February 13, 2008 by Vinny Lingham
The recent news around AOL acquisition of Buy.at was very intriguing. AOL have been trying to acquire a European affiliate network for some time, after a failed attempt to acquire TradeDoubler. I got hold of a mate of mine, Malcolm Cowley, who is the President of Buy.at, USA, (which is a subsidiary of the UK holding company) to discuss the deal and it’s impact on AOL.
Malcolm basically told me that the deal will create new monetization opportunities for his affiliates across video, mobile and display and that by leveraging the reach of advertising.com, they can bring new and exciting advertiser opportunities to the table for their affiliates. He also said that there is a plan to invest both in staff and technology to support the growth in the US.
I really thought that this was an interesting move for AOL, in terms of creating new monetization streams. ISP’s are constantly having their margins eroded, and they need to find ways to monetize their portal’s and other properties. I believe that the future for ISP’s will be in providing web applications to their users as part of the monthly subscriptions they charge for Internet access.
I said this a long time ago, and I’m reiterating it. ISP’s cannot afford to play purely in the commoditized subscriber game anymore.
February 13, 2008 by Vinny Lingham
As a follow up to my last post, in which I try to help my readers with SEO on their blogs, I thought about a great resource that I’d like to share. Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger is a fantastic website and offers great resources to anyone who is starting out blogging – and even more experienced folk. Of particular note, is his post on Blogging Tips for Beginnners, which links to a wealth of great posts that are well worth reading. I highly recommend reading this website, and adding it to your list of RSS feeds!
February 13, 2008 by Vinny Lingham
This post is a bit late, but nevertheless -Synthasite has been named as one of the top Internet startups in South Africa, by Intelligence Magazine late last year. Charl Norman wrote the article, which also included the likes of iJol, Muti, Amatomu, Afrigator, Zoopy and Blueworld.
It’s great to see all this innovation coming out of South Africa, however, the great challenges as always, will be finding sustainable business models.
Mike Stopforth & Erik Herssman served South Africa really well, by being on a panel at the recent Demo Conference. Here is the video from their session:
February 13, 2008 by Vinny Lingham
It’s that time of the year again! Affiliate Summit Las Vegas is just around the corner and I will be attending in Las Vegas. Tickets are expected to sell out this week – so if you haven’t got yours yet, you should! I’ll be in Las Vegas from the 22nd until the 27th, so if you’d like to meet up, please fill in the contact form on this blog. I’ll be live blogging the event, so keep reading this blog or subscribe to my RSS feed!
February 7, 2008 by Vinny Lingham
Today, I turned 29 and received the shock of my life. For the past 28 years, I normally received the usual calls and maybe a few emails from close family and friends – normally less than 10, but this year was a killer. My phone rang over 30 times, and I’ve received over 150 emails & messages & wall posts (Facebook).
And no, it’s not due to rising popularity! It’s due to information being more freely available. In the past, people didn’t even know it was my birthday! This year, they were notified by Skype, Facebook, Plaxo and goodness what else! In fact, the good wishes are still coming in. Social networks like Facebook have really increased the communications both online and offline by allowing your circle of friends to get closer to your day to day. Sure, there are risks with increased personal information going public. There is also risk driving your car to work.
To everyone who sent me their best wishes – each one was heartfelt and very much appreciated! Thank you!!
