Creating deeplinks can be an annoying and time consuming process, especially if you’re busy blogging or writing content for your website. Most networks have tools to help you generate deeplinks, but the guys over at Paid On Results were the first to provide a one click browser based solution. They’re about to relaunch the tool and they’ve kindly let me have a sneak peak.

And blimey, it’s pretty damn good!

The process is very simple. You put an icon on your browser toolbar, which is done as simple as dragging the necessary link, and you’re ready for deeplinking fun. Under the first system POR launched, when you wanted a deeplink for one of their merchants you clicked the link when on the merchant site. This gave you a text link to use!

The new system gives you so much more than just a link!

For example let’s take this lovely looking giant cup cake tin that’s available from Prezzybox. I want the deeplink link for this and so all I have to do is click the “Paid on Results Deeplink Generator” on my browser. This results in a pop up box appearing as follows:

Not only do you get a deeplink for the product you’re looking at, you also get options to customise the link including shortening the url which is ideal for Twitter promotions. If you’re worried about the link there’s even an option to test it! You also get a product image to use direct from POR’s feed system. The image can be resized with a number of options.

If that wasn’t enough they you also get links to banner creative that can also be used in my promotions. It totally removes the need for logging in to the CMS, rooting around for banners, copying images from a merchant site and figuring out deeplink structure.

Quite simply – brilliant!

It’s compatible on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera too, so there’s no limitations imposed there. The only thing missing is that the pop over box is static and I’d like to have the ability to move it, but that’s a minor quibble over what is a very clever and intuitive tool from the POR guys.

The new deeplink generator tool will be available for all to use from next week.

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At the end of the domestic football season it seems kind of fitting that Promotions.co.uk, a revolutionary discount code website solution, has decided to relegate itself and close down. According to an official announcement the service will cease to be at the end of June. This means an end to all white label and feed services. The reason given is that the “economics of the business” don’t work.

This leaves affiliates and white label partners a few weeks to sort themselves out with new voucher code feed services or come the end of June having a void in their service. The alternative is probably iCodes, at least for feed users, or to “go it alone” and try and use the data feeds provided by the networks.

We like the idea of third party code solutions, and we like doing our own thing.. but which one is best?

When we started looking at listing voucher codes we did look at both promotions.co.uk and iCodes. Neither really jumped out and said “this is going to make life easier”. So, in the end we opted to go it alone!

The advantage of “going it alone” is you keep control of content and can keep things unique. Well as unique as you possibly can explaining that XYZ Merchant has a 5% discount. It also meant our only dependency was on the networks providing feeds in a reasonable format. The fact that we currently only import Affiliate Window’s feed, and even that needs regular edits, tells quite a big story. Any other codes are added manually.

The disadvantage is that it’s time consuming, especially the non-automated bits, and if you just use the feeds you’re limited to what’s put in them. Many merchant don’t add their codes, so you need to find them via the endless streams of emails. The network feeds need some standardisation too, e.g. everyone with 5% Discount should just say “5% Discount”, not “Save 5%” or “Get 5% OFF” or “It’s May and you can get 5% off by jumping through hoops and yodeling She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”.

This is possibly where using something like iCodes could be useful. The advantage is that the codes are sorted for you and I’m guessing they’ll be special deals included too. On the downside you’re relying on a third party for updates, a third party server and there are some costs involved.

iCodes do offer free content units and offer units for those not wishing to pay, but are these sustainable long term? Especially as they aren’t run on an 80/20 split like the free Easy Content Units. If Promotions.co.uk can’t make a feed/white label codes service work economically then what’s the future for iCodes? Will they need to raise prices therefore making it uneconomical for some sites to take up the service?

It’s a conundrum and a half, that could be added to further if the networks sort out their voucher code feeds then the need for 3rd party services would possibly be reduced.

Still, if you’re looking for an alternative to replace promotions.co.uk come the end of June then iCodes.co.uk is probably your first port of call. However, when you using 3rd party solutions, it’s always worth being mindful about “what if this service changes in the future”. Will it have a major effect on your site? Is there an alternative available to fall back on?

Having a vague back up plan will mean your site won’t be relegated when a site like promotions.co.uk comes to an end.

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The extensive use of video in affiliate marketing has been the next big thing almost as long as mobile internet. We’ve seen things like the Prezzybox video units, Firebox have done them too as have Play & Game. Last year OLD reported that Buy.at got on the video case with some interactive adverts from Littlewoods.

