Doug’s Mouthpiece – Droug.co.uk

Zanox to buy Affiliate Window – Gossip

Affiliate Money Grabbers written by Doug Scott

I heard some gossip:

1. Affiliate Window lost money due to paying affiliates but not being paid by merchants who have since gone bust.
2. Affiliate Window needed to raise some money
3. Zanox are offering to bail them out

Anyone heard anything?

Doug

Ps. Minor news Google sold it’s share in AOL to Time Warner for $5.7 billion

Popularity: 4% [?]

Recent quote from the Financial Times

Google written by Doug Scott

Google is to privacy and respect for intellectual property rights what the Taliban are to women’s rights and civil liberties: a daunting threat that must be fought relentlessly by all those who value privacy and the right to exercise, within the limits of the law, control over the uses made by others of their intellectual property. The internet search engine company should be regulated rigorously, defanged and if necessary, broken up or put out of business. It would not be missed.

Full story

Popularity: 3% [?]

Enlightening piece of work

Google written by Doug Scott

MR Duke has a clever view of google.

Doug

Popularity: 2% [?]

Gocompare and link bait

SEO written by Doug Scott

I been thinking about this and do not believe GoCompare have been banned but the following happened:

Gocompare change their site and fail to add in page titles etc. There are stories about this being link bait, but there is no way the board of a large corporate would sanction something so risky. Especially when there existing linkiing strategy is not that bad in comparison to their competitors.

So my money is that some techie let ts go live by accident.

Doug

www.ecompare.co.uk

(our version)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Gocompare not doing much comparing of insurance

SEO written by Doug Scott

www.gocompare.com the insurance comparator seem to have upset the mighty Google and so not doing much comparing today.

But when everyone else around you is buying links to rank what do you do?

Doug

We are dabbling in insurance policies especially related to car hire insurance, not car insurance cover, lets see how we go. I know its not very serious in comparison to many but its a little mess around.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Are networks operating illegally?

Affiliate Money Grabbers written by Doug Scott

Ok I am about to duck…but here goes….

Assumption
Networks are there to help a merchant create extra business and are legally obliged to do so
Networks are more informed as to how the affiliate business works than a merchant
Merchants pay networks and assume that networks work in a merchants interest

If the above is so then why does the following happen in Europe:
Networks allow affiliate to operate rate catchers (pop ups that sit on desktop and appear saying click here to save 5% off this site – used by discount sites and cashback sites)
Networks work with people who cookie stuff
Networks work with people with toolbars that drop cookies
Networks work with scumware

I assume as most networks do not allow this to happen in the UK they deem it unethical/illegal.

Does that mean we have board members/directors of Public quoted companies knowing that their company is operating in an unethical/illegal manner in Europe. If so then is that criminal offence?

Directors are obliged to operate legally and ethically in the the interest of their shareholders.

Doug ducking

Popularity: 3% [?]

Go and enjoy some reading

SEO written by Doug Scott

A mate who does way too much analysis for his own sanity, but if you have days to waste readingt he intricacies of google then enjoy

A man with too much time is HERE

Cheers mate

Doug

Popularity: 2% [?]

Newspaper Printing or Printers

Fun, SEO written by Doug Scott

This is a silly game I am playing to see how well you can rank for some terms that big PLC’s seem so confused about. So I have picked a mates company for a laugh:):)

Newspaper Printing or Printers

Did it work???

Doug just bored

Popularity: 2% [?]

Merchants, Networks and Affiliates Open Disclosure

Affiliate Money Grabbers, What we are doing written by Doug Scott

I was at the IAB meeting last week and an issue was raised. The issues was that merchants and networks sometimes reject affiliates from a program as they do not really know what that affiliate does.

There were numerous suggestions to fix this including:

affiliates to have a simple site showcasing their main sites
affiliates to update their profiles on the affiliates4u forum

We already run www.asapventures.co.uk but I have also updated our a4u profile

Seems like a good and simple idea.

Now we wait for the merchants to disclose what the rules are that they use to remove sales…deduping etc:) Seems only fair that affiliates can see when they will be paid and when they won’t be. Disclosure can’t only be one way.

Doug
Ps. Sorry to Paul Lowndsy as I met him on Thursday and he seemed a nice bloke.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Lee Griffin Of Tradedoubler is not that pretty

Affiliate Money Grabbers, other written by Doug Scott

I just spent the day with Lee Griffin of Tradedoubler , so I thought I would have a little play and see if I can tell the world that after all his efforts to be classed as the pretty boy of affiliate marketing it did not work and he was beaten by Jason Baker by CJ in my poll.

Obviously this is only my poll:)

Lee Griffin of Tradedoubler

Shame Lee

Doug

Popularity: 4% [?]