How to identify rogue affiliates using advanced segments

This post will explain a technique that online retailers can use to save some badly spent money. It will also be of interest to affiliates, to website owners, and may spark a couple of ideas for anyone looking to get more usable information out of Google Analytics. The post covers 4 things: Rogue "Brand bidders" - what they are, why they cause a problem, and how they waste money. A few tactics rogue brand bidders may use to sneakily make thousands of pounds. How to spot the problem using Google Analytics. A couple of bonus tips on how you could extend & automate this. (more…)…

Ensure you have the right #smalldata foundations in place before you begin looking for answers in #bigdata

You can't have failed to have noticed the interest in Big Data. Of course, there have been people debating whether this is actually a worthwhile term. After all, “big data” is just data… but bigger... Once the concept becomes more widely applied, it will probably go back to being just data, but the increase in the amount of data available made it necessary for some to make the distinction. Like most marketing technology terms it is useful good to have a word to show the value of the concept.

Applying Big Data principles to affiliate marketing

Simply put, I think that the more data you have, and the better you become at analysing it, the better it is for you and your business. After all, a decision…

How attribution data has informed the affiliate channel

I recently met Helen Southgate, Online Marketing Controller for Strategy & Planning at Sky, presenting their approach to media channel attribution and how it informed their understanding of the affiliate channel in context with other online activity. With that in mind she kindly agreed to this interview where I asked about how BSkyB manage their affiliate marketing. You may also find her presentation interesting for reference:

1. You have been talking attribution for some time at Sky. How did you begin the process?

Yes, I have been talking about it for some time and to be honest it’s still in progress. It’s a massive project and one that is forever changing given the dynamic nature of online. I…