What's that I see? A bizrate redesign?

We're excited to announce to our publishers that bizrate^TM has rolled out a redesign, and we think you'll agree that it's oh-so-sweet. The new bizrate^TM brand launched today with a sleek new home page, piping hot search results pages, fresh product pages, and the tagline: search. compare. conquer.

This redesign represents our company's commitment to providing the best and easiest-to-use online shopping experience anywhere.  But what does this mean for publishers? It means you can be confident that when you send your users to bizrate^TM, they'll be able to quickly discover cool products at prices that can't be beaten.

To be clear, the only thing that has changed as it relates to the Shopzilla Publisher Program is the look and feel of bizrate^TM. We'll eventually be updating the branding name and logo on all of our ad units to reflect the new branding, but your earnings are not impacted by this release. Though, we think the site is so awesome, shoppers may just stick around and buy a few more things!

Check it out for yourself, and let us know what you think of the new bizrate^TM!

Stay Connected With The Shopzilla Publisher Program

Hey Publishers,

Are you tired of you hearing Shopzilla Publisher Program news through the grapevine?  Do you want to be the first to know about new categories and content that becomes available without constantly hitting the F5 key to refresh our blog?  If so, take this as a friendly reminder that you can stay up to date on all of our updates by following us on Twitter and Facebook!

Twitter:  You can follow us at @szpublisher.  We'll keep you up to date on everything from industry news to the most recent posts on our blog.  We also occasionally give 'Follow Friday' shout outs to our Publishers.  For those of you on Twitter, send us a message, introduce yourself and we'll keep you informed!  If you're not a part of Twitter, sign up here!

Facebook:  Become a fan of Shopzilla Publisher Program on Facebook.  Keep up with Shopzilla Publisher Program and industry news and meet other Shopzilla Publishers and fans of our program.  Next time you log on to Facebook, become a fan and give us a shout on our wall, we'd love to hear from you!  And for those of you not on Facebook, join here!

We're really looking forward to keeping in touch with our Publishers through social network channels!  If you have any questions or want to see us on an additional social network site, contact us!

FTC Regulates Social Media and Blogs

Hey Publishers,

There was some big news earlier this week!  On Monday, October 5th, the Federal Trade Commission revised its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials.  This was the first time since 1980 the FTC revised its guidelines on these type of advertisements and the first time its rules covered bloggers and social media. Beginning on December 1st, you can be fined up to $11,000 per post that is not properly disclosed!

A main concern of the blogging community is what the FTC considers to be an endorsement.  According to the new guide, any kind of payment given to a blogger to review a product can be labeled as an endorsement.  Also, if the reviewed product was sent to the blogger for free, the blogger must include a disclaimer in the review and/or send the product back because it can also be considered an endorsement.  The FTC feels manufactures have expectations for positive reviews creating conflicts of interest and negatively influencing consumers' purchases.  In an effort to eliminate biased and bogus claims and testimonials (something the FTC has been trying to do since 2007) the FTC aims to make consumers more aware of the relationship between sponsored sellers and bloggers with mandatory disclosures.

So what can stop the FTC from slapping you with a $11,000 fine?  You can read through the 81 page guide or you can go straight to playing it safe and adding disclaimers to your site.  If you are blogging your opinions in exchange for any kind of payment, you must disclose it.  It seems the FTC is heavily regulating blogs and social networks, however, their main focus is on advertisers and maintaining the truth in advertising.  You can expect a much more established set of guidelines in the near future before the rules take effect.

To read more, there was an interesting article within the Huffington Post that clearly breaks out the implications of these regulations in all aspects of social media- from blogs to chat room activity.  You may also want to check out an article from the The Blog of LegalTimes on how the FTC is not out to get you.

Shopzilla Publisher Program Announces German Affiliate Program

Willkommen German affiliates!

Several months ago we announced the release of our UK affiliate program, the Shopzilla UK Publisher Program, offering UK website publishers access to BizRate.co.uk sponsored shopping content. We are excited to announce that we have now additionally launched the beta version of our German affiliate program, the Shopzilla DE Publisher Partnerprogramm!

The Shopzilla DE Publisher Partnerprogramm will offer German website publishers access to a growing universe of Shopzilla.de sponsored shopping content. This program enters the affiliate market with our text link, stock asset, dynamic asset and FTP Data Feed products. In coming months, the German Publisher Portal will undergo further internationalization, and an expanded product offering.

To find out more about the Shopzilla DE Publisher Partnerprogramm, please visit their blog. For those of you who are ready to apply, we invite you to go directly to the Shopzilla DE Publisher Partnerprogramm registration page. Please note that even if you are already participating in another Shopzilla Publisher Program, you will need to apply specifically to the Shopzilla DE Publisher Partnerprogramm for access to Shopzille.de sponsored shopping content.

The Shopzilla Publisher Team

Reporting: Back on Track September 16th

Hey Publishers,

We are pleased to announce that our Publisher Portal reporting is in the process of being rehabilitated.  Over the course of September, we will be releasing improvements throughout our Publisher Portal in order to provide you with estimated earnings, payments and balance reporting data.

The first release of this rehabilitation will encompass estimated earnings data.  You will once again be able to view your daily estimated earnings, both within the Publisher Portal 'Home' page reporting snapshot pod, and the more comprehensive 'View Reports' tool. 

Released: Wednesday, September 16th

Notable Improvements:

- 'View Reports' will allow you to view historic earnings data within a 24-month date range

- Publishers previously unable to view estimated earnings data due to usage of Placement IDs above 99 will be able to view an aggregate total of their estimated earnings, currently labeled as '<not-yet-defined> (#)'

 

- 'View Reports' will allow you to download your estimated earnings data in csv, xls, and xml format (coming soon)

We know that many of you have taken advantage of our offer to manually provide you with comprehensive earnings reports, and hope that you continue to request the reporting that you need throughout this process.  Don't forget to follow us on Twitter for snappy release notifications! 

The Shopzilla Publisher Team

 

Catalog API: Migration Period Ending September 15th

Hey Publishers,

July 1, 2009 we retired our old Catalog API, ending support of this platform.  The old Catalog API platform will NO LONGER be accessible beyond 11:59pm PST September 14, 2009. 

To incorporate sponsored shopping content through the Shopzilla Publisher Program Catalog API beyond September 15th, you must utilize our new Catalog API platform.

The majority of our Catalog API users have completed migration to the new Catalog API platform.  We've made efforts to reach out to each of your individually, and have received much feedback through the course of the migration, implementing several of the features requested.  For tips to help complete your migration, and news on future developments, please tune into the Catalog API section of our blog.

For those of you who are not familiar with our Catalog API, this product provides advanced publishers with intuitive access to BizRate's inventory of cataloged products and merchant offers through a query-based web service accepting various parameters, allowing publishers to filter based on their website's shopping content needs.  Based on these publisher-supplied parameters, customized BizRate shopping content is returned within an XML response.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions, particularly as it relates to your migration to the new Catalog API. 

The Shopzilla Publisher Team

Shopzilla Publisher Program on Twitter

Just as a healthy reminder to all of our Publishers that we are available to be your friend on Twitter. We started using Twitter over a year ago, and it has become a valuable tool for us to share performance announcements, industry news, hints and tips with our Publishers and anyone else interested in seeing what we have to say! We also make note to give 'Follow Friday' shout outs to our Publishers from time to time. If you already use Twitter, send us a message to let us know who you are. That way, we can add you and send any valuable information we think you would appreciate!

Our alias is @szpublisher. See you there!