This tops the cake on articles I have read lately… some politicians are thinking about reducing the speed limit because of the higher gas prices. According to the Wall Street Journal, politicians are entertaining the idea to make some changes to our standard speed limit of 55 mph. The 55 mph speed limit has been around since 1974, so alot of us never saw the uproar that was caused when that speed limit was implemented years ago.
U.S. Energy Department is potentially calculating all these speed demons could save the equivalent of 29 cents to 94 cents a gallon if they slowed down just to 60 mph, but also reduce the fuel they burn by about 7% to 23%. It seems that some are talking about raising this as a potential vote, however it does not appear it will get to far. Most politicians don’t seem to want to admit that they would promote this sort of change.
Something else to think about with regards to the changes going on with the economy.
1. Go out and get a more fuel economy style of car, to save money on gas.
2. Drive slower to save gas.
What’s next for automobile drivers?

So good idea or bad?

The Text Messages (SMS) have been always an interesting and productive way to generate leads or more business, including Branding awareness. 

We knew about it, test it with our Offers, and our Publishers are doing it as well, but we never seen such results as we are seeing in the last month. The MicroClick Ads and the Microsites are some of the favorites when it comes to our Publishers using text messaging to promote the offers. 

Just to have an idea of the efficiency, please check out the following numbers: 

The number of Impressions represent the number of people reaching the website from a text message. Out of everyone that have seen the site, almost 73% clicked on the form and 55% of them completed it – reached the confirmation page. 

The EPM isn’t too bad either, with $1,437.57 for one thousand of impressions. The highest we’ve seen ranges between $2,500 and $3,200, but that’s more from targeted traffic, new customer base (PPC traffic). 

The rule of success is to be creative and test new ways to build your customer base, offering quality and good service to consumers. Nothing is “Impossible” and things can be done in a very effective way without loosing the quality. 

Many in the world would be so jealous of a particular women who had a lot of debt (20k), created a website, and asked for help. This equaled HUGE success for a lady named Karyn. You have to hear about this success story and really how effective the internet is…. and that there are lots of other people in the world with lots of debt! The difference is: Karyn asked for help and got it!

Debt is a common part of what each person in America has, but have you ever thought about taking control of it by asking for help through “other” means? Most of us have not, however what we do do is either continue to struggle paying the minimum payments each month, or we just stop paying them. However, maybe more of us need to get creative and use some different resources to get help.
Then again, there is the traditional way and that is to try and work with specialized debt consolidation/debt settlement companies that help customers in this situation. I know a lot of people are submitting their request for more information about debt help, because the debt lead type is a HUGE lead type in the Leadpile Lead Exchange. Not all of us are as bold and entrepreneurial as Karyn! Either way, I give her props because she is now debt free and continuing her life now as a successful author.
IF YOU WANT IT… GO OUT & GET IT!

One of the main issues when it comes to affiliates, lead generation and traffic is the fraud. The better you become in tracking your leads, affiliates and methods they use to generate leads, the better your program will work. 

Leadpile’s Lead Exchange  has been working into improving the MicroClick Form (previously known as the I-SaveNow Form) application process, storing as much data as possible, so that we identify the source and also the validity of the lead. 

Some lead verticals are easier to fake than others, and the more fields, checks and restrictions for the data, the better is to control what goes through the Exchange. 

Paid Search (Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing) are facing 20% or more fraud. The Lead Exchanges are not an exception, but the percentage is way lower. 

A click is very easy to fake and it can happen way faster and with a lot more volume than within the lead process. Also, each lead can be refunded in case of invalidity, where the traffic takes more time and sometimes is going untracked. Thinking that in certain industries we are seeing bids that are ranging between $6.00 to $50.00 per click, that can be a substantial loss for the advertisers. 

Let’s take a look at the following Click Fraud Index:

Leadpile has been producing it’s own leads in addition to the leads generated by its own publishers (partners) and that helped the Lead Exchange (Marketplace) becoming one of the top Lead-Gen companies out there. We actually are getting the hit from the PPC and take away the burden of this cost from our Lead Buyer (Advertisers). One of the most successful campaigns are still from PPC, where our Buyers are enjoying top lead quality. Of course, that comes for a price, but our service is going to make up for it, no matter how big or small your company is. 

Our team is geared up everyday to provide the top notch customer experience you (as a Lead Buyer/Advertiser) deserve! No matter what your challenge is, let us know so we can work better for you!

