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buy.at, the UK’s largest privately owned affiliate marketing network has secured its future growth following a £7.3 million investment from Cazenove Private Equity (CPE). The company will be chaired by Bruce McLaren who led Advertising.com as International CEO to a successful sale to AOL Time Warner.

In 2002, Perfiliate Technologies Limited launched the buy.at affiliate network. Over the last three years the network has rapidly expanded to provide affiliate marketing solutions for many of the leading names in the UK including AA, BT, John Lewis, Lloyds TSB, M&S, T-Mobile, Sky and many more.

The £7.3 million investment from CPE will ensure that buy.at will continue to be the fastest growing UK affiliate network, with a leading reputation in the sector. Steve Brown, Chief Executive of buy.at said:

“The investment from CPE is a huge milestone for the buy.at network, allowing us to maintain strong growth and gain an ever increasing foothold in the market place. The investment permits us to improve our focus to ensure that we continue to deliver according to our clients’ expectations - offering exceptional delivery coupled with cutting edge technology.

“To further differentiate the buy.at network from our competitors, we will continue to concentrate on enhancing our service, innovation and providing an industry leading affiliate solution”.

CPE specialises in investing in the brightest prospects in the UK and European technology, media and telecoms sectors. Companies backed by CPE, such as buy.at, operate in proven or high-growth markets and will be driven by exceptional management teams, with the vision and ambition to dominate their chosen sectors.

Nic Brisbourne, Investment Executive at CPE said of the recent investment: “buy.at is the best performing UK company in what is undoubtedly a very hot market. We are excited to be shareholders and look forward to working with them through the next phase of growth and international expansion.”

Joining as non-executive Chairman, Bruce McLaren will be a vital asset to the company, providing strategic guidance and a provision of knowledge to assist driving buy.at to its greatest growth potential. Commenting on his new role with buy.at Bruce said “this company has sensational technology that is the best in its class and a great management team. It’s ready to move up to the next plateau and become a major European player in the near term.”

For further information on the buy.at affiliate marketing network visit www.buy.at or call Chris Tradgett, New Client Manager at buy.at on 0191 241 6500 or email: chris.tradgett@perfiliate.com.

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For further media information, please contact Anna Barry or Laura Przybek at Perfiliate Technologies Limited on 0191 241 6500, or anna.barry@perfiliate.com or laura.przybek@perfiliate.com

Photo Caption: Joining forces to drive further growth for buy.at - (Left to right) Nic Brisborne, Investment Executive at CPE, Steve Brown, Chief Executive at buy.at and Bruce McLaren, non-executive Chairman of buy.at

A former affiliate network executive has written a memoir of his life and times at an affiliate network called The Affiliate Code.

The Affiliate Code is “a fictionalized story of a California technology company that will do anything to bring in the big publishers and advertisers to their affiliate network.”

It seems the stories in this book, being released 4-1-06, are so explosive that the author is remaining anonymous.

If this author is somebody that knows all of the secrets and their stories are so dicey they can’t identify themselves, it’s bound to be a page turner.

The site for The Affiliate Code, www.theaffiliatecode.com, references how the affiliate network was conceived on a cocktail napkin at a bar.

And according to a press release for The Affiliate Code, the author is one of the main characters, “a graduate of an Ivy League University (who) spent more than nine years as an executive of an affiliate network. After spending most of his career at the affiliate network, he recently retired, and now he is ready to lift the kimono.”

Sounds like the affiliate marketing equivalent to the book, Primary Colors, a fictionalization of Bill Clinton’s first bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

I have a couple ideas about the identity of the author, but I’m going to hold off until I can grab a copy of the book and read through it.

According to the publisher, ICCWorldWide Publishing, The Affiliate Code is a “new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller - utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.”

Read the press release at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/3/prweb365401.htm.

eComXpo, the biggest virtual conference for online marketers, will be hosting their third show April 4-6th, 2006.

This installment of eComXpo is going to feature 17 panels and three keynote addresses. The panel will include speakers and moderators such as Andy Beal, Paul Colligan, Declan Dunn, Catherine Seda, Tim Tuttle, and yours truly.

They are expecting over 7,000 attendees who will be able to access all the first-run education sessions, exhibit hall, and networking opportunities at no cost.

eComXpo is entirely virtual, so the whole thing can be experienced from the comfort of your home or office.

The live Q&A after the sessions will be broadcast at WebmasterRadio.fm. Register to attend eComXpo for free at http://www.ecomxpo.com

The April 2006 eComXpo also marks the debut of eComXpo University. This area will provide subscribers with access to the archives of past and present eComXpo presentations.

More details on the April 2006 eComXpo at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/3/prweb364958.htm.

There is much ballyhoo about the occasional affiliate who violates the pay per click edicts in affiliate agreements. But there also merchants that have a devil may care attitude when it comes to rules and regulations.

One prime example is Citrix GoToMyPC on Commission Junction. I was looking through their linking options yesterday, and I came across Link ID 10360563 / Competitive Keywords for All Audiences.

I reread the name a couple of times, as I couldn’t imagine they were encouraging their affiliates to bid on their competitor’s names.

Then I read the description of the link… “This keyword link is including competitive keywords such as pcanywhere, timbuktu and logmein.”

Are they serious? They are telling their affiliates to bid on their competitor’s brand names? Yes, I’m afraid they are doing just that.

Among their recommended keywords: pcanywhere, pc anywhere, timbuktu, timbukto pro, and logmein.

Aside from the lapse in ethics when it comes to encouraging this sort of behavior in affiliates, it’s also a violation of the Google AdWords Editorial Guidelines.

