The agenda for the A4uExpo London 2009 Affiliate Marketing Conference has been released today and what a full on jam packed event it is going to be.

This will be the third A4uExpo in London and their second event of 2009 after the successful foray in mainland Europe with the Amsterdam conference earlier in the year.

Here is the full press release that accompanied today’s agenda announcement.

AFFILIATE MARKETING MUST UP ITS GAME TO SURVIVE, ACCORDING TO A4UEXPO SPEAKERS

The Affiliate Marketing sector must up its game if it is to remain the channel of choice in the current economic climate, according to some of the industry’s most experienced practitioners who are scheduled to speak at this year’s a4uexpo London event.

With sessions highlighting the need for embracing new technology and innovation as well as redefining roles within the £4bn industry, this year’s a4uexpo London Affiliate Marketing event looks set to ensure everyone is aware of the threats as well as the opportunities facing the channel.

Matthew Wood, founder and organiser of a4uexpo, says:

“Now is not the time for complacency and this year’s conference agenda is packed full of ideas and insights to help all parties working in this industry ensure it remains the channel of choice for Online Marketing.”

With sessions including a revealing insight from eBay about the decision behind the introduction of its new Quality Pricing Model; conversion benefits from getting product feeds right; and the future role third party apps can play within the sector, there will also be presentations from some of the leading Affiliate Marketing specialists across the globe giving hints and tips on how they would establish themselves if they were now entering the market for the first time.

The two-day educational conference, which is being held at ExCel London on October 13-14, includes a mix of formal presentations, panel discussions and hands-on workshops, and has been devised to enlighten new starters through to experienced AM practitioners.

With over 40 industry speaks from the Affiliate Marketing, Search, Analytics, Conversion and Social Media arenas, the event brings together an unrivalled team of International and UK-based Affiliate Marketing experts & Online Marketing professionals. Highlights also include:

• Intriguing survey results analysing the purchasing habits surrounding the increasing use of Voucher Codes
• Commission Junction founder and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Per Pettersen on the market’s development and possible routes for future growth
• Ewan Darby from Ogilvy and BA’s Eve Ireland on the role AM plays in the wider Marketing mix
• How to thrive in Affiliate Marketing from buy.at head Michael Steckler
• Bronco’s Dave Naylor’s tips on successful SEO strategies to get a head start in new niches or competitive verticals
• A look at the changing role of Networks from progressive Affiliate Network affilinet
• The role of Affiliates within the purchase chain and adding value, from i-level’s Matt Bailey
• Expert panels on utilising Social Media and Analytics, both moderated by Jon Myers at MediaVest
• Strategies for increasing Affiliate Paid Search earnings from Super Affiliate Sri Sharma
• An Extreme SEO debate from black and white hat industry gurus
• Risk Management skills for Affiliates from More Niche founder Andrew Slack

Matthew adds:

“The aim of a4uexpo is to equip delegates with cutting-edge information on best management practises, complementary channel activity, useful tools as well as expert views on the market and its future potential. This year’s agenda will do just that, and with some surprise speakers yet to be announced, our delegates will be crawling home after their two days of networking, learning and deal breaking!”

Full details regarding the a4uexpo London conference programme, including information on timings & speakers, go to www.a4uexpo.com/london

Axel Springer and PubliGroupe conjointly have bought a 50.1% share of Digital Window Ltd the parent company of Affiliate Window one of the leading UK affiliate networks, which is the largest European market for performance based internet marketing.

This acquisition strengthens the position of  Axel Springer and PubliGroupe in the online marketing sector as the the two companies already jointly own the German based internet services provider Zanox.

Kevin Brown, founder and CEO of Digital Window Ltd, who will continue to manage the company, announced:

“I am delighted to partner with Axel Springer and PubliGroupe, two of the most successful European media companies. Working together will create some fantastic opportunities for Digital Window, which my team and I are very excited about.”

I am certain that this acquisition is very positive for UK affiliate marketing as a whole and that Digital Window will continue to go from strength to strength.

This move is not entirely out of the blue and it continues the theme of consolidation within the industry most notably when Buy.at was acquired by AOL in February 2008. Incidentally AOL have recently announced that they are dropping the Buy.at and Platform-A brand names, hopefully Axel Springer and PubliGroupe will not do the same to Digital Window and Affiliate Window.

Here is the latest update from the @AffiliateBlogs twitter account which automatically retweets from Internet Marketing Blogs .

The twitter account currently has 1005  followers which I am happy with as we reached a peak of almost 1200 then twitter culled a load of spam accounts which dropped the total back below the thousand.

This is what has been popular throughout July.

Top 10 Tweets via @AffiliateBlogs in July 2009

Four new blogs have been added to the mix recently.

The Marketing Mix

BFG’s Blog – Affiliate Stuff – Random blurb from BFG 9000

Messy Desk = Busy Mind

SEO Chicks – The SEO Blog with attitude