As a miles/points blog industry observer I have questions about the future of Boarding Area, meaning of life, the level of credit card pumping in the industry and stuff like that. Thank you for reading. Don’t take me seriously because I certainly don’t! If you are offended I suggest you see a therapist. And watch more Saturday Night Live, it will be good for you!
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BOARDING AREA’S BUSINESS MODEL IS HAVING SOME ROUGH TIMES?
Warning: I have a very strong imagination and like to make up things and then channel them into my blog. It makes me feel better “letting it all out” and also makes me feel important. This is my way of dealing with my inner inadequacies and insecurities. Whatever. Brace yourselves!
Loyalty Traveler (who I very highly respect) let that slip in his blog a few days ago which led me to comment further and, oh boy, are we seeing a turn in BA blog content lately or what? MORE posts trying to get views to soften some of the revenue losses ( I am guessing) and, brace yourselves big time, if you thought BA was already very credit card sell happy…you haven’t seen nothing yet! Actually, you are seeing a prime example in the amazing BIG TIME pump at One Mile at a Time in just the past few days! As you know, I am used to this stuff but even I am just blown away! I think in rough down revenue times from advertising sources you see the true colors of our favorite bloggers who do it for “friends and family” 
Sadly (again), the good responsible bloggers (like Loyalty Traveler for example) are the ones who get hurt the most in these developments…
I would not be shocked if some of the BA biggies decide to go it alone. Actually, I am very surprised they haven’t done so as The Points Guy, Million Mile Secrets and Frugal Travel Guy are cleaning up the vast newbie market all to themselves!
Here was the quote that most missed. Nothing goes past TBB. We speak our mind and we follow doctor therapist orders to “let it all out”! What do we have to lose…our Amazon link? ROFL!!!
Apparently ad payouts for blogging are ‘down the toilet’ summer 2014. Do credit cards really need to advertise on blogs when the travel bloggers already personalize the commercials for them in their content?
So expect lots of catch phrase titles with less content as the travel blogosphere struggles with the new normal of lower advertisement payments.
Just two representative ridiculously pumpy posts by your favorite Kickstarter-er One Mile at a Time:
No Major Changes to Ink Cards – Ok then why bother us? Is it because you served NINE Chase credit card links in a post saying pretty much nothing? WTF!!
American Express has promotional sign-up bonuses on their co-branded Delta SkyMiles credit cards, including the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express and Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express.
Then for actually earning miles through everyday spend, the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express, along with the Amex EveryDay Card and Amex EveryDay Preferred Card are your best options.
As far as United MileagePlus miles go, there’s a promotional sign-up bonus on their United MileagePlus® Explorer Card, while as always the Ultimate Rewards Cards have huge sign-up bonuses and are great for everyday spend. These include the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Bold® Business Charge Card, and Ink Plus® Business Credit Card.
What I also would like to know is to find out what happened? Why did these advertisers suddenly decide to stop paying handsome prices? The industry is known to be having some pricing challenges but the drop off at Boarding Area seems to be way too high than most anticipated? Of course, just like Amex, they could come back in a flash and oh happy days are here again as the advertising revenue does provide some meaningful income (from what I hear) to most bloggers. I think of all the new bloggers who came aboard recently, especially all the ones at prior2boarding. I have no doubt that getting ad revenue was the big draw (heck, I would love it too!). Were they warned that this may not be the case any longer in the future? Or is this the reason for suddenly opening the gates to accept more bloggers to keep the traffic hit numbers up to stave off the revenue hit? Questions, questions looking for answers. If someone at BA like to comment please do so below or directly to me. I will always honor your request to be off the record if you so desire.
It is fascinating to watch all this happening…
EVOLVE DEVOLVES FINALLY
“Due to changes in our risk and regulatory compliance policies, Evolve Money will be implementing a limit of one payment per biller account per month. This change takes effect September 1, 2014. There are no limits on the number of cash payments made with a Reloadit pack or Evolve Pay Bucks.
We realize that some of our users have taken advantage of the multiple payments per month to pay off larger expenses such as mortgages. We are currently working on ways to improve the bill paying experience for you and expect to announce details soon.”
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Probably not first. I read the post.
You are first and read the post? WOW! You are da man! 🙂
1st?
