Here at Digital Window we’re always keen to highlight the great work affiliates and publishers are doing in building their brands. Top10.com has firmly established itself as one of the leading affiliates in the Telecoms sector and to cement that this week saw the third annual Top10.comBroadband Awards.

The Top10.com Broadband Awards are unrivalled in the affiliate space, offering a cutting edge guide to the very best in broadband innovation, technology, deals and offers for consumers. Going beyond the traditional affiliate remit, the awards are now seen as an industry-wide benchmark for broadband provider performance.

The awards were presented to providers across ten separate award categories including Fastest Mobile Broadband and Best Broadband & TV Bundle at Paramount on the top floor of London’s Centre Point. Presenting the awards was Robert Llewellyn (of Kryten, Red Dwarf fame).

To aid their judging, the panel analysed 1.5 million customer ratings and speed tests, thousands of items of customer feedback and complex package-level data sets all derived from the Top10.com website.

Key winners on the night included TalkTalk, 3, Orange, O2, Virgin Media, Plusnet, Vodafone and BT for the coveted Broadband Innovation Award. You can see some pictures from the evening here.

Although Top10.com is known as a Telecoms affiliate they have lots of exciting plans for the brand in the future so if you’d like to find out more contact Julia Stent at Top10.com.

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Overview

On September 1st, 2010 self-regulatory body, The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), announced an extension to its digital media remit.

The ASA is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media, including TV, internet, sales promotions and direct marketing. Their role is to ensure ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful by applying the Advertising Codes paid for from UK advertising spend.

The ASA presently covers all online ads in paid-for space (PPS search, display etc) and sales promotions wherever they appear. But from next year, the remit will be extended to cover marketing communications online in non paid-for space including the rules relating to misleading advertising, social responsibility and the protection of children.

The remit will apply to all sectors and all businesses and organisations regardless of size.

The extension means the self-regulatory rules for digital marketing will now cover:

• #Misleading claims within marketing communications on advertiser’s own websites.
• #Misleading claims within marketing communications in other non paid-for space online, such as on social networking sites.

The decision to extend the remit undoubtedly coincides with the growth in digital marketing.

What it means for Affiliate Marketing

From March 2011 (when the extension comes into force) the industry will have a collective responsibility to ensure the collection of the payments needed to find the ASA’s work.

The ASA is funded via a 0.1% levy on media spend and advertisers pay for the self-regulatory system. For advertisers the levy is collected quarterly at the agency level.

The levy is also to be collected from affiliate marketing using the networks’ existing billing and admin resources. In practice this means that the network will bill the levy to clients and send the aggregate to Asbof (the collecting body) on a quarterly basis.

The levy is on affiliate commissions and no other payments such as set up or management fees and network overrides.

Therefore a quarterly payment of £100,000 in commissions would incur a £100 Asbof payment.

How will it work in practice?

There are a number of questions and considerations the extension to the ASA’s remit raises, including:

• #Should there be a threshold for payment? Some affiliate programmes pay small amounts of commissions. 0.1% of this amount for many programmes may seem like a negligible amount to be collected.
• #Who is covered? Does this extend to all partners, publishers and affiliates?
• #When an account is run via an agency how does the billing work given agencies are already paying the levy

What happens now?

Many of these questions are being discussed at present and we will be updating everyone in due course with the practicalities.

The ASA and industry bodies including the IAB will also be looking to raise awareness of the forthcoming changes.

In the meantime you can leave comments on the Affiliate Marketing Council blog or click on some of following links for further information:

• #The IAB FAQs – Important set of FAQs that explain in detail what is covered, what isn’t covered and what will happen between now and March 1st 2011.
• #The ASA
• #CAP
• #The IAB’s Nick Stringer

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At the end of August, shortly after our last industry round-up, Econsultancy produced its annual Affiliate Marketing Buyer’s Guide showing that the affiliate industry will drive a healthy £4.62bn in retail sales by the end of 2010, equating to 8% of all online transactions. As further testament to the strength of the affiliate sector, the guide reported that 36% of companies Econsultancy surveyed said they were planning to increase their affiliate marketing budgets over the next 12 months, with only 9% expecting to decrease them.

In search, the big news this month was the introduction by Google of Instant, an extension of search to reveal results as users type. The reaction from search marketers was similarly instantaneous, with six articles appearing on Econsultancy’s blog alone within just a few days of the announcement. Affiliates however were equally eager to proffer their suggestions of ways in which Instant will affect both search results and search behaviour. Initial thoughts are available on the blogs of the A4U, the IAB’s Affiliate Marketing Council and Digital Window itself.

In other search news, as mentioned in last month’s newsletter, Google’s previously-announced decision to stop enforcing the unauthorised use of trademarks in ad text came into effect on 14th September.

