Chris Dessi - Vice President zanox, Inc

Starting on January 7th I begin an exciting journey as the VP of Ad Sales at the only multinational ad network Zanox, Inc.

I loved working with the team at AzoogleAds, and I look forward to this next challenge for my career. Zanox has offices in 14 countries, and generate leads for advertisers in over 30 countries! This is sure to be an exciting new year!

Another Ad:Tech in New York has come and gone (at the speed of light, as usual). It's Friday morning, and I'm still feeling the effects of a crazy few days, but I have to admit it...I LOVE this show. There's really nothing better than getting out there and selling. I eat it up. I love meeting new people at Ad:Tech, seeing familiar faces, and course I get a kick out of the sheer volume of people in attendance. This year was unprecedented. The numbers vary, but suffice to say...there were a LOT of people packing into that New York Hilton. I joked with a few colleagues that the families that were in town on vacation must have been horrified to see all of the meetings being conducted in the lounge, lobby, restaurants, and surrounding establishments. It got to be so crowded that I even took meetings standing in the lobby. Two of those meeting were with large partners (it's a good thing that I can also call them friends), and we all had a good laugh at it. "welcome to my office, please stand here" :-)

AzoogleAds generated sufficient buzz at the booth as we continue to grow and gain market share. We poised to have another break out year in 2008!

Some of the best fun happened after the show when an colleague and I shot our video for our iMedia Spot (keep an eye out for it)! I'm certainly not an actor, but Audrey Breheney one of our Sr. Affiliate Managers is an Actress as well as an industry pro, so she added a sense of professionalism that this cheesy sales guy just couldn't muster! It was a ton of fun, and we can't wait to get it out there!

Looking forward to hearing from everyone about how they felt Ad:tech was for them.

All the best!
Chris Dessi
Director of National Ad Sales

Be a Part of the News: VOTE IN THE 'AD AGE' WEEKLY ONLINE POLLBACKGROUND: In Mark Zuckerberg's high-minded conception, one's collection of Facebook friends should reflect one's real-life social network by providing accurate data about users and by being a close-to-comprehensive map of all the important nodes in one's life. Yet there is evidence that people -- especially younger folks -- like to lie or at least fudge the truth on their social networks. But even more vexing is the question of whether Facebook can hit -- and maintain -- critical mass among adults. And for many adults, their online networks aren't representative of their real-life networks. THIS WEEK'S POLL QUESTION: Do you think MySpace and Facebook users' profiles are an honest reflection of who they are? VOTE & COMMENT for possible publication in next week's 'Advertising Age' at http://adage.com/poll?poll_id=93

It's that time of year again, when EVERYONE in the interactive space converges on NYC and hits Ad:Tech. This show has grown so rapidly in the past 3 years, that I think I'm not alone when I say that it's outgrown the current venue (Hilton Hotel). I'm hoping the organizers come around, and take a look at the Javits Center for next years. Let's face it folks, the Internet is here to stay, and things keep on growing....and growing!

I'll admit that although the venue is becoming less conducive to conduct business since we're such a rapidly growing industry, it's still the most productive show of the year for me. Everyone is there, and everyone wants to do business. You get some characters, but that's fine with me, I mean this is the online space right?

I noticed a few things this year, that I'm really looking forward to checking out (other than the parties)...although I think Crobar is still recovering from the tour de force of Internet folks that converges on the venue last year.

Last year I really didn't have any time to slip away to see any of the conference panel discussions etc. I'm really looking forward to hearing anything and everything I can about Performance Marketing and Consumer Behavior.

I'm particularly interested in hearing Global Perspectives on the Digital Revolution. I think that everyone in attending should view this panel. As the world gets smaller and smaller, we all need to be attentive to the true global village that the Internet presents us.

Of course what I'm truly interested in hearing is: Digital Advertising Networks: Making Sense of an Evolving and Expanding Landscape. This is right in my wheelhouse, and I think this is what everyone will be buzzing about this Ad:Tech. In the past year, we've seen unprecedented consolidation. Mergers and Acquisitions are at an all time high, and eyeballs are on us. Now is the time to execute, and take performance based networks to the next level.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Ad:Tech this year. Look for me at booth #333.

Take Care!

NEW YORK – Azoogle.com, Inc. (www.AzoogleAds.com), the New York-based online marketing solutions provider, officially announced that Blockbuster, Inc. named AzoogleAds as its Search Engine Marketing “Agency of Record.” The account is managed under Bazaar Advertising, a division of AzoogleAds.

This announcement comes on the heels of the successful integration between AzoogleAds and recently acquired Bazaar Advertising, a San Francisco-based search engine management and advertising technology company. This move calls further attention to the company’s expanded suite of search marketing services and ability to work with leading, top tier clients.

“Our strategy is to continue to grow our client’s customer acquisitions by coupling science and technology with real direct marketing savvy, not through incentive offers or gimmicks. The results we are seeing so far from the Blockbuster partnership shows that we are doing just that,” says Randy Nicolau, CEO of AzoogleAds.