The next stage of this slightly stuttered evolution comes once again from Buy.at and there partners Coull. They’ve devised The Coull Affiliator (cool name), a nifty gadget that allows you to add your affiliate links to any video that allowed embedding. But, is it any good? And how easy is it to do?

The good news is that it’s actually quite simple to do. Find “Coull Video” under “Content & Creative” in the Buy.at CMS and then select the “Your Video” tab. You’re asked to enter your name and company details before being allowed to get on to the affiliator.

You’re then asked about the location of your video. It could be from Youtube, uploaded from your PC or from your own source. Purely for testing purposes I’ve chosen the O2 Ducks Advert. The Affiliator requires you to enter the url, and then asks for a base link. This means that if at any time a viewer clicks on the video they’ll go to the location/product you’ve set up. Click on the advert below to see a relevant item!

You can also add product links that appear throughout the video. In my example I’ve added the iPhone from O2 and the link will appear on screen for the first part of the advert. You can add more and you can also move the location of the “announcement”. The second part of the example below sees another product but in a different location.

Once you’re happy adding links, you simply “save” and “publish” your video. This generates a code which you then add to your site.

The end result should be a video with affiliate links in…

Don’t forget to click anywhere on the video above to see the base product link.

Creating an affiliate linked video is a fairly straightforward walk through process, although not without some frustrations. The main one being finding products that you want to add (it looks like O2 bought up all the giant ducks as no Buy.at merchant has any). You pretty much need to know what you’re after to narrow down the choices. You also can’t use a direct link to a merchant. For example I wanted to add a link to the free O2 sim site, but can’t as there’s no product in the feed.

Editing and adding product links is a bit of a challenge to say the least. At best it’s faffy and at worst it will lead you to drink. Setting the start and end points of the product links may result in a lot of expletives. It needs to be made easier!

There are additions I’d also like to see in the future, and I’ve already mentioned these to Buy.at during beta testing. For example it’d be nice to change the colour of the product button and at the end of the video a user could be given a list of links used during the clip.

So will it be a success?

One of the problems with video adverts is that they rely on merchants to put them together, and whilst some have taken a step in this direction, many have given up. Perhaps due to low affiliate take up or lack of resources? The Affiliator puts the affiliate in control of video content and now we have access to a boatload of videos to use too.

For example, Marks and Spencer may put out an advert – and quite quickly and easily an affiliate can include links within a clip, provided (1) the clip is available and (2) the product feed is up to date without relying on an agency, network or merchant sorting it out. Even better the affiliate can resize the clip to fit the space on their site, something not always possible with vidiboxes.

That’s the good part!

There are concerns though in terms of what is fair use of video published on Youtube. Is it right for affiliates to say take the excellent advert from Cadbury and add links to a chocolate experience day or Thorntons for want of an example?

How will Joe Bloggs demonstrating his brand new skateboard feel once he finds out someone is showing his clip and trying to earn commission by putting links over it? Perhaps it won’t be an issue, but you never ever know?

The final hurdle comes in the form of the quality of product feeds. It’s absolutely no use to anyone having this kind of cool technology if the content within feeds is second rate. Broken images, poor images, poor product descriptions, new products not in, old products not out etc. need to be a thing of the past.

The Coull Affiliator though is pretty cool, and if it becomes accessible across Awin merchants as well as Buy.at ones as part of their merger then this could be a very very useful tool for content and conversion.

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On the day that Apple announced that pre-orders will be taken for it’s exciting new Apple iPad, there’s bad news for affiliates as Apple won’t be awarding commission on the product. In addition it’s advised that affiliates “refrain from promoting iPad on your site”. To add to the 0% commission misery the iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod shuffle are now also non-commissionable items.

In some respects I can understand this decision. The iPad is a new product and will sell itself due to the hype and via things like this pretty excellent review posted by Kieron. This means Apple won’t want to be paying out commission as it’s pre-sold already and why should they reward affiliates for simply pushing the bleeding obvious?

On the other hand it’s not great is it?

Many people may be wavering about picking up one of these delightful super-sized iPhones (although you can’t phone on them – unless I guess you use Skype, but I’m digressing). They may want to read reviews or weigh up options about the various 3G packages that are available. That’s something an affiliate could easily do. It’s content that would add value and could be the difference required to tip the sale and therefore warranting commission.