LeadPile Lead Exchange are true team players! You hear a lot about the workforce and unhappy employees among other companies but not in LeadPile.  LeadPile has a strong team assembled.  We are a unity! Happy employees that get along great! Our lead exchange has grown with high recognition, and part of its success has to do with the time, energy and effort that LeadPile’s team creates to be the top notch Lead Exchange.  From Customer Service, to IT, to Accounting, and Marketing I can honestly say that we all get along.  We enjoy working with one another and the work environment and synergy that gets created in the office is beyond exceptional!

We are true professionals that blend in together with unique ideas to continue to grow at a fast pace.  We thank our Advertisers and Publishers for allowing our lead exchange to be a part of there company, we will continue to strive to providing you with quality as well as nourishing you with the highest ROI in the industry!

LeadPile team would like to wish Marketing Director Eugen a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  We love what he brings to the table with his cheerful demeanor and friendly attitude.  His creativity is off the charts! Happy Birthday Eugen best wishes from the LeadPile team! You ROCK!

Ok, I promise this will be my last Google-related post for the rest of the week. You may have heard that Google stock took a pretty good hit late yesterday after they announced their Q2 results. What amazes me is that they ONLY made $1.25 billion during the quarter, and a lot of people thought they underperformed. In this economy, I believe just about any company would be thrilled with a $1.25 billion profit, but because Google is so dominant, many expected even more. One of the expenses mentioned that was higher than expected were legal fees, which has been touched on here in earlier posts. Google admitted there was softness in some sectors, but also added that their core business will be fine unless “people stop searching for things.” With mobile search growing, perhaps Google will ONLY make $1.5 billion this quarter. There are definitely benefits to being dominant in your field.

I have heard reports on the news about 8 veteran US Airways pilots being called into safety training.They are being questioned why they are repeatedly asking for extra fuel to keep the planes in the air substantially longer than the planned flight time. The airline has stated that they were just attempting to understand the pilots actions and not punish them.

The airline has stated that the more fuel in the aircraft, the heavier the aircraft, and the more it costs to fly the aircraft. The pilots have stated they want to make sure that they have enough fuel for rerouting or fly around the airport waiting to land in any delays. The pilots ultimately have the last word in how much fuel goes into the plane. 

Safety experts say that there is nothing wrong with airlines holding the line on fuel – to a point. If a pilot feels that adding another 15 to 30 minutes of flying fuel to the flight then let him. It will make the passengers feel safe and the pilot feel safe as well.

This is definitely not giving the airline any good publicity. This seems to make travelers not want to fly their airline, by making them feel less safe. By making passengers think that they are thinking more about the bottom line than their safety.  US Airways needs to find a way to put a positive spin on this to take advantage of the situation, and right now I am not seeing how they can come out of this looking good.

Have you ever gone on a road trip and you just could not remember the name of that monument you were going to see? How about what temperature is it in Denver where your child is visiting her father? How about where is the nearest Taco Bell? Any question you want to know there is an answer at your fingertips… literally!

Something innovative you have to know about… the website Chacha. This website was created as a tool for people that need a question answered while on the go. It’s simple: dial 1-800-2cha cha, state your question, and within just a couple minutes the answer to your question is sent to you via a text message.

Those questions you ask are being answered by real people set up as “expert guides” to answer these questions for Cha-cha. The great thing is there is no limit on what sort of questions you can ask. There could even be questions that are asked that are non emergency situations, maybe someone is in a real bind and needs some help.
Today, the technology that is available to us is amazing and so innovative. Companies like Chacha, Leadpile Lead Exchange, Apple and other companies that remain one step ahead of everyone else, will thrive in future years! I have to say this innovative idea to use your cell phone for something more than talking on it is great. Even payday loan lead generators are bringing in high lead volume through text messaging. Not everyone has an Apple iPhone and can “google” something on the go.
It’s not WHAT you know as a company… it’s what NEW and INNOVATIVE practices can the company come up with, before the next guy.
What will people think of next?????

Market Watch released this afternoon that Coca Cola shares went down .18 cents, that’s 18% down this year so far. But they are not the only ones affected by the Nationwide struggle that’s affecting Millions of consumers and businesses.  

Market Watch also reported J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. second quarter net income fell 53%, the company took over $500 million in costs for its Bear Stearn’s acquisition. Microsoft shares dropped 5.7%.  IBM shares are down .06%. Investment bank Merrill Lynch shares drop 7.1%.  Capital One Financial Corp registered a 4.9% decline. The list goes on and on.

Businesses are also being affected and loosing money.  What’s happening with the market?  These well known companies that were once making millions are now losing millions.  Gas pricing is going up at ridiculous cost. The cost of food has climb.  Unemployment rates are over the hill tremendously.  Debt is at the highest peak.  More Americans are filling for Bankruptcy.  Airline fairs are rising.  Less people are taking vacations.  Student’s are falling behind on their student loan payments.  More families are being affected by bank foreclosures.

