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Get ready for spring with Google Affiliate Network exclusive promotions

Jamie — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Spring into action by giving your audience access to exclusive promotions, available only to Google Affiliate Network publishers. This opportunity enables you to promote a variety of limited-time deals and earn a performance fee from orders that originate from your links.

If you aren’t already a Google Affiliate Network publisher, join today. Over 40 exclusive promotions will be available for one weekend only, from Friday, March 23 through Monday, March 26.

How do I access these promotions?
To access any of these exclusive promotions, you need to be an approved publisher in Google Affiliate Network.

Apply for Google Affiliate Network with your AdSense Publisher ID (or sign in if you're already a Google Affiliate Network publisher).
Once approved, review the promotions available and click the "Apply Now" link for each one that you wish to promote.
Tracking links will be available in your Google Affiliate Network account by viewing the Home tab on March 19th. You can also search for “March Exclusive” links in the Links tab on March 23rd.

Need help applying or want more information? Review the Publisher Beginner’s guide.

When can I post these promotions on my site?
All promotions will be available starting midnight Central Time on March 23rd, and all will expire at midnight Central Time on March 26th. Please remember that you may not post any of these exclusive promotions until March 23rd.

For additional questions, check out the Help Center or contact us.

Posted by Jamie Ross, Affiliate Network Strategist

Google Affiliate Network Exclusive Opportunities Are Back

Jamie — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:15:00 +0000

Do you have a blog, website and an AdSense account? If you aren’t already a Google Affiliate Network publisher, now is a great time to join and monetize your website by giving your audience access to exclusive opportunities. Over 25 great deals will be available exclusively to Google Affiliate Network publishers for one weekend only, Friday, 12/9 through Monday, 12/12.

As a reminder, this limited time opportunity enables you to add a variety of great consumer opportunities to your site and earn a performance fee from orders that originate from your links.

How do I promote these opportunities on my site?
To promote any of these exclusive opportunities, you need to be an approved publisher in Google Affiliate Network.

Apply for Google Affiliate Network with your AdSense Publisher ID (or sign in if you're already a Google Affiliate Network publisher).
Once approved, review the opportunities available and click the "Apply Now" link for each one that you wish to promote.
Tracking links will be available in your Google Affiliate Network account by viewing the Home tab on December 5th. You can also search for “December Exclusive Opportunities” links in the Links section on December 9th.

Need help applying or want more information? Review the Publisher Beginner’s guide today.

When can I post these opportunities on my site?
All opportunities will be available on December 9, and all will expire at midnight on December 12. Please remember that you may not post any of these exclusives until December 9th.

Further questions? Check out our Help Center for answers to frequently asked questions or feel free to contact us with any questions.

Posted by Jamie Ross, Affiliate Network Strategist

Interpreting Your Data: How To Understand Calculated Metrics

Jamie — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:12:00 +0000

Welcome to the second post in our "Interpreting Your Data" series for affiliate advertisers, brought to you by Google Affiliate Network analysts. View all posts in the series here.

Calculated metrics provide great insight into how specific variables are performing. A few of these commonly used metrics are conversion rate, click through rate, and average order value.
In this post, we will use examples to discuss how you can use calculated metrics to interpret your affiliate program data.

Reviewing performance data using calculated metrics:
You’re in the Google Affiliate Network interface, reviewing performance reports and notice your conversion rate has increased. You may think -- “That’s great news!” Or, is it?

Before celebrating, you’ll need to ask a few more questions and take a deeper look to determine whether an increase in conversion rate is really a positive indicator for your overall program.

This is because conversion rate is a calculated metric that is generated by combining two other metrics -- in this case, conversions divided by clicks. Whenever you use a calculated metric, you should understand what’s happening to both of the underlying metrics to to determine an overall trend.

Example 1:

In period 1, you have 33 conversions and 100 clicks, so your conversion rate is 33%.
In period 2, you have 25 conversions and 50 clicks, so your conversion rate is 50%.