About AzoogleAds:

AzoogleAds (www.AzoogleAds.com), founded in 2000, is an end-to-end online marketing solutions provider for advertisers, publishers and online affiliates. Initially a pioneer in performance-based marketing, AzoogleAds generates the highest volumes of quality traffic through its affiliate network, its proprietary search technologies and optimization, its in-house CPM/CPA/CPC Media Buying and the company’s unparalleled industry expertise. The AzoogleAds team delivers the most comprehensive and cost-effective strategic online marketing campaigns for advertisers and publishers of all sizes and across all industries through innovative technology and unrivaled knowledge in search and performance based marketing and media buying.

AzoogleAds is headquartered in New York, with offices in Toronto and San Francisco. They are members of the IAB, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Shop.Org, the DMA and the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

AzoogleAds Branches Into SEM with Bazaar Acquisition
By Fred Aun, The ClickZ Network, Oct 2, 2007

In an effort to morph AzoogleAds into more than just a performance-based affiliate advertising specialist, the company has acquired Bazaar Advertising, a San Francisco search engine management and advertising player whose technology impressed AzoogleAds’ executives.
The decision to go beyond its niche in CPA-based affiliate networking has already proved fruitful for the New York-based company, said chief marketing officer Michael Sprouse. He said AzoogleAds, which handles affiliate advertising for Blockbuster Video, recently convinced the movie-rental giant to also use it for SEM.
“That’s really the one that we are most excited about so far,” said Sprouse. “We work with them in our affiliate business in big way. After a period of a few weeks, we really proved to them that we could manage their search as well and we are already in the process of running these campaigns with them.”
AzoogleAds also now offers media services, said Sprouse. “We built out a media buying team internally and we are doing media buys for a handful of pretty big clients. A lot of this stuff is in the early stages and we’re really excited about it.”
But when it came to search engine management, AzoogleAds decided acquisition, rather than internal expansion, was the better route. Sprouse noted Bazaar, a company that had about 20 employees, had “mostly small players” as customers, so the acquisition wasn’t about buying a client list.
“It was really a technology and optimization play for us,” he said.
Terms of the acquisition were not revealed, nor would Sprouse talk about new clients, other than Blockbuster, of the firm's fledgling SEM practice. AzoogleAds now has about 120 employees and offices in New York, Toronto “and now San Francisco,” said Sprouse.

So this morning I got into the office after a great long weekend to check my calendar. Holy Cow! I'll be out of the office 70% of the month bouncing around to come phenomenal places, and meeting with some of the best minds in the interactive industry. Next week I'll be in Cornado, California at the iMediaConnection Brand Summit. This is going to be phenomenal! They'll be more tahn 160 senior level marketing executives from major brand companies. Here is a brief sample:

The Advisory Board is composed of following industry thought leaders:

Jonathan Adams, VP, Director – Media, Digitas
Sean Cheyney, VP, Marketing & Business Development, AccuQuote
Jarvis Coffin, CEO, BURST! Media
Tom Hespos, President, Underscore Marketing
Clark Kokich, CEO, Avenue A I Razorfish
Scot McLernon, former SVP, Sales, CBS Digital Media
Dave Morgan, Chairman, TACODA
Mark Naples, Managing Partner, WIT Strategy
Correy Honza, Director of Internet Marketing, Quiznos Corporation
Sheryl Biesman, Manager of Online Marketing, Pharmavite
Bryan Stapp, CMO, Quicken Loans

I'll be at this show until Thursday of next week, and heading to Shop.org the week after in Las Vegas! Shop.org is the association for retailers online. I've attended this show in the past, and this is a top notch event that I recommend everyone attend.

I'll be sure to post a detailed review while at each event, and some post event thoughts

As the summer winds down with Labor Day weekend upon us it's a time to reflect on the great summer AzoogleAds had.

Our whole team did a phenomenal job, and the month of August will be a record for my own personal book of business (OVER $3million!).

We need to acknowledge all of the great work our Affiliate Managers, and Sales Managers did, slap the backs of the compliancy team, give a big round of applause for the executive team, and then get back to work all over again in September! LOL

There are a few constants in the interactive space; one of them is that there is never any down time....ever. While this is something that I love about it, this is also something that could potentially wear on you a bit. So what the heck are you supposed to do?

For me, I've started to get really involved in structured extracurricular activities. So instead of just going home and watching TV, I've scheduled guitar lessons, a helicopter ride around Manhattan Island, Golf lessons, and trips to visit friends and family.

My golf lessons seem to help my stress level the most. I rush to get out of the office by a decent hour, run to Chelsea Piers in the oppressive NY heat, and spend a blissful hour hitting a little white ball with an iron club into the Hudson (or in the Hudson's general direction)...if I'm lucky...but man...do I love it. Tomorrow I'll be out on the links as well as Saturday, playing golf and recharging my battery. I'll spend time at a BBQ with family and friends on Saturday, and look forward to fresh start on Tuesday!

The summer is over, and I'm ready to take on the fall!

Wedding vid

Over the past two years here at Azoogle, we've seen tremendous growth. Part of that growth includes growing internally with our process, etc. One of the most simple yet effective ways of avoiding any sort of trouble down the line with any client has been the trusty weekly conference call. I've been luck to have some of the best clients out there (GE, Scholastic, Blockbuster, Netflix, Nutrisystem, Stamps.com, IAC/Ask.com) to name a few. These guys are at the top of their game, and expect their vendors to be as well.