As stated in the Google AdWords Editorial Guidelines:

Underlying all the Editorial Guidelines are two simple principles that have worked for thousands of advertisers already in the program:

• Clearly and accurately describe your site.

• Emphasize the unique benefits of your product or service.

Unless the Citrix GoToMyPC affiliates are running sites that compare GoToMyPC to the competing products, it looks to me that bidding on those competitor’s names for the purpose of driving traffic to GoToMyPC. This is expressly forbidden by Google.

The Google AdWords Editorial Guidelines also state, “Your keywords and ad text must be relevant to your site, products, or services.”

I searched on Google for pcanywhere and, sure enough, a couple of the GoToMyPC affiliates were adhering to the suggested strategy: bidding on pcanywhere and funneling the traffic to GoToMyPC (see image to the right).

I’m sure GoToMyPC isn’t the only merchant engaging in such bottom feeder marketing - they are just the one I happened upon.

Wondering aloud…will CJ clamp down on this activity? How about Google - it’s a violation of their rules after all. If nothing else, I’d imagine Symantec isn’t too happy about this misuse of the pcAnywhere™ brand name.

I managed to get an account when they opened up the MSN adCenter Beta for a small group of advertisers about a month ago, and now they are providing me with ten invites to share.

The MSN adCenter is MSN’s pay per click search engine.

If you would like to apply to be a part of the MSN adCenter pilot, contact me and I’ll send you an invite (if you are one of the first ten to request it).

As an affiliate marketer, you code, your content, your copy, etc. is your business. So what are you going to do if your hard drive or machine dies on you?

The solution is to get yourself an external hard drive. Think of it as cheap business insurance.

You’ll also need a backup software program to automate the process. Otherwise, you can copy all of the files manually to your external hard drive.

Not only does this provide you with protection in the event of some technical failure, but it also protects you against the sort of stupid mistakes that happen late at night.

What you do with an external hard drive is to backup your entire hard drive to the external hard drive on a regular basis - daily or so.

Personally, I make a complete duplication of my system each week, and every night I back up any new files. And I have a second external hard drive off site, which gets a complete backup of my laptop ever couple weeks.

If you don’t want to buy two external hard drives, you can also do incremental backups to DVDs.

While you are protecting your data, you should also consider safeguarding your machines by getting a battery backup to block power surges, spikes, and outages that can damage your computer equipment and corrupt important data.

There are lots of options for capacity, price, etc. I have the following in place as my main backup: Maxtor One Touch II 200 GB External Hard Drive, PC Back Up software, Belkin 1100VA Battery Backup.

Don’t wait until you lose everything - protect your affiliate marketing business proactively and sleep well tonight.

Berkeley Heights, NJ - March 27, 2006 — Affiliate Summit 2006 East (http://www.affiliatesummit.com) is taking place July 9-11, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. The Affiliate Summit conferences are presented by Ronald Bell and Missy Ward.

The show provides an opportunity for affiliate marketing and search engine marketing executives to get together and learn from one another in a unique, cooperative environment.

The Keynote Speaker will be Jim Bouton - New York Yankee 20-game winner, best selling author, TV Sportscaster, actor, inventor, and businessman.

The Early Bird registration rates of $949 (full conference) and $199 (exhibit hall only) are going up after March 31. Starting April 1, the rates to register for Affiliate Summit will be $1,449 (full conference) and $299 (exhibit hall only).

Affiliate Summit will have a number of new perks for attendees, based on feedback from previous attendees. One benefit to attendees, in response to numerous requests is that the conference is going to be captured on video, and the video will be made available to all registered attendees for free.

Other new additions at Affiliate Summit 2006 East include the Affiliate Summit Social Network (http://network.affiliatesummit.com), pre-conference teleseminars with Affiliate Summit speakers (http://www.affiliatesummitpreview.com/), Bingo Networking, an Affiliate Buyer’s Guide (free listings at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/guide.shtml),
and the Affiliate Meet Market & Vendor Showcase.

The Affiliate Summit conference will also feature an expanded exhibit hall
(http://www.affiliatesummit.com/Exhibitor_List.pdf) and a limited number of booths (http://www.affiliatesummit.com/sponsors.shtml#exhibitor) are still available. The booth sponsorships provide the sponsors with the exhibit hall space, passes for employees, contact information for attendees, and five free passes to share with affiliates.

Pricing for exhibitor booths will also change after March 31. 10′ x 10′ booths will increase from $3,995 to $4,995 and 10′ x 20′ booths will increase from $5,995 to $7,495 starting on April 1.

Other Affiliate Summit sponsorships are also available. See http://www.affiliatesummit.com/sponsors.shtml for details.

Rooms at the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort Hilton are available at an Affiliate Summit group rate of $112 a night until June 10. After that, the hotel will charge the prevailing rate. Rooms can booked during the conference registration process or directly through the WALT DISNEY WORLDR Resort Hilton at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/hilton

For more information about the Affiliate Summit show, including the companies currently registered, please visit http://www.AffiliateSummit.com. Subscribe to the Affiliate Summit Real Deal Newsletter for breaking news, tips and the latest information about the affiliate marketing industry at http://www.RealDealNewsletter.com

About Affiliate Summit, Inc.
Affiliate Summit, Inc. was founded by affiliate marketing industry veterans Ronald Bell and Missy Ward and serves the affiliate marketing professional community. With three consecutive sold-out Affiliate Summit Conferences under its belt, its mission to be the leading global source of learning and networking opportunities surrounding the affiliate marketing industry has been brought to fruition. For additional information about the conference, please visit www.affilatesummit.com or contact us 800-258-6094.

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