Saying "HI" to Gonzo...

[kath]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

kath, a lot of things have changed just in the last 12 months. The business became very fractured along the lines of "bros / not bros" and "cross billing / not cross billing" etc. Unlike in the past where people would stand up for the ideas, the majority of the playahs in that sort of stuff pretty much ignore comments, deal with their "bros", and don't really do anything in public. Many programs have also gone down the line in in house traffic generation, although many of them aren't doing very well with it.

Many people have burned out and died off. Webmaster resources have sort of become an oxymoron, because most of them ended up filled with misinformation, "bros lures", and all sorts of other tricks. As the money became a little thinner, the more desperate ones did some pretty desperate things, and disappeared. Many of the marginal players are gone. Even CE, which always played the webmaster card pretty much dumped their chat system and went quiet, no longer seeming to want to be part of the social fabric.

Margins shifted, consumers have become more and more wise to fraud, and are less likely to pull out their card to buy. Selecting sponsors and programs to work with is more key now than it ever was.

Welcome back, it ain't the same old place that we use to laugh about, but we try to have a good time at it anyway.

Wow. I can always count on you to "tell it like it is" Alex - I've always admired that about you.

Yeah, CE is the one that surprised me the most - being there @ the beginning of ANS, coming over from the Pond, I know that webmasters used to be an integral part of the organization - newbies, specifically. I remember writing an article titled, "The Webmaster is King" - it was the first one I wrote when JoeD came on board to Klixxx. It was filled with all the ways that affiliate programs work to attract webmasters - not just payouts, free content, prizes/incentives, but access to parties and events @ the expos. They really went ALL OUT back in the day to "court" webmasters into their programs. The in-house thing is interesting because I think one of my last articles @ Klixxx talked about that possibility, it seemed even back then that some companies were "pulling back" from webmasters.

Would love to write about the change in the landscape for our new publication - would you be interested in an interview? I could use some "raw" quotes (pardon the pun) and I think a lot of others here @ Oprano would be good sources as well. Glad to see SOME things haven't changed.