Category: Affiliate Marketing Tips

Cheat sheet: How the Journalism Competition Bill would allow publishers in the U.S. to collectively bargain with Facebook and Google

A bill that could allow news publishers to collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook was re-introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on March 10. Some news publishers have been clamoring for return of the legislation, which is more timely than ever since the platforms both recently clashed with lawmakers in Australia over media deal bargaining and both face antitrust scrutiny from as far and wide as Washington, D.C., Texas and the U.K.

The key hits:

  • If passed, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would allow news publishers to work together to establish distribution and payment deals with digital platforms that have at least one billion global monthly users.
  • The legislation would give news publishers safe harbor from antitrust liability that normally would preclude them from collective bargaining. That safe harbor would last four years following enactment of the law if passed.
  • The bill was originally introduced in 2019. The new version has bipartisan and bicameral support out of the gate. It’s co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar — chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights; antirust reform crusader; and the daughter of a newspaper journalist — along with Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) and Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ken Buck (R-NY).
  • Under the bill, collective bargaining would be allowed only if it benefits the entire industry, rather than just a few publishers, and is non-discriminatory to other news publishers.
  • The legislation is mostly the same as the original version, though there’s one new wrinkle: Rather than only encompassing digital and print publishers among the “news content creators” it covers, the new version also puts TV and radio news outlets in that category.

Why the bill could have momentum
It’s too soon to know the chances of this legislation passing. Google and Facebook have powerful lobbies, and there are several more-pressing issues that will take precedence for lawmakers amid the pandemic. However, the fact that the bill has bipartisan support in both houses is significant. And so is momentum. Legislators in both parties want to rein in big tech powers in the ad market and worry about the dominance of big platforms when it comes to spreading disinformation.

“Google and Facebook aren’t just companies — they’re countries, and we can’t tolerate tech giants’ strangling their print news competitors,” said Sen. Kennedy, a Republican, in a statement about the bill.

When Digiday inquired, Facebook said it had no comment about the new bill. Google also declined to comment on the bill, but pointed to a company blog post about its support for news.

A March 1 tweet from Google’s former public policy director Adam Kovacevich referring to collective bargaining support from news publisher trade group News Media Alliance might give some indication as to attitudes toward the bill from the platform perspective:

Mixed reviews on collective bargaining among publishers
Before the new bill was introduced, Google’s vp of news Richard Gingras told Digiday on March 1, “My general sense of publishers, frankly, is that they prefer bilateral [negotiations].”

While some publishing execs agree that national publishers may want to negotiate one-on-one with the platforms, there is support for collective bargaining among news outlets. The Duluth News Tribune’s editorial board supported the new bill in a March 11 op-ed, noting, “Even Forum Communications, which owns this newspaper and many others in the Dakotas and Minnesota, cannot hope to fairly negotiate with Google or Facebook.”

The previous version of the bill got backing from several news media groups, and Maribel Wadsworth, president of Gannett’s USA Today Network and publisher of USA Today, has supported collective bargaining for publishers.

Why Australia matters
The general anti-big tech zeitgeist permeating the air in Washington is one motivator of the bill’s reintroduction, but what has transpired over the past month between Australia’s government and the duopoly appears to have had a catalyzing effect.

At the same time as Google and Facebook faced passage of the country’s news media bargaining code requiring digital platforms to compensate news publishers when they feature their content on their platforms, both companies threatened to— and, in Facebook’s case, actually did — close off parts of their businesses from Australia. In the end, the Australian law passed, Facebook reversed its decision to stop distributing Australian news publishers’ content, and Google struck deals to pay news publishers including News Corp and continues to offer its search product in Australia.

During a March 11 hearing of the Senate antitrust subcommittee she now leads, Klobuchar alluded to Google’s recent dustup in Australia, where the company threatened to pull its search service in reaction to the Australian government’s demands that it pay publishers for links and article excerpts it features in search results.

When companies hold entire countries hostage, she said, “That, my friends, is a monopoly.”

The post Cheat sheet: How the Journalism Competition Bill would allow publishers in the U.S. to collectively bargain with Facebook and Google appeared first on Digiday.

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6 Tips for Choosing Affiliate Marketing Campaigns as a Beginner

You just got accepted into your first CPA network and cannot wait to finally enter the world of affiliate marketing.

There is just one problem: you need some campaigns to promote.

This can be an overwhelming feeling for any beginner affiliate. There are thousands of campaigns at MaxBounty to choose from — where do you start?

To ensure you find the right campaign for you, here are six tips to help guide you through the campaign selection process as a beginner.

