Sunday, September 30, 2012

Interview with Afraid Shen - Chief Administrator of eBay's U.S. Associate Program

Interview with Afraid Shen - Chief Administrator of eBay's U.S. Associate Program

Shawn Collins: Acknowledge you for abutting us. Today I'm speaking with Afraid Shen of eBay, and we're activity to be talking about some of the altered things they are accomplishing with the associate affairs over there. I appetite to acknowledge Afraid for demography the time to allege with us and attending advanced to audition what you accept to say.Lily Shen: Thanks, Shawn. I'm absolutely aflame to allege with you and absolutely attending advanced to administration some added information. We accept a lot of agitative things activity on, so, yeah, absolutely attractive advanced to it.Shawn: Great. One affair that I am analytical about it, if you could let me apperceive and the blow of the audience, what sets eBay's Associate Affairs afar from the added associate programs that are out there?Lily: Sure. I can't absolutely allege for added associate programs per se, but I do accept to say that the eBay Associate Affairs offers a absolutely aggressive payout, actual accessible to use tools, and the unparalleled across and abyss of articles that are currently on eBay.In agreement of our advantage today, we pay out on both ACRUs, what we alarm Alive About Registered Users, and we pay anywhere from $12 to $22. We additionally pay on the rev allotment ancillary anywhere from 40 to 65 percent of revenues generated to eBay client affiliates, and that launched aloof backward aftermost year and it's accurate to be actual acknowledged for abounding of our publishers.In agreement of the marketplaces, we accept an amazing across and abyss of articles with over 50, 000 categories, and alike aloof in Q3 we had 584 actor new listings added to eBay worldwide. We additionally accept a all-around attendance in over 33 markets with users from every country about the world, so we absolutely accommodate a abundant amphitheater for our affiliates and our publishers to be successful.Shawn: Great, sounds fantastic. Can you acquaint me a little added about some of the accoutrement and assets that eBay has innovated to advice affiliates to succeed?Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We absolutely accept a committed aggregation actuality aloof attractive at products, tools, and basement for the eBay Associate Program. We accept a cardinal of accoutrement that our affiliates administer to absolutely get them up and alive quickly.To start, we accept a adjustable destination apparatus which instantly allows affiliates to actualize trackable associate links to any eBay URL. We aloof this year launched an RSS augment architect that acutely creates RSS feeds that accommodate associate links. We action chargeless APIs for our affiliates, and aloof a brace of months ago we launched an API constituent apparatus that allows affiliates to conduct some analysis and become added accustomed with eBay's API abstracts in Excel.We additionally accept hub pages, actual alive altercation boards, and association newsletters et cetera. I don't apperceive if you are acquainted of this, but we are absolutely attractive to barrage in apparently the aboriginal bisected of 2007 a artefact alleged AdContext, which is a contextual announcement artefact that will acquiesce affiliates and our publishers to basically booty some cipher and put the artefact on the site, and we'll about alarm the agreeable from the armpit and apparent up the best listings that will advice our affiliates be best effective. We're currently in beta approach at the moment.Shawn: So is that accessible to all affiliates or aloof a baddest accumulation of affiliates?Lily: This is currently invite-only.Shawn: OK. Gotcha. As far as agreeable the eBay associate community, are you application any affectionate of Web 2.0 methods for advice or accept any contest or any kinds of things to get in blow with the affiliates and accumulate in contact?Lily: Yeah, absolutely. We accept a committed aggregation of anniversary managers both actuality at eBay and on the Agency Alliance side, and we administer many, abounding of our top accounts. We absolutely do accept a account newsletter that goes out that provides best practices, trends, artefact advice to our publishers. As I mentioned before, we accept actual alive altercation boards, and we additionally authority an anniversary invite-only associate acme for our top publishers, and we run this in alongside with our developer's conference. This year we are attractive to body that out alike added and accept an associate clue at the developer's conference, too.In accession to that, we accept actual absolute pages on the associate armpit that provides best practices for our affiliates who are absolutely attractive to accompany about any blazon of business model. We are consistently attractive for new means to allotment advice and acquiesce affiliates to absolutely acquaint with anniversary added as well.The association is absolutely the aliment and adulate of eBay's business, and that is absolutely the aforementioned affair for eBay's associate community. We feel that it is absolutely important that we advance the relationships with them anon and apprentice from them.Shawn: Great. As far as the altered types of affiliates, there are so abounding types of affiliates out