Recently Karn Aquilino, our "rock star" Account Manager and I spent 4 hours meeting with Scholastic up in Connecticut. We had a phenomenal meeting, with lots of "Take-aways"....so far the easiest to implement with the greatest impact has been our very simple, yet highly effective weekly con call.

The client gets to review their "to do" list, we get to cultivate a relationship with our client, and get to know how to best service them, all while we have some fun on the call.

Recently the guys at IAC/Ask.com decided to play a joke on Karen and tell her that the whole campaign was being pulled....in a panic Karen IM'd me to jump on the call...where I heard the team laughing hysterically....wow....can't wait to see what they do on April Fools day if this was just a hum drum Monday in August!

Ever notice you do your best thinking while getting ready in the morning? Those few minutes to yourself while soaping up your hair with nothing else to think about other than wondering why, in 2007 we still can't get AM news radio reception while listening to the the whizzing and buzzing of 1010WINS??

ANYWAY.....This morning, while listing to said whizzing and buzzing of 1010wins, I was thinking about the fact that come Oct, I'll have been with AzoogleAds, Inc for a Whopping 2 years! Now, to the untrained eye this may seem like only a small blip on the screen in what I hope is a very long career. The thing that struck me is that in this day and age, and especially in this industry (Online Advertising) 2 years is like an eternity (kinda like Dog years I suppose)?

At first glace on linkedin.com you can see the trend. The 30 something counterparts of mine in this industry that have been around since working for a "Dot Commer" was the "It" thing to do in thate 90's have hopped around more than Paris Hilton in the VIP lounge of the hottest club.....but why?

I have a few theories so let me start out at 10,000 feet and then I'll drill down to what I think may be at the heart of the situation.

Reason #1 Get out before they get me out
While I was at Mediaplex in 1999 there were a few rounds of layoffs before Valueclick came in and bought the company. There were young, fresh faced, hard working bright people just out of college (or in my case Grad School) that wanted to make their internet millions. Well, those same fresh faced kids got caught up in some serious downsizing. Some of our parents were lucky enough to never see that kind of company overhall in an entire career. We saw it in the first few years of ours. This was of no fault of our own, but non the less, we were unemployed at 24 years old. Many of us left the industry (I went to a design agency for 3 years). Others kept moving along, but would never have the same loyalty they felt with their first company.

Reason #2 The market is fantastic
If you're good at what you do, and people know about it, they'll offer you a job. Every conference like Ad:Tech is certainly the hotbed for this kind of activiity. Other companies seek out the Rockstars, and try to hire them away. Lots of times it works.

Reason #3 You can
When you send in a resume with 10 differnet positions at 10 different companies over the past 10 years. It's more than likley that at least one of the Sr. Executives at your company may have a similiar type resume.

Sometimes hopping around is the only way to take your career to the next level.

I have to say...at this point in my career, it's nice to finally find a spot to call home. For the first time since the early days when I was at Mediaplex I feel like we're onto something here. Maybe something big that we can say we were a part of. Soemthing worth sticking around for...

Only time will tell!

Last night a few of my co-workers said goodbye to one of our own, Chris Mentzer. Chris is not only making a career move, but a life change, as he heads to the Mid-West to live in Chicago. Chris is leaving our New York office for personal reasons, and we're all really happy that he'll be closer to his daughter, and won't have to rush to catch flights every weekend just to see her!

But this is one guy that I'm really going to miss. I don't know about you, but I consider myself really lucky to not only work with smart great people, but I feel lucky that I've become really good friends with a lot of these people.

This October is my two year anniversary here at Azoogle. Chris and I started at Azoogle on the same day. In fact, we met in the lobby because we showed up at the same exact time. Chris and I had both worked at Mediaplex, but at different times. So we both "knew of" each other. Immediately we became friendly. We were two guys in an office of 5 or 6 people. We sat next to each other, and shared lots of jokes and headaches throughout his tenure. We saw our office explode, and hire 50 or so new employees, and saw us move into our new office space in less than two years.. We closed lots of business, and of course shared a lot of cocktails.

I think it’s rare these days to be lucky enough to truly enjoy Co-workers company inside and out of the office. Chris was always the social ring-leader. I’m bummed to see him go, and consider myself luck to call him a friend.

Keep in touch Mentz….we miss ya buddy.
-Dessi

Things are hopping around here at AzoogleAds, Inc. When I first started at Azoogle we worked in a great office space on 55th and Park. At the time of starting I remember looking at the 5 other people in the office, and thinking...there is no way we are ever going to fill this office space. It's HUGE!!

A year later, we'd officially outgrown the office space! So here we are, still growing, still expanding. Lot's of saws and drills in the background, but I'll take progress over stagnation any day of the week. Maybe by the time we fix up our new space, we'll be ready to move into a new space? The skys the limit!

I just returned to New York from lovely Chicago for this years Ad:Tech show. Although the show is much smaller in scale than the San Francisco, or New York shows I always love any Ad:Tech event.

Some highlights: Chris Anderson's Keynote on the Longtail. I loved being able to hear Chris speak. He kicked off the whole event, and had a captive audience. Some of the newer things Chris spoke about had to do with a new case study he's reviewing for Zapppos.com the online shoe retailer. The results coming from his research is facinating, and I feel shaping the way we all do business online.

