Blogs

Don't Hate the Player
Any talk of privacy and appropriate advertising leads us to ponder one of online direct marketing's greatest vehicles, our long-lost friend the flog. We wish we had insight into the current size of the... More...

Tweet This: The Odeo Rodeo
We came across an article in AdAge this week that interviews Dom Sagolla, a former quality control engineer that worked on Twitter. His story is a pretty interesting one, but it's the kind when reading that you really want to hear... More...

Coming for You?
Given the marketing tactics that currently drive so much of the volume in the performance marketing space, articles headlining with "FTC Looks to Regulate Blogger Credibility" or "FTC Change in Endorsement and Testimonial Policy... More...

Blogs Have Power to Influence Purchases
A study titled “Harnessing the Power of Blogs” sponsored by BuzzLogic and conducted by JupiterResearch asserts that blogs have important influence over consumers’ purchasing decisions. More...

Bloggers and Ads
Technorati ask full-time and part-time bloggers about their advertising habits and found that more than half of them ran ads on their blogs, according to the blog search company's "State of the Blogosphere" report. More...

iLegal - COPA Invalidated by Appeals Court
This week, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2007 lower-court decision that the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) violated the First Amendment. More...

Market Mayhem Part II
Here's what we learned in Part 1, and we'll start with the bad news. If the past twelve years have taught us anything, the rockiness we have experienced this year might only be the beginning More...

Market Mayhem
It's been a wild ride this past week. We all knew that the issues surrounding the mortgage market would result in expected, but still shocking, outcomes with the question being not so much if but when. More...

iLegal - Internet Advertising - Suppression List Compliance
As part of a continuing series on compliance issues in the affiliate marketing industry, this week we are addressing the issue of suppression lists. More...

iLegal - Monitoring Affiliate Compliance
Previously, in this column, we covered the subject of affiliate pre-screening. That's a good start to make sure that you don't end up with rogue affiliates. More...

iLegal - Pre-Screening Affiliates
A solid compliance program requires that you genuinely check new affiliates before allowing them to run your offers. More...

Shades of Gray
Somewhere in the back of our minds, whether we know it or not, we find ourselves looking for signs that the economy won't hold up; except when we speak of the economy, we mean the internet economy. More...

iLegal - Internet Advertising - Legal and Regulatory Compliance - Introduction
As I speak with people in the industry who are interested in the subject of compliance, it’s become plain that there is no central repository for information on the subject. More...

FTC Approves New Rules Under the CAN-SPAM Act
In a long expected move, the FTC has approved four new rules under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. While I normally wouldn't bore you with the minutiae of an FTC announcement, this one is important enough to our industry that I've copied their release in full below. More...

iLegal - adtech San Francisco - Legal Hope in the Air
When I’m at a show like adtech, even though I’m not attending in a legal role, I often end up in conversations with people about legal issues facing our industry. More...

LeadsCon Las Vegas - A Different Kind of Conference
LeadsCon, in its inaugural outing, established itself as the premier national conference for both buyers and sellers in the online lead generation space. More...

iLegal - Affiliate Summit - A Focus on Relationships
I just got back from Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas, and as always, it was a phenomenal event. It was the biggest ever (by some reports over 3,000 attendees), and we had the chance to visit with a lot of old friends. More...

iLegal - FTC Issues List of Top Areas for Consumer Fraud Complaints in 2007
In order to make sure our clients stay ahead of the curve and are doing the right things in the eyes of the FTC and other government regulatory agencies, professionals in this area spend a lot of time trying to understand the FTC's view of the online advertising world. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Book Ends
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector. More...

The Useful Settles With Florida Attorney General; or The Price of Leadership in Online Advertising: $1,000,000.00
In a press release eerily similar to that issued by Azoogle upon its settlement and million dollar payment to the Florida Attorney General, The Useful / World Avenue USA has announced that the Florida Office of Attorney General has closed its investigation into the company’s activities and will be dismissing its lawsuit. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Interviews
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

News, the Broken Variety: Tick Tick Ticker
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

News, the Broken Variety: Adorable Little Presents
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

News, the Broken Variety: Robotic Issues
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

iLegal - FTC Offers Tutorial for Businesses on Protecting Personal Information
Protecting the personal information of customers, clients, and employees is always good business practice, but often the expertise on how to do it is not available within small to midsize organizations. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Blanked By Christmas
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

iLegal - Ringtone Investigations - A Lesson on “Free” Offers
The Florida Office of Attorney General is continuing to pursue its investigation into the “free” ringtones industry. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Peterrific
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

News, the Broken Variety: Weighter Danger
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

News, the Broken Variety: Candle Waxed
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

Ad:Tech New York City 2007 Party Photos
The Options Media team had a blast partying with you all at the ad:tech after party. We hope you did too! Enjoy the pics and remember... When you think of email delivery solutions, think Options Media :) See you at the next venue!! More...

News, the Broken Variety:
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

News, the Broken Variety: Hampia v. Hoodia
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector More...

News, the Broken Variety: Love , Hate, Light
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Prize Fighters
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Lotterific
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Poisonous Florida
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector. More...

News, the Broken Variety: Contact Hi
This episode of Broken News is brought to you by our trusted industry insider, Cauldron Larynx. Cauldron utilizes deep knowledge, deeper skills and deepest relationships to make up the most breaking and relevant news in the Affiliate Marketing sector. More...

