The latest news with Yahoo was the induction of their new CEO, Marissa Mayer, which everyone predicted would be a crucial turning point for Yahoo. Well, mixed in with the news of Marissa’s new baby boy, it was recently reported that this turning point may be starting to take shape. It has come in the form of Yahoo’s new partnership with Media.net and Bing to bring back their publisher network. As you can probably recall, Yahoo abandoned their publisher network, which never really left its beta testing stage, back in early 2010 due to insufficient resources to continue the program. Well, Yahoo has just recently decided to bring back its Google Adsense competitor with the help of another one of Google’s rapidly growing competitors, Bing.

Bing, Yahoo and Media.net have gone into this partnership with the idea that they will be able to increase their inventory of contextual advertising resources that they can allow advertisers to use. These ads have already started to appear around the web on Yahoo sites, and those who use Bing Advertising for their display ads will instantly be having their ads shown on Yahoo’s Publisher Network.

With the new network and the new partnership, each of the partners has its own duty. Media.net will be given the task of managing technology, operations regarding business, and publisher relationships. Yahoo will do some of these same things as well, but the company will also be managing network operations, “to adhere to existing quality traffic standards.” Bing will help out with Bing Ads, by combining ads from other, smaller advertisers with the network.

In the announcement made in the Yahoo News Center, the company lays out the key features of the program, which I have included below.

Key Features of the program for publishers include:

 

• Easy-to-use: Ads can be added to a publisher’s website in minutes using the Media.net powered self-serve platform. Publishers can select an ad size and copy-paste the HTML provided on their web pages to start displaying targeted sponsored links and ad topics.
• Premium advertiser pool: Access to the Yahoo! Bing Network consisting of millions of ads and ad topics.
• Robust targeting: Proprietary Media.net technology scans all the content on web pages and delivers highly relevant ads.
• Customization: Publishers can use the Media.net platform to pick from multiple ad sizes, skin the ads to match their look-and-feel requirements, and even request highly customized ad units.
• Control: Publishers can influence the ad targeting on a web page by providing hints (keywords). Also, unwanted advertisers and ad topics can be easily blocked.
• Dynamic optimization: Ad units consist of sponsored links, ad topics or a combination of both, as determined on an impression-by-impression basis to maximize ad yield.
• Placement flexibility: Publishers can run ad units in tandem with or in place of their current ads.
• Mobile ads: Publishers can choose to display mobile optimized ad units on their web pages to users browsing the site from any iOS (iPhone, iPad and iTouch), Android and Blackberry phone or tablet.
• Real support: Full-time ad specialists from Media.net provide support to publishers. Publishers can interact with a real person to help with performance improvements, optimization and customizations.

The sort of new, sort of old publisher network is Yahoo’s new way to keep up in the marketing world, and to bring another formidable opponent to Google Adsense. It will be hard for Yahoo to compete, but big things could be coming in their future with this revised publisher network.

When it comes to social networks and how much people tend to engage with them, the two top names that come to mind are Facebook and Twitter. People spend a lot of time on things like Pinterest and Instagram, but everyone knows Facebook and Twitter as the fan favorites on the web, mainly because these are the sites that have always received the most traffic. A comScore study that was recently released, though, says otherwise. The study says that more engagement was seen on Instagram than on Twitter’s mobile service. Apparently, people are spending more time on Instagram, as well as visiting their network more often than Twitter’s mobile platform.

AllThingsD is reporting a comScore report that says Instagram trumped the mobile engagement of Twitter in August of this year. It seems odd, because of the function of the two networks. What I mean is, on Instagram, users simply take pictures and look at the ones that their friends have posted. There usually is not a huge base of friends that they follow on the network, making for less new images when returning to the app. However, on Twitter, people are often following thousands upon thousands of friends, family, celebrities, politicians, or other people of interest. The live stream of posts usually goes on for a while, and there is constantly something new, so you would think that people would be spending more of their time on Twitter than they do Instagram.

It appears, though, that in the case of mobile Instagram is getting the most attention. Here is what AllThingsD is reporting on the subject;

What’s more, the average Instagram user spent 257 minutes accessing the photo-sharing site via mobile device in August, the data claims, while the average Twitter user over the same period spent 170 minutes viewing.