The Longtail certainly applies on our network as well. Sure, there are certainly verticals that may drive any online business, but it seems that some of the smaller trends with advertisers drive the majority of any networks' bottom line.

Hot Trends (USA)

Jul 27, 2007 - change date


1. white lady of soul
2. zachary quinto
3. psychosis
4. ian johnson
5. luke russert
6. x 48b
7. laura tennessen
8. kyphon
9. erin burnett
10. peter greene
11. maestro masur
12. scaled composites
13. toronto born magicia...
14. liev schreiber
15. shankar dada zindaba...
16. hot blooded lyrics
17. sean david morton
18. new star trek movie
19. flashdance lyrics
20. leonard nimoy

I cannot tell you how fired up I am about what's happening internally here at Azoogle! Since 2000 Azoogle has been the premier performance based ad network. About a month ago we have expanded our product offering to CPM Media Planning, as well as Search AOR services. In less than a month we've already moved forward with million dollar media buys, and have signed Blockbuster, and Thumbplay as Search AOR clients!

Talk about wanting to get out of bed in the morning! There are so many great things going on here!

iLegal


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“Compliance” as a Sales Tool
by Mark Meckler

When I approach compliance as a lawyer, I am primarily thinking of compliance as a legal issue. That is, what can a company do to assure that they are in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations? This is a defensive posture which will keep you out of trouble, and in the best possible position to defend yourself should a problem arise. But there is an entirely different, proactive and business oriented side to the compliance puzzle.

When quality advertisers go looking for an agency, network or affiliate, more and more they are going to ask about compliance programs. Sophisticated advertisers understand that the online legal environment grows progressively riskier with each passing month, and they want to know what your company is doing to mitigate those risks. When you get asked about this, mumbling something about "industry best practices" won’t get you the account.

What does this mean to you? First it means that you must have compliance programs in place. It also means that you need to be able to articulate those programs to a potential client in a simple, straight forward and confident manner. In the same way that you are expected to be able to explain your advertising programs, you’ll increasingly be asked to explain what you do to protect the online reputation of your clients. And inevitably, part of a prospective client’s decision about who will spend its online advertising dollar will relate to the risk mitigation provided by your compliance programs.

So while "compliance" simply means "following the rules" to some, to others it represents an incredible sales tool. Large, sophisticated web advertisers are generally a cautious bunch; especially if they come from the offline world. And if you have a strong, easily articulated compliance program, you can use that program to sell your potential clients on the relative safety and security of doing business with you. It’s only part of the picture, but it is an increasingly important part.

Often, even sophisticated advertisers have little understanding of what it means to be in "compliance" when advertising on the web, and they’re looking for someone they can lean on in that regard. The law is somewhat uncertain in this area, and the interpretation of regulations changes on an ongoing basis. Like it or not, your clients rely upon you to make sure that what you’re doing on the web on their behalf is not only successful in a business sense, but also that it doesn’t cause them any unwanted legal or publicity issues.

Some companies handle all compliance in-house, and others choose to outsource some components through companies like UnsubCentral (suppression list management) and Lashback (online reputation monitoring). Either way, if you have a program in place, don’t forget to use it as more than just a defensive program. Teaching your sales team to promote an excellent compliance program gives you an excellent tool to differentiate your company when pursuing new business.

_____________________________________________________________

Come back to the iLegal column every week as we get specific about the rules, regulations, laws and trends that affect the online advertising industry. Each week we discuss important legal issues, talk about how to avoid the pitfalls, and cover the breaking legal and regulatory advertising industry news.



Legal Disclaimer: Information conveyed in this column is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Digital Moses, and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct, or up-to-date. The column is provided for "information purposes" only and should not be relied upon as "legal advice." This information is not intended to substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney. No person should act or rely on any information in this column without seeking the advice of an attorney.

Mark Meckler is the General Counsel for UniqueLeads.com, Inc., and Unique Lists, Inc.

Copyright 2007 Mark J. Meckler

Ok, so I have to confess...I had a very embarrassing, yet funny experience the last time I went on the road for business. I've put up a few posts about the Internet Retailer show, and I've been debating if I should blog about this particular experience for a few reasons (you'll realize why if you keep reading)....so there I was....all sorts of excited for the Internet Retailer show in San Jose.

For a few different reasons while on business we all bunk with a co-worker. Now, at first blush this may seen like a nightmare scenario for some people. What most people don't realise is that at Azoogleads, we're like a family...seriously. We've all grown very close over the past two years that I've been here (for a few reasons). Not the least of which are: Explosive growth, phenomenal success, and lots of really bright, high energy people that are respectful to eachother at all costs. One major factor that has helped keep this company so glued together has been the shared loss of a co-worker and friend (Jai). We've learned from that loss, and grown together.

So this time around, I was all set to bunk with Tom Barbaro. Tom is an all star at Azoogleads. Tom happens to be a great friend of mine, so I was looking forward to handing out with Tom at the show. Our first night in California, two other members of the team had flown in from New York Chantelle White, and Karen Aquilino. We all met for a nice dinner, then off to bed to rest up for the busy days ahead (Internet Retailer show starts at 7am!!) so factoring jet lag into that equation made me head straight to bed.

