LinkShare announced their newest affiliate tool called Automated LinkGenerator, but boy did they make it difficult for their affiliates to understand what the heck this thing is and what it does. It's kind of a datafeed, but then again it's kind of not. Here's the email announcement I got….

LinkShare is pleased to announce a new Web services offering for affiliates, called Automated LinkGenerator. Web services are Web based applications that use open, XML-based standards and transport protocols to exchange data with clients.

Automated LinkGenerator creates LinkShare affiliate links for any product on a merchant's site that offers LinkGenerator. This new feature provides the same functionality as the LinkGenerator tool in the Individual Product Links interface, without having to log into the Affiliate Interface to get your links. This new tool does not replace Merchandiser (LinkShare's datafeed), but will be helpful for getting direct links from merchants that do not offer Merchandiser feeds.

If you are interested in using the Automated LinkGenerator, please email us at linkgen_request@linkshare.com to have this new tool enabled. Once you are enabled, the Automated LinkGenerator will be located under the LinkShare Feed Synergy Services area of the Affiliate Interface. To create an Automated LinkGenerator link, you will use a REST (Representational State Transfer) Web services to request links for a given merchant URL. You will then send a URL from the merchant's site to LinkShare using the specified link format (see the Automated LinkGenerator Help area).  The URL can be sent through a browser, a tool like wget or curl, or an automated script.  For each URL provided, LinkShare returns a click link.  You can request up to 1,000 links within an hour.

Web services applications are accessible using SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and REST. Web Services use HTTP with XML for communication. These are ubiquitous technologies and any device capable of using these technologies is able to both host and consume Web services. Web services concepts are simple to understand and with the addition of various tool-kits provide a low barrier to entry and easy software development.

For information on setting up a Web services, please visit the following sites:
REST - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer
Web Services - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_service
Web Services & PHP - http://webservices.xml.com/pub/a/ws/2004/03/24/phpws.html

Search Marketing Expo - SMX
Inaugural Event: SMX Seattle, June 4th & 5th, 2007

I SO want to go to this! Anything with Danny Sullivan involved is going to be hot!

Search Marketing Expo — SMX — is the new search engine marketing conference from Third Door Media, the company behind the Search Engine Land news site and the Search Marketing Now webcast series.

Programmed by search expert Danny Sullivan, the inaugural SMX show on June 4 & 5 will be especially geared toward advanced search marketers who want to hear about the latest search marketing techniques for both organic and paid placement.

And if having Danny Sullivan involved isn't cool enough, the first SMX will be held in Seattle at the extraordinary Bell Harbor Convention Center on Pier 66. Bell Harbor features state of the art convention facilities in an exceptional indoor and outdoor atmosphere. If you haven't been to Seattle, it's absolutely beautiful there.

For now, they're taking sign-ups for the email list. So, go drop in your email so you can be notified when the registration opens. Search Marketing Expo - SMX

I met Marc Chase in a affilaite focused forum. He's an Affiliate Manager trying to fire up a new affiliate program for MyCreditGroup.

Marc's got some strikes against him, as he's got a spanking new affiliate program in a niche that's flooded and really hard to rank in.

Marc's Affiliate Program is in the Finance niche with a focus on Credit Repair, Debt Settlement and Mortgages. It's one of the toughest to break into, and most expensive to participate in.

I know this niche very well as I used to own a business that generated leads for Merchants as large as Bank of America. I used to earn upwards of $50 per lead. That's per lead, not per sale. Money was good way back then, but not anymore if you're new to the game.

So, when I saw Marc's post announcing his offering to the affiliates … I saw some really good things and I saw a few things that could be better.

Marc's post read something like this…

We've put a lot of effort into building a flawless reputation before launching our affiliate program.
We put just as much effort into creating support for our affiliates. 

Some Features:
- Multi Tiered: $50.00 per 5% second tier
- $1000.00 bonus per 100 sign ups
- Additional bonuses of 500.00 for second conversion
- Huge industry and we are hands down the most trusted.

