I'm happy to announce that we rolled out some improvements and new features to the advertiser and publisher interfaces over the past weekend. Sam Harrelson posted on the publisher features yesterday after our release note went out. He didn't receive the announcement for the advertiser features, so I thought I'd include a brief summary here of the whole release for everyone's benefit.
Advertiser Features:
Advertiser Categories - DoubleClick Performics defined and assigned categories for all advertisers in our network. We have assigned all advertisers a primary and (if applicable) secondary categories to make it easier for publishers to find offers relevant to them. We're going to leverage this information more and more in upcoming releases so stay tuned.
HTML editor for Advertiser Profile - we added a WYSIWYG editor in the advertiser profile so we can pull in images, layout complex commission/bonus structures, list top selling products, etc. Basically its a much easier and better way for advertisers to be able to merchandise their program to affiliates.
Publisher Recruiting - We've designed a new section of the site to allow advertisers to segment their joined publishers by business classification (assigned by our affiliate strategy team to ensure accurate data), tenure in the program and EPC. We'll be adding more filters in the future as well as providing access to not joined publishers who opt in to be recruited in a future release. The output includes publisher email addresses (again, those who have opted in to receive promotional messages from the advertiser) and can be exported to CSV.
For example, an advertiser can build a custom list for an exclusive offer for Shopping and Promotions publishers with a higher than average EPC. It's also possible to generate a
list of publishers who recently joined the program and provide tips for success, best selling products, etc;
this tactic is effective in improving productivity rates of newly joined
publishers.
Publisher Features:
Newest Links Interface - The feature enables publishers to view links added to the network in the past
seven days by any advertiser in the network. If you are in an advertiser’s
program, you can retrieve a link from the interface without leaving the page; if
you find a link for a program you have not joined, you may apply from this
page.
This feature enables a publisher to quickly view the links
most recently added to the network without having to drill down into potentially
hundreds of advertiser programs one by one. In addition, the interface makes it
easy to narrow the list of links by viewing only text links or banners and by
filtering on promotion type, banner size and expiration date. For example,
applying the "Expire in 7 days" filter will provide a list of all one week (or
less) promotions in our network. These are often some of the best performing
creative and promotions offered by our advertisers.
We will be adding filters in future releases including
advertiser categories (see below), joined/not-joined, EPC and others. In
addition, we will be enabling you to create an RSS feed of links based on any
combination of filters you select within the interface so you can automate the
retrieval of a list of links that suits the needs of your web site. If you have
suggestions for other enhancements please leave a comment below.
Find Advertisers/Advertiser Profiles - You can now quickly and easily access critical information
regarding joined advertisers and learn about new advertiser programs you may
want to join. We have placed short cuts below each advertiser’s name to view
their profile, commission structure and any additional terms defined by the
advertiser. This initial list can be filtered by category. When selecting a
category in the drop down displayed above, any advertiser who’s primary or
secondary category match the selection will be displayed. We have also added a
column so that you may view and sort by an advertiser’s primary category.
All advertisers’ categories have been updated to reflect a primary category
and secondary categories and publishers can search for advertisers by category.
These categories will be reflected throughout ConnectCommerce. The categories
have been selected by the DoubleClick Performics affiliate strategy team in
order to ensure quality and consistency.
From the advertiser profile, you can access details regarding
commission structure and view any special terms and conditions for that
advertiser’s affiliate program. The page also provides links that enable you
to download and view all additional terms for all advertisers on a page.
Publishers may also quickly see whether or not an advertiser provides a data
feed as well as view EPC and other critical information,
including contact information.
Enhanced Site Description in Publisher Profile - The publisher profile page has also been improved and we
encourage you to review your profile and take advantage of the real estate to
help advertisers evaluate your site. There is a simple WYSIWIG editor available
and you can add screenshots, press articles, links or any other interesting
information. This is a great place to link to all of the web sites that you
operate as well as provide information about unique promotional opportunities
your business can provide our advertisers.
As always, we value your feedback. We're looking forward to many more big releases this year as we build on the groundwork we laid this past weekend. Thanks to our wonderful engineering team for all the hard work and dedication in getting this in the hands of our users.
Larry Adams
Affiliate Product Manager
publishers suggested that they'd like to see a view of this feature that included links from only those advertisers with whom they have a relationship. I'm happy to announce that this feature is now available. Now you may view links added to the network in the past seven days for all advertisers in the network or for only your approved advertisers. You can further filter the list by link/banner, banner size, promotion type, and for short term promotions. 
email address to advertisers in our network with whom you are not currently working. You will need to opt in to this setting to begin receiving direct communication from non-joined advertisers; all publishers are opted out by default. 