When I got back to the room, Tom had already settled into the room, and was getting ready for bed (he had a later flight in from NY). We set our alarms, and off to bed (I told Tom I would get up a bit earlier so we could stagger our shower taking). I woke up (after hitting snooze a few times)...and hit the showers. I shaved, and started my morning routine. I was ready to go, this was going to be a great show. I had a great team along with me, and had set a big meeting with Netflix to dovetail into my time at the conference. As I was thinking of all these great things, a little thought kept creeping into my head "man, I am so tired...that jetlag is killing me!" as I turned the corner coming out of the shower (shaved, hair combed etc.), I gently said to Tom...hey buddy, time to get up, we're running a little late...(my clock said 6:30am, and we had to meet the girls in the lobby). Tom sat up, looked at me like I had nine heads and said "It's only 3:30am!" I stood there in the dark, towel on, shaved, hair combed, clean as a whistle....at 3:30am.....PST.....oh.....my.....GOD.....I forgot to change the time on my Blackberry.

So...red-faced...I crawled back into bed for 2 hours. Much to my relief I was able to get off to sleep quickly, and didn't really feel that horrible during the show. The only issue was that (since I'm VERY Italian, my normal 5 o'clock shadow would be showing up at an un-godly 2pm that day....oh well...live and learn....

If you can't laugh at yourself....right?
:-)

AzoogleAds, the online marketplace for performance-based solutions.

AzoogleAds, founded in 2000, is a profitable and rapidly growing online marketing solutions provider. A pioneer in the performance-based advertising industry, AzoogleAds generates the highest volumes of quality traffic through its network and its proprietary search technologies. With unparalleled industry expertise, the AzoogleAds team can deliver the most comprehensive and cost-effective strategic online marketing campaigns for advertisers of all sizes and across all industries. For publishers, AzoogleAds provides high-impact campaigns that enable publishers to maximize earnings on their inventory. AzoogleAds offers a complete solution for optimizing campaign performance through innovative technology and unrivaled expertise in search and performance based marketing.

AzoogleAds has offices in New York, Toronto, and San Francisco.

While I was out in San Jose for the Internet Retailer show, I spend some time with Zenith Optimedia. We had a great meeting discussing where AzoogleAds may fit into their media buys on behalf of a few different clients. The main theme of the conversation centered around what the media planners had to do in order to make working with Azoogleads make sense for their client. They were intrigued by the fact that everything we do as a company is performance driven.

What does that mean to your advertiser? Essentially what your looking at is a risk free endeavor (hard to believe, I know). But think about it, don't you agree that this is the direction all online advertising has been heading?

Back when I was at Mediaplex we were selling CPM to large agencies on behalf of their clients. This didn't work because the media buyers had to show ROI. This was difficult because they couldn't quantify an impression. There are numerous limitations to tracking impressions as we all know (caching etc). Then there was a move to CPC, and this too had it's limitations with click fraud etc. The natural progression has led us to CPA advertising, where the "A" can be anything that advertiser wishes it to be. It can be a lead, or it can be a sale. All we have to do is place a pixel on the confirmation page. This way we can track the conversion on behalf of the advertiser.

Sometimes this doesn't really work for an advertiser. Sometimes the advertiser may have too many SKU's, and working with us will only make sense if they are using us to drive leads for something promotional, like a sweepstakes.

Please feel free to call, or email me with questions/comments.

Best,
Chris
212 308 8509 x 3242
chris.dessi@azoogleads.com

While at Adtech, the SES show, as well as the Internet Retailer show, there was a recurring inquiry that I want to address. How can the advertiser optimize with no transparency into your network?

It's easy. AzoogleAd's proven methods will help you easily optimize your offer by passing of affiliate-id's. Within the URL string we simply enter the following details %%affiliate-id%%

Sub Affiliate-ID passing
AzoogleAds will send all affiliate and sub-affiliate information to be used by our advertisers to assess the Lifetime value of the user

We offer Consistency in optimization.
AzoogleAds can proactively optimize publishers based on reports

Plus, we can ensure that the most sesitive offers can be listed as Private Offers
Based on information shared from the advertiser AzoogleAds will create private offers for specific publishers to further optimize traffic.

So there you have it. Relatively simple way of getting around having optics into which specific affiliate is running your offer.

Continuity Programs continue to be some of the best performing offers on our CPA network. They are tailored to convert well, and due to the monthly cost to consumer, each advertiser that may have previously purchased media on a CPM, or CPC basis can now justify a certain amount of money (allowable aquisiton cost) to generate a conversion. They know that they can afford to do so because the quality of the conversions/sales that we generate is unsurpassed. Since the majority of these conversions are happening via search, we're finding that the advertisers churn rate is low, and therfore they can afford an attractive CPA to our affiliates/publishers.

Continuity Programs – Minimal upfront cost to register, coupled with a monthly subscription model.

Blockbuster
Netflix
Vistaprint
SunRocket
BMG/Columbia house
GE Money

Recently I've been tasked with working with more Branded advertisers, and we've had tremendous success. As a company we define "branded" as follows:

Any company the Executive team deems recognizable with critical mass of positive sentiment. The Executive team’s judgment should be in accord with our Board of Directors, Staff, Current and Prospective Clients.

Our current branded advertiser relationships are very strong, and growing daily.