Email marketers meanwhile have been digesting the news of Google’s introduction of a Priority inbox to Gmail, which began its roll-out in September. Commentators have pointed out its potentially significant ramifications for both affiliates and advertisers engaged in email marketing. Rather than seeing this as a potential threat however, emailers have greeted Google’s move with a broad consensus that it represents an opportunity for the smartest players to distinguish themselves from those with a more scattergun approach, and potentially a chance for the whole email sector to raise its game.

Also this month the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced it would be extending its remit to online ad oversight. This will impact not just the messaging displayed on affiliates’ sites, but also the search links to which they direct.

On a related theme, the policing of the affiliate channel continues to be a hot-topic, with discussion from several perspectives taking place in September. As a sample, an Econsultancy blog post on combating potentially fraudulent activity via affiliate sites should be read alongside two articles from Digital Window staff on the subject of protecting brands in the affiliate channel, and ensuring compliance and quality for finance advertisers respectively.

Written by Owen Hewitson, Client Strategist, Digital Window.

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August produced some welcome news for online marketers in general. The latest IMRG-Capgemini figures for online sales in July recorded the highest growth since before the recession in 2007, with £5bn spent online. This represents an increase of 18% on last July and 14% on June.

eCommera’s research into the scale of online retail growth brought out some interesting headline figures. 42.6% of UK consumers buy something online every week, with an average spend per month of £71. The report also reveals some interesting attitudinal findings: over 60% of respondents citing the availability of deals as the reason they choose to shop online.

econsultancy published its research into the habits and attitudes of online shoppers with some interesting findings on email and voucher code engagement. 61% of respondents named email as their preferred method for receiving offers, with 35% saying they bought something online because of an email they received. Another report by email marketers SignUp.to earlier in August identified the most effective sectors for email as restaurants and B2B.

econsultancy’s report also found that 60% of respondents had used an online voucher code in the last 12 months and that free shipping was the most popular motivation for 82% of shoppers surveyed. This finding is complemented by a separate piece of research in August by Experian and Cheetah into last year’s pre-Christmas shopping in the US. Free delivery with no minimum spend produced transaction rates of 70% and, intriguingly, free delivery offers were the even more popular than percentage off or money off discounts.

On 14th September Google will remove restrictions on using brand trademarks in ad text in Europe as it has already in the US. This can be seen as an extension of Google’s decision in May 2008 to no longer enforce or restrict bidding on brand trademarks but follows specifically from recent judgments by the European Court of Justice. The planned changes have elicited differing reactions in the online community, a selection of which can be read here, here and here.

Written by Owen Hewitson, Client Strategist.

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Here at Affiliate Window we always like to highlight new innovation by affiliates so following a chat with the guys at Skimlinks we asked them to share some information about their newly launched SkimKit technology.
For those who are unfamiliar with Skimlinks they’re a leading UK affiliate who have developed cutting edge tools that simplify affiliate marketing for publishers by automatically converting normal merchant links into affiliate links. Here Skimlinks Co-Founder Alicia Navarro gives us the lowdown:

“We’re really pleased to launch our new tool called SkimKit that helps Skimlinks publishers find and implement deep links that are automatically monetised.

“SkimKit is a free desktop application with a live database full of millions of products from Skimlinks merchants. It works a bit like a search-engine product search; except every item in the SkimKit can earn you commissions if you decide to feature it in your content. You can search the database with keywords and filter to drill down and find a product they want to discuss. Once you find a product, you can get a deeplink and image URL from SkimKit to put directly in your content and know that the links have potential to earn them money.

“When you first open SkimKit, you are welcomed by a personalised Dashboard with updates on offers from merchants, tips, and tricks. In addition to searching products, you can search by merchant on SkimKit if there is a certain merchant you want to talk about. There is also a URL shortener tool so you can shorten deeplinks to monetise links on Twitter, Facebook, or within emails and newsletters, and a Starred List to save favourite products to export directly into your CMS or XML.”

Having seen the SkimKit in action it’s clear the Skimlinks team is trying to make it as easy as possible for anyone looking for online monetisation solutions. If you’d like to find out more go to www.skimlinks.com/skimkit or contact the team, support@skimlinks.com.

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It’s A4U Awards season and there has been quite a flurry of calls, emails, boxes of chocolates and even one roll of used bank notes (shame they had been taken out of an old Monopoly set) from individuals canvassing for votes. I say “Why not!?” It’s the innovative and proactive nature of the finalists that earned them their nominations. So I’d like to (sort of) join the band wagon and remind you all that Julie Wood, Aga Marchewka and Chantal Williams have all been nominated in the Best Account Manager at a Network category.

L-R Julie Wood, Aga Marchewka and Chantal Williams

Julie Wood –Julie’s phone, MSN and email rings, pings and beeps with requests from affiliates and merchants, new and old contacts from across the industry, all seeking advice on how something works and how it can be improved. Julie has such a wealth of knowledge she can (and does) always provide a prompt, constructive and insightful answer, which I am certain is why she has been nominated for this award.