OMAT circling down the drain at a rapid pace
Amazing how return of links can suddenly cause the value of something to increase
Of course, Delta and United’s values haven’t changed in months. Yet suddenly the topic brought up the past few days…. multiple times
That drain is amazingly long and there’s no end in sight.
I am still shocked at the sudden sharp return of OMAAT!
I prefer to have the 2nd A in there 🙂
so close!!!
I think it was only a few seconds…you never know around here until you click on “Refresh” lol
If you’re not first, you’re last.
What happened? Is everything okay? Going templating soon? 🙂
Bloggers being honest:
– The whole using Delta for VX blabber is the most overrated thing ever, unless you live in LA. Lots of miles and lots of inconvenience on positioning flights when you can get CX F for fewer miles and easier positioning flights
– Stop with the “partners with both airlines that go to Tahiti”. AA is the better option by far. Much fewer miles and no fuel surcharges (which oddly is never mentioned). And again…. easier for positioning flights. Lucky doesn’t mention any of this (of course, AA cards don’t pay $$$)
– Lucky is actually kinda-sorta hyping up Delta miles for travel to Europe. No, seriously. When you have to prop up Alitalia…
– good luck getting to Asia if you plan on traveling during the 8 months a year Korean has a blackout
What’s keeping me from doing the Australia award with DL Skypesos is finding availability to LAX 🙂
Hey, whatever pushes product and keeps the dollars flowing…Traveling full time is not cheap 😉
Move to somewhere that requires WN positioning to just about everywhere, and you’ll likely find LAX is the easiest airport to position to. Just do your homework first so you know which terminal you’re switching to, cause ain’t nobody got time to help you!
Yeah…Spring Break trip to Maui required WN flights to the West Coast. It totally sucks so I am holding out for a straight shot…hoping is the key word lol.
I love you all.
Contrary to popular beliefs, I am not angry.
As the ad revenue was my main interest to join BA, Delta Points can rest easy. You do know he promised to leave BA if I ever joined it right? 🙂
I need to crash, will get to the comments on Thursday!
Be excellent!
I love you TBB…oh wait!
Not sure I follow the reasoning. I would think affiliate link revenue dwarfed ad revenue, so why would a significant drop in ad revenue cause the biggies to pimp their affiliate links more? They already had the incentive to pimp their affiliate links as hard as they could because they keep 100% of that revenue and it pays very well. Furthermore, why would the drop in ad revenue cause them to go it alone, particularly if ad revenue is peanuts? Sure, they would pocket 100% of that peanut revenue instead of sharing with BA, but leaving BA can only mean less views, and less views means less visitors to click on affiliate links.
Not sure of my reasoning either, I just type what’s in my head to entertain myself for the most part. A by product of this blogging thingie is I get to learn from my readers, YOU!
For many in BA the ad revenue provides a NICE reliable and steady (not anymore) income. The big guns with the most page views get a substantial chunk and I am guessing, as you can see from the turn in the VFTW and OMAAT content in 2014, they are trying to make up for that by turning up the sales pumping for affiliate revenue. Pumping pays…they just do a lot more of it to replace the diminished ad revenue.
For the others, still, the ad revenue is a very nice income to have. Just watch how suddenly Just Another Points Traveler turned cc link happy. Why is that? Because she noticed the ad revenue being way down and the business instinct took over to do something to make up for that. Up until recently, that site did not pump much at all! It has led to even the smaller ones do more pumping!
And then you have Loyalty Traveler whose sole income comes from ad revenue by choice. And, VERY sadly, he is the one who gets hurt the most by all of this.
Do I make sense?
She should rename the blog “Just Another CreditCard Pimp”
Probably because Adblock Plus is becoming more popular. I haven’t seen ads in well over a year!
>>>>>>>>What I also would like to know is to find out what happened? Why did these advertisers suddenly decide to stop paying handsome prices?
I think he explained it quite nicely. Because we’re already talking about credit cards for free. They just don’t feel like they need to pay for it. At least, pay a lot. Hence the pressure and censorship, too.
>>>>>>>Do credit cards really need to advertise on blogs when the travel bloggers already personalize the commercials for them in their content?
What, no quote blocks? Well, me and HTML. Figures.
Fixed it by adding the little arrows in front.
