Inside Affiliate

Archive for the ‘Tools & Technology’ Category

Since it is December and the new FTC rules for bloggers have taken effect, I have been looking for the easiest way to make everything compliant.  I know that it’s probably a long shot that the FTC would ever take an interest in my blog, but better safe than sorry, since I found a pretty easy way to do it.  Of course you could write your own custom disclosure like Shoemoney does, but who wants to take the 15 minutes to write it…That’s where CMP.ly comes in.  They have created a simple way to add the proper disclosure to your page, similar to the URL shorteners that you know and love.  CMP.ly is totally free, and there are 5 levels of their standard disclosure, as well as a custom one that you can create if you want to sign up for an account and take the time to do it.  For most people though, the standard ones will work fine.  They are:

• CMP.ly/0 – No Connection, Unpaid, My Own Opinions (Legit post)
• CMP.ly/1 – Based Upon a Review Copy (Review copies plz?)
• CMP.ly/2 – Given a Sample (Sample of what?)
• CMP.ly/3 – Paid Post (Zac Johnson’s favorite)
• CMP.ly/4 – Employee/Shareholder/Business Relationship (Matt Cutts’ favorite)
• CMP.ly/5 - Affiliate Marketing Links (My favorite)

So it might not be the sexiest thing to spend an hour doing, adding these links to all your blog posts.  But it’s not that much work and it’s definitely not worth it to get busted by the FTC in case some young buck in the department is trying to make a name for himself by taking down the evil affiliate bloggers that are polluting the online world for all the rest of us. (/sarcasm)

I am writing this from my iPhone. Consider that for a second. A couple of years ago, this would have seemed like a flight of fancy, but here we are in 2008 and it is happening.

It takes a little getting used to, typing with your thumbs and no tactile resistance. That being said, it grows on you, like a fungus.

That’s all the sage wisdom I can offer tonight. Thanks for stopping bye.

Hot on the heels of the press generated over Internet Explorer 8 and their possible advertisement killing browser come this: Google is officially declaring all out war on Microsoft by releasing their own open-source internet browser.  It is called Google Chrome.  Google has some very interesting ideas about what makes a browser tick, and you can check them out in this informative and humorous comic.  You can download Google Chrome here.

I’m all for new technology, and I will definitely be downloading Google Chrome to check it out.  That being said, this type of announcement from the big G also makes me wonder where the future is headed…  It would seem that they are moving ever closer to becoming the company that ate the internet.

Jump back five years ago.  Internet Explorer had a staggering grip on the browser game, and only tech geeks and open source junkies had ever heard of FireFox.  Now, the “little Mozilla that could” is grabbing more and more share from Microsoft by the day.  With this in mind, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that Google could do the same thing to Microsoft with Chrome that they did to Yahoo with PageRank back in 2002.

The problem is this: if Google controls the browser, the search environment, the advertising on the majority of networks, and even the content on the search results through properties such as Knol, then who is policing them?  If they control the medium, it is not going to be good for anybody.  Forget about Microsoft and Yahoo, what about your average consumer?

What if Google could decide what content you can and cannot view on the internet?  This become a Net Neutrality issue very quickly when you talk about any one entity controlling the access the masses have to the net.  Just ask Comcast how they feel about Net Neutrality after their brush with the FCC.

Competition breeds innovation.   This is how Google became the behemoth that it is today.  The question is, who will be left to compete with Google?

Everyone is talking about privacy.  There have been hearings in Washington D.C. over NebuAd’s behavioral advertising, and now Microsoft is throwing their hat into the ring, with Mozilla likely to follow.

I am an avid fan of FireFox, personally.  I believe it is a much better, faster, more secure browser than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.  All the of new features in IE7 were practically carbon-copied from FireFox.  But that is an argument for another day.  The matter at hand is privacy, and how it is going to affect your business in the months to come.

Internet marketers have enjoyed carte blanche to put cookies and tracking pixels all over their advertisements, landing pages and websites for years.  This allows them to track enough information to be effective at using the internet as a medium.

Lately, however, there has been an outcry in the media and the public at large over privacy concerns.  Just how much information are we sharing with these companies, and how are they using that data?  Obviously, the number one goal of most internet companies and marketers is to make money, so you can bet that is how these systems came into existence.  The concern is that there is too much personally indentifiable information being traded and stored in these databases.

Google, for one, has been ridiculed for their web search history function.  When users sign up for a Google account, they have to uncheck a box to opt-out of web search history.  If they don’t do this, and many will not, then Google is tracking every single query that you put into that search box, 24/7.

If you are like me, you probably use Google for just about everything.  Need directions?  Google it.  Need to order a pizza for dinner?  Google it.  Need to find a nice restaurant for your 5th anniversary?  Go to OpenTable, but still, I found that through Google the first time.

With Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft is going to be taking a pro-active approach by trying to block these cookies, and even tracking pixels, before they capture your information.  On the one hand, I see the appeal of having stricter privacy on the internet, but on the other hand, that is going to be a huge problem for people that do business and market on the internet.

How are we going to customize our sites to the user for a better experience if the cookies that recognize them when they return are blocked?  How will affiliate marketers and ad networks accurately track conversions of pixels are blocked?  These pixels don’t capture any information, they are like a switch that goes off when someone gets to the confirmation page of the offer.

If the rumors are true and Mozilla is planning to follow suit with their next release of FireFox in early 2009, it could be a very interesting year for affilate marketing.

I’m sure that we will find a way around it.  If there is one thing that internet marketers are lacking, it certainly isn’t ingenuity.  We have been able to find a workaround to new technology and have found ways to exploit loopholes at a breakneck pace.  The technology and the minds are on our side, and as much as the browser companies can try to thwart it, there is always going to be a way to target marketing on the internet.  That is why it was designed, and it is what makes the world of e-commerce go ’round.

The following video is not an actor.  It is a computer-generated animation.  I don’t care if you are a video gamer, cg movie afficionado, or whatever, you have never seen anything like this.  Wait until the part at the end where they change the textures on her face.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiX5d3rC6o]

Now just imagine what a landing page for an affiliate promotion could look like with that technology.  We already have landing pages with those cheesy looking video spokespeople, and they supposedly increase conversions by 50%.  This is the next level.  Just thought you’d want to take a look.