Aga Marchewka – in the short time that Aga has been working within the Affiliate Window offices it is apparent that Aga really goes out of her way to assist people around her. I have heard nothing but praise for her and I quote directly “Aga is passionate about working with affiliates and gets a real buzz out of introducing new and exciting affiliate opportunities to colleagues and merchants, as well as seeing results from the hard work affiliates put into promotions on the buy.at network.”

Chantal Williams – Chantal’s engaging enthusiasm for her clients means she can champion their interests effectively and positively encourage affiliates to work closely with her. In an industry where very little stays the same Chantal is phased by nothing, taking everything in her stride, coming out the other side with a smile and a new opportunity for merchants and affiliates.

Please vote in the awards at http://www.affiliates4u.com/a4uawards/vote/

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Last night Ogilvy HQ in Canary Warf was the home to a fantastic melting pot of the great and the good of Affiliate Marketing. Affiliates, merchants, agencies and networks enjoyed complementary food and drinks at this invaluable networking event.

This was the fourth event the networks have hosted and was open to anyone and everyone involved within the industry.

The event proved to be a success with many new connections made and existing relationships strengthened, but don’t take my word for it here is some feedback from the night.

“If that was my office, I don’t know how I’d get any work done. Fantastic venue! Had a great night catching up with old friends and of course making new ones; it’s always best to talk commission rates over a beer… even better if it’s a free one!”
Dom Hodgson, Hodgetastic

“It is always great to meet people within our industry and last night’s event was a superb, laid back way of doing so. I caught up with lots of old friends as well as meeting some new people, discussing new ideas and hopefully instigating come new partnerships. The fact that interaction is encouraged, but not forced, and that no-one is giving you the hard sell made it a really enjoyable event.”
Matt Bailey, Head of Affiliates, www.i-level.com

“Ogilvy have done themselves proud with a fantastic event really slickly arranged. These events are always a great opportunity for networks, agencies, affiliates and advertisers to get together and network in a really informal atmosphere”.
Kevin Edwards, Strategy Director, Affiliate Window

Many Affiliate Window staff attended the event and we were able to get some great shots from the evening

There are more photos on our facebook page and on Flickr

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Yes the title is correct, the Internet Advertising Bureau are hosting a FREE Marketing Workshop. This specially organised session comprises of a host of practical tasks – utilising the IAB’s Affilaite Marketing Council’s expertise.

The aim of the session is to offer merchants running affiliate programmes a greater insight into the industry as well as discussing current trends and best practises. There will be presentations covering the main areas of affiliate marketing including agencies, affiliates, networks and merchants. Confirmed speakers for the day so far include Tina Judic from Artemis8 and Lina Patel from Lastminute.com

The event will be held at the IAB offices on Tuesday the 9th March 4 – 5.30pm. If you are interested in attending please email elle@iabuk.net or call 0207 050 6969. Alternatively click here to book online.

For more information about the IAB please click here.

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Today AWin Towers is a hive of activity as we host our second AWin Academy Interactive Day. The objective of this day is to provide merchants with the necessary training and knowledge to help maximise the potential of their affiliate programmes.

Training sessions were delivered from the following respected industry figures; Louise Bowden (MyVoucherCodes), Tina Judic (Artemis 8 ) and Sophie Flacks (Maximiles) and Duncan Popham (Total Search Solutions). The sessions were combined with group tutorial sessions with Affiliate Window staff; covering important and helpful topics from Partnerships, Technical Services and Product Management teams. Areas covered in these session included;

• How to successfully engage affiliates through promotions and incentives
• Top affiliates by sector and knowing how to target these affiliates
• A practical introduction to Darwin including Affiliate Profile Pages
• How to technically improve your account performance
• The importance of migration to the new AWin tracking code & Flash Cookies & E-tag solution
• Datafeed Quality
• Commission Groups
• Voucher code tracking
• Product level tracking

The day is also a great way to meet other merchants and find out what works for them, to learn from each other, as well as from the host speakers and Affiliate Window staff. And this is all washed down with some end of seminar refreshments!

Here is what attendee Rachel, from PhotoBox had to say about the day.

“The Interactive day was really insightful. It was great to meet key figures within the industry and other merchants. Old knowledge was refreshed and new information learnt.”

Here are a couple of snaps from the day too.

Tina Judic from Artemis 8 is a guest speaker discussing PPC affiliates

Partnership’s Claire Baker hosting a Breakout Session

Seminar session in progress

Our next training session for merchants will be hosted in association with Digital Jam on the 19th April. This one-day training course, Incorporating Your Affiliate Programme Into Your Digital Marketing Strategy, aims to help merchants think about how to integrate their Affiliate Marketing programme into their wider channel mix. For more information about this please click here.

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