IQ / Crush : Is MOBILE dead ?
- Thread starter the Big L
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I'm not sure to call this spam or brand whoring, but either way, I don't think networks are allowed to self promote themselves like this.
Within 2 weeks from today, we will publically become a fully blown network.
What's your IPO? Is this considered insider trading?
You gotta give Eli and Yep credit for something here. What other network do you know of would come here and tell us that the sole niche they promote is dead? All of Yep's revenue is based on mobile offers.
I honestly think that Big L is trying to start a discussion here about this niche.
On a sidenote, Yep rocks and I've already ran some of their private (non mobile) offers. No one will work harder to make you happy then these guys. Also, no network has EVER paid me as fast.
you guys need to fuck off Elias has taken way better care of me than any other network. Before I was doing 1-2k IQ leads a day, he was there for me with daily wires and taking time to ensure all my questions were answered. He always credited me fast when merchants had problems too.
I agree The Big L - We've done a lot of Mobile offers, and that old gray mare ain't what she used to be.
Big L (Elias) is a respectable guy, YEP is a great network to work with; we've made a lot of $$$ with them in the past, so my opinion is probably biased.
YEP is probably the most honest and straight forward network I've ever worked with:
With respect to mobile offers specifically, I don't necessarily see them dying, just becoming much harder for affiliates to promote.
I think you can hit on a few key reasons why mobile offers, including ringtones, horoscopes, and everything in between, are becoming less attractive offers for affiliates to promote:
No industry-standard compliance
Google wants a checkbox on the the first page before any personal information (i.e. name, gender, phone number, etc) is sent. Most internal compliance teams - including the carriers - want it before PIN confirmation.
The mobile carriers
Between AT&T lowering it's rebill to $9.99 (from $19.99), Sprint/Nextel/Boost being in and out of the game all the time, Verizon being chargeback-happy, and many more reasons, the carriers themselves have made it very difficult to continue with business as usual.
Cost of traffic
On some Social Networking sites, it just isn't financially feasible to run PPC to mobile offers. Between MySpace's shitty traffic quality and .25/click pricing, it's essentially impossible for affiliates to profit. Facebook you can make a buck or two but the competition is so high, it's like a marginal race to the bottom, the winner is whoever is willing to take the last amount home.
The economy
Hate to say it, but the mobile industry isn't is not unaffected by the recession. Whether you're marketing crush offers to teens or sports ringtones to adults, there are plenty of family come-to-jesus meetings all around the country as families re evaulate their budgets and reforce frugality.
Market saturation
There is obviously not a long-term market here; this is get in while the getting's good. This is (...was?) a short-lived industry, not only because of saturation but also because of the lack of substance, which leads me to....
Substance of offers
Excluding Ringtone offers here. At least with ringtones, you knew when you signed up you were going to get the ringtone that you were interested in. Want an eminem ringtone? It may be digital but it's something of substance and a product that many people value. Crush? Telling young teens that they are going to find out who has a crush on them is obviously very deceptive, and there's simply no value to the user.
Anyway, that's my two cents on the state of the mobile industry. Personally I'm still promoting mobile but not nearly as heavy as in years prior.
(BTW, I'm not saying that advertisers aren't still doing hundred thousand dollar media buys and there are still a handful of people laughing all the way to the bank. Plenty of folks are still making a killing mobile. )
YEP is probably the most honest and straight forward network I've ever worked with:
- Easy to get ahold of Elias, even at 3AM
- Any issues resolved immediately
- Compensated for losses when advertiser was down
- Compensation for for my banks wire transfer fees
- The fact that I sometimes owned YEP money - rounding up to the nearest 1,000 or 10,000 (if you're doing enough volume)
With respect to mobile offers specifically, I don't necessarily see them dying, just becoming much harder for affiliates to promote.
I think you can hit on a few key reasons why mobile offers, including ringtones, horoscopes, and everything in between, are becoming less attractive offers for affiliates to promote:
No industry-standard compliance
Google wants a checkbox on the the first page before any personal information (i.e. name, gender, phone number, etc) is sent. Most internal compliance teams - including the carriers - want it before PIN confirmation.
The mobile carriers
Between AT&T lowering it's rebill to $9.99 (from $19.99), Sprint/Nextel/Boost being in and out of the game all the time, Verizon being chargeback-happy, and many more reasons, the carriers themselves have made it very difficult to continue with business as usual.
