Networks

Networks Go Wild
If there is one recent development that has changed performance marketing it is the explosion in new advertising and affiliate networks. Nobody seems to know for sure how many there are now but a guess of over 500 active networks, and several thousand in total, is probably correct. It is easier than ever for someone – anyone – to set up a network and start brokering offers. It’s almost become a standard career path for successful affiliates to start their own CPA network.

With over 400 ad networks, segmentation has become a big part of successful performance marketing campaigns.

Katrina Toft loves sushi. So it’s only natural that the designer, a recent college graduate, started a blog about the Seattle sushi restaurants she haunts. Already, she’s making enough from BestSeattleSushi.com to feed her fish habit. Now, she’s working on a site for gamers.

On various stages of their involvement with the affiliate marketing channel, merchants look in the direction of launching affiliate programs for the same products on multiple networks. The most common reasoning for this being that by so doing they will expand their affiliate reach, significantly improving chances of recruiting powerful affiliates across different networks.

Judging by the way our economy has plummeted in the last year, it seems the 2009 holiday season does not bode well for retailers — online or off.

Tens of thousands of people are still getting laid off every week, the job market simply won’t do us the kindness of opening up, and consumers are squeezing pennies so hard that Lincoln feels their pain.

Given this collective reluctance to spend money on anything but essentials, where does that leave online luxury retailers? Better yet, where does that leave their affiliates?

Top interactive agencies and affiliates share their tricks for picking the right ad network. Conservatively estimated, there are upwards of 400 ad networks globally. There is a Japanese iPhone-only ad network and the recently launched Village Voice alternative weekly New York newspaper ad network – and everything in between. For ad agencies representing top brands, and for affiliates trying to make a living in the increasingly competitive world of performance marketing, picking the right one is critical to survival. Choosing poorly spells disaster for everyone.