Woolworths – Streatham High Road

After much vaunted media coverage – putting Streatham High Road on the map literally by putting it on the news, covering the closure of Woolworths.

I drove past the building this morning, and it’s now a 99p Store – Everything in the Store 99p.  Classy.

Must see if they’ve managed to forget a couple of 360 games in all the pandemonium; I would like CoD4 and GoW2 please.

When VAT dropped to 15% I wondered what these thrift stores would do, and this one is opting to simply take an even lower  margin.

Simple calculation:

99p minus it’s inclusive 17.5% VAT = 84p

99p minus it’s inclusive 15% VAT = 86p

2p in the £ is a lot when everything is 99p, wonder how long it’ll be before the inevitable slide occurs and it become the World’s Biggest Subway!

The myth of actual multiple attribution payment models

Here’s one: imagine a world where merchants are receptive to, indeed even suggest the idea, that they are conscious that there is more than one affiliate responsible for a sale and the merchant would not only like to acknowledge that point in principle but actually pay out a share of the commission to more affiliates.

So in the example as follows, a brand affiliate is reported as last referrer, and the cookie one click upstream was a content affiliate. The merchant is prepared to pay both affiliates a proportion of the commission. Equally where an email affiliate’s cookie has overwritten that of a generic search affiliate, he/she would be prepared to pay both affiliates.

I’m also aware that there is a lot of talk and conjecture about how unfair it is that brand affiliates cookies are highly likely to overwrite hardworking content affiliate’s cookies, and this is partly why we are looking at opening this out with a live merchant.

The structure we are looking at is as follows:

- pay out on every multiple referrer sale under the following conditions:

a) pay last-click and last-click-but-one affiliates only
b) not isolate brand affiliate activity for this structure

I’d hugely appreciate some feedback therefore from anyone at all on the forum with a view, or any experience, or any other thoughts on the subject.

My question to affiliates is:

1- Has this been done?
2- Is this attractive to you?
3- Is it fair to create a structure where last-click affiliate and last-click-but-one affiliate are each paid a proportion?
4- What should this proportion be and why?
5- Would this sort of structure affect affiliate effort (because of a lower commission payment)?

My question to networks is:

- Do you have the technology to report this data?
- Are you prepared to share this data with your merchants? (the merchant would own this data wouldn’t he/she?)
- If so, do you have any live merchants currently doing this?
- Do you have the technology to support a structure such as this? If you had to rely on merchant data?
- What has stopped you doing this (if you haven’t yet tried this structure)?

I’m trying to gauge the feeling in the industry really. I believe the thing holding us back is access to reliable data mining which would allow us to a) understand and acknowledge muliple sales referrers and more importantly then b) attribute revenue to these referrers.

I’ve asked a couple of networks if they can provide the us with that kind of data. At this stage I’ve had limited positive feedback. Even from the network (who will remain nameless) who actually suggested we encourage one of our clients to adopt this model, before then telling us they didn’t have access to the data we’d need to support this theory.

We’d love to do this, and we just want to see what people out there think about it first, and ultimately if we are shooting ourselves in the foot by suddenly marginalizing the value, to affiliates, of every sale by sharing out the pie.

Google Changes: April 2008, the impact on the market, and suggestion on how best to combat this.

What’s happened?

The policy revision on 4^th April 2008 applies to complaints Google receive regarding trademarks in the UK and Ireland.

The impact of this revision is that Google will no longer review reported trademark infringements at the keyword level, providing the resultant ad copy / text does not incorporate the trademarked term.

This means that anyone will be able to bid on “brand name” providing they do not include “brand name” in the ad’s body copy, and while Google will perform a “limited courtesy investigation”, the onus is shifting to ad relevance rather than the policing of trademark infringements as has been the case in the past.

As of 5^th May 2008, keywords that have been restricted previously due to trademark infringement will no longer be restricted in the UK and Ireland.

 

Why has this happened?

Google claim that their goal is to provide users with the most relevant information [to their search], whether this is from Paid or Organic, and part of their strategy for reaching this goal is to provide relevant choices and giver users the opportunity to determine which ads they find most relevant.

Google often plays the “consumer choice” card, but the likelier reason is the Google Dance.

This is where Google change the rules to prevent certain individuals and organisations from attempting to manipulate their sites in order to achieve as high ranking as possible through unfair means.  This is referred to as the Google Dance.