Look for Lower Rates

If you are new to affiliate marketing, it might seem confusing that we are recommending you promote campaigns with small payouts. However, know that bigger is not always better when it comes to CPA rates.

There is often a correlation between an offer’s rate and the likelihood of that offer converting. Offers with lower rates also tend to be easier to set up and promote. That is because smaller payouts usually require less effort required from the user for you to make money. We will expand on this in the next tip.

By promoting campaigns with lower payouts, you will likely be promoting campaigns with more straightforward structures. This simplification will help remove that daunting feeling from the start of your affiliate marketing career while giving you a clearer path to conversions.

You might see a campaign with a $100 CPA and think that is your ticket to success, but higher rates require a much more refined strategy and patience. You will get there eventually.

Focus on Lead Gen Campaigns

Lead gen (lead generation) campaigns are an offer type that convert on an action rather than a sale. That action can come in many forms and is dependent on the goals of the advertiser who launched the campaign.

An example of a lead gen action would be a user filling out a form that they then have to submit.

If a user is not required to do much for a lead to convert, you can expect conversions to occur more frequently. This is usually balanced out by a lower rate as mentioned above.  

For a beginner, being able to sink your teeth into some conversions is more important than almost anything. That is because even just generating a few can provide you with immense value.

Going with simple lead gen campaigns when starting out can provide you with the following benefits:

  • It Allows you to see what happens when a conversion is made. ie. Tracking progress in MaxBounty’s Affiliate Dashboard and any third-party tracking you are using.
  • You will begin developing an understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
  • Seeing results will provide you with motivation and boost your confidence.

Choose Appropriate Verticals

The abundance of verticals available for you to promote can undoubtedly be overwhelming. As a beginner, you can shred that selection stress by narrowing down your options.  

Although there are plenty of options for beginners beyond these examples, these are our top recommendations.  

Surveys: Survey or market research campaigns typically fit the criteria we described above regarding payouts and lead gen. They also work well several traffic sources such as search ads and social media. This makes them a match for newbie affiliates.

Sweepstakes: These types of campaigns are a great beginner option because of their versatility. There are so many varieties that it is easier to find something within your niche than other verticals. They also usually require only a simple registration from the user like we discussed earlier.

App Installs: These are a great fit for beginners because of their visual appeal that helps to increase your conversion rate. They also usually have lower payouts and don’t require you to spend time on creating a pre-lander like a lot of other campaigns.

Promote Campaigns with Wide Country Permissions

If you are an affiliate marketing newbie, chances are you are starting off with a small budget. Even if you can afford to “go big or go home” it is wise to start small until you have a good grasp on the fundamentals.

You do not want to blow a ton of cash on something just to determine it does not work for you or your traffic source.

Since your budget is small, you will want to try to stretch it out as much as possible. One of the best ways to do that is to promote campaigns that allow you to target countries that other affiliates are not.

By targeting lower tier countries (also known in affiliate marketing as Geos), you will have less competition with other affiliates. If you are using a paid traffic source, it is also likely to be cheaper.

In affiliate marketing, the “tier” of a country is determined by several factors including:

  • Country’s wealth
  • Geographical location
  • Languages spoken

Examples of lower-tier countries include: Brazil, Japan, China, Argentina Jamaica, and more.

If you don’t have the ability and resources to translate your creatives to non-English languages, then you should try to target lower-tier English speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

Just make sure to look at what targeting restrictions are in place when browsing campaigns at MaxBounty to ensure you are following each offer’s specific guidelines.

Focus on a Single Niche/Vertical

We highly recommend choosing just one niche when starting out in affiliate marketing.

Although it might be tempting to take a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach, you will quickly spread yourself too thin.

Most importantly, choosing a single niche guarantees you will learn something.

It takes time to determine what works in any niche, whether you are promoting survey campaigns with Google Ads or placing pet related campaigns on your pet blog. You need to be patient and put the required work in which many times is a lot of trial and error.

If possible, we also recommend that you are either passionate about or have knowledge on the niche you choose . This will give you an advantage over other affiliates while also ensuring you stay motivated.

Talk to Your Affiliate Manager  

One of the most underrated but valuable resources you have at your disposal is your MaxBounty Affiliate Manager. They are literally an expert at pairing campaigns with affiliates.

If you have not been using your AM to their full potential up until this point, you should start now.

Provide them with as much information as you can regarding yourself and your promotion strategy. That includes:

  • Your experience-level
  • Your budget
  • Your traffic source
  • Preferred niche
  • Your angle/strategy (if determined)

They will take everything into account and find campaigns that best suit you and all of the above.

The post 6 Tips for Choosing Affiliate Marketing Campaigns as a Beginner appeared first on MaxBounty Blog.

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