Cost of traffic
On some Social Networking sites, it just isn't financially feasible to run PPC to mobile offers. Between MySpace's shitty traffic quality and .25/click pricing, it's essentially impossible for affiliates to profit. Facebook you can make a buck or two but the competition is so high, it's like a marginal race to the bottom, the winner is whoever is willing to take the last amount home.
The economy
Hate to say it, but the mobile industry isn't is not unaffected by the recession. Whether you're marketing crush offers to teens or sports ringtones to adults, there are plenty of family come-to-jesus meetings all around the country as families re evaulate their budgets and reforce frugality.
Market saturation
There is obviously not a long-term market here; this is get in while the getting's good. This is (...was?) a short-lived industry, not only because of saturation but also because of the lack of substance, which leads me to....
Substance of offers
Excluding Ringtone offers here. At least with ringtones, you knew when you signed up you were going to get the ringtone that you were interested in. Want an eminem ringtone? It may be digital but it's something of substance and a product that many people value. Crush? Telling young teens that they are going to find out who has a crush on them is obviously very deceptive, and there's simply no value to the user.
Anyway, that's my two cents on the state of the mobile industry. Personally I'm still promoting mobile but not nearly as heavy as in years prior.
(BTW, I'm not saying that advertisers aren't still doing hundred thousand dollar media buys and there are still a handful of people laughing all the way to the bank. Plenty of folks are still making a killing mobile. )
I tried mobile and YepRevenue not too long ago and couldn't really get it to work with any stability, however I like your network and my affiliate manager was good so I look forward to promoting your offers in the future!
Oh Big L - let me answer your question publicly and then I'll hit you up later with some specifics.
Integrity
Continue your stance as a network of integrity. I know that I can show you our marketing plan from A to Z and that you won't copy it or inform your network of publishers. I think you can agree, this open relationship of trust has really worked out in both of our favor.
Don't Push Neg-Option Rebills Too Hard
Don't bet your future on scammy negative-option rebill offers. Plenty of networks have made hundreds of millions of dollars each year and these networks will still be here when this current fire fizzles out.
Frankly, I'm quite sick of being hit up by Networks on a daily basis "Oh we have this new skin cream offer, this new Acai offer, new detox offer, bla bla bla" These networks are like a crack addict who've had their crack taken away. It's time to get healthy again and start promoting offers which add value, which brings me to...
Publisher Quality
Don't just approve every application that hits your desk. If you focus on building a network of high-quality pubs that drive higher quality traffic, you're advertisers will see better ROI, which means better payouts and commissions for you and your pubs.
Offer Quality
Focus on offers that add value to people's lives; things that folks really need and are willing to pay for.
This sounds corny as hell, but if you look at the recent craze that are generally labeled as scams with regards to acai, grants, etc. These offers simply do not add any value to people's lives; they do nothing but take away.
Anyway I'm just rambling off the top of my head, hit me up on aim or cell if you want some more billion dollar advice.
Integrity
Continue your stance as a network of integrity. I know that I can show you our marketing plan from A to Z and that you won't copy it or inform your network of publishers. I think you can agree, this open relationship of trust has really worked out in both of our favor.
Don't Push Neg-Option Rebills Too Hard
Don't bet your future on scammy negative-option rebill offers. Plenty of networks have made hundreds of millions of dollars each year and these networks will still be here when this current fire fizzles out.
Frankly, I'm quite sick of being hit up by Networks on a daily basis "Oh we have this new skin cream offer, this new Acai offer, new detox offer, bla bla bla" These networks are like a crack addict who've had their crack taken away. It's time to get healthy again and start promoting offers which add value, which brings me to...
Publisher Quality
Don't just approve every application that hits your desk. If you focus on building a network of high-quality pubs that drive higher quality traffic, you're advertisers will see better ROI, which means better payouts and commissions for you and your pubs.
Offer Quality
Focus on offers that add value to people's lives; things that folks really need and are willing to pay for.
This sounds corny as hell, but if you look at the recent craze that are generally labeled as scams with regards to acai, grants, etc. These offers simply do not add any value to people's lives; they do nothing but take away.