Agencies (or Parent Companies)

Initiative Media
Bausch & Lomb

IAC
Bagsbuy.com
Shoebuy.com
LendingTree
Cursors
Zwinkys
Webfetti
Fun Cards
Smileys

Tranzact
Sirius
New York Times
Prudential

ZenithOptiMedia
HP Snapfish

Direct Relationships:
VistaprintBlockbusterFTD FlowersStamps.comScholastic – Disney and Dr. SeussColumbia House BMGKraft – GevaliaMonster.comSunRocketGE Money
Earthlink - PeoplePCOmaha SteaksWeb.comNetflixNutrisystemDoubleDay Entertainment –ITT

Recently we've singed contracts to be Blockbuster's Search Agency of Record for their search endeavors!

Finally getting settled back in New York where I've had some time to take inventory, and think about what a great show the Azoogleads team had in San Jose at Internet Retailer!

As the only pure performance based Ad Network that had a booth, we had lots of fun chatting with internet retailers about how we can help their online ad campaigns. It was great to discuss the differences between ourselves and Performics, Commission Junction, and the like.

I was especially excited because Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was attending and speaking! It was certainly a highlight since they're a client of mine.

About 5 months before Google went public, I had a very interesting experience. I had been working at AGA, a creative design agency that develops catalogs brochures etc. AGA is a great company, and I loved working there. I had just come back from a phenomenal year in London that had been hugely successful for me as well as the AGA. I came back thinking I could conquer the world (in my mind I had).

My first order of business when I got back to NY was to get my life back in order, and try to recapture the life I had before I went to London.

That wasn't going to happen. Things got better! I met my (now) wife Laura!

Things were looking great for me. I was at a job I loved, met a great girl, and I had just started interviewing at GOOGLE! Wow! I thought I was a shoe-in. Three years earlier I had worked in the interactive space at a company called Mediaplex. I yearned for those glory days of the Internet. I missed the face paced environment, and the speed of light business that occur ed. I have a Masters of Science in Direct Marketing from New York University, international sales experience, and all the confidence in the world!

I spent a long time preparing for my interviews, and thought that each time I met with the team at Google, that I was certainly going to get the job offer. There was even a series of odd coincidences that I thought pointed directly to my getting an offer. I ran into an old college friend at my first interview (actually DURING the interview)!

I was sitting with the HR person, when her paper blew off her desk (they had a great deck at the former Google offices). When I got up to get the paper I saw my friend! She was just as shocked to see me, as I her! We exchanged pleasantries, and she wished me luck! WOW! If they highered Meghan McGarry, and she and I went to the same school, Loyola College in Maryland (even if only for a semester, because she transferred to the University of Connecticut)! Well... this was EASY!!

Not so fast. I had just started the arduous task of numerous interviews at Google. They don't get the creme of the crop for nothing. They take their time, review, and review, and review. They taped my sales calls with them to analyze my pitch. This was not easy for me. I felt as if I had been "out of the game" for a bit. The sales process at AGA was much slower, and things were NOT closed over the phone. I was the king of face to face meetings.

After my first few interviews, I even found out that the woman that had been organizing all of my interviews at Google (Sandy Feigenbaum) was a college friend of my wife Laura! At the time Laura and I had just started dating, were in the midst of falling madly in love, and I had mentioned her to Sandy on more than one occasion (before I even knew that they knew each other)! Another odd cooincidence in my favor!!

Long story short, after 7 interviews, two taped over the phone (apparently the final taped call was a tie breaker between myself and another candidate), I was not offered the job.

This was the BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY CAREER!

If I had not been turned down by Google, I would have not been where I am today. Currently I am the Director of Sales, Northeast Region at Azoogleads, Inc.

I have had such a phenomenal time at Azoogleads. I was the 3rd person to be highered in the NY office, and we currently have close to 40 people in that same office! My thoughts are always on the positive, and my life is abundant. For a long time, I held onto negative feelings about my experience with Google. Now I can look back, and say that they had made the right decision. Before coming to Azoogleads, I made a brief stop at Responsys. I was selling software, and was working from home for a short period of time. I grew tremendously during that job, and I feel that I needed to mature as a business person. I have been lucky to have met the people I have since my Google experience, and I hope that this story can inspire others that may not see the "silver lining" of a seemingly bad situation.

Have a great day everyone!

