Matt Bailey’s affiliate blog

Whilst it looks like the EU has seen sense (or Google have lobbied hard) and decided against this well intentioned but ultimately impossible regulation against cookies (full details), it has raised the question about the future of cookie tracking in the affiliate channel.
A few networks have implemented cookieless tracking, and a few bold claims have [...]

I haven’t blogged in ages which is rubbish, but we have been very busy here in the i-level affiliate team working on various projects for our clients, one of which I decided to write about today as it’s something we’re quite proud of.
We’ve been working with Orange and FusePump to overhaul the way in which [...]

Previously on this blog I’ve bemoaned the lack of new affiliates. A few potential reasons for this: barriers to entry are higher than they used to be; more merchants so affiliates are spread more thinly; it’s harder to make money than it used to be.
However, something else to consider. 5 years ago, tech savvy entrepreneurs [...]

As has been the case for the last couple of years, there is substantial debate going on about how affiliates are able to make money from social media. Various parties have tried to monetise Facebook with limited success and the growth of Twitter has lead to discussion around how to make the most of the [...]

At the recent IAB Affiliate Council meeting we debated how merchants can gain increased transparency over what affiliates are doing, and at the same time sell themselves to merchants/agencies/networks to reduce the chance of being rejected from their campaign.
Therefore I thought it would be useful to write a quick post on what we look for [...]

There seems to be a common assumption in the affiliate world that the cookie period should be 30 days. I am concerned that not enough thought goes into determining this. What rationale is used by merchants/networks when setting cookie periods?
Sector differences
Different vertical sectors have different buying cycles and so this should influence the length of [...]

The issue of PI tracking through the affiliate channel has died down recently, having been a big issue 3-4 years ago. However is it now time to revisit this?
Because of the last click wins model, many affiliates contribute to sales that they do not get rewarded for, and content affiliates are generally considered to be [...]

There is often a great deal of talk about how merchants can optimise the “affiliate channel” to drive the best return on their investment. I tend to baulk at mentions of affiliate marketing as a single channel that can be treated the same as display, PPC or SEO.
3-4 years ago then yes, affiliate marketing could [...]

Following on from my previous blog post about Easy Content Units, I have been made aware of a similar product. widget:builder has been built by Medifusion.
A bit of background: Medifusion have been around in the affiliate space since 2003, focussing on price comparison in entertainment and electronics, and for the last few years have been [...]

Some interesting research from the IAB today about how online advertisers are missing out on opportunities to target consumers when they are most likely to buy, see the NMA article here.
It got me thinking about whether this is something that affiliates can take on board.  Now I know that PPC affiliates will day-part target in [...]