Microsoft, certainly in the PR department, as it will help promote their search service attractiveness to consumers which comes a distance third to both that of Google’s and Yahoo’s.

It is reported to be launching its cash back service with in excess of 700 merchants offering between them 10 million products, with names such as eBay, Foot Locker and Hewlett Packard already jumping onto the Microsoft cash back wagon. All American companies I hear you say, and you would be right, however its worth remembering that if this takes off State side you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be rolled out in the UK fairly swiftly. As a consumer who normally would trust the search engine results, would I start to question the relevance of the displayed ads if I knew cash back was involved? Maybe. In that case there is no way this will work and affiliates shouldn’t be worried. Right? Well in answering that question you would have to consider Microsoft’s recent purchase of the company Farecast. At the moment a travel vertical but Farecast is promising to put search results back into the hands of the consumer, Microsoft will use this recent purchase for more than just travel.

Microsoft is not trying in anyway to muscle in on your affiliate commission; it is simply trying to increase its market share of search by offering consumers a kick back for using their search engine.

What ever happens in the future with Microsoft’s cashback network, success or not, it is sure to bring affiliate activity to the forefront of consumer thinking.

Watch this space…