As cookies crumble AffiliateFuture launches consumer-friendly tracking technology

[pistol101]

AffiliateFuture, the top UK content affiliate network, renowned for its technological innovations has today launched VeraciTag™, a consumer-friendly patent-pending tracking technology. The new solution arrives amid the consumer backlash against cookies and offers reputable online marketers a secure, reliable and privacy-protecting alternative for their affiliate programmes.

With UK and US patents pending VeraciTag™ works by storing anonymous tracking information in the web browser of the user’s computer. Operating in this way means the tags cannot be blocked, as cookies can.

As a patent-pending solution AffiliateFuture will control its application and limit data storage to anonymous transactional information; thus protecting consumer privacy.

CEO of AffiliateFuture, Maz Darvish promises, “As we have the patent pending for the technology that underlies this new means of tracking, consumers have a guarantee that their privacy will not be compromised.”

VeraciTag™ heralds a new era for affiliate marketers who are battling against consumers’ increasing tendency to block cookies owing to misuse by less reputable operators, anti virus software and scaremongering media reports.

For merchants VeraciTag™ promises more accurate tracking of affiliate transactions, while affiliates will benefit from an increased number of tracked transactions, and so higher earnings.

VeraciTag™ can be used alongside cookies and flash cookies, but the fate of these two tracking solutions seems sealed and so VeraciTag™ arrives at a crucial time for internet marketers as an alternative to cookies is urgently needed.

The new solution also offers a timely lifeline to the numerous free content sites that fund themselves through affiliate marketing. Many of these are experiencing a downturn in income resulting from the inability to track, and so monetise, those transactions where the consumers concerned sever the crucial link between affiliate and merchant by blocking cookies.

Maz Darvish, CEO of AffiliateFuture says, “Over the years, much of the growth of AffiliateFuture has been driven by innovation. This unique tracking system is a significant milestone in the on-going development of the AffiliateFuture platform. Affiliate marketing is inherently anonymous and does not affect the privacy of consumers. However, the primary mechanism for affiliate tracking has been cookies. But as cookies are associated with the storing of personal information, many consumers have been encouraged to regularly delete cookies which has a detrimental impact on affiliate marketers.”

Dan Chick, CTO of AffiliateFuture adds, “There has been much hype about cookie-less tracking over the last year. Our new patent pending tracking technology cannot be blocked in any of the most common web browsers, and working in conjunction with our existing technology, offers a tracking reliability unrivalled by any other affiliate advertising network”

Implementation of the new solution for merchants and affiliates on the AffiliateFuture network requires no new programming or links as AffiliateFuture has fully integrated VeraciTag™ across the network.

VeraciTag™ is exclusive to AffiliateFuture and is being applied with immediate effect.
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Notes to Editors

For more information contact Ruth Stone, Orchid PR on 01483 538710, 07788 417 109 or email ruth@orchidpr.co.uk.

About AffiliateFuture

AffiliateFuture is the leading affiliate marketing network driving transactions through advertising on content-based websites. It supports its network of publishers with pioneering technology, regular events, and close relationships. AffiliateFuture is an international operation, headquartered in London, with supplementary offices in New York and Spain, and is owned and operated by TMN Group plc.

About TMN Group plc

• TMN Group plc (“TMN”) was established in 1999.

• The Group is focused on dominating the online direct marketing sector in the UK and Europe. By exploiting the opportunities that exist in this rapidly growing sector the Group is positioning itself to control more of the advertisers online spend.

• High performance and quality of service are central to the Group’s offering.