Yeah, it’s them banks again paying the big rates for ads?…sure does not make sense if they have the bloggers sell the cards in every post too. I am just amazed they were spending money on ads AND affiliates! Then again, I am always amazed what the US banks can do 🙂
I’m waiting for the day the CC companies wise up and realize that if they cut payouts to the pimps by 60%, they’d probably get even more customers, as the pimps would just be non-stop trying to make up lost $$$.
Maybe that is the plan? Sure it is taking a very long time to get there! I am amazed they keep doing this. Only explanation I can find is there are many who apply at the big commercial sites who can’t handle it and fall behind and then get mauled. I think it is newbies who apply for 7 to 29 cards at a time when they were just looking for one cash back card 🙂
Dear George,
The reason ad payout is lower (both per impression and affiliate) is because CHASE has backed off their original push. As they got in legal trouble for affiliate commissions (false advertising kinda things) buying ads makes a ton of sense. They are not paying a blogger to represent them, they control what they say and a block goes on a blogger’s site.
But the main reason it’s declining is because that’s how marketing works. You go make sure people know about the product and then hope there’s something sustainable about the product itself. Advertising is either about awareness or scale, and this is a form of launch awareness.
However, as far as their concerned affiliate commission is free money. They sit down and say “the average customers lifetime value is $xxx.” And then they pay a blogger a percent of that – say 25%. In other words, they don’t have to do any of the work and they gain a sale, 75% revenue that they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Anyways both are declining, but I do feel that the one statement from LT is blown up. Because OMAAT and VFTW are making VERY large percents from affiliate commissions not advertisers. Since LT doesn’t apparently do affiliate links (?), for him it’s the other way around.
So the “why” for the decline in ads is just business, probably Chase’s business. However, my guess is the decline isn’t that bad. Why in the world one write articles on cards not changing, I can’t say. Maybe there is some pressure for pageviews, idk. But the only evidence for something being off is content.
And they can’t go off on their own now. OMAT doesn’t even own his domain name for .com. Half of em don’t it seems. He’d lose all his google juice basically. And Im REALLY surprised switching all of their domain names to subdomains (something.boardingarea.com instead of boardingarea.com/something), I’m surprised that didn’t tank their google juice. Who knows maybe it took a hit but without checking in on it, they appeared to do okay. But backlinks is everything to google, and those guys can’t just going changing names all loosey goosey.
As far as I can tell, everyone’s on the upswing not the down.
who’s Drew?
@STEVE, who’s Drew? In my book the smartest guy on the planet.
One reason I blog is because I get to learn from readers! THANKS for taking the time to educate us all!
Yes for LT it is the other way around. I think he makes 100% from BA run ads.
Writing articles on cards not changing is done to push NINE Chase cards to readers who somehow are thought of as dummies who can’t distinguish from being sold to…again!
Interesting info on going it alone. So, they are trapped inside BA? So when Amex cuts all at BA off they look at TPG MMS and FTG going wild on Amex cards and they must be getting pissed…I would! I think the big BA blogs have enough readers to follow them and after some initial drop off I think they can do better. Plus they are in control of their destiny instead of being one of 100 or whatever the number is these days.
Oh how I would love to get my hands on financial statement $$ information to let you guys know what is REALLY going on 🙂
In regards to Amex, that was actually my first thought when I saw Gleff and Ben going subdomain.boardingarea.com instead of boardingarea.com/page.
MAYBE their thought was that if they separate as their own site, their own domain and own bloggers… and move away from Boardingarea.com as one big site with tons of blogs, that maybe Amex would take them individually instead of as one unit.
My guess is that Amex didn’t want to keep tabs on everyone, or that they didn’t like certain blogs, or something like that. But if they could say, “hey, we are a different blog with a different domain name, we aren’t just a page on the site” that they hope to get Amex back.
I also certainly assume that BA is trying to get chase back for their bigger bloggers. Coincidence that they all changed their names at the same time? It could be, as they were restructuring. And who knows, maybe google will like them better as a subdomain, but there is some risk to it… so my assumption is that they’re doing this for other reasons.
Well Amex is back in BA. And Chase never left the big BA blogs. So, it appears it is back to business as usual. Sure must be very stressful dealing with the banks not knowing if you are complying and fearing being cutoff. I think life is stressful enough without them or the money must be really really good…I wonder which one it is lol.