As you can see, the conversion rate goes up in period 2. Is that good? There are fewer conversions in period 2 and fewer clicks. You should investigate why clicks went down before you can determine if this is a positive or negative indicator.

Understanding metric composition:
With an affiliate program, you should also consider the composition of each metric. That is, the composition of all of the publishers that are driving clicks and conversions. Each individual publisher composes one part of each metric.If you see conversion rates go down, you may think that this is negative indicator. To determine the significance, you should check if the conversion rate is down for every publisher and if you added any new publishers.

Example 2:

Publisher X had 33 conversions from 100 clicks totaling a 33% conversion rate.
Then you add publisher Y, who generates 200 clicks, 20 conversions totaling 10% conversion rate.
These two publisher combined generate 53 conversions on 300 clicks, for a conversion rate of 26.5%.
The combined conversion rate is down, but that’s only because you added a publisher that drives more clicks at a lower than average conversion rate.
You still have 33% conversion from publisher Y that drove 100 clicks.

In this example, it’s important to look more closely at the new publisher. It’s possible they have a lower conversion rate due to their business model. Adding this publisher to the program changes your overall number.

In summary, when you’re looking at the movement of a calculated metric (such as conversion rate and average order value) you shouldn’t stop there. To understand the shift, you should do a bit more investigating to find out why that metric moved.

For additional resources on analyzing your program, please see this analysis checklist help center article.

Posted by Dan Filowitz, Manager of Affiliate Operations

Interpreting Your Data: Where do I start?

Jamie — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Welcome to the first post in our new "Interpreting Your Data" series for affiliate advertisers, brought to you by Google Affiliate Network analysts. View all posts in the series here.
Affiliate program success can be evaluated in different ways, so you’ll need to clearly define performance requirements and metrics early. Questions you should seek to answer include:

- What is happening?
- Why it is happening?
- What actions can I take?

In this post, we’ll cover time periods and getting started with performance analysis.

Time Periods
The first thing you'll want to decide is what time periods are important to you. Do you want a broad, monthly view or do you need to get more granular with a weekly view? Next, decide how you want to compare your time periods. Year over year will help take seasonality into account. If you are a new affiliate advertiser, week over week and/or month over month will help show how your program is growing.

Performance analysis
After the time period comparisons are determined, start by looking at your main metrics and see if they’re up or down. It's important to look at more than just transactions. An increase in transactions is valuable but you'll also want to see if your clicks increased to really understand the reason behind your increase. Did your opportunities just convert better or did you have a larger base of clicks?

Now, it's time to dig deeper into your program and examine changes in publisher performance. Take a look at your publishers using the same time comparisons. This will help you identify and sort by publisher activity to find the biggest increases or decreases. If only a few of your publishers saw large gains, review any actions you took with them. Did you purchase an ad placement? Did you increase their commission rate or run an exclusive affiliate offer with them? If you saw increases across many or most of your publishers, this could be a result of a sale, or might be tied to publishers implementing creatives or offers that better appealed to your customers. Once you're able to make conclusions about the cause and impacts of program changes, you can take the appropriate steps to optimize publisher performance and drive more conversions.

It's important to understand when gains or losses are due to seasonality and when they’re due to actions taken by you and/or your publishers. For instance, if December is your top month, January sales are going to be down when comparing month over month. This is why it's helpful to use year over year comparisons and understand the seasonality of your business.

For additional resources on analyzing your program, please see this help center article.
Posted by Elliott Chapman, Account Strategist

Google Affiliate Network Fall Exclusive Opportunities Now Available

Jamie — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:51:00 +0000

With the arrival of fall, the holiday shopping season begins. Give your users an early start by posting Google Affiliate Network Exclusive Opportunities. Over 40 opportunities will be available exclusively to Google Affiliate Network publishers. In addition, special opportunities will be live for one weekend only, from Friday, September 23 through Monday, September 26.

As a reminder, this limited time opportunity enables you to add a variety of great consumer opportunities to your site and earn a performance fee from orders that originated from your links.

How do I promote these opportunities on my site?

