New Year’s Affiliate Resolutions

As we bid farewell to this year’s model of affiliate marketing and embark upon 2005, I’ve got to wonder what sorts of changes we are in for next year.

2004 was something of a turbulent year for affiliate marketers. The year kicked off with nervous and confused affiliate marketers trying to cope with CAN-SPAM, and throughout the year, a number of issues became industry lightning rods.

There were sagas about everything from search arbitrage, whether adware is badware, cookie stuffing, the use of trademarked terms, and more.

That’s not to say it was a bad year by any means. According to data I’ve been gathering for the AffStat 2005 Report, affiliate metrics are on the upswing for most merchants (final data will be available in 2005 Q1).

And the recently released “Special Report: Affiliate Marketing 2005” from MarketingSherpa indicates a sustained, positive outlook as “Overall 91 percent of surveyed merchants and 82 percent of affiliates expect revenue growth in 2005.”

Additionally, the new JupiterResearch Affiliate Marketing Executive Survey also indicates growth in the space. Their recent survey revealed that 78 percent of respondents grew their affiliate programs (by number of affiliates) in 2004.

But what’s going to happen in affiliate marketing next year? In most industries, you’ll see some pundits offer up conjecture, and most of them are off by a mile.

Fortunately, there are a number of clairvoyants that are clued into the affiliate space. Below are the thoughts, predictions and derelictions for 2005 from the best visionaries this side of Nostradamus.

Complete article at http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/4831.asp