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What do the San Antonio Spurs, U2 and the Affiliate Summit conference have in common? Stumped? In the month of June 2005, scalpers sold tickets to all three on eBay. That’s right, Affiliate Summit 2005 passes went for as much as 50 percent over the face value of $1,495.

It’s certainly a healthy sign for affiliate marketers when the leading conference in the space more than doubles from the previous year, and 200-plus people were on a waitlist to attend.

Some people are saying that affiliate marketing is experiencing a Renaissance, but that suggests that there was a time when affiliate programs were not working. From where I sit, the affiliate landscape has been in a crescendo for 10 years.

Complete article at http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/6244.asp

How do you set up a datafeed?

Unfortunately, there is not a single answer to this question. As a bit of background for anybody that is not familiar with datafeeds, they are databases of all of the products and associated details for a given company.

This file contains a number of data points an affiliate needs to create pages to feature the merchants products, such as product name, category, thumbnail and large image, affiliate URL, price and description.

These files are made available to affiliates either through the network that powers the program or the merchant can provide the raw datafeed to the affiliate.

The tricky thing for affiliates is that each network has their own format for datafeeds, so it’s best to consult with your network to get instructions on how to build your datafeed for their system.

Vladimir Lenin once said that a useful idiot is worth a hundred trained agents. The useful idiots in this case were well intentioned folks that perpetuated Communist Russian propaganda in the United States.

In reading a recent blog posting from Connie Berg (The Affiliate List Under Fire), it seems that there are plenty of useful idiots spreading fallacies and conspiracy theories about an affiliate marketing report called The Affiliate List.

According to the site for this report from Jeff Molander, “The Affiliate List provides marketers with rapid access to over 200 of the most productive retail-focused affiliates. Each has been scrutinized and hand selected for the ability to consistently produce sales transactions and/or leads for large and small marketers alike.”

What an offensive concept… direct marketing. If only it were that simple.

However, the attack on this report was initiated by a message board administrator who has an axe to grind with Mr. Molander.

Sadly, some folks in the affiliate marketing space aren’t aware that there is an agenda at play.

I’m in the unique position of having actually reviewed the contents of the Affiliate List, and it’s basically the sort of list a merchant can get from their respective network, but on steroids.

It’s supplemented with all sorts of publicly available data that is very useful to affiliate managers when researching which affiliates might be a good match for their program.

So the conspiracy theorists can relax. They might find that their time is better spent reading a history book. Spoiler: Lenin the megalomaniac, his minions, and their evil empire eventually collapsed.

Pittsburgh, PA – June 27, 2005 – Direct Response Technologies, Inc., (DRT) a leading provider of online media and technology solutions, announces settlement of its lawsuit with PrimaryAds, a client utilizing DirectTrack® (Direct Response’s proprietary affiliate and ad serving technology) as the back bone for their network. PrimaryAds is a wholly owned subsidiary of Think Partnership, Inc. (AMEX – THK) a direct competitor of Direct Response Technologies, Inc.

The material terms of the settlement decree, entered by the Court with the parties’ consent, are as follows:

• DRT will provide PrimaryAds with a copy of the PrimaryAds’ business information and data on the DirectTrack network (which was never a contention by DRT), however the copy will not include any of DRT’s confidential and proprietary information;

• DRT will provide the Services for nine (9) months after providing PrimaryAds with a copy of its information and data, at which time DRT will terminate the Services;
• PrimaryAds must pay the “monthly customer” rates set forth on the current rate card for network clients published (despite PrimaryAds’ contention that it was not a monthly customer);
• PrimaryAds is prohibited from disclosing DRT’s ideas, trade secrets, procedures, methods, systems, concepts, or other confidential information to any party – including (but not limited to) any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or representative of PrimaryAds; and
• PrimaryAds releases DRT from any liability relating to the lawsuit, including its claims for money damages.

“We are glad to have the litigation behind us,” said Jason Wolfe, the President and CEO of DRT. “We do not think the legal system is a place where public companies should use their financial might to bully smaller firms.”

Wolfe continues, “our primary concern was the level of access THK had
to the intellectual capital, embodied within our DirectTrack® system, and that this access would help their Kowabunga / MYAP subsidiary at our expense. Furthermore, we were concerned that PrimaryAds would acquire a legal position to provide a competitive solution to DirectTrack®. The Consent Decree and other binding legalese we have in place with PrimaryAds now provides us adequate protections to alleviate these concerns. PrimaryAds will be transitioned off of DirectTrack®, as we desired, and the extended time period set for this transition is yet another testament to the unique power that the DirectTrack® system provides”.

