Happy Independence Day!  You should be out enjoying a parade, a nice BBQ, or some spectacular fireworks!  I’ll forgive you if you’ve chosen to give my innocent blog a quick view amidst all the celebration though .

• A few months ago, Google officially acquired DoubleClick Performics, an affiliate network. This week they’ve rebranded as Google Affiliate Network.  Shawn Collins wrote up his perspective on this – definitely seems to be a step in the right direction for the reputation of affiliate marketing.
• Last week I mentioned an irresponsible attack on the PMA by Shoemoney.  Swift to clear up any confusion, the team posted What Exactly Is Affiliate Classroom’s Role in the PMA?

That’s it!  Go forth and have fun this 4th!

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The innovative part involves the distribution plan. Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for the Family Guy target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a “Cavalcade” video clip.

This is definitely a step in the right direction for internet video and monetizing it. Google has already admitted that they don’t know how to monetize YouTube, so this is a fresh look. And just yesterday they re-branded their recent acquisition DoubleClick Performics as the Google Affiliate Network, so this is definitely exciting news.

As it turns out, it won’t actually BE Family Guy (sad for me) but a new show called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy”.

read more | digg story

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June is here, which means the “Amazon Tax” law, as it’s been dubbed, is now in effect. Merchants with affiliates residing in New York state will now have to charge tax on orders of customers in New York. In short, the state of NY has decided that affiliates constitute nexus, i.e. a term used to describe whether a business has sufficient presence or activity in a state or other taxing jurisdiction to become subject to the tax(es) of the state or jurisdiction. So now in NY state online retailers with affiliates residing in that state have to charge tax, regardless of where their corporate headquarters actually are. Some good links that explain this better than I ever could are to TechCrunch’s May 14th post and Scott Jangro’s May 22nd podcast.

So many of the larger online merchants with a large number of affiliates in NY have made the decision to drop their affiliates who reside in NY. The great folks over at ABestWeb.com Affiliate Forums have kept a running list of the merchants who’ve dissed their NY affiliates. So if you’re from NY, be aware that these merchants may not approve your application if you apply in the near future.

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