The New BLUE BOOK Top 20 Ranking

In March, 2010, Revenue Performance surveyed over 1,000 publishers, advertisers, agencies and networks. The factors identified by the vast majority of respondents reflect the value placed on trust and reputation right now. Over 80% of respondents picked tracking accuracy and trust as the most important factors when choosing a network partner, with fraud prevention running a close third

Methodology
The BLUE BOOK Top 20 ranking is not a simple list of the biggest networks. Instead, it takes into account reputation, influence, clientele, reach and scale. An important part of the ranking process was a survey of over 1,000 industry figures carried out during March, 2010. In that survey we asked an open-field first question for the respondents favorite performance marketing network or exchange so there was no suggestion bias. On a subsequent screen we provided a list of around 40 networks for additional choices that were given half the weight of the open-text responses.
The first 2010 Top 20 ranking of the best performance marketing networks and exchanges comes after a tumultuous six months that have seen some networks driven to the wall and others merged, acquired, refinanced or reorganized. The overall effect has been of a “flight to quality” by many advertisers and publishers, in which reputation, trust and service have counted for more than ever.

The new Top 20 list shows this dynamic in action as bigger networks have become more popular with our readers. Affiliates are choosing larger networks because they want the confidence that they’ll get paid, merchants because they appreciate the advanced fraud prevention systems and technology in which larger networks can invest.

Take a look:

http://mthink.com/bluebook/top20

The 2010 Ad-Tech San Franciso trade show was a huge success. It’s always great to see current clients and meet potential new ones. This year we co-hosted the Moss Networks VIP invite only party. It was a great event. During the show we were informed by Revenue Magazine, RevenueStreet.com made the Top 20 Best Affiliate Networks list,  which was great news.  We exhibit at 5 or 6 shows a year and the Ad-Tech San Franisco show is always one of our favorites.   We look forward to many more successful Ad-Tech San Franisco shows.

With consumers going online more frequently to look for information about local businesses, online channels such as local search have emerged as affordable and effective places in which to advertise.

The first step in building your business’s online presence is to claim it on the local business listing sections of the major search engines. These sections allow you to list your local business for free. Local business listings (LBLs) are available through Google Local Business Center, Yahoo Local and Local Listing Center on Bing. Be sure to follow the business listing quality guidelines on each site. For example, search engines typically display local search results if the search query includes a regional term.

To optimize your LBLs, make sure to do the following:

• spend time on your business description;
• keep your business branding consistent;
• collect customer testimonials, ratings and reviews; and
• include photos, logos and videos where applicable.

Also, don’t just focus your business listings on ranking. Instead, think of them as a form of social media advertising. LBLs encourage customer reviews, so be sure to respond to customer feedback about your business when you get it. Use this information to improve your business image and customer relationships.

Another way to advertise your business online is to create listings on internet yellow pages and other local search sites. These listings help improve your rankings for LBLs on the major search engines, as well as help you capture a significant portion of the local search market.

Paid search
While LBLs are a good place to start, there’s no guarantee that your business listing will be displayed. Similarly, your range of control over your business’s local rankings is limited to standard LBL best practices. Therefore, paid search marketing is another tool for local businesses to use to establish online presences.

Paid search marketing is available on all major search engines through Google AdWords, Yahoo Sponsored Search and MSN adCenter.

In paid search, local businesses can target potential customers by bidding on specific search keywords and choosing how much they’re willing to pay for each ad click leading to a website visitor.

Paid search guarantees that your business is listed at or near the top of the search results at the very moment potential customers are looking for your product or service. Because costs are tied directly to your ad’s performance, paid search is an affordable and effective way to manage your local business’s online presence with greater control and accountability.

To establish an effective online presence, local businesses should take advantage of both LBLs and paid search.

While local search marketing requires time and investment, it’s an important medium to focus on as consumers continue to use online channels to search for local businesses.