Dear Partner,

Starting immediately, LinkShare will now pay you weekly, rather than two times per month. In addition, we will pay you on the first dollar you earn, rather than waiting for you to earn over $25 or $50 like other major networks.

By moving to a weekly payment schedule, we are working to help reduce your wait time to receive commissions and effectively double your number of pay days. This is the most publisher-friendly payment plan of the major affiliate networks, and we’re proud that it is ours.

Now is the perfect time to sign up for direct deposit, for more information, please see below. As always, if you have any questions related to your account with LinkShare, please contact our support team.

Best regards,

Stephen Denton
President LinkShare Corporation

Want to get paid even faster? Sign up for LinkShare’s direct deposit. Follow the directions below or visit the Resource Center. While your request is being processed, you will continue to receive your payments via physical check.

Please note: Only publishers in the following countries can sign up for direct deposit: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

1. Wait until your first check clears, go to the Payment Information section of Your Profile and select “Click here if you would like to switch your Preferred Payment Method to Direct Deposit.”
2. Review the Direct Deposit agreement and select “Agree.”
3. Enter your Bank ID, Bank Name and Deposit Account ID in the Payment Information box.
4. Hit the “Update” button at the bottom of the screen.
5. Select “Initiate Random Deposits” in the Payment Information box. Note: LinkShare will issue two random deposits to your account, which can take 7-9 business days to post. *
6. Once these deposits post, you need to come back to the Payment Information area of Your Profile to enter and verify the amounts. *
7. Once verified, you are enabled for direct deposit.

* Steps 5 and 6 only apply to US-based publishers.

LinkShare, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Internet leader Rakuten, today announced that in less than a year in the UK the company has signed 27 advertisers and registered 14,450 publishers in its UK network. LinkShare UK provides e-commerce companies with access to LinkShare’s international marketing network and technology tools, which include pay per action (PPA) affiliate, search and lead generation services.

“LinkShare was founded in 1996 and we have grown our business throughout the world through our ability to drive results and provide a truly global PPA digital media solution for marketers,” said Stephen R. Denton, President of LinkShare. “Our London office is delivering on our commitment to provide any company, whether it’s a multi-national or smaller, rapidly growing local business, the ability to do affiliate marketing, search marketing or lead generation.”

With operations in Japan, the US and Canada, LinkShare UK is signing customers at a time when demand for e-commerce is expected to grow dramatically in Europe. Currently, however, only about half of the top 100 UK retailers offer transaction capability on their Websites, according to research firm IMRG.

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Earn 3% More in Q3 with LinkShare UK Beginning in July, many of our UK advertisers are offering up to an extra 3% commission on top of their baseline commissions. Commissions during this promotion range from 8% up to 15%. This promotion is running through the end of September. Click here for details on advertisers that are offering this special bonus commission.

Follow the instructions below to join the LinkShare UK Network and to start your participation in this rewarding Q3 promotion!

1. Log into your account on www.linkshare.com and choose the Your Account tab.
2. Click on Update Profile.
3. Select your Legal Entity under the Channel Manager on the left. Your Legal Entity has a gray icon next to it and is listed at the top of the Channel Manager.
4. Scroll down to Manage Participating Networks and click on the Manage button.
5. Choose the UK Network, enter your banking information, and hit Update.
6. After you receive the Updated Successfully message, click on your Channel (gray box with the blue bar on top).
7. Scroll down to Web Site Network.
8. Check the box next to the UK Network, and hit Update.
9. Once you have done this, you will see the UK Network as an additional option in the drop down menu under the ‘Home’ tab.

The night prior to LinkShare Symposium, the Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards were hosted by comedian Kevin Meaney. This black-tie awards ceremony honored the extraordinary achievements of LinkShare partners in e-commerce. From a pool of over 150 nominees, three finalists were selected in each category. A group of third party industry experts was appointed by LinkShare to its E-Commerce Committee to judge the entries and select the winners.

Winners of the 2007 LinkShare Golden Link Awards are:

Innovative Affiliate of the Year: StarStyle
Innovative Merchant of the Year: Gaiam
Best New Affiliate: Discover Card
Best New Merchant: ProFlowers
Merchant’s Choice Award: Upromise
Affiliate’s Choice Award: TigerDirect
International Merchant of the Year: Boden
Best Performance-Based Search Strategy: Gardener’s Supply Company
Best Online Merchandising Campaign: American Express and TigerDirect
Best Integrated Online-Offline Marketing: Fabu.com and GSI Commerce
Best Overall Online Distribution Strategy: Avon
Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate: AffiliateFairPlay.com

Congratulations to all the LinkShare Golden Link Award winners for their achievements in the performance-based marketing industry! Click here to see pictures from this special evening.

LinkShare Symposium 2007 was one of the best ever, with more than 650 leading executives from the world’s most innovative e-commerce companies coming together for a day of learning, exchanging of ideas, and networking. The theme for this year’s event was Performance Marketing 2.0: Innovation and Collaboration.

