X-mas in July? Affiliates Prepare!

X-mas in July
It?s nearly the end of July and you know what that means. Thoughts of sleigh rides, turkey dinners, mistletoe, beautifully wrapped presents under the perfectly trimmed tree and the jolly old fat man in the red suit.Well, these might be your thoughts if you edited a quarterly publication and were currently working many, many months ahead to get out the issue that will be in your readers?hands during October, November and December.While, you?ve been on the beach or slathering on the sunscreen poolside or enjoying a family camping trip, I?ve spent the better part of the last couple of weeks talking with merchants, affiliates, and online marketers about what?s going to be hot during the holidays. It?s going to be an exciting time and by most estimates even bigger for online marketers than last year.Consumers spent a whopping $8.8 billion in online shopping purchases during the 2004 holiday season, a 24 percent increase over the year-ago period from Thanksgiving through December 27, according to VeriSign.The average price of an online purchase through Wednesday, December 22, 2004, reached $178. Additionally, the final five shopping days to Christmas accounted for $1.5 billion in online purchases, according to VeriSign.Other estimates claim that between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, 2004 consumers spent $2.45 billion online, an increase of 57 percent over 2003, according to ComScore Networks.For 2004, total online sales reached $69.2 billion. While that turns out to be less than 2 percent of all retail sales, it?s a huge jump (23.5 percent) over 2003. Analysts believe the online channel is likely to account for 7 percent of all retail sales by 2010. That's a potential increase of nearly $200 billion.This is all great news for the online marketing community and the perfect motivation to be prepared?even if the mercury is still in the triple digits. Once, I completely cool down from having attended a wedding in 107 degree heat I promise to get completely into the holiday spirit.Ho, ho, ho. Tell me about your online marketing strategy for the holiday season. lisap@revenuetoday.com

Earn Baby, Earn
Confession time. I?m a former high tech business editor who doesn?t really like numbers. I?m a huge sports fan who hates all those pesky statistics. I?m a not even good at balancing my own checkbook. Dare, I admit it? I really hate math.It?s not that I?m bad at math. I?m just lazy about it and don?t like to deal with all those numbers. I?m more about the words and less about the numbers. Though, I?m lightening fast at calculating percentages on sale items at Nordstrom.But for two weeks out of each quarter I turn into math geek. I'm like an MBA-wannabe and I spend hours pouring over the financial reports and earnings statements of my favorite and not so favorite companies. I truly love earnings season. Maybe it?s the reporter in me; my inquisitive nature. I feel like a forensic financial sleuth trying to uncover clues that will reveal the actual health of a company. Sometimes I make a spreadsheet to compare earnings. Shhh. Keep it down.And, I particularly get a kick out of comparing the actual financial statements the press releases the company?s send out for media consumption. It?s fun to see what numbers are left out of the news releases in order to put a more positive spin on the results.So, with Google and Microsoft both announcing earnings this week, it?s been nothing but a financial fiesta for me.Let?s start with Google. Almost all of the search giant?s revenue comes from online advertising dollars and for it?s second quarter of 2005, ended June 30, Google reported record revenue of $1.38 billion?a whopping 98 percent (that?s nearly double folks) year-over-year increase from the same quarter last year. Quarterly profits were $342.8 million, or $1.19 per share. That?s a fourfold increase from last year's 30 cents per share earnings.However, that fell short of analysts?expectations. Analysts predicted that the company would earn $1.21 per share, according to Thomson First Call.Google's shares reached a high of $317.80 on Thursday before retreating slightly to finish at $313.94, up $1.94. But the shares plunged $20.79, or 6.6 percent, in extended trading as investors apparently fretted about a slowdown in the company's growth.Jupiter Research analyst Gary Stein makes a good point.??When 3x earnings doesn't meet expectations, it may be time to re-examine your expectations.?Revenue from sites owned by Google (including its main page, local search and maps) was $737 million, a 115 percent increase over the same quarter last year. That figure represents 53 percent of total revenues. Google's AdSense network generated $630 million, or 46 percent of total revenues, which is an 82 percent year-over-year increase in the network's revenues in the second quarter.In a conference call with investors, analysts and reporters, co-founder Larry Page noted that Google will be rolling out a number of new mobile services in the coming months, including a mobile version of Google Maps. He didn?t give out any details.Google's other co-founder, Sergey Brin, highlighted the new developments in international markets, mentioning new offices in Latin America and China. Google's international operations accounted for approximately 39 percent of its revenue, while domestic revenue was 61 percent.Brin also brought up former Microsoft corporate vice president Kai Fu Lee, who Google hired to be president of its China operations. Microsoft this week filed a suit alleging that Lee is violating a non-compete clause in his Microsoft contract by going to work for rival Google.I was also interested to see that Google mentioned click fraud in a disclaimer at the start of the call as something that could impact its financial results in the future. Although, Google Chief Financial Officer George Reyes later says that click fraud has never been a material problem for Google?and we're working hard to make sure it stays that way.?Click fraud is the cover story for our Fall Issue, so naturally those statements caught my attention.If you?re really interested, check out the entire investor conference call.As for Microsoft, revenue for its MSN division was flat, at $582 million this year compared with $588 million for the year-ago quarter. Operating income rose sharply to $104 million for the quarter, from $29 million for the same quarter last year.Overall, Microsoft, for the three months that ended June 30, said net earnings climbed to $3.7 billion, or 34 cents a share, from $2.69 billion, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the software giant jumped 9 percent, to $10.2 billion from $9.3 billion for the same quarter last year.Analysts polled by Thomson First Call predicted Microsoft to have a quarterly profit of 31 cents a share, on revenue of $10.2 billion. Analysts' estimates did not factor in the onetime charges.Microsoft shares rose 25 cents to close at $26.44 on Thursday, and then dropped 51 cents in late trading.Let me know what about online marketing is not adding up for you. lisap@revenuetoday.com