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View Full Version : Linkshare, ShareaSale



nealrm
03-17-2009, 05:26 PM
Has anyone here used LinkShare or Shareasale? What are their good and bad points? Do ad blockers stop pages from showing with these ads? Is there anything specific I should worry about?

vangogh
03-17-2009, 05:38 PM
I've never used either, but both have been around awhile and I think there are plenty of reviews of each out there.

Ad blockers usually look for certain code on the image or flash in order to block them. I guess it would depend on how the ads are coded as to whether or not they get blocked. Assuming they're like most ads online they probably would get blocked.

nealrm
03-17-2009, 05:51 PM
would they block the entire page or just the ad?

vangogh
03-17-2009, 07:20 PM
If anything it would just be the ad. I don't use any ad blockers because I want to see the ads, but I think they show your page with an empty space where the ad was. I tried a few in the past and in all honestly thought the page generally looked better with the ads than the empty space.

the goat
03-17-2009, 07:59 PM
They both have good and bad points. Linkshare by far has better merchants and a much more user friendly interface. That said, I am convinced that they are shady when it comes to crediting all of your sales. The statistics reports are frequently down and they say it doesn't affect them tracking sales, but I don't believe it. Of course I have zero proof of that but many others feel the same way.

Share a Sale is a great company with great customer service and in my experience is very honest and never shady at all. Their main drawbacks are that they have a very dated interface that is hard to get used to and they also have a very limited amount of vendors.

Basically if Linkshare and Share a Sale traded their merchant lists, it would be a perfect company.

Harold Mansfield
03-17-2009, 10:05 PM
I use Linkshare on a few things. I always use the basic HTML coded banners, or create my own banner or product link, and mask the link(from what i understand Javascript is what gets blocked by adware)

They do have decent merchants, but the only drawback to me with them, CJ and other like it is the banners only system.
Linkshare does offer some extras like RSS feeds for some of it's vendors like iTunes, but in general plain banners just don't work to well for me.

I never had problem with Linkshare and I have no idea if they are crediting me will all of my sales.

i don't really depend on them much for income, but I have never really worked that hard on that particular program either.

the goat
03-18-2009, 01:14 AM
Linkshare does have a ton of individual product links with pics too. If used in conjunction with pop shops it is super easy to implement even a full on shopping cart type look with wordpress. Here is just one example: http://eastcoastboarders.com/shop/ride-and-gnu-boards/

Popshops is totally compatible with Share a Sale and CJ as well.

phanio
03-18-2009, 06:30 AM
I have used both. Don't like either. I think all of these companies don't accurately report sales.

I would suggest you try them both. If one does not measure up to your standards, then drop it.

As stated above, if these companies combined - it would be perfect. Thus, I suggest you take the best of both and make it work for you.

Business Attorney
03-18-2009, 11:01 AM
One issue I have is that the impressions from LinkShare, ShareASale (and Commission Junction) don't seem to turn into many clicks and the clicks that do occur don't turn into sales.

The first part of the issue may be a concern, but I see no harm in having the ads if they don't clutter up the site.

The second part of the problem, however, makes me wonder if the banner ads are attracting clicks that might have gone to AdSense ads. If I get 10 clicks on banner ads in a week and no sales, while those 10 clicks on AdSense would have paid $5, then I am losing $5 a week by showing their ads for them.

nealrm
03-18-2009, 01:28 PM
Looks like the only downside is that I might not get 100% paid. That is OK, I'm only using the ads as placeholders until they are filled with direct bill customers. If I make anything off of them it would just be a bonus.

the goat
03-18-2009, 04:42 PM
The second part of the problem, however, makes me wonder if the banner ads are attracting clicks that might have gone to AdSense ads. If I get 10 clicks on banner ads in a week and no sales, while those 10 clicks on AdSense would have paid $5, then I am losing $5 a week by showing their ads for them.

In my experience banner ads are border line useless nowadays because people are so programmed to ignore them. I find that individual product ads convert much better.

nealrm, if you are not worried about making money from the space for now, I would offer some companies in your niche free spots there instead of going with affiliate banners. This may do two things.

1. It may attract their competition to your site

2. When you tell them that you need to start charging for the space, they may become paying customers.

nealrm
03-22-2009, 09:32 AM
I placed ads from both services on my site. The clicks go through my advertising package, so I know exactly how many clicks each ad gets. Both services appear to count less than half the clicks received. I sent a polite email requesting an explanation on why there was a difference. They may have a good reason (Example, not counting clicks on bounces)

I will post their reply if/when received.

Harold Mansfield
03-22-2009, 06:04 PM
Looks like the only downside is that I might not get 100% paid. That is OK, I'm only using the ads as placeholders until they are filled with direct bill customers. If I make anything off of them it would just be a bonus.


In my experience banner ads are border line useless nowadays because people are so programmed to ignore them. I find that individual product ads convert much better.
.

Pretty much the way I feel about it too. I have never had much success with banners however, my own banners that go to my own sites, seem to do just fine bringing over traffic.
And as I said, I am not crazy about any program that still has banners as their main promotional tool.

That example "The Goat" posted up looked pretty decent, but on CJ, most advertisers don't even have individual product links...I swear I do not see how people make money with CJ.

winnergirl
01-12-2011, 04:43 PM
I signed up with ShareASale and placed lots and lots of ads on my web site. I received payments and then suddenly I could not log into my SAS affiliate account. I e-mailed my contact person, Jason Rubacky, several times and finally got an answer of he would check into the problem. Never heard back, and I e-mailed SAS directly, no answer, just no response at all. I have dead links, no more checks, no answers, and a mess of a web site to clean up, the clean up nightmare I am facing is what makes me really mad. Finally, I am not a corporation, I am a person, and I take things personally.