The “refrain from promoting iPad on your site” seems even more absurd. It’s the gadget launch of the year and Apple expect affiliates to keep quiet about it? What about all those accessories, like the iPad dock and case, can’t we promote them on our sites? Can we not help visitors decide which is best for them?

The announcement of this decision came around midday on 7th May and was an email titled “Apple Online Store Publisher Notification”. I don’t know about other affiliates but I totally ignored it as the headline didn’t grab me!

However, a second email which came this evening titled “Apple – Commission” did stand out. Aside from the iPad commission situation this nicely demonstrates the need for a good strap-line in your newsletter emails to attract an audience. Make it dull and it gets ignored. Put something in it that attracts interest (i.e. commission) and it gets read.

Anyway, hopefully this hasn’t caught too many affiliates unaware. Fortunately I didn’t waste too much time putting together something about buying an iPad, looking at the tariffs and the various accessories you can buy. Mind you, it took a lot less time to delete it!

I’ll be keeping a closer look on all network emails from now on, even if the subject line doesn’t look exciting!

What do you think? Are you happy with 0% commission on the iPad? And what about the refrain from promotion?

Imagine if every merchant refused to pay out commission on brand new items!

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Earlier this year I was asked by Julia Stent to read through a white paper on Payment on Influence. The research, carried out by Vodafone, looks at how affiliates could be rewarded for their part in the sales process as an alternative to the traditional last click wins the sale that’s currently in place.

You can read the white paper at affiliates4u along with a brief overview of the payment on influence work. It’s well worth reading!

The research and information presented is quite interesting and could pave the way for changes in the attribution model. In all honesty, having been concerned by a presentation customer journey cookie attribution at a4uexpo, I wanted to find holes galore in the analysis, but all the questions I thought of as I read through are well covered.

Few stones are left unturned.

However, my main area of concern remains how cashback sites would embrace such a model. Under the attribution model (which I’ve dubbed the Blockbuster Attribution Model because of the image below), the final click affiliate can earn between 60% to 100% of the commission available. This means a cashback site can develop their models to account for this (i.e. you will earn at least £x based at 60%).

But, cashback users are often encouraged to clear cookies and it only takes a message on a money saving board that “if you do this you get 60% cashback, but do the other and you get 100%” to put the reasoning behind the model, i.e. to reward those involved in influencing journey, in some jeopardy. It’s at this juncture that caution would need to be exercised under this model if was to be introduced.

Also the percentage of cashback users that may clear cookies before completing a purchase isn’t known, but in the research it’s shown that only 14% of sales from loyalty sites have a sole referrer interaction, but 35% are a sole referrer transaction. The reasoning given is “a customer either visits a loyalty site and purchases after a single click” or they click back and forth. The other or, they delete cookies and therefore wipe out the journey, isn’t mentioned!

Of course, the above also hinges on whether I’ve understood things correctly!

But for me the question now isn’t do cashback users delete cookies before making a transaction (imo some will do), but what effect does this have on the overall data analysis? I’m loathe to say it, but my gut feeling is it’s probably won’t make much difference to the overall basis and reasoning of the model.

So will this replace Last Click Wins?

In my opinion affiliates shouldn’t be starting to worry that BAM is going to become the norm across the board. The data only covers one merchant, in one sector and one quarter sales, so there’s more number crunching to be done! It may well be that it’s good for one kind of merchant (mobiles) but not for another (gifts).

The data presented seems good news for both affiliates and merchant, but what happens at different sale periods? Data needs to be presented for a whole year to show the variation between final click, dedupe and BAM (sorry Payment on Influence). The data shown suggests if Vodafone moved to a dedupe model it would knock 13% off affiliate earnings, whilst the influence model reduces that to 0.9%. How constant would that be across a full year?

I’d also like to see an effect on income of actual affiliates. I don’t know whether that is feasible to do, but I think a move to an attribution model could be better demonstrated if it showed real life events – i.e. the percent variation in revenue depending which scheme was used. How will 100% cashback site fair? Does Mr Codes get more or less? And is it good or bad news for the poor duck people?

Overall the study in multi attribution is a well put together piece of research. It’s a very good platform from which to explore the paid on influence model and it will no doubt open up the debate about moving affiliate marketing away from the last click wins scenario.

Payment on Influence – A Study in Multi Attribution

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