 

Is the advertiser’s brand still offered any protection?

Google still provides some protection, in the form of quality score. In the States, advertisers are already seeing some new competitors bidding on their brand, but their ads are at the bottom of the list below the advertiser and several of their partners.

Their bids would have to be uneconomically high to get a good ranking – because their landing pages by definition are not relevant to the search, and Google takes that into account in ranking their ads.

 

What are the risks to advertiser?

There is a risk that competitors will use this as an opportunity to direct genuine brand traffic elsewhere, e.g. to their own websites.

Furthermore, if you sold any of your products through resellers, or brokers, there is a risk that you would see a sales volume shift, from your site to some of these broker sites.

 

What should we do?

First and foremost, ensure that you have an Adtext Ban in place.  This will ensure the majority of potential rogue bidders are not able to populate their ad copy with any brand references, and will save any enquiries should this arise.

Secondly, the best way to keep competitors out of the space will be to have a decent number of partners, such as resellers or affiliates, who will bid alongside you.  Their landing page content will be relevant to your product offerings, and their GQS (Google Quality Score) will be higher, pushing down all non-affiliated bidders.

I recommend preparing a brand group for this purpose, one which will work alongside any existing brand affiliates you have, and which you can activate as soon as you experience any untoward practice by competitors.

Either way, you stand to experience a drop in traffic via your direct listing, but out of a choice of traffic going to an affiliate or to a competitor, the former is preferable.

Approaching additional new affiliates and requesting page content, in case you need to utilise their services – a big ask, but not impossible.  Again, approach trusted affiliates you’ve worked with before, and they’ll no-nonsense some standard content for you, at least to help in the short term.

Summary

There will not be an overnight switch, which will hammer your direct traffic, so I urge you to exercise caution, and prepare methodically, with perhaps one additional affiliate waiting in the wings.  If the occasional rogue bidder does appear, and a tiny proportion of your traffic is directed elsewhere, it may be better to accept this, than to activate additional affiliates on a long-term basis which will increase third party commissions, and bring down your ARPU.  Let’s watch carefully and wait.

Letter published in NMA

Thought I’d quickly post this, as I wanted to get my word in before I take another beating on the forum from the usual suspects.

I wrote this last week, because I read James Little’s letter and didn’t feel it was a fair reflection on the state of play in the space.

Some of our clients adopt a brand bidding strategy, a carefully briefed group of affiliates who have permission to represent our clients in he Paid Search space.  Some don’t allow brand bidding full stop.  None offer a free-for-all on brand, as this would be a nightmare to manage and result in spiralling bid prices and bad moods from Search agencies.  Take a look at the forums for problems with a brand bidding policy in the program T&Cs – networks generally get a shoeing for it.

Brand extension is where we concentrate our advice and efforts.  Exact match is a no-brainer and I am not advocating that, what it does act as though is a licence – for affiliates to reinvest in generic terms. Exact match gets bad press and is doing so presently, because of the cookie overwrite issue.  It’s a fair point. We are looking at the option of taking the brand affiliate out of the mix, or paying multiple referrers, but realistically this is still some way off. Mainly due to the lack of match fit technical partners providing reliable data at the reporting end.

That said,  exact match in isolation isn’t advised – it’s merely going to cannibalise your direct search activity, leading you to misreport on sales, and will piss off your hard-working, content affiliates.  The 80 who drive the crucial 20, and it’s growth in that 20 which will bring you more sales.

Still, I’ve learnt that if you have an opinion and are prepared to share it, then you’ll get a few people who don’t agree, call you an idiot, disrespect you on public forums, etc.  Thick skin will allow you to air your views and potentially someone will agree, or at least be interested to find out more.

Here’s the article: Letter in NMA 26/03/2008 – Brand bidding can be of benefit

w/c 11th Feb

Tuesday:

Big up to the Adlink posse – had a 2 hour review meeting, with good fruit salads and smoothies, followed a fantastic day out as you’ll see below:

- Lunch @ The Square – very posh place, lots of game, sweetbreads (I still think they are testes – no one had them all the same), sommelier (bloke who upsells wine), a very nice Pouilly – good work young Iapino… I ordered the skate salad, followed by the Dover Sole – the starter was definitely the winner there.

