Re: commission junction and others

From: Dana Todd <dana_at_sitelab.com>
Date: Mon 06 Aug 2001 11:35:11 -0500

STEFANIE OLSEN <stefanieo_at_cnet.com> WROTE:

>Can I get the group's opinion on Commission Junction
>and other pay for performance networks such as BeFree
>and LinkShare? Are these networks effective? How so?
>Are they growing in popularity? Any input is helpful.


I don't think you can even compare the three--each has
a different personality and demographic in both its
affiliates and its advertisers. BeFree is more
expensive, and is often selected because of its ability
to be completely branded, which allows companies to use
it as a virtual sales channel support for a select group
of affiliates or distributors. LinkShare is the "middle
ground", supporting many small and large advertisers,
and has lots of great bells and whistles in its
technology. CJ is, in my opinion, a junkpile of
everything and everybody (all are welcome to disagree
with me). There's also another player, Performics,
which offers an exclusive set of affiliate partners,
very high end.

As to successes, in a recent discussion with Proflowers
and Intuit (both of which have affiliate programs--
Proflowers uses BeFree but may be also utilizing
Performics, and Intuit has a proprietary system), both
indicated that the majority of sales came from their
major affiliate partners such as major portals and
financial institutions. In fact, the handful of
companies they considered their top partners
outperformed all other affiliates combined.

So, the lesson learned here is that it's not the software,
it's the affiliate partners that you select. One good
portal deal can outperform a thousand little affiliates.

My two cents...
Dana

*****
Dana Todd
SiteLab International Inc.
2223 Avenida de la Playa #208
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 456-4720 ext.102
(858) 456-4724 fax
http://www.sitelab.com



Received on Mon Aug 06 2001 - 11:35:11 CDT