Jeff Moolander has brewed up a real tempest in a teacup by publicly advertising and selling — to anyone who asks for it — a list of top performing affiliates. Selling information that was originally obtained with an understanding of confidentiality is a very serious matter. But our take on the controversy is that little of the ire which Moolander’s move has generated comes from concern over breaching confidentiality: rather, it comes from worries about having black hat or other illegitimate techniques exposed to affiliates’ competitors.

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Over at SEO Book, Aaron takes a look at some of the caveats that are worth keeping in mind when watching Alexa rankings going up or down. As he points out, only a very small increase or decrease in actual site traffic can have an enormous impact on reported Alexa ranking. An article at a different site offers another look at factors that can bounce Alexa rankings.

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A new study from the Online Publishers Association on web user experience ranks the top factors which drive individual web use.

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Two-thirds of adults in the U.S. do not realize it is legal for online stores to charge different people different prices at the same time of day for the same product. This finding represents a marketing opportunity for affiliates of SYOP (set your own price) programs to educate consumers about variation in affiliate price levels for a given product.

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Jim Hedger discusses the growing volume of complaints about the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) and accusations of favoritism and even bribery in some DMOZ categories. Is the Open Directory still as crucial to solid web marketing as it once was?

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Is combining behavioral profiles with page content the ‘next big thing’ for delivering truly targeted advertising to receptive readers?

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