We're even working on health benefits (lots of details of course)

The affiliate page can be found here:
The Best Credit Repair Affiliate Program - My Credit Group

Feel free to research our company thoroughly and you'll see the effort we've put into ethics and integrity.

If you have any questions, or suggestions we'd love to hear from you.

Thank you in advance
Marc Chase

• They're listed with Dunn and Bradstreet.
• They have a flawless seven year old BBB record, which in that niche is unheard of.
• They are registered with the Attorney General and Secretary of State.
• They offer the affiliate a lot of incentives.
• They offer the affiliate revenue potential for the client's many possible trasactions.
• Their payout for sales seems generous.
• They offer a second tier opportunity.
• They don't compete with the affiliates.
• They are very responsive to their affiliates.

What I didn't see caused me to ask Marc a few questions and offer some suggestions:

• I wanted to see a short form for affiliates to put onto their websites to generate sales easier.
• I wanted to see a 365 day cookie set because in this niche clients take a long time to sell to.
• I wanted to see a first-in cookie so that affiliates who really work it can benefit and not have to worry about cookie theft.
• I wanted to know what states they could service, because this niche has lots of legal limitations.
• I wanted to know who owned the company.

Marc was prompt to respond to all my questions, and lightning quick to supply all the elements I suggested. He also gave me some more insights into his company and their ethics:

Debt Settlement. Its rather lengthy so I'll paint some broad strokes
1) Greed - average fee is 14% we charge 8%. It still makes a ton of money. I dont understand 14%.

2) Because we have a credit repair mentality, credit scores are first things we think of. So, while client is saving their "settlement" money, we keep the debts tied up with validation, method of validation, FCBA requests etc. What this does (not always) is prevents them from marking the accounts late while they are saving. Goal being to get them debt free and preserving their credit.

3) Greed again: Settlement companies get paid on the total amount of debt settled. Many debts that arent even necessary to settle are included because its more commissions. We work on repair first (where applicable) if we can get something removed, then its less the client has to pay. Again, still a ton of money.

4) We always attempt to pay for deletions (credit repair mentaility). Collection agents usually just care about money and will delete the tradeline entirely as long as they get paid.

Again, settlement companies don't do credit repair, so those things aren't their concern. Since we want everybody to eventually turn to a mortgage, it is in our best interest to perfect their score no matter what service we're providing.

I am impressed with company's business model, and after chatting with Marc, I'm also impressed with their attention to details and customer service for their affiliates.

I decided to join their affiliate program and if you have finance sites that focus on CPS more than CPM/CPA, this would be a good affiliate program for you too … very ethical todate.

Hello, SourceForge.net User,

 

In connection with the ongoing SourceForge.net Marketplace open beta, and our recent TRUSTe certification, on 2007-08-21 we published an updated Privacy Statement for the SourceForge.net site.

 

Until 2007-09-04, when the the updated Privacy Statement will become effective, it will be available at the following link:

https://sourceforge.net/docs/H11/

 

Thereafter, it will take the place of our existing Privacy Statement and will be available at the following link: https://sourceforge.net/docs/H02/

 

Thank you,

 

SourceForge.net staff

This post has nothing to do with that affiliate marketing space. Nope! It's all about Santa Claus. ChristmasKids.org has all sorts of interesting Christmas information from Norad, to Christmas Gifts, to Christmas Trees, and on. The site is filled with bits and pieces of christmas histories and folklore. It's a cool find and I thought I'd share the Christmas love today.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! And, Happy Holidays!!!

NORAD Tracks Santa Claus every year here at Christmas Kids starting in November! Be sure and bookmark this page!!! Who is NORAD? North American Aerospace Defense Command "Deter, Detect, Defend." That is the motto of the men and women who serve in the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Since 1958, Canadians and Americans have been partners in protecting the airspace of Alaska, Canada and the contiguous 48 United States. The mission has evolved over the years. Until the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD's focus was almost exclusively fixed on threats coming toward the Canadian and American borders, not terrorism in our domestic airspace. Because of that day, NORAD's focus has increased to include domestic airspace. NORAD's mission is truly global. Prior to Sept. 11, NORAD was a word that was associated predominately with the Cold War. The eyes and ears of NORAD were focused on aerospace threats that may come from sources far away from the shores of Canada and the United States. Today, the highly skilled men and women of NORAD use ground-based radar, airborne radar, satellites, fighter aircraft, proven command structures and intelligence capabilities to enforce control of the skies over the United States and Canada.