• The Group is addressing two core areas:

o Internet Advertising
 Performance Marketing network (AffiliateFuture), full service digital advertising (EDR), and media ownership and representation (TMN Media, IBG Media and TAPPS providing European reach)

o Online Market Research
 Online fieldwork solutions (The iD Factor) and research analysis (ICD Research)

• Market opportunity:
o Over £30bn spent online in 2006, average spend per user over £1,100, up from £816 in 2005 (Source: IMRG 2007)
o Advertising spend migrating
 Over £1.3bn spent on internet advertising in H1 of 2007 (Source: IAB Sept 2007)
 Over 14% of advertising spend allocated to online in H1 (Source: IAB Sept 2007)
 Online spend predicted to be £4.5bn, 30% of all advertising, by 2011 (Source: IAB Sept 2007)
o Online fieldwork migrating
 Faster, more efficient and better targeting than traditional fieldwork delivers to market research
 Predicted to grow to US$4bn spend worldwide over next few years (Source: Camiar study 2006)

• Acquisition history:
o Internet Business Group (IBG), an online advertising and media specialist, acquired in February 2008 to strategically enhance the Group’s service range.
o TAPPS BV, a leading digital direct marketing company in The Netherlands, acquired in January 2008 to provide a platform for the launch of services into European markets.
o iD Factor, a specialist online market research agency, acquired in December 2005.
o EDR, an online interactive advertising agency, acquired in November 2005.

• In April 2007, TMN Group was voted Online Company of the Year at the T-Mobile Growing Business awards.

• For more information please visit the Group’s website at TMN Group - Home

[loquax]

Interesting stuff... nice one!

Jason

[3wdl]

Can anyone explain, in English, now this works? My head hurts after reading that!

[morleymouse]

Can anyone explain, in English, now this works? My head hurts after reading that!

voodoo! but the good sort it seems

[retrolink]

Well done - anything to help affiliates get more tracked commissions is sure to be welcomed.

[getvisible]

Fantastic!

Are you going to do sessions to inform us affiliates and the media what it all means?

p.s.

UK content affiliate network

love it!

[Chris Clarkson]

Intriguing!

When do we get to play with it?

Chris C

[Barry]

Any new technology that improves the process of tracking a sale and awarding the correct bounty is welcomed - even if it does seem to be a trade secret.

Wicked!!

Ta

[loquax]

Now if only you'd give us product feeds with urls already in place..... ;-)

[pistol101]

Are you going to do sessions to inform us affiliates and the media what it all means?

It means we track more sales

If you need more info let me know and i can explain exactly how it works.

When do we get to play with it?

It finally went live this morning, and there is no changes required by merchants .

Now if only you'd give us product feeds with urls already in place..... ;-)

Project Xenon isn't far away from launch - we're doing the whole thing properly

[Travel Pixel]

brilliant.

And project Xenon? Whats that?

[mainlime]

I've been kicking the tyres on this and it looks like what they're doing is misusing the Etag http header to store a unique ID.

A primer: a web browser requests a page from a web server. The response from the server is in two parts. The first part contains the headers. The second part is the actual page. Within the header are various bits of info such as cookies. There's also a bit of info called Etag. This is essentially a number which identifies the version of the file you've requested. Next time the browser requests the same file, it checks this version number and if it's unchanged it doesn't bother downloading the rest of the file again.

It looks like what AF are doing is ignoring the real purpose of the Etag and instead sending a globally unique identifier in the Etag field. The browser then stores this value for use in the process described above.

When the customer who clicked through completes a purchase the code on the merchants site causes the browser to retrieve the same file again sending the Etag value back in the process. AF's servers are then able to link the GUID back to the orginal click through.

It looks like it works in Firefox but not IE6. Don't have access to IE7 at the moment to check.

BTW, I hate software patents. Here's one bit of prior art from five years ago: tracking without cookies

[Rich]

I've been kicking the tyres on this and it looks like what they're doing is misusing the Etag http header to store a unique ID.

I think there should have been a SPOILER warning on that, I was looking forward to figuring it out!

I do agree about the patent. Obviously its good for the company involved but is it in affiliate marketing's best interest to have one network blocking others from using a method of tracking?

[hirschnathan]

Does that mean that if tracking works on tags as of this morning, all click thrus over the last 30 days, which where using cookies, wouldnt convert now?

[mainlime]

I think there should have been a SPOILER warning on that, I was looking forward to figuring it out!

Ooops. Sorry

Does that mean that if tracking works on tags as of this morning, all click thrus over the last 30 days, which where using cookies, wouldnt convert now?

This is in addition to the regular tracking. So shouldn't affect any existing cookies.