8 Comments

Linkshare Management Shake Up

Jun 11, 2008
by

This was quiet. I haven’t seen much on it today. It came in a discreet e-mail.

Jonathan Levine and Yasuhisa (“Yaz” ) Iida have been named co-presidents of Linkshare. It looks like it takes two people to fill Steve Denton’s shoes. The man must have big feet.

I’ve worked with Jonathan in the past in his different roles with Linkshare and Rakuten, most recently as CTO of Linkshare. I think that he is a great choice to lead Linkshare. I have not had the pleasure of working with Yaz but look forward to meeting him later this month.

In a quieter announcement, John Kim is stepping down from his executive roles at Rakuten and Linkshare while remaining Chairman of Linkshare. More changes to come at Rakuten?

The press release:

LinkShare Appoints Co-Presidents

NEW YORK – June 10, 2008 – LinkShare, a leading pay-per-action marketing network, announced that beginning today the company will be lead by Jonathan Levine, Chief Technology Officer of LinkShare, and Yasuhisa Iida (“Yaz” ), Executive Officer of Rakuten. They will serve as co-presidents.

The announcement was made by John J-H Kim, who currently serves as Interim President in addition to his role as Chairman of LinkShare’s board.

“Jonathan brings extensive knowledge of LinkShare’s technology and businesses to the organization’s presidency,” said Kim. “His appointment emphasizes our commitment to technological innovation and leadership and comes at a time when LinkShare is delivering innovative new services for our advertiser and publisher partners.”

Kim added: “Yaz brings deep experience with merchant services and sales from Rakuten, where he managed those functions during a period of great growth. As co-president he will direct LinkShare’s services, sales, network development and marketing, and continue to leverage Rakuten’s experience and resources as we grow and diversify our business.”

John Kim will remain as Chairman of LinkShare’s board, but plans to step down from his executive roles at Rakuten and LinkShare on July 31. LinkShare will continue to focus its efforts on increasing the value of its network, expanding its international presence and building out its online marketing offerings.

LinkShare was founded in 1996 and acquired in 2005 by leading Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten. In recent years the company has expanded beyond affiliate marketing to provide search and lead generation services as well as support for video, rich media and mobile pay per action tracking to its customers.

Filed under: Affiliate Marketing
  • Stew Jergonson

    What is ABestWeb, and who cares?

  • http://www.cumbrowski.com/ Carsten Cumbrowski

    Well, the recent changes and additions to the network were positive and actually surprisingly refreshing I'd have to say.

    I hope that they will continue on that route with the new management. If they do, then I see a bright future for LinkShare on the Horizon.

    Congratulations for the promotions, although I didn't have the pleasure to met any of the appointed in person yet.

  • http://www.experienceadvertising.com Evan

    I think good management and good worker bees are vital to Linkshare growing. So many times these large networks don’t put enough emphasis or resources into working with merchants and affiliates to increase program production…

  • http://twitter.com/trust Jonathan (Trust)

    “This was quiet. I haven’t seen much on it today. It came in a discreet e-mail.”

    Linkshare announced it yesterday over in the Linkshare Forum at ABestWeb.

  • http://www.popshops.com Angel Djambazov

    ABestWeb is one of the premier forums on Affiliate Marketing and you should care. I didn't see it on ABW but did see it covered by Shawn Collins. Either way any shake up with LinkShare management impacts out industry.

    I agree with David that Jonathan is a solid pick I just hope acting as a co-president doesn't hamstring his ability to help lead the company.

  • http://affiliatecrew.com Chuck Hamrick

    Working for a Japanese company for 8 years I learned that they are very methodical. They will spend years learning a new market and when ready to move they are decisive. Let's hope this is the case with LinkShare and we see them go back after the market. Competition is good for all of us, merchant, AM and affiliate. I have been working with LinkShare again since Q4 and it has been a better relationship that three years ago.

  • http://www.wayneporter.com Wayne Porter

    ABestWeb is a forum for performance marketers. If you are heavily involved in the deep trenches of affiliate marketing it is a good place to read. It isn't all accurate, but it is a well spring of converation. Note- no place is always accurate.

  • http://kwanzoo.com dee

    Hopefully this will move LinkShare forward. New people and ideas couldn't hurt…