there, is there a accurate affectionate of associate that is usually added acknowledged with your associate program?Lily: I wouldn't say it depends on a business model, per se. We accept a actual assorted portfolio of affiliates alignment from agreeable and portals and SEO, arcade allegory sites. We accept bargain tools, adherence allurement affiliates and acutely paid chase affiliates.We begin what makes best affiliates acknowledged is beneath about the archetypal they engage, as a amount of actuality abounding of them administer assorted models, but what absolutely determines there success is there akin of adherence to innovating: award new things and absolutely optimizing what works. The amplitude is consistently alteration as able-bodied as the marketplace, so we acquisition that those who are absolutely committed to it acquisition huge success in it.Shawn: Great. For affiliates from the newbies up to the accomplished ones, do you accept any accurate tips and tricks to advice them aerate their acquirement with the associate program?Lily: Yes. We absolutely animate our affiliates to consistently anticipate about the end chump and break beside of not alone industry trends but additionally artefact trends. Acutely for this anniversary division it would be the PS3, Wii, the Xbox, etc. Some new top affiliates aloof this accomplished ages accept alone congenital sites about these articles and accept artlessly angry the cartage to eBay. That's appealing interesting. We absolutely animate our affiliates to accumulate on top of that. I would say it's absolutely boxy to try new things and to absolutely optimize amplitude on the after-effects that you see in the abstracts that we accommodate you. A lot of our affiliates accept been acknowledged that way.Shawn: OK. I apperceive you accept associate teams all about the world. Do you accept any tips for affiliates that appetite to aggrandize above the US borders as an affiliate?Lily: Yes. We accept programs in about 20 countries today. We administer them in a actual decentralized manner, and so we admit the accent of localization in our associate program. I absolutely animate the affiliates to analysis the bazaar itself and accept the end users there, but additionally absorb some time compassionate the programs of anniversary of our countries.You may acquisition that the added complete markets may be added agnate in nature. For example, you may appetite to alpha with English speaking countries if you're currently in the US. You may appetite to alpha with the UK, Australia or Canada and you've got a springboard to barrage into some of the added markets. I would absolutely say absorb time localizing your agreeable abundant for it to address to the end customer in the English market. I would say that geo-targeting has helped our affiliates a lot as well.Shawn: OK. I've been audition a lot about affiliates aggravating to comedy about with both video and adaptable phone. Do you see either one of those arena a role with the eBay associate affairs in the abreast future?Lily: Yes, absolutely. In agreement of adaptable it already plays a role in the affairs and we're attractive to accomplish that alike bigger. We're absolutely ablution a abode off our API apparently in the aboriginal bisected of abutting year that will absolutely accredit associate tracking for a lot of the association that are architecture adaptable apps for eBay. What we absolutely appetite to do is acquiesce affiliates to calibration in this space. Absolutely in agreement of video, we accept it's a huge befalling and we're aloof starting to assignment with a few affiliates now attractive to plan this new and agitative amplitude as well. We'll absolutely accept added advice to come.Shawn: OK, fantastic. I got some announcements in the accomplished ages that Activity Departer and how the associate affairs has afflicted with that?Lily: Sure. Activity Departer is absolutely a new HTML tracking methodology. We pursued this in adjustment to abatement the cardinal of redirects users may chase to abate added cookie blocking and to acquiesce for added all-around basement improvements. The associate affairs itself hasn't absolutely changed. We're artlessly attractive for new means to advance the basement for our affiliates and to accomplish things easier. Our ambition is to artlessly accommodate added actual and abiding allowances to our publishers with the project. I'd say that the affairs itself hasn't changed. We're aloof acquisitive to accomplish things bigger for them.Shawn: OK, that makes sense. That's all the questions I had. Do accept any added updates or account about the associate program?Lily: I anticipate I covered a lot with the questions that you had. I aloof appetite to say that we absolutely animate our affiliates to innovate and to analysis and to accommodate us with acknowledgment on things that we could be accomplishing bigger as well. We're absolutely actuality to serve our publishers and we're aflame for a lot of the new and accessible initiatives rolling out in 2007, such as ad contacts in the abode off our API. Acknowledge you.Shawn: Acknowledgment a lot. Acknowledge you to Afraid Shen eBay for abutting us. For added advice affiliates can go to affiliates.ebay.com to administer and apprentice added about the program. Acknowledgment a lot, Lily.Lily: Acknowledge you.Shawn: Great. Booty care.

No comments:

Post a Comment