LinkShare President, Stephen Denton, opened the conference by welcoming attendees and introducing LinkShare Showcase, LinkShare’s new ad network offering, and Traffic Strategies.com, our recent acquisition that will expand Lead Advantage, our lead generation business.

Keynote speaker Don Tapscott, Chief Executive of New Paradigm and best-selling author of Wikinomics, spoke about transformations happening on the Internet, and the impact on information and communication technologies in business and society. TrendWatch 2007, a panel of experts assembled to debate and discuss innovation on the web today, delivered highly compelling perspectives on trends shaping today’s online world.

One of the biggest benefits of attending the LinkShare Symposium is the opportunity for online partners to meet face-to-face. From networking in the meeting hall to LinkShare DealMaker tables, advertisers and publishers made new connections and built better business relationships throughout the day. LinkShare Symposium 2007 ended with friends and colleagues taking in the breath-taking views of Manhattan on the boat party cruise.

We would like to thank those who attended LinkShare Symposium 2007 and our sponsors for their generous contributions. To help us continue to provide valuable industry events, please take a moment to share your comments and suggestions by completing our online feedback survey.

Click here to see pictures from LinkShare Symposium 2007.

Just back from Miami and the well attended Affiliate Summit. After going to Commission Junction University, the LinkShare Symposium and Webmaster World, in the realm of affiliates: Affiliate Summit is tops. I think it is partly due to no one company governs the activity at Affiliate Summit and that the ideas are easily shared and the networking was open and plentiful as a result.

The breakout sessions were really great and many times people actually left the bar to attend them.

Of note was a session that included Randy Almond from Walmart.com, Jake Bailey from Overstock, Andy Bajoras from move marketing, Paul Nichols from eBates and it was narrated by Keri Pollard of CJ. Randy and Jake gave the best description of well balanced programs for PPC affiliates I have yet to hear. Hopefully the video will get posted soon and I’ll add the link in a future post.

The last session on the last day, though not well attended, featured Scott Polk, head of SEO for Edmunds.com, Todd Henley of SiteLead (a PPC affiliate) and Brook Schaaf of Schaaf Consulting- an OPM for 10 affiliate programs. They went up and down the scale of how to work with affiliates, SEO and PPC in nature. Great insights and intelligently presented from all sides. Included in the discussions were stories of PPC affiliates taking over as the PPC “team”, supplanting a both agencies and in-house groups for some merchants. I didn’t make this up as I talked to numerous PPC affiliates that are being approached to manage PPC programs for merchants.

And as if I am not stirring up even more of a hornets nest, I received this from Commission Junction today:

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gsi interactive(SM), the marketing services division of GSI Commerce Inc. , was honored with the 2007 Best Integrated Online-Offline Marketing award by LinkShare during the fourth annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards. GSI won the affiliate marketing award for work on a Toysrus.com campaign.

The award was presented to GSI in conjunction with Fabu.com for success in utilizing offline channels to drive online revenue and build awareness of Toysrus.com during the 2006 holiday season.

“We’re proud to be recognized for our expertise in the affiliate marketing arena,” said Gerry McGoldrick, GSI’s vice president of marketing services. “GSI helps our partners identify and implement successful multichannel strategies, and our success with this campaign continues to demonstrate this capability.”

gsi interactive provides interactive design, user experience, digital photography, content, e-mail marketing, search and other online marketing services to more than 50 of GSI’s 60-plus partners.

Fabu.com is an Internet marketing organization that provides online shoppers with a convenient “shopping center” to save on purchases through the use of coupons and discounts, many of those being exclusive to Fabu.com.

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Don’t miss out on this year’s exciting events at the LinkShare Symposium 2007 “Performance Marketing 2.0: Innovation and Collaboration” on June 19-20 in New York City. On Tuesday, June 19, LinkShare will celebrate industry achievements and trailblazers at the 2007 Fourth Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards. We received an overwhelming number of nominations within twelve award categories. Winners will be selected by LinkShare’s E-Commerce Committee and announced at the black-tie awards gala hosted by Emmy Award winning comedian Kevin Meaney! Click here to see this year’s finalists.

On Wednesday, June 20, LinkShare Symposium 2007 morning sessions will include opening remarks by LinkShare President, Stephen Denton who will share exciting innovative developments from LinkShare. Keynote speaker Don Tapscott, Chief Executive of New Paradigm and best-selling author of Wikinomics, will speak about how mass collaboration affects innovation and partnerships on the web today. Following, this year’s TrendWatch 2007 Panel will discuss innovative trends in ecommerce today. Panelists include Ken Eisner, Vice President, Marketing, Shop.org; Sara Holoubek, Free Agent and Columnist; Karen Parrish, Vice President, BI Solutions, IBM; Lisa Picarille, Editor-in-Chief, Revenue Magazine; and moderator David Liu, Managing Director, Jefferies & Company, Inc.

Throughout the day, LinkShare affiliates and merchants will have extensive opportunities to learn about innovation and collaboration in performance marketing and to network during activities like the LinkShare Boat Cruise and LinkShare DealMaker. Click here to see the 2007 DealMaker Hosts.

