Tom Goodwin, SVP of Havas Media, published a fascinating article on TechCruch a few months ago that helps put that concept in perspective in today’s world. “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles,” he said. “Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest … [Read more...]
So What's Next for Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing just celebrated its 20th birthday and – wow – has it changed! Just look at the last few years. New and different affiliate models continue to appear, the world is getting smaller through the international reach of publishers, and the customer journey and experience have become ever so scrutinized. This is coupled with the consumer shift in consumption -- … [Read more...]
How to Survive the Challenging Online M&A World
The performance marketing industry has undergone massive change within the last 2 years, possibly more than any period within the decade. Many performance marketing companies are merging or are being acquired for strategic purposes. Perhaps the biggest trend is that a number of large companies have gone into aggressive acquisition mode, which has left an interesting gap in the … [Read more...]
Content Locking as an Alternative Monetization Method
Examining Content Locking as an Alternative Visitor Monetization Method Providing they begin with a properly optimized site, unique content, natural link building and the inclusion of a few paid traffic sources, most sites have a chance to develop a steady stream of visitors within their first year. Save for the occasional “Panda” or “Penguin” attack, these approaches typically … [Read more...]
360 Days in the Life of Performance Marketing
The past year was tumultuous for the industry; 2014 should be better but it won’t be without its speed bumps. As the next issue of Revenue+Performance will be highlights the best performing cost-per-action (CPA) and cost-per-sale (CPS) networks, it seems a good time to reflect on the past year in performance marketing and to look ahead to 2014. The performance marketing … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Accelerating International Growth
Software applications are ideal products to sell online but many merchants limit themselves to only selling into a single country. Whether you’re just starting to sell online or have an established business, selling internationally is an important opportunity for the development of your business overall. In this article we look at some of the key things to consider when seeking … [Read more...]
Are You Asking for It? You’d Better!
Affiliate Marketing is traditionally a sport played best by the big guys - the big beasts of the industry. Companies such as eBates, ShopAthome, RetailMeNot, Vertive or SurfMyAds always are near the top of any affiliate manager’s list when considering who should be targeted. Yet the truth is that there are often huge potential traffic sources that are ignored in this situation. … [Read more...]
The Future of Performance Marketing: More Consolidation & Better Social Media Lead Generation
Three seemingly disparate events this year — the closing of the Google Affiliate Network (GAN), Facebook introducing CPA buys and Twitter launching Lead Generation Cards — foretell the future of performance marketing. There are two trends moving in parallel: the increasing consolidation of the industry that will result in only a few select full-service players and niche … [Read more...]
Firefox and Third Party Cookie Blocking
Web browser developer Mozilla has made it clear that at some point in the near future they will implement third party cookie blocking by default in Firefox – possibly as soon as Q3-2013. Third party cookies are those set by a different domain to the one that the user is visiting at the time and have a range of applications including analytics solutions. As an example, if the … [Read more...]
The 6 Most Common Mobile Optimization Mistakes & How To Avoid Them
It is predicted that over half of all worldwide traffic will come from mobile devices by 2015. Mobile usage and growth statistics like these are staggering and if you value your business and brand they cannot be ignored. You must be optimizing for mobile. Ineffective mobile traffic optimization will not only expose your business to substantial decreases in potential revenue … [Read more...]