Impact Radius to battle affiliate networks?

Today saw the affiliate industry move further down the path which aims to cut out the “middle man” and move more towards a self service solution. If you managed to attend my session at this year’s a4uexpo you would have heard the panel on the day discuss the question “are affiliate networks dying?” We rattled through a wide a variety of topics covering network evolution to commercial restructures as well as a recent trend to work with private networks or white label technology.

Hot off the press today then…

LONDON, January 11, 2010: Impact Radius (www.impactradius.com) today unveils its new platform, featuring online negotiation features and open, centralised directory, which will revolutionise the Performance Advertising industry by directly connecting Advertisers and Media Partners in the delivery of campaigns across TV, radio, print, outdoor and online media channels.

The new multi-channel Performance Advertising platform centres around an open directory listing all Advertisers, Media Partners and Agencies working in the Performance Advertising space, plus advanced tools and technology built specifically for, and with, Advertisers and Media Partners in mind. Third-party intervention and non-disclosure are therefore no longer necessary, as partnerships can be defined and negotiated directly online.

See how this ties in?

Having spoken to Impact Radius a few months back as they were gearing for launch and looking for initial partners I was excited to see a product such as this come to market. In my opinion it’s long over due and is set to empower those who want to take full control, know what they are doing and get down to business with minimal fuss – and minimal fees!

Depending on whether you are a network, agency or affiliate you’ll either hate this or absolutely love it. To affiliates it’s a chance to work closer with the brands you promote and potentially earn greater commissions (as network override rates for the client are lower) but for networks it represents a real threat should top tier performers migrate across to the platform and work direct.

Let’s not get too carried away though, it’s only day one and there’s a heck of a long way to go if Impact Radius want to gain any kind of market share. Private, white label or self managed solutions have been available in the market place for years and indeed there are some very well established players such as Direct Track and TradeDoubler with their TD Integral solution which for some will work out to be more cost effective and arguably product more suited to their needs. What makes Impact Radius slightly different in my opinion are those behind the scenes who really know their stuff, old skool industry folks like Per Petterson and Todd Crawford. Todd had this to say…

Having been at the forefront of the global Digital Advertising space for many years, we have continually monitored this industry, its development and needs. We recognise that Performance Advertising continues to gain significant momentum. However, its technology and supporting business processes have not necessarily evolved at the same pace. This disparity between the opportunities and resources limits growth and revenue within the industry.

Continues Crawford:

Seeing an opportunity, we asked ourselves how can we make a great advertising model better? Our answer is Impact Radius, which changes the Performance Advertising landscape entirely by providing Performance Advertisers and Media Partners a technology solution to discover, define and connect directly to maximise profits across all media channels.

From what I’ve seen so far the platform looks clean, feels slick in it’s operation and has some great features. Ultimately it comes down to bottom line and performance. It’ll take a while to build a publisher market place and for merchants and agencies to bring campaigns to the table but as the market becomes more competitive and clients look for more advance solutions, 2010 could be the year that a few networks are caught napping and the wheel and wake up to find a new form of competitor on their door step.

Lot’s of others talkign about Impact Radius today if you want to find out more…

• Q&A: Todd Crawford of Impact Radius
• Impact Radius launches today!
• New Network Impact Radius
• Impact Radius to Cause a Wave in the UK Affiliate Market?

Would be great to hear your toughts. A network killer or complementary tool to use with your existing network programme?

Thanks
Paul