Space is almost sold out! Passes to the conference are $495 each and tickets to the awards dinner are $350 each. Limited passes are still available -reserve your space now and join us for the premiere event in affiliate marketing. Click here to register!

The LinkShare Symposium 2007 sponsors include Platinum Sponsor Chase; Technology Partner Sponsor IBM; Gold Sponsor American Express; Preferred Partner Sponsors Bingham McCutchen LLP and LinkShare Japan; and Silver Sponsor Walmart.com.

For more information on LinkShare Symposium 2007, CLICK HERE

Revenue Magazine Finalist for the LinkShare Golden Link “Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate” Award

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — 06/01/07 — Revenue, the leading publication devoted to profit-making Web strategies, has been selected as one of three finalists for the LinkShare Golden Link “Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate” Award.

LinkShare’s award for “Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate” is given to a company or individual with the greatest influence within the performance marketing industry. Former winners of this prestigious honor include: Connie Berg, FlamingoWorld.com and The OverStock.com team (2004); Mike Hyland, EcomCity.com (2005); and Shawn Collins, Affiliate Summit co-founder (2006).

“We are honored to be recognized and included with such a great group of industry leaders in the performance marketing space,” says Lisa Picarille, publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Revenue. “Online marketing is such an exciting and vibrant community and being able to participate in a way that has a positive influence is very gratifying.”

The award winners will be announced at the 4th Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards gala in New York City on Tuesday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m., the evening before the LinkShare Symposium 2007.

For a complete list of 2007 nominees, go HERE:

To get your free subscription to Revenue go to Revenue’s website.

About Revenue

Revenue magazine is a bimonthly magazine focusing on all aspects of the online marketing experience, including key business strategies, innovative marketing methods, effective online advertising techniques and emerging trends in technology. It offers unrivaled coverage of affiliate marketing techniques, search technologies, online fraud prevention and interactive advertising, branding and marketing. It is the only hard-copy magazine covering these issues for online marketers, affiliates, merchants, agencies and networks. Revenue and its companion website (RevenueToday.com) are published by Montgomery Media International (MMI), a division of Montgomery Research, Inc.

Press Contacts
Yvonne Schellerup
Marketing Director
Tel: 415-397-2400
Email Contact

News Release
From: LinkShare Corporation

LinkShare, Leading Pay-Per-Action Marketing Network, Acquires Online Lead Generation Firm Traffic Strategies.com

NEW YORK, June 4, 2007 – LinkShare Corporation, a leading pay-per-action marketing network, announced today that it has acquired Traffic Strategies.com, a privately held Tampa, Florida-based online lead generation firm.

The acquisition expands LinkShare’s lead generation capabilities, continues the international expansion of Rakuten, LinkShare’s parent company, and accelerates the growth of LinkShare’s online lead generation business. LinkShare will incorporate Traffic Strategies.com’s lead generation expertise into the company’s existing business and extend its lead generation service offerings.

“LinkShare’s pay-per-action marketing expertise across affiliate, search, and services will be complemented by Traffic Strategies.com’s expertise in online lead generation,” said Stephen R. Denton, President of LinkShare. “In addition to the high quality traffic generated by our network, LinkShare will now be able to offer our clients a multi-channel distribution platform for online lead generation.”

Established in 1996, LinkShare Corporation provides its clients with a platform that integrates high quality direct response digital media, services and technology. The company’s products and services span affiliate, search and other online marketing programs. LinkShare clients are Fortune 500 and prominent companies who want to maximize their marketing on the Internet.

Founded in 2001, Traffic Strategies.com develops and implements custom lead generation programs that leverage industry expertise, proprietary technology and consumer-facing channels to help clients achieve their online customer acquisition goals.

“By joining with LinkShare, a firm with global operations, Traffic Strategies.com will gain access to new markets,” said Mark McClure, President of Traffic Strategies.com, “as well as broader technology and service resources.”

While Traffic Strategies.com Chairman William C. McClure plans to retire after a 30 year career, Traffic Strategies.com’s senior management team including Mark McClure, will remain with the company to help drive the growth of LinkShare’s lead generation business.

About LinkShare Corporation

LinkShare Corporation provides ecommerce businesses with a vast, high quality pay-per-action marketing network, along with expert consultative services and patented technology. LinkShare’s cost-efficient pay per action (PPA) affiliate, search and lead generation campaigns acquire new customers, increase revenue and drive results. LinkShare clients are Fortune 500 and prominent companies doing business online, including J.C. Penney, 1-800-Flowers.com, American Express, Avon Products and Dell. LinkShare was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in New York City, with offices in San Francisco, Chicago, London and Tokyo.

LinkShare is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rakuten, Inc. Headquartered in Tokyo, Rakuten is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive Internet service companies, providing leading services in e-commerce, portal & media, travel, financial services, and professional sports. Rakuten focuses on new business development and increasing its scope in order to improve and diversify service offerings. Rakuten is a publicly traded company in Japan (JASDAQ: 4755).