Choosing an Affiliate Network Provider (ClickZ, October 20th)
This article weighs up the strengths and weaknesses of each of the leading affiliate managers, from the point of view of a prospective merchant.

Advertisers Look Inward (The Industry Standard, October 17th)
As the growth in online ad spending begins to stagnate, marketers are going back to the drawing board to re-think brand building on the Web.

Analyst: A Bumpy Ride Ahead for Online Advertising (internet.com, October 16th)
Merrill Lynch's Henry Blodget has responded to recent earnings releases and estimates made by DoubleClick and Yahoo with his own forecasts for the online ad industry. He estimates that the downturn will be sharp, with ad rates plummeting between Q3 2000 and Q2 2001, before slowly gaining throughout the balance of 2001.

History of Affiliate Marketing (ClickZ, October 11th)
This article is particularly amusing for a few reasons. Deliberately, it pokes fun at Jeff Bezos for mistakingly stating that Amazon.com's affiliate program was the first on the Web. Then, the author steps on his own foot in a similar fashion by claiming that Refer-It was the first directory/review site dedicated to affiliate marketing, while many of you are aware that your own Net-Ads has been serving that space since late 1996. Oh well, can't win them all ;)

CPA: Winners and Losers (ClickZ, October 6th)
CPA (cost-per-action) campaigns promise advertisers a win-win solution in their quest for leads or sales. Publishers, however, have to weigh up their options pertaining to this method of revenue generation. A test run by the author of this article found that the most profitable ads, on an effective-CPM basis, are those that provide a simple sign up process. He also found that email was the preferred medium of distribution for this type of response-based message.

DoubleClick Tilts the Playing Field (ClickZ, October 5th)
Two major acquisitions by DoubleClick have created ripples through the online advertising industry. The first is audience tracking firm @plan; the second NetCreations - who tun the massive PostMasterDirect email marketing firm.

Ad Revenue Keeps Breaking Records (internet.com, October 3rd)
The IAB has reported that for the 18th consecutive quarter, the market for online advertising increased in the second quarter of 2000. Hindsight: Given what happened to ad revenues in the final few months of 2000, and the start of 2001, the quote that leads off this article's second last paragraph is good for a self-deprecating chuckle.