- On to the Absolut Vodka Bar on Heddon St, where first we had a drink in the bar – I went for the Caparinha, there were other clever drinks on display, then we donned the capes and went below.  It wasn’t cold to begin with, but it got cold, couple of interesting vodka based drinks, in glasses made of Ice – wooooooooooow.

- Then, we went to Momo for Champers and mint tea, and a Shish pipe – that was coolThen… we went to Camden for a few drinks (including an array of white and black sambuca)

- Theeeen… we went to the Jazz Cafe – Fred Wesley and the new JBs – more wine, food, top seats, and great view – we got into trouble for Chris’ voice – way too loud for the aficionados.

- Theeeeeeeeeeeeen… we went to the Good Mixer for a last hurrah –  I had a well known cocktail there – the Snakebite and Black, Justine was starting to waver – think it was all the dancing she’d done.

- Finally a £40 cab home – top night

Big up to Adlink Group – Chris G, Nicky, Pete and Andreas! 

Wednesday:

Big up to Atlas!!

After a top presentation from Ciaran at Atlas on the merits of AAP (or MAA, CA – can’t remember) – multiple attribution analytics, Melissa and Kalpa and Suzanne and Anna took Justine and Michelle and me to Zuma in Knightsbridge – an amazing place, sister restaurant to Roca on Charlotte St and it didn’t disappoint.

Again a top wine, oh we had a glass of bubbly first to celebrate Melissa’s birthday – the big 3-Oh! The conversation topics were vast and disparate – from the various ways of childbirth, to painkilling, to weddings, and honeymoons, and puddings – wow we did puddings…!! And no man-bating!

I felt like Mel Gibson in What Women Want – I learned shit – top!

The food was incredible – soft shelled crab, sashimi, lots of clever vegetarian stuff like eggplant surprise (no meat), avocado surprise (ditto), and some amazing black cod, fillet beef, smoked chicken, and then onto the puddings – amazing!

So big up to Anna, Melissa and co. and good luck with the baby thing!

Getting a proper kicking

I was kicked, but the kicked get to get back up again, unlike the kicker, who gets to contemplate the kicking without any venture anywhere.

I was kicked by someone I thought about kicking, but didn’t because I thought Love conquered all. I still believe that, but not about me ‘n’ the kicker anymore.

She is hot to look at, but in the head is not quite there – she wanted to do “other things” this year.

Already there are vultures trying to pick off the meat – eeeewwww – I’ve had nightmares already, and I expect one of my mates to step in as soon as he gets her number. He’s already been waaaaaaaaaaay too concerned about my “loss”; he’ll be on her before you can say: “get your own bird you fucking grabbing sleazy, hanger-arounder.

Getting kicked is in the passive tense; the kicker is in the active area, so getting kicked allows a response (not sure where I’m going) while the kicker has acted and task is complete. So the kicked is in advantage, gets to respond, gets to feel ….. shiiiiiiit. Woooo. Nice.

That’s the only shit that I am going to struggle with – I don’t need to have to go through that – I got kicked – I move on.

The mighty Reds

God’s country was awash with glee this Saturday past, and will still be drying it’s laughing eyes this day that is Wednesday, after the incredible feats witnessed at Twickenham.

Some 20 years after last turning the enemy in their own backyard,  I can sit back, stare into the midle distance and proclaim “I was there!”.  Max Boyce was there no doubt, but his PR agent has moved him onto new catchphrases these days, I’ll take that one Mr B thanks all the same.

I compared my fitful joy to that of the bride AND the groom on their wedding day, no matter how many glasses of bubbly or toasts drunk, there was nothing to sway the sheer ecstasy of what is after all the best day of their respective lives.  In theory.  In practice this was the same for me also.  I drank heavily that first pint of Guinness at the Turk’s Head in St. Margaret’s, in one, and after 6 pints at the stadium.  This in part explains my chiselled physique, my adonis torso, the other being my exercise regime.

England have fallen to pieces, four injuries on the day, Strettle early on, Moody, Rees and Tindall.  Sheridan is out for next weekend.  What happened to their boys?  Our only serious injury was to Jonathan Thomas who was strong-armed by the unlikely Wilkinson, put him under, literally.

And they fell to bits in the second half of the second half – baffling, but welcoming, and we took advantage hell yeah!

