The History of Commission Junction – A Real
Success Story
By Lori Wilkerson
The history of Commission Junction reflects an awareness of the need to
serve both the publishers/affiliates and the advertisers at the highest possible
level. This company was one of the earliest third-party pay-for-performance
advertising leaders.
Their unique two-tier commission plan rewards publishers on one
tier for referrals, so that there is a flat fee paid for every
webmaster that joins the Commission Junction team and then a 5%
cut of every commission each referred member makes after that.
This effectively means that each member on the affiliate end can
be making money from two source streams – the advertisers
directly and indirectly through other webmasters. A much more
substantial sign-up fee is also offered for each time a
pay-for-performance advertiser signs up with
Commission
Junction.
Commission Junction built its reputation early on by building a
solid stable of advertisers that comprise a wide range of large
retail markets as well as thousands of niche marketers who are
perfect for specialty websites. This smorgasbord of offerings
has made the company particularly appealing to a certain sector
of the affiliate marketplace that starts small and tends to
build a relatively small but loyal following.
The well-known CJU (Commission Junction University) conference
is one of most anticipated in the industry, which gives you an
idea of the quality of their online advertising expertise and
their pay-for-performance record.
How Commission Junction Makes It Work
Historically, Commission Junction has performed to the highest
standards in serving their affiliates. The company, founded in
1999, has focused on improving their commission oversight and
payment programs and currently has one of the best in the
business.
They also offer various solutions for improving marketing
strategies and click through for their publisher members.
The advertisers who belong to Commission Junction receive
regular reports that show not only exactly how much traffic
they’re receiving from publishers, but which publishers are
performing best for them and which aren’t performing. By the
same token, the CJ Marketplace also shows publishers the
conversion rates and relative effectiveness of every
advertiser’s ad so that they can decide which ones may work well
for their site.
There are specific rules for being a member of Commission
Junction’s pay-for-performance network and working with their
advertising members. First and foremost, you have to remain
active. The company can afford to be strict with this because
they have so many advertisers (thousands to choose from) and
plenty of interested people waiting to earn a commission with
them.
Commission Junction has consistently performed and grown by
being very open with statistics and information for both ends of
the equation – sharing a great deal with both advertisers and
affiliates.
By spring of 2001, Commission Junction had established a solid
reputation and scored a quick one-two advertising punch by
bringing EBay and HotJobs into their affiliate program within
weeks of each other.
In fall of 2003,
ValueClick bought Commission Junction,
solidifying their own presence in affiliate marketing to add to
their solid reputation in website services such as web
marketing, email marketing, and content and media management
through its subsidiary corporations.
Commission Junction was energized by an infusion of big name
advertisers associated with their parent company and became an
even bigger player. In May of 2004, Commission Junction launched
CJ Evolution, which placed ad based on their performance in
order to reward top-performing text ads with increased exposure.
On November 8, 2004, Commission Junction launched in Germany,
adding to its several offices in the United States and London,
opening a whole new advertising and publisher dynamic based on
the Euro and emerging European markets.
Related Items
About The
Author
Lori Wilkerson
is a full-time freelance writer who loves her work because it
gives her the opportunity to learn more about the world every
day. Right now, she knows a little bit about almost everything,
and a bunch about
make
money at home.
She has two dogs who are spoiled and one teenager who is not.
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