Forum Moderators: skibum
Has anyone else received a similar email, and if so, do you plan to give them a try?
[edited by: jcoronella at 3:47 am (utc) on May 20, 2005]
Also there are some issues as far as tracking, etc.
"...our partners typically generate between $15 and $25 for every thousand pages."
I'm assuming that those figures are gross earnings before any splits.
I sent an email back asking if I could do a test run on a couple of hundred pages (the original email offered what appears to be an all-or-nothing deal). If not I think I'll pass and wait for the real deal from Yahoo. We'll see how they respond...
It was I who wrote you that email. I apologize if I was unclear. As many have suggested, you are correct to be wary of folks who suggest that they're syndicating Overture's listings. Yahoo is very conservative about with whom they will syndicate, and they are very wary about further syndication.
ValidClick has a direct relationship with Yahoo and pays a direct percentage of Overture gross RPC. Ask NetVisibility what they do. My guess is that the above will not be your answer. My guess is that when you ask them what their revenue share is, they'll say 60%. When you ask "60% of what?", that's when it will get interesting. My guess is that they're parsing a share (your share) of a share (their share) of a share (whoever is providing them the feed) of Overture gross, which will amount to a rather miniscule amount of gross.
The reason we are allowed to syndicate is that we've developed a proprietary click fraud detection system that actually works. We filter out fraudulent clicks so that neither Yahoo, nor its advertisers ever has an issue. As a result, Yahoo is comfortable with us and our partners (with whom we are very selective in any case).
Regarding the composition of the feed I was writing about, it's straight Overture XML, wrapped in our FeedPatrol protection code. There are no other bundled feeds and for that matter, we require 3rd party exclusivity so that only Yahoo listings are displayed (along side your listings and non-paid listings, of course). I apologize for any confusion that I my have caused you.
Regarding an Overture XML feed versus AdSense, there are a few things I have to say. I would certainly never guarantee that ValidClick would outperform AdSense head to head, but I will give you a few reasons why we do:
1. Relevance - for search and directory sites, an actual search feed is much more relevant, because the publisher controls the content. AdSense's algorithms are good, but they weren't built for search/directory structures and as a result, miss about as often as they hit.
2. Flexibility - because an xml feed offers custom integration, publishers can optimize for maximum CTR. Our publishers average over 5% CTR for this reason.
3. Predictability - knowing what will be displayed allows publishers to drive traffic to individual pages, knowing what kind of return they'll get.