This is the case despite the fact that Twitter had approximately 29 million unique U.S. smartphone-based visitors in August, while Instagram had just under 22 million (comScore measured usage across iOS, Android and BlackBerry OS devices that accessed both sites via native application as well as through the mobile Web browser). This stems from the roughly 110 million smartphone owners who live in the U.S.

It is obvious that this new-found boost in popularity for Instagram is a direct result of the massive shift to mobile that has been happening for quite some time now. Instagram, being a strictly mobile network, is a huge opportunity for Facebook, the recent acquirer of the network. If Facebook can figure out some successful way to monetize Instagram, and subsequently Facebook mobile, in an effective way, they will gain quite an intimidating lead over other mobile, social platforms. Also, with Twitter seemingly falling behind in mobile engagement, they may be in for some trouble. If they are showing signs of slipping with their mobile platform, during a time when mobile use is only going up, it can’t be good. We will just have to see if Facebook decides to take the next step with Instagram any time soon, and if they do, we will see what it means for Twitter’s mobile performance.

People do not tend to use Facebook for anything other than what it was originally meant for, which is social networking. People visit the site or the app to see what their friends are up to, find promotions or information from their favorite brands or businesses, and other things like that. However, something that has recently become more popular is people relying on Facebook to remember the birthdays of their family and friends. Now, though, remembering the birthday will not be the only option Facebook offers in regards to celebrating your friends’ special days. Now, people can actually give real gifts to people over Facebook, by buying and sending them over the network.

I have never really seen Facebook as something that would turn into a place to shop, but apparently it has. Now, if you see that it is somebody’s birthday on Facebook, you can act like you never forgot by showing that you remembered to get them a gift. Here’s a little tidbit of information on the subject from an Ad Age article written by Cotton Delo.

It works by first letting the buyers browse through the selection of gifts (currently a hodgepodge including $35 cupcake orders from Magnolia Bakery and a $5 Starbucks gift card). Once they’ve made a selection, the recipients get an alert and provide a shipping address. Then the buyer enters credit card information to make the payment.

Ka-ching! Facebook gets a credit card number, a street address and a host of other identifying information it currently doesn’t have about its users.

Therein lies the purpose of this article. By allowing people to actually shop and have gifts delivered through the network, Facebook will receive a lot of information that they normally would have no access to in regards to their users. This will greatly improve their targeting abilities, making it a great day to be a marketer with Facebook. I mean, think of all the information you type in when shopping online. Along with your credit card information and street address, you often give your alternate email addresses, phone numbers, billing addresses, and quite a few other things that you would never think about including in your Facebook profile.

Was this the motive behind the decision to make a shopping option on Facebook? I don’t think so, but I do think that the people at Facebook were aware that it would be a nice added bonus. It is good for marketers in a few ways, in that if they are looking for a new place to sell their items, where better to do it than a highly visited network with a gigantic user base. Anyway, Facebook Gifts are available now, and I am sure they will see a lot of use. So, because of that, you can probably expect Facebook targeted ads to improve as well. I just wonder how far Facebook will go with using this newfound user information, and what kind of trouble they will get in if they do in fact go too far.

Clickbooth is celebrating a decade of success. After 10 solid years in the fast paced and constantly evolving performance marketing industry they have made a lasting impression on the entire industry and clearly know a thing or two about long-term success. Clickbooth is proud of what they have accomplished thus far, looking toward a future of further growth and excited to thank their entire industry for their success thus far.

The affiliate network that started in John Lemp’s tiny apartment in 2002 has grown by leaps and bounds and is officially celebrating their 10 Year Anniversary. This is an unbelievable accomplishment in our industry where networks drop like flies and frequently leave affiliates with nothing but broken promises and debt. Clickbooth is a solid company, built on relationships and trust. With a decade of success under their belt, Clickbooth’s affiliate’s fully trust their network. Not only do they know their affiliate managers always have their best interests in mind but most importantly they know they never have think twice about their next paycheck; they know they will be paid fully and fairly, without fail. Anyone who works with Clickbooth shares in the stability and success of an established network that’s only getting stronger.

A lot has changed in the past decade; flash is dead, mobile and international markets are blowing up, and more than a few affiliate network’s have fallen off the map. Clickbooth has lasted through it all and shows no signs of going soft, in fact this is only the beginning of their success. As they look toward the future, Clickbooth promises to continue to be the most innovative network in the industry while protecting and serving the industry as a whole. Networks like Clickbooth must realize they have a responsibility to lead and shape the industry and Clickbooth takes this responsibility seriously every single day.