To promote any of these exclusive opportunities, you need to be an approved publisher in the Google Affiliate Network.
Apply for Google Affiliate Network with your AdSense Publisher ID (or sign in if you're already a Google Affiliate Network publisher).
Once approved, review the opportunities available and click the "Apply Now" link for everyone that you wish to promote.

Tracking links will be available in your Google Affiliate Network account by viewing the Home tab. You can also search for “September Exclusive Opportunities” links in the Links section on September 23.

Need help applying or want more information? Review the Getting Started guide today.

When can I post these opportunities on my site?
All opportunities will be available on September 23, and all will expire at midnight September 26. Please remember that you may not post any of these exclusives until September 23.

Further questions? Check out our Help Center for answers to frequently asked questions or feel free to contact us with any questions.

Posted by Jamie Ross, Affiliate Network Strategist

Introducing the Google Affiliate Network Partner Marketplace

Jamie — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:16:00 +0000

Earlier this month, we launched the Google Affiliate Network Partner Marketplace, which features companies who can help our advertisers and publishers achieve affiliate marketing goals and grow the affiliate channel.

Today we’d like to highlight the two types of partner offerings that can help advertisers and publishers make the most of their affiliate marketing:

Tools to help Google Affiliate Network advertisers and publishers manage and grow their program. These partner tools can help you with things like data feeds, coupon feeds, pay-per-call, affiliate in store coupons, link monetization and tracking videos.
Agencies (also referred to as Outsourced Program Managers) to provide program management services for Google Affiliate Network advertisers.

Partners are selected based on their working relationship with the Google Affiliate Network and the value they can provide to our advertisers and publishers. Many of the companies in the Partner Marketplace demonstrate expertise in the pay-per-performance channel, help their customers develop innovative and creative solutions at scale, and provide training and support resources.

Please check out the Partner Marketplace if you are interested in working with any of these partners!

Posted by Jamie Ross, Affiliate Network Strategist

Third Annual Fast-A-Thon

Jamie — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:34:00 +0000

One in seven people worldwide will go to bed hungry tonight... and the Google Affiliate Network team, wanted to do something about it, so on August 18th, some of the team went hungry for a day to raise over $4,000 for the World Food Program USA.

The Google Affiliate Network team joined 600 Googlers from nine offices around the world for one of our largest fund-raising events ever, the third annual Fast-A-Thon. In the name of hunger relief, participants abstained from food and water from sun-up until late afternoon, with some breaking their fast in the Ramadan tradition of dates and light snacks. Through generous donations from friends, family, and the Google employee Gift-Match, over $100,000 was donated to aid the hunger crisis in the horn of Africa.

This philanthropic event was a fantastic opportunity for the team to come together (with stomachs growling) to raise money and support a great cause.

Written by Emily Hotz, Account Management

Google eBooks Affiliate program – Open for business

Jamie — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:31:00 +0000

Reposted from Inside Google Books blog by Pratip Banerji, Product Manager, Google Books team.

Retailers, bloggers, book publishers and other website owners in the U.S. can now become Google eBooks affiliates. Affiliates can link to Google eBooks on their sites for any of the hundreds of thousands of titles available for sale, earning a commission for referring sales to the Google eBookstore.

We launched the program as a limited beta in December with our first affiliate, Goodreads. Goodreads is a social reading site, who after becoming an affiliate was able to refer their avid book reading fans to the Google eBookstore. When Goodreads users buy a Google eBook, they’re gaining immediate access to their book and supporting Goodreads in the process.

Starting today, we invite all interested site owners to apply to join the expanded Google eBooks affiliate program. Participating sites gain new revenue streams by giving their book-reading audiences an easy way to buy Google eBooks.

Google eBooks affiliates become part of the Google Affiliate Network (GAN). After joining GAN, you can subscribe to the Google eBooks product feed to get links to the full set of available Google eBooks. If you want to query a more targeted set of ebooks you can use the new Google Books APIs.

For more information and to sign up to be a Google eBooks affiliate, please visit our partner Help Center here.

