Here is a classic example of how mis-management of PPC affiliates can cost a brand dearly. The screenshot below shows listings on the search term bet365. All of the first page PPC listings are taken up by (presumably one) rogue affiliate who has registered a load of domains containing bet365 and will be earning commissions on the back of all sign ups. Not only does this mean bet365 will be losing out on cheap sales through their brand it also gives a very bad brand experience for the searcher and could confuse the uneducated Googler. I know bet365 are hot on their affiliate scheme and so I cant imagine the affiliate in question will ever see any of the commissions they were expecting but it still isn’t good to see this sort of thing going on. The industry has a bad enough name in some circles and this sort of thing doesn’t help. what it does highlight however is the need to have stringent programme guidelines in place and a solid affiliate management process to allow you greater control.
The creators of Facebook have given it a facelift! I have just logged into the new version for the first time and so have probably not seen the full extent of the changes but thought Id post my initial findings. On logging in for the first time you are displayed a message from Facebook explaining the changes to their interface, nothing mentioned but I have posted the message below. Apparently the three goals of the facelift were:
- make everything clean and easy to use, reduce the clutter.
- give the user more control over their profile (what, you mean make it more like myspace?)
- show the most recent and relevant content
Apparently this is all based upon recommendations made by Facebook users although Im sure I was never asked my opinion! Anyway to the initial observations. The main change appears to be the introduction of tabs on the pages, both profile and home page. On the homepage they have separated out top stories, status updates, photos and posted items. Obviously aimed at objectives 1 and 3. On initial use I actually think this works really well. I do agree that peoples profiles were getting far too cluttered and this enables you to see more easily the information you want. The first page is the wall and minifeed, and expansion on the original minifeed which includes photos and actual wall postings rather than just notifications. This will satisfy the avid facebook user who wants a snapshot of what everybody is up to and in a way brings Facebook and the status updates function closer to the Twitter concept.
The page layout has also changed slightly, with a reduction of content in the left hand margin whilst keeping the 3 column format. They remove this in the photos tab though and you get more of a full album view which makes photo browsing easier. It is also removed when viewing group and fan pages and the navigation which was once on the left has now moved to the header bar.
If I notice anything else interesting I will be sure to post it but the initial observation is that the objective of clean, clear, uncluttered layout has been achieved. I just hope to god that the point about profile control isnt going to lead to the flourescent flashing profile pages that make Myspace so annoying.