If Clickbooth can do it, why can’t everyone? The longevity and success they are celebrating can and should be industry wide. Do you want to last longer? Here are a few high-level tips direct from Clickbooth:

• Focus on relationships – Don’t just say it, make this your mantra. Be genuine and focus on your partners first. The valued and long-term relationships Clickbooth has with their partners, clients and within the industry in general are what the company was built on.
• Never compete with your partners – May sound ridiculous but you’d be surprised how many networks out there do compete with their partners. Clickbooth has never been an advertiser or publisher so their decisions are always in the best interest of our partners and clients.
• Seek knowledge – Not only should you always be learning but you must demand an equal or superior knowledge from those you work with. Clickbooth’s team of affiliate managers and ad consultants not only know the industry but they work to understand your business better than even you do.
• Embrace change – The landscape of the performance marketing industry is constantly changing and you must not only be be on top of trends and current events but also be ready to change your whole game plane on the turn of a dime. Versatility will save your business.

Clickbooth is here to be your #1 partner through good and bad times. They are established, they put partner’s first, their staff is the most knowledgeable in the industry and they are constantly evolving to become better and stronger. After ten years, it’s clear this is a network you can trust, a network that is only just beginning to show what they can achieve. 

More than anything else, Clickbooth has lasted in affiliate marketing because of the people in this industry. Thank you to every single person who has been a part of Clickbooth’s history in some way or another, even the haters. This is the most lively, exciting and enjoyable industry in the world so thank you affiliate marketing and here’s to ten more years!

Stay tuned for Clickbooth’s advancements in mobile, lead gen, list management and CBCPC!!!

Industry leader and frequent speaker Carolyn Kmet, best known her heading up of the Groupon Affiliate program has been retained as the Vice President of Marketing at Vancouver based All Inclusive Marketing. The Groupon affiliate program is credited as being a major part of the company’s success and reason for being able to go public so fast, as it signed up hundreds of thousands, if not millions of new customers for the company in a short period time.

According to a release by the company:

Carolyn Tang Kmet brings over 13 years of performance marketing expertise to All Inclusive Marketing. Prior to joining the team, Carolyn was the affiliate marketing director for Groupon. In this role, she was honored with the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Manager of the Year 2010, and the New Advertiser of the Year 2011 award from Commission Junction. Prior to joining Groupon, Kmet led the client services team at ShareASale.com, a Chicago-based affiliate network. Kmet has also managed affiliate programs at Orbitz, CollectiblesToday.com and MyPoints.com. She is an adjunct lecturer at the Loyola University of Chicago, where she teaches both undergraduate and MBA level e-marketing courses. Kmet earned a MBA from Loyola University Chicago, a MSJ in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California, Berkeley.

Don’t know Darren Blatt? He’s the guy who throws the Affiliate Ball party during Affiliate Summit that everyone is always talking about. Well, he’s not done with his Big Balls and has decided that he’s going to Times Square to show off what he can do with them. Yes, Darren Blatt is throwing around his Balls everywhere and ad:tech NYC 2012 is the place where his “in your face” Balls will be next.

Yep, the Marketers Ball is back by popular demand taking place in Times Square at a secret location on November 7th 2012 starting at 9:00 pm. The Marketers Ball is the largest digital marketing party that always provides legendary artists to perform. This event is the best place to network since this monster party always has the biggest players all under one roof. The organizers also throw the well known Affiliate Ball party that takes place during the Affiliate Summit. This time around they have signed the biggest DJ in New York, Funkmaster Flex. Flex is known for this many TV shows and for producing some of the hottest tracks out. He’s also the most prominent hip-hop radio DJ in the world, holding down New York’s Hot 97 and notching a nomination for DJ of the Year.

Surprise guests will show up in full force.

Registration is now open, register now to secure your ticket to the hottest event of the year.

The Marketers Ball is much more then a fun party, it’s also the best kept marketing secret. If you’re looking to get seen infront of your industry while entertaining lot’s of clients and prospects, the Marketers Ball has a sponsorship package for you. Packages include RSVP newsletter exposure, website link, VIP’s, tables, logo seen on big screens and tons more. If interested in Darren’s Big Balls, contact him here.