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought"
-Buddha

MySpace Slaps Spam King with MySpam Suit › › › ClickZ News
By Kate Kaye January 23, 2007
MySpace has filed suit against notorious spammer Scott Richter and alleged cohorts for sending what could become known as MySpam. Yesterday, the Fox Interactive Media site filed a complaint in a U.S. District Court demanding a jury trial against Richter's for sending spam messages disguised as communications from members to other MySpace members. The suit is another reminder of the ongoing corrosion of social media sites by spam and marketing exploitation.The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the Central District of California, claims Richter-run operations OptInRealBig.com, CPA Empire.com, and Media Breakaway arranged for millions of MySpace bulletins to be sent through its system between July and December of last year. MySpace bulletins are messages sent from one user to all users in her friends list. A Media Breakaway spokesperson told ClickZ News the firm had no comment regarding the case. MySpace, which has over 140 million members, is hoping for a permanent injunction barring Richter and his affiliated firms from the site, in addition to unspecified monetary damages. No one at MySpace was available for comment yesterday.In addition to claiming breach of contract and unfair competition, MySpace specifically charges the defendants violated The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, The CAN-SPAM Act, The Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California's Anti-Spam Statute. The result: delivery of spam messages promoting things like free ringtones, Lacoste polo shirts, and T-Mobile Sidekick 3 devices. The social networking site claims the phony messages were sent by the defendants, who gathered log-ins and passwords of MySpace users through phishing attempts or third-party lists, and employed scripts to log in to those accounts and send spam. The claim also charges the defendants with promotion of false and misleading information for commercial or unlawful purposes and attempting to impersonate members.Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus, said the lawsuit will serve to set an example to other misbehavers. What he called the MySpace "underbelly" is "something they're going to have to address," he added. Deep Focus has placed paid marketing campaigns on MySpace to promote client projects including HBO's "Entourage."The alleged spam has and continues to cause the site irreparable harm, noted the claim, which stated "the amount of harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain." In a separate portion of the claim, the plaintiff notes violation of The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in particular resulted in a loss totaling at least $5,000.From social news site Digg to free classifieds site Craigslist, to countless blogs, CGM-fueled sites are falling prey to excessive marketing messages, spam, and system gaming, all of which could serve to devalue the sites in the eyes of users and advertisers alike. Even legitimate marketers may be contributing to MySpace's worsening commercialized condition, said Schafer, who said software and services allowing marketers to send friend requests to specific target audiences, such as 18-24 year-old males, are available. Marketers set up free profiles for everything from films to consumer packaged goods products on MySpace, and may be tempted to use such technologies to easily obtain an impressive list of "friends.""At the end of the day, it's spam just like anything else," he said. "For an ad agency it might be a quick solution," but, he continued, "it is probably harmful for the brand."The MySpace claim also alleges co-conspirators Marat Nigmatzyanov, Yevgeniy Leschinskiy and other unnamed collaborators participated in spam-related violations. In 2004, Richter, a self-proclaimed "Spam King," and his firm OptInRealBig.com reached a settlement with then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in relation to a spam-related suit. OptinRealBig.com filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005.

I just came across this great article talking about Click Fraud, and how CPA advertising is a viable alternative to avoid such pitfalls.