Reposted on the Google Affiliate Network Blog

It’s that time again. Exclusive Affiliate Opportunities: June 24-27

Jamie — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 23:25:00 +0000

Summer officially starts next week. To kick it off, we are excited to announce that Google Affiliate Network Exclusive Opportunities is back! Starting Friday, 6/24, through Monday, 6/27, affiliate exclusive offers from 50+ Google Affiliate Network advertisers will ONLY be available to Google Affiliate Network publishers. Special offers will be live for one weekend only.

Any Google Affiliate Network publisher who has a relationship with participating advertisers will have access to these opportunities. Now is the time to apply to these programs if you haven't already. Advertisers are waiting for your application.

Not currently a Google Affiliate Network publisher? Do you have a website you'd like to monetize? Placing Google Affiliate Network ads on your site is a great way to earn commissions. If you aren't currently a Google Affiliate Network publisher and would like to promote the opportunities below, sign up today for our network with your AdSense Publisher ID.
Need help getting started, here are a few helpful tips and tricks.

Participating Advertisers:
Below please find the advertisers, offers and application links.

June Exclusive Opportunities
	$5 off purchases of $50 or more at AbeBooks. Find textbooks, rare books, bestsellers, and more! Apply Now
	5% off Sitewide. (Offer Exclusions: Click Here) Apply Now
	20% OFF 1st item, 25% OFF 2nd item, 35% OFF 3rd item. Apply Now
	$5 off Merchandise of $49+! Apply Now
	Get 10% off your online order at BN.com. (Offer Exclusions: The 10% discount will be applied to the most expensive eligible item in the order. Some product exclusions apply. See site for details.) Apply Now
	30% Off Sitewide! Apply Now
	20% OFF Sitewide at BloomAvenue.com! Apply Now
	20% Off Your Highest Priced Item. Apply Now
	Free Shipping on Orders of $50 or more! Apply Now
	Up to 51% off! Limited Time Offer. Apply Now
	10% off on $100 purchase. Apply Now
	Free Shipping on all orders over $25. Apply Now
	Dickies Weekend Exclusive! Apply Now
	Save up to 20% at Fairmont With Everyone's An Original Summer Rate. Apply Now
	Get $25 off your purchase of $75 or more! Apply Now
	10% off sitewide. Apply Now
	Get $20 off $125 at Finish Line. Apply Now
	Get $10 off on Flowers. Apply Now
	25% off $70 + Free Shipping. Apply Now
	20% OFF Sitewide at FromYouFlowers.com. Apply Now
	Special Offer! Save 15% on your order at GoDaddy.com! (Offer Exclusions: *Not applicable to ICANN fees, taxes, shipping & handling, sale priced domain names, bulk domains, premium domains, auction domains, Sunrise/Landrush domain registrations, discounted memberships or maintenance plans; additional disk space and bandwidth renewals, custom page layouts, custom headers, brand identity products, Incorporation Services, posters, die-cast cars, or gift cards. Discount reflected in your shopping cart -- cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, discount or promotion, including renewals discounted from current list pricing. After the initial purchase term, products purchased with special offer discounts will renew at the then-current renewal list price.) Apply Now
	Save 20% off all regular priced items at Jos. A. Bank. (Offer Exclusions: Shoes, gift cards and tuxedo rentals) Apply Now
	Get $10 off Your Next $75 Kmart Purchase! (Offer Exclusions: Offer Valid June 24, 2011 through June 27, 2011. Offer valid on regular and sale merchandise. Excludes Electronics, Entertainment, Excelled Leather, Weber, French Toast School Uniforms, Craftwell, As Seen On TV, Stamina, Teeter Hang Ups, Bongo, Rebecca Bon Bon, Dream Out Loud, Everyday Great Price, Clearance and Gift Cards. One coupon per purchase. Void if copied or transferred and where prohibited by law. Any other use constitutes fraud. In the event of a return, coupon savings may be deducted from your refund. Cash value 1/20 cent.) Apply Now
	10% off $100 orders on Kohls.com. Apply Now
	Save 50% on Clearance items! Apply Now