Anyway I'm just rambling off the top of my head, hit me up on aim or cell if you want some more billion dollar advice.
I had issues getting the mobile offers at Yep to convert, but I will say they were always helpful and professional. I would most certainly use them in the future, with new offers.
Just want to say.. Yep! Revenue was the first network I joined, Yep! Jamie has always been good to me, and I think it's awesome you guys are going in more offers. Looking forward to trying them out 
Even though I failed miserably at getting their mobile offers to convert Yep!Jaime has been wonderful and still hits me up from time to time to let me know anything new going on with the network.
Ive been with yep for a bit now, pretty much sending them traffic through FB. I like how they pay you whenver you need it...It converts well with me, so i dunno whats going on with you guys? Just ask the AM which offer they perfer, they always giving me tips even in the wee hours of the morning. Oh and i also like that they dont charge wire transfer fees! A big reason i think mobile is dying is because of FB everyone was on the FB bandwagon...with there.01 min bid, you could turn a nice profit. Now its almost impossible to get mobile offers on FB, but if theres a will theres a way. Im looking forward to see what kind of offers they have coming
When you're the pimp you don't need to whore..as the owner of Yep! Eli's a class act, always made sure I got paid on time and always asking if there were any offers I'd like to see on the board... you tell me what the hell a forum is for if someone can't start a simple thread about the changes in the industry, especially if those major changes involve 99% of your inventory..
And as the owner of Yep I doubt his sig would point to his competition..
Very good points made by aim. True, and well said.
And as far as Elias and the YEP guy goes - they are simply awesome. They take care of their pubs like very, very few other networks do. I can assure you Elias didn't intend to spam by posting this. They don't have a need to pimp their network here.
I do also think we're gonna see some changes in the mobile offers. It is obvious that the current types of offers are not gonna last forever. But different mobile services will develop as more advanced phones become common household, and new ways of billing get implemented internationally.
I don't know about the US, but here we have plenty of public and commercial services (and products) that can be paid for simply by sending a text message with a code to a reserved phone number. Publishers could set up their own exclusive number, to which consumers could send a text message payment and pay for a product delivered to their door - or for a service.
There is no need to send shipping address, etc. as the carrier already has the information. Billing is quick and orders can be made from anywhere.
I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far. Google and FB on the other hand may open up more once the offers become more legit. You can't really blame them for hitting the current mobile offers hard. Dumb teens never read the TOS and think everything is free. Parents are left with rebills on their cellphone bills and get pissed at the ad networks for allowing it.
But again - I can surely recommend YEP to people here on Wickedfire. If you're not signed up yet - do yourself the favor. You're in for a treat. Heck, sign up under my aff. link on my blog if you like..
(Btw, when it comes to running mobile - props also go to Mike at Firelead for providing some fine, converting mobile offers and truly great and personal service)
And as far as Elias and the YEP guy goes - they are simply awesome. They take care of their pubs like very, very few other networks do. I can assure you Elias didn't intend to spam by posting this. They don't have a need to pimp their network here.
I do also think we're gonna see some changes in the mobile offers. It is obvious that the current types of offers are not gonna last forever. But different mobile services will develop as more advanced phones become common household, and new ways of billing get implemented internationally.
I don't know about the US, but here we have plenty of public and commercial services (and products) that can be paid for simply by sending a text message with a code to a reserved phone number. Publishers could set up their own exclusive number, to which consumers could send a text message payment and pay for a product delivered to their door - or for a service.
There is no need to send shipping address, etc. as the carrier already has the information. Billing is quick and orders can be made from anywhere.
I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far. Google and FB on the other hand may open up more once the offers become more legit. You can't really blame them for hitting the current mobile offers hard. Dumb teens never read the TOS and think everything is free. Parents are left with rebills on their cellphone bills and get pissed at the ad networks for allowing it.
But again - I can surely recommend YEP to people here on Wickedfire. If you're not signed up yet - do yourself the favor. You're in for a treat. Heck, sign up under my aff. link on my blog if you like..
(Btw, when it comes to running mobile - props also go to Mike at Firelead for providing some fine, converting mobile offers and truly great and personal service)
self promotion much?
come on people...this would probably work on any other forum except one occupied by people who do this for a LIVING.
come on people...this would probably work on any other forum except one occupied by people who do this for a LIVING.
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