It’s been satisfying to see affiliate marketing mature over the past two decades, evolving from a somewhat experimental performance option that more adventuresome marketers undertook to a reliable channel that has perfected the equation for partnerships, analytics and outcomes. In the beginning, early pioneers hoped that their investments and undertakings would pan out, with limited risk, to generate rewards. Those that have stayed the course to present day, evolving along with the space, have seen the value and now can scale with confidence into the future.

Dave Naffziger, our founder and GM, takes a closer look into what the new year has in store for the industry.

When BrandVerity started in 2008, we knew companies were challenged with being able to protect their brand online at scale. We recognized the need for substantial technology investments to help customers monitor critical aspects of their online marketing campaigns -- from preventing trademark infringements in paid search to ensuring regulatory compliance of their content across the Web. With the right solution, companies could be confident that they were ultimately protecting all of the hard work, time, and resources spent in building their brands online.

Buzzfeed published an article last week largely based on a study conducted by Adthena, a paid search competitive intelligence company. The main point of the story was that Amazon engaged in a targeted strategy to aggressively bid on competitors’ branded terms over the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period.

We found the article and the supporting research to be misleading. Nothing in either piece supports the point of view that Amazon was doing anything intentionally aggressive or even differentiated. The purpose of this blog post is to provide more context as well as correct information on competitive brand bidding and Google’s trademark policy itself.

We strongly believe that the Executive Order temporarily banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspending resettlement of Syrian refugees is misguided, discriminatory, and counterproductive. It goes against the founding principles of our country — principles that have created the unique opportunities that we all enjoy today.

Our office observed Pi-Day today. Christopher led the team in a blind tasting of five store-bought frozen apple pies.

The Candidates:

• A: Mrs. Smith's Original Flaky Crust Dutch Apple Pie ($5.99): The box art highlights 'real' butter and they are quite proud of their flaky crust.
• B: Safeway Select Dutch Apple Pie ($4.89): The cheapest pie on the list. The box doesn't describe much else about the pie, other than that it is 'select'. The only pie without a web page to link to.
• C: Sara Lee Oven Fresh Dutch Apple Pie ($5.00 reg. $8.99): Kind of funny that Sara Lee uses the phrase 'Oven Fresh' to describe a pie that you buy frozen.
• D: Grand Central Bakery U-Bake Apple Pie ($16.95): Grand Central Bakery is a popular bakery a few blocks from our office in Pioneer Square. A few of us remember when President Obama had lunch there.
• E: Marie Callender's Lattice Apple Pie ($6.49 reg $8.99): This pie even has you sprinkle sugar on midway through the baking process.

The impending closure of the Google Affiliate Network (GAN) has forced a large number of advertisers to suddenly seek an alternate network. As we've spoken with our customers that are seeking another network, I've found myself providing guidance on what questions to ask networks about their compliance capabilities. While I may have sharpened my responses with each call, I always felt that I could have answered more crisply. That's why I'm writing this post.

We're very excited to formally launch our Social Media Compliance Service.

We're excited to attend the Internet Retailer conference this year! The annual event will be held in Chicago from June 5-8. Stop by booth #357 or drop us a note if you'd like to schedule some time.

One of the challenges for affiliate managers is recognizing when an affiliate account has changed hands. This will usually accompany a change in tactics and usually for the worse. The same can be said for new accounts or newly active accounts.