CJU and the Low Down on Downloads

I had the good fortune to partipate on the “The Low Down on Downloads Panel” at CJU 2005. This is my 3rd speaking appearance at that venue so maybe next year I will get a medal…

This panel featured Moderator, Todd Crawford Vice President, Sales, Commission Junction – Erika Tegman, Publisher Account Director, Commission Junction - Mike Weller, CEO, Top Moxie – Terance Kinsky, Director, Network Quality, Commission Junction and yours truly, Wayne Porter, Senior Director of Greynets Research, FaceTime Communications.

I suppose many people were looking for the proverbial slug fest, and if that was the case they came away dissapointed. The thrust of the conversation was on Top Moxie’s view of the space, my own view from the trenches of an anti-spyware company and how NQ (Network Quality) at CJ handled complaints and infractions. I had the pleasure to take a brief tour of network quality at CJ and speak with their staff at length on methodology and policy. I came in expecting the worst but I was quite impressed with the layers of defense they have setup to catch perpetuators.

Note: I didn’t get into arguments over link-overwriting. Having mediated the Affiliate Summit in New York a few years ago I have completely washed my hands of this issue. Others like Kellie B can carry on that torch but as a security company that falls beyond my scope. I am more concerned with what an application does and more importantly how it is distributed.

Distribution is the absolute key to the current adware mess. Even companies with the best of intentions have gotten bitten, whether unknowingly or with absolute knowledge, that they are co-bundled with unsavory partners or partners that use security holes to install their software. I am hard pressed to find a shining example of a company that has a completely “clean” record. However, I expect that to change as adware companies who want to last long-term begin their clean up mess. This does not, however, excuse past transgressions, but it is a good start and rest assured anti-spyware companies are watching along with a bevy of goverment watchdogs.

Unfortunately I was inundated with meetings so time to visit all the presentations was limited. However’ I was able to catch Jeff Pullen’s address. It is notable that he has graduated from the CEO of Commission Junction and now sits as COO of ValueClick. Rumors abound that Pullen is being groomed to eventually take over the CEO spot of ValueClick- rumors of course, but I feel he is a good candidate given that he has transmogrified CJ into a larger player and through a series of acquisitions made ValueClick a true super power. It is a safe bet that we will see ValueClick’s various and somehwat disparate units offer a one-stop-shop for merchants including access to CPA networks, MediaPlex, and other advertising opportunities. Surely they have come a long way from when I first met Lisa Riolo at a tradeshow in 2000.

The only negative I found was their impending acquisition of FastClick. I have documented evidence of misleading ads and other foolish behavior that I plan to take to light. Hopefully ValueClick will take these words to heart and do a complete audit of FastClick and their practices. There is NO room for deceptive ads.

A major high point was the key note speech of John Battelle. John is the recent author of: The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. He also maintains a popular blog at Battellemedia.com/ which I have been an ardent follower for sometime. I spent a good part of my downtime reading the text and found it father fascinating with all the pivotal points in e-commerce’s short history that changed the search landscape as we know it. It was more like a toned down Pirates of Silicon Valley and a partial testament on how DEC completely missed the boat k not to mention Xerox. Much like Apple raiding the Palto Alto labs for lots of kiler innovations such as GUI and the mouse. Finally Pirates of Silicon Valley is now out on DVD and I highly recommend watching it if for only entertainment purposes- especially if you are like me and grew up in the 70′s and the mid 1980′s cutting your technological teeth on the Vic-20, Commodore 64, the TRS-80, TI-99 and the early Apple series of computers. Sweet nostalgia…

As usual the event was packed with familiar faces and many I did not know, but by far CJU continues to be an excellent venue to meet and greet and find out what is going on in the trenches of revenue sharing. Speaking of familiar faces it was notable that Tom Gerace and Lex Sisney were both in attendence (former executives at BeFree and CJ respectively.) There was even a rumor that Per Petterson was lurking around with a new incubator company but I was unable to find him. Perhaps this is the year of the comeback executive?

ADDENDUM: Other Bloggers Weigh In- Have a blog on CJU contact me at:wporter@gmail.com

Linda Buquet: CJU Roud Up Part 1

Linda Buquet: CJU Round Up II

Adam Viener of Corante: John Battelle at CJU 2005

Adam Viener of Corante: Commission Junction University (CJU) 2005 Starts

Adam Viener of Corante: Goyami CJU Schwag Awards

I was pleased to finally meet Lisa Picarille, Editor of Revenue Magazine in person and she did a nice summary of the event at the Revenue Magazine blog center. However I found it somehwat dificult to link to individual entries but I am pleased to see that Revenue Magazine is thriving and growing. See Commission Junction Looks Forward” and “CJU: Some Seinfeldian Moments” as well as “Report from CJU”. Unfortunately I am unable to link to individual entries but you can find it in the blog section.

Photo courtesy Jan Hertsens on his Treo 650

. I own one myself but frankly I miss my Razor phone for sheer size, portability and great signal.