Offensive Content Pervades Blogosphere
According to ScanSafe’s monthly Global Threat Report for March 2007, up to 80% of all blogs on the Web contain offensive content, which includes adult language and porn. Six percent of all blogs host malware. More...

Real-time Blogging
Blogs have become a credible information source for public consumption, threatening news outlets and prompting them to hop on the bandwagon. Most media outlets, large or small, now have blogs on their sites. Unlike a print... More...

Splogs Continue to be a Growing Pain
According to Steve Rubel’s Micro Persuasion blog, the newest issue of Wired magazine contains some in-depth discussion about splogs and how they present a challenge for search engines and the blogosphere. More...

SPOTLIGHT ON... Anne Mitchell from Surety Mail
Find out how Anne started in the industry
Learn about the origin of MAPS
Gain a better understanding of what it takes to get your mail delivered More...

A Tale of Three Duplicities
Last issue you may recall reading "A Tale of Two Duplicities." Now you can enjoy the third and final saga in this trilogy of Internet shenanigans! More...

eBay, AOL, Amazon, Yahoo, and MSN
Chances are most of us use eBay, Amazon, and Yahoo, but they seem to have become non-players at the moment with respect to internet advertising. More...

What Will Google Do Now?
MySpace and Google have always garnered their fare share of press, and the level of inherent interest has only increased upon the announcement of their 39 month, almost one billion dollar deal to work together More...

I’d Like to Teach the World to Blog
The Coca-Cola jingle is one of television’s classics: “I’d like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony…” Through the years its message of togetherness hasn’t lost an iota of relevance. The songwriters were alluding to elements of... More...

General Motors as David: Slaying Goliath’s Smear
It’s something the Public Relations Team at ICMediaDirect.com continually stresses to clients - a company must avail itself to corporate blogging. The interactive world saw the wisdom of this advice on Thursday, June 1st, when... More...

Ask Unveils Blog Search Feature
Ask acquired Bloglines in February of 2005, but has so far kept both sites separate. However, with the release of a new blog and feed search function Ask has combined some of the technologies of both sites and is offering the... More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V32
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

Are you Blogging Effectively?
Perhaps “blogging” isn’t such a graceful word. To me, it’s a heavy sounding word that suggests a drudgery in the way that cereals can be soggy and minds groggy. But it’s too late to rename this shortened word for web-logging... More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V31
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V30
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V29
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V28
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V27
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

Caveat blogger, Part 2
Part One of Caveat Blogger (located here), our coverage of the issues surrounding employees who keep blogs, provides the context and introduces some of the more salient points that employers should keep in mind, and... More...

Caveat blogger
Long before companies started to leverage blogging as a next generation CRM solution and/or a means for thought leadership, individuals were using blogging to meet their own needs and sometimes no needs at all. Not many... More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V26
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

Blogging in the Corporate World - The Company Blog, Part 2
In Part 1 of Blogging in the Corporate World, we discussed the significance of blogs, who has a company blog, and the different implementations of them. In Part 2 we conclude our look at the company blog landscape first with an... More...

Blogging in the Corporate World
In my inbox today, I saw a MediaPost article titled, “Execs Mull Pitfalls Of Corporate Blogs.” It stemmed from the author attending a panel at OMMA Hollywood in which the participants discussed blogging as the new CRM. The... More...

212 Newsmaker Night with John Battelle: Author of The Search
I’m looking at John Battelle’s words that I jotted onto my notepad: “ephemeral to the eternal”. He was describing the permanent trace we leave behind as Internet users - how our immediate needs or curious whims are logged.. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V25
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V24
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V23
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V22
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V21
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V20
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V19
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V18
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

Corporate Blogging For Quality Relationships
The struggle for customer share is as intense as ever, and companies need to shore up their corporate message in anyway they can. Corporate weblogs, or “blogs”, are a great, cost-effective way to engage customers, fellow... More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V17
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V16
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V15
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V14
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V13
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V12
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V11
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V10
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V9
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V8
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V7
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V6
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V5
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V4
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

Tia Fix Predicts and Industry Wit
I have a confession to make: a few months ago I glimpsed into the future and decided not to tell anyone about it. I wanted to keep all the mind-blowing revelations for my company and myself even though it could have benefited just about everyone in online marketing. More...

Digital Thoughts: Bridging the Gap, Part Two
For better and worse, our industry possesses some unique traits that, at the moment, enable a variety of employees to effectively live two work lives. With one group, the biggest threat does not involve trade secrets and conflict of interest so much as the precedent it sets. More...

Digital Thoughts: Bridging the Gap, Part One
If you made it to the end of last week’s Digital Thoughts, you will have read that other companies are waiting to take your talent, and you’re the only one that can prevent that. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V3
Persistent Screamers become comic book creations in the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. More...

DM Pimping Cartoon V2
the newest addition to the Confidential, DM Pimping. The Web Surfing Sinners get brought to animated life in this weekly cartoon for the online media masses. Click below to get flashed by the prettiest peons and ugliest underbelly of affiliate life. Forward to a friend today! More...

Trends - Blogging’s value
The latest edition of Webster’s New World College Dictionary contains at least one entry that won’t mean much to those who do not user the internet frequently. The word isn’t “wedgie,” even though it gaine More...