PublisherSpot

Updated - 20/10/2010

Go to www.blamads.com

While there are countless affiliate networks on the Internet all vying for your attention, BLAM! Ads sticks out from the crowd for one primary reason: it focuses exclusively on incentivized offers.

For webmasters and Internet marketers who specialize in this arena, the BLAM! Ads network could serve to be a great fit.

BLAM! Ads itself is relatively new to the world of affiliate marketing, but it is actually powered by EWA Private Network, an ad network that has served online entrepreneurs for a number of years. EWA Private Network consists of a small group of hand-selected media buyers, email marketers, social advertisers, and search engine marketers.

The concept behind the BLAM! Ads lead generation network is to offer a “complete solution for incentivized advertising.” Among its key features are over 750 incentivized offers spanning 60 countries around the world, real-time reporting and tracking, and access to exclusive top converting offers with an experienced staff.

Another major feature is the content locking gateway. This is a somewhat separate arm of BLAM! Ads that integrates back into the main network. In effect, site owners and publishers can “lock” their web content behind a pop-up page. The site visitor cannot access or navigate the website until they fulfill one of the incentivized offers shown on the pop-up.

Going through the publisher dashboard, the site owner can customize the width and height of the pop-up, define the banner and background image, and select the relevant affiliate offers to be displayed. This can be a powerful tool for membership sites and other websites that offer exclusive or highly prized content.

Among the advertisers who work with BLAM! Ads are Kraft, Dish Network, Coca-Cola, Blockbuster Video, MySpace, Vistaprint, Snapfish, Ambien, and Lavalife. The commission for selected offers can range considerably, starting as low as 20 cents and going as high as $30 or more per valid entry.

Logging into the main control panel, publishers are shown an account snapshot. This page provides vital statistics regarding payout, clicks, and conversions, all displayed in easy-to-understand graphs. The information defaults to information for “today,” though there is a pull-down menu to select yesterday, last 7 days, this month, last month, last six months, or all time.

Below the graphs is a list of featured offers, including information related to the offer name, category, and applicable countries. A notification window appears below that and pertinent data would then be shown there.

Next to the graphs and list of offers are areas with quick links (which can be customized to include user-defined quick links), account totals (including click and payout information), account manager contact information (including name, title, email, AIM, and headshot), and a “Refer a Friend” section.

Navigating through the rest of the control panel is done through the links in the left sidebar. These direct the publisher to offers, reports, account information, and support. The offer list is sortable and searchable, including the ability to display data with a specific date range.

In addition to the main control panel, there is a separate control panel for generating the content locking gateway. This is largely a single page interface with fields for customizing the look and contents of the pop-up. Publishers can select any number of offers from the list directly on the page, but information related to each offer must be viewed through the main control panel.

The registration form for BLAM! Ads is on a single page, but it is quite extensive. It asks for basic contact information, like name and e-mail address, but it also requires input in fields like AIM screenname, current networks used, plans on how the offers will be incentivized, and tax ID or SSN. Agreeing to the terms and conditions and clicking on the “sign up” link button, the form is submitted to BLAM! Ads for review and approval.

An affiliate manager typically follows up with an e-mail message within one or two business days, requesting further information regarding how the applicant found out about BLAM! Ads, whether he or she had a personal referral, the length of time the applicant has been an activate affiliate marketer, the types of offers the applicant would use, and the strategies the applicant intends to use to incentivize offers. This information could be (and part of it is) included as part of the main application form, so it is curious that BLAM! Ads would choose to take this extra step.

Following receipt of an e-mail response, BLAM! Ads usually approves applications within one or two business days.

Before a publisher seeks direct support, he or she can make use of the existing HasOffers Wiki for information. The assumption is that the two networks are related and much of the information is the same, but it is strange that BLAM! Ads would use HasOffers information without first priming the publisher as to why it is not BLAM! Ads branded information.

Most of the primary support can be found through the assigned account manager. An email address and AIM chat username are provided. BLAM! Ads also has a phone number, but the specific extension of the account manager is not provided. Email responses are received within two business days.

Before payments can be issued to publishers, BLAM! Ads requires the submission of either a W8 document or W9 document for tax purposes. These can be sent via e-mail or fax.

BLAM! Ads offers payments via PayPal, bank wire, automatic clearing house (ACH) and by check in the mail. There is no minimum payment threshold for US-based affiliates, but there is a $500 minimum for international bank wires. The standard payment schedule is on a net-30 basis, though the network will work on net-15 for publishers earning over $1,000 a month and net-7 for those earning over $5,000 a month. Even higher revenue publishers can request a weekly net-4 payment on a negotiable basis.

A $15 fee is levied for domestic bank wires and only publishers earning more than $1,000 can request payment via bank wire. A wire under that threshold carries a $50 fee and publishers must attain written permission first. International affiliates are charged a $22.50 international bank wire fee. A wire of under the $500 threshold is levied at $50 fee.

While the “Refer a Friend” section in the main control panel states that publishers can earn 3.00% of the profit generated by affiliates that they refer to the network, an e-mail inquiry to BLAM! Ads revels that the referral program can actually pay 5% of earnings generated by the person referred to the network.

Publishers with low level traffic and lower earning potentials may not find the right kind of value through BLAM! Ads, largely because of the higher minimum thresholds and some of the costly fees associated with bank wire transfers. They can grow with the network, to be sure, but it may prove challenging. Publishers with more established techniques and websites, however, may find a great deal of value through this network.

The strict focus on incentivized offers can be appealing to those who specialize in this type of Internet marketing. The wealth and variety of offers is to be commended, as is the international nature of many of the affiliate offers provided. The integrated content locking gateway mechanism helps to set this network apart from others like it as well.

For publishers looking for an affiliate network that caters only to incentivized offers, including the ability to negotiate higher payouts with increased traffic potential, BLAM! Ads may be a lucrative addition to their product portfolios.

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