Images and information used with permission from ChristmasKids.org

Zachary Rodgers, from clickz news, delivered an interesting blurb on the recent DoubleClick acquisition of video ad specialist Klipmart. DoubleClick will combine the company's technology and services with its own DART Motif rich media platform. The deal, for which terms were not disclosed, brings DoubleClick a step closer to being an end-to-end solution for rich media advertising. Klipmart ranks among the more sophisticated providers of video production services, an area where Motif is historically weak.

Pepperjam Announces Sponsorship of Linkshare Affiliate Marketing Symposium and Golden Link Awards

Pepperjam, the industry’s leading search, affiliate, and media management firm announced today co-sponsorship of the 2006 Linkshare Symposium and Golden Link Awards, which will be held in New York City on June 20–21. The Linkshare Summit and Golden Link Awards are the premier affiliate marketing conference and awards ceremony for leading Linkshare merchants and affiliates.

To learn more about Pepperjam please visit http://www.pepperjamsearch.com and http://www.pepperjammanagement.com

Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO of Pepperjam said, “We are excited to co-sponsor this year’s Linkshare Symposium and Golden Link Awards and are honored to be part of this prestigious affiliate marketing event. In particular, these Linkshare events provide an excellent opportunity to unveil Pepperjam’s newest affiliate marketing initiative, the Pepperjam Comparison Shopping Blog. Unlike other comparison shopping engines, such as shopping.com and shopzilla.com, the new Pepperjam website will offer merchants the expertise of a leading search-engine marketing firm (pepperjamsearch.com), as well as a revolutionary cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and cost-per-click (CPC) advertising model designed with pay-for-performance marketing in mind.”

This year's much anticipated LinkShare Symposium 2006 will take place June 20-21, 2006 in New York City. For more than ten years, LinkShare merchants, affiliates, and leading companies doing business on the web have convened at the LinkShare Symposium to forge business relationships and discuss issues facing the industry at large. Over 500 leaders from companies in the retail, catalog, financial and business-to-business sectors will be in attendance. To learn more about the Linkshare Symposium and Golden Link Awards please visit http://www.linkshare.com/symposium.

About pepperjamSEARCH:
pepperjamSEARCH offers powerful search-engine marketing management solutions based on an advanced search analytics algorithm. The company offers an experienced staff of certified Google Advertising Professionals and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassadors. Working with advanced, proprietary API-Driven management tools, pepperjamSEARCH offers the ultimate ROI available through the advertising medium of search. Using the model developed over the past seven (7) years by Pepperjam, pepperjamSEARCH offers cutting-edge solutions to many of the nation’s leading online merchants. In addition, Pepperjam is one of only 20 search-engine marketing firms across the United States designated by Google as a Google Adwords Qualified Company.

About pepperjamMANAGEMENT:
pepperjamMANAGEMENT was created in 2002 by a group of industry-leading super affiliates and search-engine marketing experts, including Internet marketing expert Kristopher B. Jones. The company offers pay-for-performance outsourced affiliate marketing management solutions, as well as online media management and consultation in the areas of search, strategic partnership acquisition, and overall market share capitalization.

pepperjamMANAGEMENT is a division of the Pepperjam Network — the world’s largest search-engine marketing super affiliate with over $100 million in annual sales generated to over 2,500 merchant partners, including BabyAge, 1-800-PetMeds, igourmet and Foreclosure.com.

For more information, please contact Robyn Martin, Director of Public Relations at 1.877.796.5700 or visit us at http://www.pepperjamsearch.com and http://www.pepperjammanagement.com.