	Free shipping on orders over $30. Apply Now
	Shop LifeStride.com and Save 10% Sitewide. Apply Now
	$39.99 Sasha 3-Piece Reversible Quilt Set. Apply Now
	Get $25 off your purchase of $75 or more! Apply Now
	Free Shipping for orders over $100. Apply Now
	10% off sitewide. Naturalizer: Apply Now Shop Naturalizer Canada and Save 10%. Naturalizer CA: Apply Now
	Free Ground Shipping on Patagonia.com for orders delivered to the continental US. Apply Now
	Get up to four cotton pinpoint oxford dress shirts, designed by you for only $19.95 each. Apply Now
	Save $10 Off your First Order at Peapod.com. (Offer Exclusions: This offer is valid on First Purchase only.) Apply Now
	Summer Scent Sale, 10% off. Apply Now
	Free Shipping on all orders over $39. Apply Now
	PLNDR.COM - 15% OFF on all orders. Apply Now
	Get FREE Standard Shipping on Flowers and Gifts $39.99 or more at ProFlowers. Apply Now
	Pugster.com Big Savings For Summer Jewelry! Extra 50% Off. Apply Now
	Free Shipping on all orders. (Offer Exclusions: Free standard shipping offer is valid at Shop.PUMA.com for shipments to the U.S. and Canada only. Offer is valid beginning 12:00am Eastern Time, 6/24/2011 through 11:59 pm Pacific Time, 6/27/2011 and shall have no redeemable value thereafter. Offer is not valid at The PUMA Store or PUMA Outlet stores. Offer cannot be combined with any other promotion or applied to past purchases. Offer cannot be redeemed for cash equivalent, used to purchase gift cards, or used as payment on an account. PUMA reserves the right to cancel this offer at any time, and to cancel orders arising from pricing, technical, or other errors. All returns are subject to PUMA's Return/Exchange Policy Guidelines. Usage is subject to credit approval and product availability.) Apply Now
	Free Shipping on all orders over $75. Apply Now
	25% Off Sitewide at Relic Brand. Bags, Sunglasses, Watches, and more! Apply Now
	Get $10 off of orders of $100 or more from Road Runner Sports. Apply Now
	Get $15 off Your Next $125 Sears Purchase! (Offer Exclusions: Offer applies online only and on items marked Sold by Sears. Valid for Fitness, Sporting Goods, Cooking & Clean up, Apparel & Accessories, Beauty, Baby, Jewelry, Bed and Bath, Window, Decor, Tabletop, Rugs, Luggage, Furniture, Outdoor Living, Cookware, Automotive, Personal Care and Toys. Offers cannot not be stacked with any other coupons. Excludes Electronics, Lawn & Garden, Tools, Cooking, Dish, Refrigeration and Laundry Appliances, Floor Care, Mattresses, Small kitchen appliances, Clearance, Great Price, Introductory Offers, Price Drops, Apple, BOSE, Samsung, Sony, Flip Video, Mitsubishi, Computers, Cameras, Camcorders, Home office, Books, Magazines, Software, Video Games, Weber, Dockers, Levis, Excelled, Lands End, Custom/Personalized Jewelry & Watches, Tires, Snow Equipment, Generators, Electrolux, Electrolux ICON, Electrolux ICON Designer, Electrolux ICON Professional, Dacor, Jenn-Air, Henckels. Offer is subject to change without notice. Expires 6/27/2011.) Apply Now
	$30 off purchase of $299 or more at Searsoutlet.com. (Offer Exclusions: $30 off any Sears Outlet Merchandise of $299 or more on online purchase at searsoutlet.com only. The coupon code applies at check out. Offer expires on 6/27/2011.) Apply Now
	20% Off plus Free Shipping. (Offer Exclusions: Click here) Apply Now
	Free Shipping on orders of $75 or more! Apply Now
	Save 10% off of SpaFinder Gift Certificates over $50. Apply Now
	$10 off Merchandise of $100+! Apply Now
	Blinds & Wallpaper - Save up to 85% Off - plus Extra $10 on $125 purchase. Apply Now
	15% off sitewide. (Offer Exclusions: Valid on new online orders only, with select regular price items. Excludes purchases of gift cards, surfboards, sale items, Billabong, Nixon and UGGs.) Apply Now
	$100 Off on Select Glider/Rocker Ottoman Sets at Target.com. (Offer Exclusions: Valid on Select Glider/Rocker Ottoman Sets.) Apply Now
	25% OFF Multivitamins at Vitamma.com! Apply Now
	Save 10% at WaySpa. Apply Now
	15% off Doodle Speakers. Zazzle: Apply Now 15% off t-shirts at Zazzle Canada. Zazzle CA: Apply Now