Baaaarnsley

If it’s a fix, it’s a badly disguised one – Arsenal v Man Utd in the 5th round.  Who planned that?  To be honest if it a) acts as any kind of diversion or b) allows players from each side to take chunks out of each other, thereby letting teams below them to play catch up (though this is highly unlikely) then I’m all for it.

More likely it’ll be a 0-0 til 80 mins to go,   one controversial tackle, a sending off, a penalty and a 1-0 to who cares.  As long as the victor gets Chelsea or a difficult away tie at Ninians Park.  For us, we’ve a tricky (let’s be honest every game’s tricky at the mo) home time v Barnsley – stand out player Brian Howard, team captain, and top scorer with 10 league goals – a commendable 16th in the Coca Cola Championship. Got to be worth a 5iver on a replay and the tricky (that word again) return match at Oakwell.  Please God no…. Liverpool could steal unnoticed into the quarters and a further tricky tie against – well pick ‘em – banana skins of Coventry, or Bristol Rovers..

I’ll take either. 

The Value of Tactical Incentives continued

From experience of countless programs I witnessed in my network days, it’s got to be a case of “money can’t buy” incentives e.g. a trip to the moon, an invisibility cloak, Keira Knightley, otherwise the majority of sale generating affiliates would simply want the cold hard stuff.  I wonder if that’s still the same these days.

One particular merchant sent out a box of creme eggs at Easter with the Mi££ion do££ar strap line “Thanks for the eggcellent work this quarter!”.  One affiliate came back suggesting an Easter egg with a £5ifty pound note in would work a lot better.  One of the merchants other networks refused point blank to distribute the gifts.  Though I spose these weren’t incentives, just little thankyous.

I still believe that the best way forward is a simple, tiered and (crucially) achievable, retroactive commission structure is the way, based  not on volume of sales, but on proportional volume growth month on month, over time is the only way to build loyalty.  That and a decent OSC.  Otherwise, with the amount of jollies out there now from merchants, networks, media owners, and even some affiliates, it would have to be a show stopper for affiliates to throw in the extra yard, long term.

DGM-MBO party

Well I was invited to, and attended the DGM-MBO celebration party on Friday evening, which to begin with I thought was a bit off.  When I worked there many moons ago I was always a bit aggrieved that the Christmas party was on a Friday, because it didn’t give you the right to have an easy day the following day getting over the night before.  Instead it would eat into your weekend, but on this occasion, in this long skint month of January, it was a blessing to have a subsidised Friday on the tiles, and it was a bloody good night too.

There were a lot of familiar faces there, but not that many who actually worked at DGM did I know, and I think that’s a credit to the industry we find ourselves in, that there is a steady stream of new blood coming through.  It’s good news for the industry because it ensures the momentum remains, grows in fact, even though some of these kids looked like they were straight out of O-levels, er I mean, GCSEasys  I jest but I mean like I said, now I am effectively over the hill, just keeping up, etc. it’s reassuring to see, and in particular to see DGM’s grad recruitment and training system is in place and operating well.

So these familiar faces were loosely based around the affiliates who came along who I know from working with (inside and outside DGM days), the guys I worked with at the same time I was there and those who are still there from that time.Highlights for me were hooking up with Dunc and Christian, respectively at one time or another Head of Sales, one of the Highgate 5 (not a band I assure you) and Strategic Manager, Head of Marketing Operations (HoMO), and now fledgling legal power (the irony). We met up beforehand in a bar in Farringdon then wandered the streets aimlessly lost, chatting about the old days.Seeing the affiliate multivirate (not sure it’s a word) of Julie H, Jamie, Mark, Rich F, Duncan, Josh, Chris K, Rob B all rubbing shoulders, and not blogging about it (or have they?!).

Seeing the past champions of DGM 1.0 such as Jerry, King Kev, Mandy & Rich, and Steph Small, and of course the ones I knew then who I still know now, Apfelsaft, and JJ, and Dan Cohen who is apparently the 2nd longest serving DGMer now (how things change). And of course Spratt (Ogi ogi ogiiiiii)…

So a top night as I said, and encouraging to see that DGM means business again after what they have self styled a consolidation and strengthening period (last 18 months). I hope for their sake that it does continue to turn around for them. The technology works, they have people who do people (where was Matt Bailey by the way?), and they have a handful of very good clients, which should help them go out and get another handful, and another perhaps. I also hope things keep going in the right direction, in case the share price moves upwards, we can but pray…