Monetise It

Skimlinks have finally released a vbulletin plugin.

The plugin will only redirect links that point to sites that Skimlinks are able to monetise on their network.

The plugin automatically downloads a list of domains from SkimLinks every night, so your site will always have the most current set of sites in the Skimlinks network

You can download the plugin from within your Skimlinks account.

NB: The plugin is currently only available for Vbulletin 3.*

TradeDoubler are not some little startup. They don't have any excuse for bad communication, yet they still send out totally meaningless emails to their publishers:

First the subject line:

"Apple ? Important Status Update"

So is it "Apple" or something else?


"Dear XXXXX,

With reference to your participation in the Apple Store Affiliate program through TradeDoubler.We have noticed that your site has not been active on the Apple Affiliate program indicating that you are no longer interested in the program. We will therefore be de-activating your account as of 13th October 2009.  If you are still interested in being part of the Apple Affiliate program, please re-apply to join the program at any time. 

If you have any questions or need any assistance, please contact your local TradeDoubler Team: xxxxxxxxxxxx at xxxxxxxx@tradedoubler.com

We thank you for your contribution and we wish you the best for your future endeavors.

TradeDoubler team
"

There are several serious issues with this email

• Which site does it refer to?
• How can TD claim to know what I am interested in or not?
  
• Why are they using US spelling?
• Which part of my account are they deactivating?
• Why was the subject line of the email so weird?

They also sent out another email regarding Apple which again is badly worded and totally misleading.

"Dear publisher of the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program,

From today all publishers of the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program are required to respect the Guidelines for Apple Online Store Affiliate Publishers.

These Guidelines can be reviewed at:
http://hst.tradedoubler.com/file/2554/OLS_Affiliate_Banners_Guide_102708.pdf
http://hst.tradedoubler.com/file/2554/OLS_Affiliate_Photo_Guide_102708.pdf

Please note that TradeDoubler will monitor the respect of these Guidelines by the publishers of the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program and failure to respect these Guidelines may result in the termination of your affiliation with the Apple Online Store Affiliation Program.

If you have any questions please contact your local Tradedoubler account manager xxx xxxx at xxxxx@tradedoubler.com

Thank you for your partnership,

TradeDoubler
"

Why isn't it addressed to me? It's not as if they can't manage that ...

The subject line refers to "branding":
Apple IE: Affiliate Brand Guidelines

Branding is not exactly a subject that is going to have me rushing to open my email, yet, again, TradeDoubler are actually talking about something completely different and much more important than mere guidelines.

Look at the body of the email - note the "charming" threats ...

Now look at the PDFs ...

They aren't just about Apple / Tradedoubler expressing some preferences for how publishers place banners. They are, however, very clear rules on how publishers are meant to do things.

Tradedoubler - you really need to work on your communication. Seriously. Get your act together.

If you are an Amazon affiliate then this little tip from Bit.ly might be of interest.

They've made available a little snippet for Firefox users who want to easily create bit.ly links to Amazon.

NB: You have to be in the Amazon Associates control panel to use this ie. it won't work with the Amazon sitebar

Thanks to @werner for mentioning it on Twitter

Google is introducing yet more changes in its contextual advertising service, Adsense.

As a result of the latest changes which involve the introduction of "interest based" advertising, Adsense publishers need to update their privacy policy.

Fortunately Jensense have made available a sample privacy policy that publishers can use.

If you are an Adsense publisher you will need to have the new privacy policy in place by April 8th

I've just got an email from Tradedoubler saying that Eircom are pulling all ads from the network effective tomorrow:

"Eircom ? important notice

Eircom publishers,

.

Please endeavour to extract all eircom creative from your site before tomorrow evening.
Unfortunately, we are not in a position to offer ?filler? eircom banners. All eircom creative must
be extracted in its entirety. From April 1st, remaining banners will display as errors on your site.

Please note: You can still promote eircom using text links.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email:
support.ie@tradedoubler.com   

We apologise for this inconvenience and for the incredibly short notice.
"

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Video units for Adsense publishers are being retired at the end of April 2009.

I for one won't miss them, but other publishers may have had more success with them.

Full details on the adsense blog

Now that Christmas is over it's sales season.

Most of the affiliate networks (and independently run programs) have been sending out emails since last week with news of the various discounts and promotions available.

While there maybe a credit crunch and general economic downturn, there's no better time to promote some of the huge savings that can be made online.

TradeDoubler have announced the addition of the Bwin program to their portfolio.

The Irish offices of TradeDoubler seem to be attracting a lot of new programs for Irish affiliates, so this is a very positive move.