Mr. Wolfe stated that the settlement achieved DRT’s primary goals of protecting its proprietary information, transitioning PrimaryAds off of the DirectTrack network, and minimizing the costs of resolving the matter. “We were obligated and agreeable – even before the lawsuit was filed – to return PrimaryAds’ business information to it so that it could transition to another service provider. However, we refused to provide that information in a format which would have disclosed our proprietary data, infrastructure, design, and intelligence. We also had to defend PrimaryAds’ contention that we had no right to discontinue the Services under our contract, which we believed was clearly a month-to-month agreement”

Apart from the recent legal posturing, PrimaryAds has been a good client and we are sorry that they will no longer be a part of the DRT community of networks. Wolfe also emphasized that the settlement “will ensure that PrimaryAds is transitioned off of the DirectTrack network, despite its contention that DRT had no right to discontinue providing the DirectTrack services.” While its is sorry that DRT will not longer serve PrimaryAds in the future, Wolfe noted that “we wish PrimaryAds continued success. At the same time, however, we believe that the extended time period that PrimaryAds was granted in order to transition to Kowabunga – 9 whole months – is another testament to the unique power that the DirectTrack system provides.”

In the litigation, DRT was represented by attorneys David A. Gurwin and Gregory J. Krock of the firm Buchanan Ingersoll PC.

DirectTrack® currently powers 105 networks including affiliate networks, ad serving networks, and co-registration networks. The DirectTrack® ‘network of networks’ delivers roughly 11 billion ads per month, and over 65,000,000 clicks through its patent pending CrossPublicationâ„¢ technology. DirectTrack® was launched as a low cost network platform for advertising and affiliate networks to get setup and launched quickly, and has proven that a company can grow rapidly utilizing the power of DirectTrack® and the network of networks.

About Direct Response Technologies, Inc.
Direct Response Technologies, Inc. founded in 1994, is a media and technology firm dedicated to delivering performance-based results and technology solutions to clients. Direct Response Technologies is a privately held company with offices in Pittsburgh, PA, and New York NY, owned in part by Jupiter Media (NASDAQ: JUPM). The company also operates an office in North Dakota in conjunction with the Department of Commerce of North Dakota.

Direct Response Technologies (http://www.directresponse.com) provides technology for (1) secure coupon delivery and tracking solutions through www.mycoupons.com ; (2) keyword tracking through www.keywordmax.com; (3) affiliate tracking through www.directtrack.com; and (4) gift certificates and gift card solutions through www.giftcards.com;

CONTACT:
Public Relations
Direct Response Technologies, Inc.
412-921-6881
pr@directresponse.com

NORTHBROOK, Ill.–June 27, 2005–CGI Holding Corporation d/b/a Think Partnership Inc. (”THK” or the “Company”) announced that its PrimaryAds Inc. subsidiary has settled its lawsuit against Direct Response Technologies, Inc (”DRT”). The principal terms of the settlement include the following:

• DRT shall provide PrimaryAds with a duplicate of its Business Information and Data.

• DRT shall continue to provide services to PrimaryAds for nine months after DRT has provided PrimaryAds with a duplicate of its Business Information and Data.
• Both parties agreed to release the other from all liability relating to the lawsuit.
• PrimaryAds will dismiss the lawsuit within one month after it receives its Business Information and Data from DRT.

Kenneth Harlan, the Chief Executive Officer of Think Partnership’s PrimaryAds Inc. subsidiary, stated,

“This settlement represents a huge opportunity for PrimaryAds to continue the kind of industry growth that made us so attractive to Think Partnership in the first place. We are happy that Direct Response has agreed to return our Business Information and Data to us. Moreover, the litigation prompted our sister company, Kowabunga, to accelerate an already-developing campaign-based network solution that will be uniquely tailored to meet the needs of our affiliates, while providing our staff the features and functionality that will continue to help us scale our operations. We now have the additional time necessary to ensure a seamless transition onto Kowabunga’s newly expanded platform.

“We are excited to once again direct 100% of our focus and effort to providing our affiliates with truly outstanding revenue opportunities backed by personal customer service. It is unfortunate that our long-term relationship with Direct Response had to be brought into the courts. However, we will always be thankful for the ability we had to work with Direct Response and we wish them good luck in their future endeavors,” Harlan added.