I am the last person on earth to be taken seriously when it comes to talking about monetizing online stuff….I just like to throw stuff out there and speculate and raise some hell 🙂
Must say, my Adsense revenue has never been higher the last month or so ( off steady reader numbers). However, I assumed Randy had an agency selling his space direct which got bigger bucks ( and pay per impression).
The issue I think is that programmatic ads are taking over. You do not need to pay a premium to guarantee reaching frequent flyers via BA because Google can look at your cookies in a microsecond, know you are one of us and serve you the same ads for their lower pricing. All of the ad networks eg Blog Her are at risk from this.
I think you are correct on the Randy-ad agency connection.
Excellent point on the programmatic ads. Amazes me how often I get hit with “Asian Women” related type of ads lol.
I think selling ads direct can make a lot more money than adsense as it’s targetted. I think I heard they charge $8 per 1,000 impressions… which is actually lower than I would assume, but higher than adsense.
Too low. Converting to $, I know British Airways pays $25-$32 per 1000 impressions, I have been told that independently by two major UK publishers.
Lufthansa recently paid me $15 per 1000 for some space without blinking, which made me think I asked too little.
If anyone can explain why the only ads I get are for dating sites, male enhancement, and the chance to meet Filipinas who really want to talk to me, I’d appreciate it.
Well my ads tend to be based on other sites I have browsed… for example I keep getting Mountain Collective because I went to Liftopia. So………………… 😉
lol, +1 yea… you’re probably being “retargeted”. Might wanna clear your cookies. 😉
If I had a dollar for every ad about Asian women my eye sockets see I would not be pushing my Amazon link so much lol.
I think the WSJ article was very insightful into what is going on. While on the surface you may think that complaints about blogger content may be a good thing, in reality what it means is that the issuers are going to further narrow down who they work with and further control what they write. I suspect the two heavy-weights at BA have either already received that message explicitly and are “complying” or they have seen the writing on the wall and are getting ahead of it. At the end of the day I expect this to end up in a situation where the only sites left will be blatantly commercial sites. I think of all them MMS is the closest to that already. He’s already dropped the “Emily & I” and “Mother in Law” bullshit in favor of having his staff churn out endless commercial posts. (And FWIW in reality good on him for creating a very successful business). Personally I am actually ok with a fully commercial web site. I mean what kind of idiot would I have to be to think that a site like bankrate.com or creditcards.com is going to provide unbiased info when I see all their ads are from banks? Am I stupid enough to think edmunds.com is going to give compeltely unbiased info on cars when I see all it’s ads come from dealerships? Of course not! This is where I am with Rick in that people need to think for themselves and take some personal accountability. But I do not like sites that “pretend to be your friend” when in fact they are just commercial operations.
Great comment, thanks for taking the time!
And I think you are correct on the “only sites left will be blatantly commercial sites”. We are definitely seeing that now so much! I miss MMS’ s mother in law…NOT!
TBB is all about “don’t be an idiot, errr, don’t be a Tool”. And yes I know our society is full of them and many are clicking on these commercial sites…
Of course people should take personal responsibility! That should not excuse business men pretending to be experts on how to travel “frugally” pump manure and push newbies looking for one cash back card to apply for 7 to 29 miles credit cards in the same day. Anyways, the personal responsibility excuse really makes me…yawn 🙂
>>>>>>>>>>>>But I do not like sites that “pretend to be your friend” when in fact they are just commercial operations.
Yep, exactly!
” But I do not like sites that “pretend to be your friend” when in fact they are just commercial operations.”
Grandpa, it took a few decades to foster a generation that doesn’t understand the difference. Just like it took a few decades to teach the post WWII generation to become great consumers of unnecessary goods.Generation “like” has no concept of “Selling out” and is focused on emulation.
http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/frontline_generation_like_selling_out_foreign_concept_to_kids_today-2014-02
OMG! From your link:
“So, they’re more aware of how ‘likes’ work, how to create networks, how to play the system, but they’re less aware of what art is, of what genuinely good content is.”
This is depressing…Calling my therapist now 🙂
Buzz…. I think Dan is on to us! Today there weren’t any Amazon Deals on his site for me to cut and paste, to post here. Not even for diapers or strollers, wtf !!! We are screwed! I love Dan but sometimes he can be a Mench and a Mashugana ? (help me here TWA44)
@Ramsey:
Mensch – A person who does the right thing and then some; it’s a compliment.
