ValueClick this week announced the divestiture of their lead-gen business unit, Web Clients. The stated reason is that ValueClick wants to stay focused on their online marketing services and technology businesses. That’s fair enough, but a look at the history of ValueClick and Web Clients raises questions in the minds of the curious. Consider this: In 2004 Web … [Read more...]
The Great Divide
Over the last five years, almost all of the topics I’ve written about focus on some aspect of performance-based advertising. My fascination with the subject stems from a desire to understand the role performance-based ads play in the broader ecosystem for advertisers, merchants and affiliates.What I’ve come to believe is that the performance marketing world has two … [Read more...]
Leading the Way
Online lead generation gets no respect. Online lead generation affiliates less so. While the sector is growing by leaps and bounds - 290 percent over 2005, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau - people like Peter Martin and Robert Jewell just seem to drag its reputation through the mud. These guys had the honor of being sued by New York State Attorney General Eliot … [Read more...]