All the Best,
Chris Dessi
AzoogleAds, Inc


So Many Hits,So Few Sales
By KEVIN J. DELANEYStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal Online
Just when pay-per-click advertising made it easier for small businesses to get more bang for their advertising buck, along comes a potential budget drainer: click fraud.
Pay-per-click advertising -- where an advertiser pays only when users click on an ad that links them to the business's Web site -- has fast become an affordable way for small businesses to reach a big audience on search engines and third-party Web sites.
The problem is that not all clicks are made with the intent to potentially buy something -- or with any good intent at all.
Sometimes, a competitor will click on a company's ad numerous times to blow the company's advertising budget out the window, since the business will have to pay for each of those clicks. Other times, a Web-page owner, who gets a commission from search engines to host a pay-per-click ad, will repeatedly click on the listing to boost his or her commission.
And many companies don't even know they are the victims of click fraud. A lot of small businesses "are probably thinking, 'Wow, I am getting all these clicks for people to visit my Web site.' They have no idea they are not buyers," says Gene Fairbrother, lead small-business consultant for the National Association for the Self-Employed, a trade group based in Dallas.
But experts say businesses can mitigate the cost of click fraud by regularly monitoring their pay-per-click accounts for unusual click activity. And there are a host of start-ups popping up that will do the monitoring for them -- some even at no charge. These so-called click-detection firms rely on clues like numerical addresses that computers provide when they connect to weed out fraudsters. Small businesses can then take the information to the search companies to request a refund or credit for any fraudulent clicks.
Costs Add Up
The cost of fraudulent clicks can quickly add up. Pay-per-click advertising typically costs anywhere from 10 cents a click to as much as $10, with the average click running about $1 to $2. So if a small business is the victim of hundreds of fraudulent clicks, the financial damage can be steep.
And it's not just the small business that could feel the sting. Click fraud also affects the search engines, whose business models rely heavily on pay-per-click advertising.
Earlier this year, for instance, Google Inc. agreed to pay as much as $90 million in legal fees and advertising credits to settle a click-fraud lawsuit brought by Lane's Gifts, a Texarkana, Ark., retailer, on behalf of a class of advertisers that claimed they were improperly billed for clicks that didn't lead to genuine customers.
Yahoo Inc. also agreed earlier this year to pay roughly $5 million in legal fees and review advertiser click-fraud complaints since 2004 to settle a class-action lawsuit brought last year by private-investigation firm Checkmate Strategic Group Inc. of Delray Beach, Fla. Checkmate had alleged breach of contract and unfair business practices, claiming that Yahoo didn't adequately protect advertisers from click fraud.
On the Watch
Both Google and Yahoo say they have systems in place that filter out invalid clicks -- often, by detecting rapid, successive clicking from the same user or IP address -- and that the majority of advertisers don't ever have to deal with click fraud.
Google says thuggery, when it comes to online advertising, has been exaggerated. The company estimates that less than 10% of clicks over its entire system are fraudulent. The problem is manageable, and the search engine has an incentive "to work with our advertisers and make them as happy as possible," says Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google's manager for trust and safety.
John Slade, Yahoo's director of global product management, says that "if our filters say that a click looks problematic, we give it away for free."
Yahoo and Google say they provide businesses with free software that shows if a user who clicked on an advertisement ultimately ended up buying a product or service. If small businesses notice any problems, the search engines say, they should notify them.
"If we find cases that are click fraud, we'll refund it," says Yahoo's Mr. Slade. "If it's hard to tell, we'll offer" a credit for the cost of the click.
Some in the small-business community complain that the search engines were slow to acknowledge that click fraud was even a problem. The lawsuit settlements have eased many concerns since they brought the problem to light. But some advertisers still believe that the search engines will never be able to do enough and that click fraud will always be a problem.
So what steps can small businesses themselves take to combat click fraud?
Marketing experts, small-business advocates and the search engines themselves agree that the most important thing a business can do is to closely monitor its advertising campaigns, especially logs that show click results.
If, on a given day, click-through traffic is 10 times heavier than usual, then ask a few common-sense questions: Did an article about my business come out? Was there something in the news?
"If there is no answer, that might be a good indication that fraud is occurring," says Andrea Peiro, president of the Small Business Technology Institute, a San Jose, Calif., nonprofit that trains small-business owners on technology skills.
Seek Outside Help
Many small-business owners, however, don't have the time or inclination to sift through logs. And that's where click-detection firms come in. Among them: Click Forensics LLC, of San Antonio; Click Defense Inc., Fort Collins, Colo.; ClickDetective Ltd., of the United Kingdom; WhosClickingWho, San Jose, Calif.; and ClickFacts, of San Francisco.
Click Forensics provides a click-fraud monitoring service free of charge to businesses whose online advertising campaigns generate fewer than 100,000 clicks a month. The company, which makes the bulk of its revenue providing the service for a fee to large advertisers, says it uses special technology to detect every click to an advertiser's Web site and tracks the visit through to the exit page. In return for providing the service, Click Forensics uses click-fraud data to publish a monthly Click Fraud Index, which measures the frequency of click fraud in online advertising campaigns.
Another firm, ClickFacts, has developed proprietary auditing software to help advertisers detect click fraud. It charges small businesses about 1% of the cost of a click for its service. For instance, "if you're buying clicks that are $1 a click and you spend $100 for 100 clicks, we will charge you one dollar," says Mikhail Ledvich, ClickFacts' chief strategy officer.
Jim Hill, owner of SportHill, a Eugene, Ore., retailer of athletic gear, was only marginally aware of click fraud until several months ago -- when his advertising budget for a new campaign based on one word search was depleted in a day as a result of incessant clicks.
Although he lost only a couple of hundred dollars, Mr. Hill says his faith in the advertising model was shaken. "It's definitely been a drag on my enthusiasm for advertising on the Internet," he says. In business for 20 years, Mr. Hill says he has relied on the Internet over the past five or six years to expand his clientele.
So after the click-fraud incident, Mr. Hill decided to start monitoring his advertising campaigns using ClickFacts' service. "It's happening every month, and we're tracking it," he says.
Mr. Hill says between 7% and 15% of his clicks on any given day are fraudulent -- a small but significant amount, and one that easily could have gone unnoticed. In a few months' time, he plans to add up the losses and ask the search engines that run his ads, including Yahoo and Google, for a refund.
Other Options
Some experts say the best way to fight click fraud is to avoid advertising where it tends to happen most. That, they say, means listing ads only on search engines, and not on third-party ad networks like Google's popular AdSense, which allows external sites to host ads and share profits. They say a third-party site can be driven by greed to use a software program or pay cheap labor in developing nations to repeatedly click on ads in order to get more commissions from clicks.
"Generally, where we see a high volume of click fraud is not [in] Google directly but those other affiliates," says Jim Collins, chief executive of Affinity Internet, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., firm that advises small businesses on ad campaigns.
Google says that there's no greater chance of fraud if your ad runs on a third-party site, and that if anything, a small-business owner might lose out on valuable exposure. "Making decisions about where to invest your advertising dollars out of fear is not the best way to set up your campaign," says Mr. Ghosemajumder.
Other experts, meantime, point to potential new advertising pricing models that may make it harder to commit click fraud in the first place. Search engines are studying one method, called cost-per-action advertising, where an advertiser pays only when a click-through leads to a product purchase or sales lead.
"It's safer for the advertiser, but then it's more risky for the search engines" because they would likely lose easy revenue from simple clicks, says Alexander Tuzhilin, professor of information systems at New York University's Stern School of Business. If such a system were adopted, he says, the loss of revenue from pay-per-click could prompt search engines to charge more for cost-per-action ads.
Yahoo says search engines are looking at ways to give advertisers more choice, but it's not anything the company can talk about in any detail right now.
Google's Mr. Ghosemajumder says, "We're always looking for new ways to provide effective and useful features to advertisers, publishers, and users. As part of these efforts we are currently testing a cost-per-action pricing model to give advertisers more flexibility and provide publishers another way to earn revenue through AdSense."
Ms. DeBaise is an editor at SmartMoney.com.
Email your comments to sjeditor@dowjones.com.