Meshugana – A crazy person, but often said when someone who isn’t really crazy does something that’s a little crazy. Also used to describe a crazy act or activity.
Used in a sample sentence:
Have you read TBB? George is a meshugana, but he’s also a mensch.
Or:
That mileage run is really meshugana.
And:
When I read his comments, I think that Ramsey is a little meshugana. But his apology to Doctor of Credit makes me think he’s a mensch too.
Hope that helps!
Ramsey how long have you been in PDX for?
My dad actually grew up there.
Dan I am a New Yorker living in PDX for the last 25 years, but not a Oregonian. I’m like My Cousin Vinny around here, oh yea I blend in, not. Everyone else here is from California for the most part. Born in Burough Park Brooklyn and grew up near 5 Towns Area (you were there recently, right), both areas more Jewish than Tel Aviv…………….Where did Your Dad grow up? I am sure agent 44 would like to know also. ps I hope you understand that Amazon thing is just a gag, right.
I am originally from Brooklyn as well, Ramsey.
Five Towns? I have been there too many times to count. Your name should have been Lawrence.
Now, if you originally were from Ramsey, New Jersey…
Tel Aviv is party central in the Mediterranean. Not quite how I envision any part of Brooklyn.
Haha, masterpiece! Rock and roll, guys. This is really entertaining 🙂
TBMMB
Intern is on it!
Thanks Agent 44
I have decided to create a new Yiddish word and debut it here on TravelBloggerBuzz.
The new word is Mefrugallah.
Discuss…
Frugal? Here is a how a three line email from Frugal Travel Guy starts:
Tick tock. Tick tock. Time is running out to get this amazing airline offer!
and on it goes to spread frugal credit. They may be interested in that world Brian…
Just got hit with it in my inbox….I like self punishment 🙂
LOL!! Love it!
LOL at today’s Travel Challenge
“3) Additionally, Tom will spend another $3,500 on other scheduled expenses to get his Rapid Rewards balance up to 55,500 points.”
So basically, the solution to the challenge is “spend enough money on the credit card until you have enough points to get where you want to go”
Brilliant analysis!
I should have thought of that. It hate how all the good ideas are already taken!
It’s all about being…Frugal! 🙂
and selling credit cards 7 to 29 at a time!
responsibly that it…LOL
George, slightly off topic, but I am genuinely surprised you didn’t devote a full post to the Avios debacle.
I mean, TPG still has his post up with no correction, nothing. And many others fell back afterwards on saying ‘IB never previously published their OW chart so we didn’t know it wasn’t new’ which was blatantly false.
(Hands up, of course, because I never knew that IB had a different OW chart. And I probably should have. That said, I went though FT and there are almost no mentions at all, ever, of anyone redeeming for a OW partner so it really is that rare.)
That IB Avios debacle was certainly one of those mega schizophrenic moments in this space for a while.
George – what is your take on the developing story on the IRS ruling about miles? Please explain so that a person who is not so familiar with US tax system (like me) can understand. Thanks.
Nothing to worry about miles and points from airlines/hotels.
I would not worry about the proprietary bank points either.
But, as far as getting points/cash from opening regular bank accounts….it has always been a different story. Most (if not all ) banks treated the bonus as interest income and reported it in a 1099-INT form and it was fully taxable. Citibank is notorious for doing this for many years. We had a bozo challenge that who probably regrets it and is stuck paying the legal fees (or maybe he was a lawyer monkeying around).
I don’t lose sleep over this.Business as usual.
My take on the tax ruling is that it cuts no new cloth. The taxpayer got his TYPs by opening a Citi checking account, and that type of transaction smacks of additional interest to the extent of the value of the consideration received. The taxpayer’s case was not well presented in my view, but I doubt a better presentation would have changed the outcome.
Frequent flyer miles obtained through the acquisition or use of a credit card are different in that they are obtained through transactions that are typically not taxable, and have historically been viewed as an offset to the charges made with the card-eg. a discount on purchases.
George is closer to the fire than I am and I am interested in his thoughts.
I think you are right on!
Citibank turned me down for a Thank You Rewards card some time ago (first time ever) and I am still pissed off at them 🙂
Wife’s Spirit card is here oh la la!
I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks for taking the time.
(COMMENT ON FEEDBACK)
Thank you again.
😉 😉
Lol!