Affiliate Marketing

Merchants and affiliates should work harder on developing affiliate marketing search arbitrage campaigns to make the most of a highly lucrative channel, according to Kristopher Jones, president and CEO of Pepperjam. Speaking at the inaugural a4u expo in London, Jones said that search affiliates, those running search campaigns for brands, represent 60% of all revenues through affiliate marketing, but that it could be more if clients and affiliates understood the working relationship better.
Jones said: "This represents an almost unlimited income potential for affiliates, with the top affiliates earning millions a year."
"Affiliate marketing search arbitrage represents a significant opportunity for both affiliates and merchants." Jones said that running direct linking campaigns, sending a consumer straight to the merchant's homepage, was an effective channel in the short-term, but warned that it could create conflict in a relationship between an affiliate and a merchant.
"Google, for example, only allows one ad per keyword per display URL," he said.
Jones also dismissed the influence of Google's fledgling PPA network.
"Google is three or four years away from being big with this, and by then the big networks will have reinvented themselves and will be able to cope."