Gerard M. Jacobs, the Chief Executive Officer of Think Partnership, stated, “We entered this litigation with two objectives, and we were able to achieve both of them: securing PrimaryAds’ Business Information and Data, and protecting PrimaryAds’ customers and business prospects both short-term and long-term. I deeply appreciate and wish to publicly acknowledge the immediate and highly effective legal representation PrimaryAds and Think Partnership received in this matter from attorneys Jeff Bresch and Jayme Butcher of Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh.”

The Company has begun doing business under the name “Think Partnership Inc.” and will seek formal shareholder approval to change its legal name to Think Partnership Inc. The Company is based in Northbrook, Ill. (see www.thinkpartnership.com) and currently has eight subsidiaries: WebSourced, Inc., Morrisville, N.C., a leader in search engine optimization and pay-per-click campaign management (see www.websourced.com and www.keywordranking.com); MarketSmart Advertising, Inc., Rightstuff, Inc. d/b/a Bright Idea Studios, and Checkup Marketing, Inc., Raleigh, N.C., providing world-class off-line advertising, public relations, marketing, branding and shopping evaluation services (see www.marketsmart.net, www.brightideastudios.com and www.checkupmarketing.com); Cherish, Inc., Clearwater, Fla., a leading online dating company (see www.cherish.com); Ozona Online Network, Inc., Clearwater, Fla., providing a comprehensive scope of online services including start to finish web design, custom web based applications, database systems, managed and shared hosting solutions, e-commerce, and high-speed business Internet access (see www.ozline.net); KowaBunga! Marketing, Inc., Westland, Mich., providing Internet marketing software technologies, including software for affiliate marketing, search engine marketing and opt-in email marketing (see www.kowabunga.com); and PrimaryAds Inc., North Plainfield, NJ, a leading provider of affiliate marketing services that connects website publishers with online advertisers (see www.PrimaryAds.com). The Company has also entered into an agreement to merge with privately-held Meandaur, Inc. d/b/a Proceed Interactive, a full service marketing and communications agency with a core competency in search marketing, which has offices in Chicago, Ill., Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles, Calif. (see www.proceedinteractive.com); and has signed letters of intent to acquire: Vintacom Media Group, Inc., Edmonton, Alberta Canada, a leading online dating company (see www.Vintacom.com); and Real Estate School Online Inc., Miami, FL, a leader in online education (see www.RealEstateSchoolOnline.com).

Statements made in this press release that express the Company’s or management’s intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or predictions of future events, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” estimate,” “anticipate,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to further identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Those statements are based on many assumptions and are subject to many known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual activities, results or performance to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in such forward-looking statements. For a discussion of these risks, see the Company’s report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 under the section headed “Management Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation - Risk Factors.” The Company cannot guarantee future financial results, levels of activity, performance or achievements; and investors should not place undue reliance on the Company’s forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Contact:

Wordsmith Communications (for Think Partnership)
Glenna Musante, 800-849-2118, ext. 126
gmusante@marketsmart.net

Performics’ top tier advertisers are now available through the Dynamic Product Showcase Creator.

The Dynamic Product Showcase Creator, hosted by AffSolutions, provides an easy-to-use, web-based tool that creates affiliate link encoded product showcases with just one click.

You can use the Dynamic Product Showcase Creator through Performics to select items directly from an advertiser’s feed for dynamic rotation on your site.

You can select categories and keywords to generate a showcase for the advertisers in your program. You can customize the colors, sizes and selection of your showcase through the web-based tool. Since the feed is updated every 24 hours, showcases on your site will always have current offers, products and information.

The following advertisers are now available through the Dynamic Product Showcase Creator:

HP Shopping
performics.afftools.com/hpshopping/

Kohl’s
performics.afftools.com/kohls/

Sears
performics.afftools.com/sears/

Eddie Bauer
performics.afftools.com/eddiebauer/

AutoAnything
performics.afftools.com/autoanything/

Blair
performics.afftools.com/blair/

Bose
performics.afftools.com/bose/

Red Envelope
performics.afftools.com/redenvelope/

In order to generate an advertiser PSC link you must be approved for that advertiser’s affiliate program.

Additional advertisers will be available in the coming weeks. Affiliates for individual programs will be notified by email when PSC links are available.

The following is what David Fortino of the NetLine Corporation had to say in response the the question, What is wrong with affiliate marketing and how can it be improved?

People. WE are what’s wrong with affiliate marketing.

Good old human nature continues to drive AM’s towards the easy cash without thinking about the larger opportunities.

The sum of the “little guys” if nurtured correctly and effeciently, can easily outperform the Super Affiliates we all pursue.