Is this truly healthy for America?

I have talked about the consumers battle against the dead end they are facing.  Although its not just consumers its also major firms and corporations, for years investors were glorified to subsidize in these companies but now are selling shares and stocks.   

Everyone in society has somehow been affected.  Its lead exchanges such as LeadPile that are here to assist and help in each way we can.  LeadPile is partnered with some of the best affiliates in the market to provide quality leads.  Within our partnerships we are targeting consumers and businesses that need your help to clear their debt, to help with bankruptcy, to assist with business loan or business cash advance, to aid with credit restoration or a payday loan, to help them get finance to buy a house or a new car! 

LeadPile focuses on targeted traffic and provides applications or contacts to companies that can help consumers or business in the services they are in desperate need of! 

What if television was like search engines? Let’s say you have basic cable with 46 channels… can you imagine the reaction and the uproar if everyone was watching only four of those channels? What if they were really only watching one channel with a few (crazy?) people watching the other three channels. Well, this could be the old Soviet Union or the current situation with today’s search engines.

Surprisingly, little is said about just how dominant Google is in this very important part of everyday life. The Hitwise numbers for the end of June are out and Google’s control of the search activity continues to GROW. They are up 8% over last year, and almost 7 of every 10 searches are done on Google. It’s even worse in Australia and the UK where Google almost accounts for 9 of 10 searches. Can it possibly be good that one company has such huge market share?

There has been a lot of talk about Yahoo and Microsoft combining their search efforts. Well, those two giants combined account for 25.08% of recent search activity. (Yahoo – 19.62% and MSN – 5.46%) The fourth channel, I mean search engine, is ask.com accounting for 4.17% of the searches.

We do have at least 42 other search engine options…sadly, only 1.7% of all searches were done on these other sites. Search engines are the primary way that people navigate the internet, and Google continues to dominate and even grow their market share. How is it that we are presented with more options in most facets of everyday life, but the emerging internet presents us so few options. Can this domination be good for anyone other than Google shareholders?

This is a question that should be asked if you are spending any money with Google and specifically with AdWords. Quietly, last week Google was sued by a Boston attorney who purchased search ads and alleges that they yielded clicks, but no clients. The attorney complains that his pay-per-click search ads were placed on parked domains and “error” sites. He believes that Google is misleading advertisers by including these sites, since no actual searches occur on these pages. The clicks generated from these sites accounted for 15% of his budget and resulted in no conversions.

The attorney is seeking a refund (so far denied by Google) for the clicks from the parked domains program and the “AdSense for errors” program. He is also asking for Google to make it easier to opt out of the parked domains and error programs. The attorney is being represented by a firm that believes an entire class of Google’s advertisers are similarly being defrauded, thus a class-action lawsuit has been filed.

Google is no stranger to lawsuits, but this one may have some teeth. In the least, companies should now pay more attention to where their ads are being placed. Wouldn’t leads coming from a proven marketplace and exchange make more sense? Leadpile does not use parked domains, nor do we capitalize on errors made by consumers.

UPDATE – Google has had a second fraud lawsuit filed regarding their parked domain program. This time an online retailer complains that they purchased ads without realizing that the ads would appear on parked domains. The company said in it’s lawsuit that it had been charged for clicks from parked domains “that had little relation to its business.”

It will be interesting to see if Google aggressively fights these lawsuits, or if they quietly settle the cases. Of course, that will add to the “legal fees” when future quarterly reports are released.

I love this tab! Its new, a space specifically for U.S. gas pricing rates. Great marketing Idea!  I’m now in http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/page/gasprices everyday comparing gas prices.

It allows you to see the “crude oil price” and the fluctuation of the gas rate. It defines the average gas price in the U.S. currently at $4.10 the highest gas price in Beaver Island, MI at $5.49 as well as the lowest in Lordsburg, NM currently at $3.69.

You can click on a city and state and it will list gas stations and the pricing per gas.  Its a phenomenal site.  Not only is East Valley Tribune going to get more hits for this tab but now consumers going to there site will browse, market, fill out request, and bookmark them. An ideal place for marketing that’s for sure!

In the lead exchange, great place to start marketing can define the quality of the leads generated, getting more serious consumers to your sites will effectively ensure higher quality leads.  I must say to catch the attention of the audience is in high demand for lead generation.  What better way than to give your consumer facts about the best place to pump gas!