Tracking links will be available via the Google Affiliate Network Publisher Blog within the Home tab in the platform on 6/13. You will also be able to search for "June Exclusive Opportunities" links in the Links section on June 24th.

The opportunities will not be live or valid until June 24th and will expire at midnight on June 27th. Affiliates may not post these offers until June 24th.

Further questions? Check out our Help Center for answers to frequently asked questions OR feel free to contact us with any questions.

Approval into an advertiser's program is at the advertiser's discretion.

Review the link merchandising information to see if any exclusions apply.

Meet the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011

Jamie — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Your votes are in. The professionals have had their say. And now, 101 people from more than 30 countries around the world are heading to Sydney Opera House to perform together in March as the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011.

These final 101 outstanding musicians — who range in age from 14 to 49, and hail from five different continents — have emerged from the 336 finalists selected last month by partner orchestras worldwide (including London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker and Sydney Symphony). Your votes on those finalists then helped artistic advisor Michael Tilson Thomas and composer Mason Bates settle on the final line-up.

Among the final group is a vuvuzela-fixated trombonist from Germany, an Arizona-based clarinetist who has never left the U.S. and a Guzheng player from China, whose instrument is one a lot of the world has never seen or heard before. They’ll come together from March 14 to prepare for a final performance on Sunday, March 20, which will be streamed live to the world on YouTube.

We want to open up every stage of the orchestra process. We called for auditions from around the world on YouTube and were blown away by the amazing videos we received in response; the YouTube community voted on their favorites and visited the channel in their millions; and now we’re inviting you to join the winning musicians as they begin their creative journey to Sydney. We’ll post their videos and behind-the-scenes footage of the orchestra — from rehearsal and master classes to performance — to the YouTube Symphony channel, and to our mobile apps (which you can download on the Android Market by searching for 'YouTube Symphony Orchestra' or Apple App Store). In March we’ll start broadcasting from Sydney, so tune in!

Next stop: Sydney.

Jamie Dolling, Marketing Manager, recently watched “Synergy: Unsung Heroes”.

YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011: The shortlist is in, let the voting begin

Jamie — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:52:00 +0000

Musicians from Finland to New Zealand and from Austria to Vietnam have done their bit - submitting their audition videos for the chance to be part of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 at Sydney Opera House. Now, with 336 finalists from 46 countries selected, it’s your turn to play your part: voting is open for who you think should make up the orchestra.

Your votes at youtube.com/symphony over the next seven days will help decide which of these talented musicians will be packing up their trombones, violas, and timpani and heading to Sydney Opera House from March 14-20, 2011, to perform together for a global audience.

You can vote once per video, per day, until 23:59 EST on December 17 to help YouTube Symphony Orchestra Artistic Advisor Michael Tilson Thomas boil the 300 shortlisted hopefuls down to the final 96. Your votes are also needed to help choose four solo improvisers. “Mothership” composer Mason Bates will be using your input to choose from 36 soloists, including show-stopping performances on instruments like the guzheng, the musical saw and… the udderbot.

Congratulations to those in the running, and to all of those who submitted an audition -- thank you for your hard work. We've been blown away by your talent and determination.

Check out the channel now and vote for your favorites.

Jamie Dolling, Marketing Manager, recently watched “Magic Moments: The Udderbot."