AF move to cookie-less tracking More – I don’t know if I’ve even mentioned it, but I’m not the most technically-gifted affiliate out there. But even I understand how cookies work in the context of Affiliate Marketing – User clicks on a link, a file (cookie) gets placed on their PC, network tracking code on order confirmation page looks for this file, If it’s there – user gets paid. Simple. Yes, occasionally the cookies get lost/deleted/blocked and the merchant gets a free sale. But you factor that into the program.

Affiliate Future have gone one step further though and announced that they’ve done away with the need for cookies, with their new patent-pending VeraciTag (?) technology that will “store anonymous tracking information in the web browser” which cannot be blocked as cookies can. One thing that has certainly been removed is my understanding of how this works (There should have been a “Whoosh” somewhere in this last paragraph, but I can’t be bothered to go back and put one in now).

I’m hoping this new technology will be used in conjunction with, rather than instead of cookies – Imagine the uproar if several affiliates noticed a downturn in conversion rates (“Ah.. it’s all AF’s dodgy cookie-less tracking’s fault” – even if it’s not) – Affiliates know and (for the most part) trust cookies. I applaud AF for thinking ahead and being pro-active in this manner, but they need to be aware that affiliates will naturally be wary of anything that replaces a long-established tried and trusted procedure.

Still looking for links – Just a quick update on my New Years Resolution to keep on doing linkswaps with relevant sites throughout the year, and it’s going well (I’m sure most resolutions go by the wayside by the second week in January), but I’m finding I keep bugging the same people, so to avoid annoying those poor affiliates a couple of times a week, I thought I’d put an appeal out there for anyone who’s looking for relevant links to their sites (which should be just about everyone!) to get some linkswaps going.

To make it easy for everyone, I’ve put together a page detailing all the areas I have relevant, content-rich pages about, together with a contact form that you can let me know what you have – Piece of cake!

Jumping on the bandwagon - I promised Chris from Holiday Watchdog Chris from Sunshine.co.uk that I’d get around to putting an affiliate link up for his new venture really really soon, especially as he’s putting up a Macbook Air as a prize draw. All I had to do to get an entry was pop an affiliate link up – easy! Well, easier said than done, as that conversation was a good ten days ago now, and I still haven’t got around to it (The problem is I don’t just throw links up anymore – I tend to accompany them with 800-1,000 word articles, so time is of the essence)

Then I spotted a post on Kieron’s blog the other day which had it all – Promoting the program (Which is available on Affiliate Future, and pays a brilliant 10% commish until the end of this month), and complete with affiliate link which give Kieron a competition entry. At which point I had a lightbulb moment and thought “Hey, I’ll nick that idea!”

Et voila – One affiliate link duly posted, and I claim my entry Chris! And I promise, hand on heart, that I will get around to writing that 800-1,000 word review that could earn me another entry into the comp (You get another entry for every five sales you make).. erm… really, really, really soon!

Cheltenham/Grand National tips – Just thought I’d share a little tip with you. With the Cheltenham Festival last week, we had a lot of betting affiliates placed easycoreg.com content units on their sites which of course contained ads for bookmakers, but also for a couple of Free Tips sites. Not only did those affiliates earn a fair whack from the units as people signed up for the bookie accounts and free tips, but they also captured the users data, meaning they can market to them again and again – starting with the Grand National in less than 3 weeks!

Never, ever underestimate the power of capturing user data – Especially in a situation you perhaps wouldn’t normally expect to do so like a betting site.And remember that every user who signs up via an easycoreg.com content unit is yours to market to for life once you’ve downloaded their data. And if you don’t feel like marketing to them, then don’t worry – We’ll pay you 50% of everything we earn from marketing to them – for life.

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