Skimlinks Explained

Fate:Acquired by Taboola on September 1, 2021
Skimlinks
Industry:Marketing, Advertising
Foundation:London, UK
Founders:Alicia Navarro, Joe Stepniewski
Hq Location City:London
Products:SkimLinks, Skimlinks Editor Tool, Audiences by Skimlinks
Services:In-text Advertising and Marketing, Audiences data platform
Num Employees:85
Homepage:https://skimlinks.com/

Skimlinks is a content monetisation platform for online publishers (including editorial sites, forums, bloggers, social networks, and app developers). It specializes in automatically generating affiliate product links from content creators' commerce content, from which the content creators earn money.

The company was founded in London (2007) by Australian co-founders Alicia Navarro and Joe Stepniewski. It has over 62 employees and has raised $24 million in funding as of August 2013.[1] It has offices in London and New York City.[2] On October 17, 2013, Skimlinks was announced as a member of Tech City UK's Future Fifty Programme, a government program that supports fast-growing companies with to potentially float in the London Stock Exchange.[3] [4] In 2014, Skimlinks drove $625 million in sales for over 20,000 vendors.[5] [6]

History

Founding

Skimlinks was founded in 2007 by co-founders Alicia Navarro and Joe Stepniewski as a result of a pivot away from the social recommendation tool Skimbit.com.[7] Notably, it is one of the first technology companies headquartered in what is now known as the Silicon Roundabout area in London.[8]

Alicia Navarro created Skimbit.com in 2006 in Australia,[9] but moved to London, England to build her business as she felt it was a much more supportive environment for entrepreneurs. Skimbit was relatively successful and quickly evolved into a white-label social shopping service.[10]

In November 2008, Joe Stepniewski was elected as a co-founder. Together with Navarro, they realised that both users and investors weren't interested in their end product, but in the behind-the-scenes technology, they were using to monetise their site through affiliate marketing. As a result, they pivoted the company into what it is today - a "stand-alone commercial platform to help publishers monetize their editorial and user-generated content."

Alicia Navarro has been featured in several prominent publications, highlighting her role as one of the few female CEOs in the ad-tech world.[11] She was also recently announced as the winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award during the 2014 edition of the FDM Everywoman in Technology Awards.[12]

Partnership with Pinterest

In February 2012, LL Social, an online marketing blog, broke the news that Pinterest was using Skimlinks to monetise content posted by its users.[13] Commercial links included in Pins were being affiliated via Skimlinks. Although the partnership had been ongoing for 2 years,[14] Pinterest had just recently grown exponentially in popularity and the news was badly received.[15]

Most of the backlash arose from the company's failure to disclose its monetisation practices rather than its decision to monetise users' content.[16] Though it was claimed that the revelations prompted Pinterest to drop its affiliation with Skimlinks, Pinterest's CEO, Ben Silbermann, clarified that they had actually been using Skimlinks as an option whilst they explored various monetisation solutions, but had stopped using the service a week before the news broke.[17]

Investors

Funds have been raised from investors including: The Accelerator Group, Sussex Place Ventures, NESTA, Venrex, BDMI and Greycroft, with advisory board members such as Gokul Rajaram (formerly Head of Product for Google AdSense and Facebook Ads) and Oren Michels (CEO of Mashery).[18] [19] [20] In early 2015, Skimlinks' brought investors from Frog Capital on board as part of their Series C funding round, bringing their total funds raised to $24 million.

Acquisitions

Skimlinks acquired New York–based competitor, Atma Links, in 2011 to power its SkimWords technology.[21] [22] It then acquired InvisibleHand - a significant player in real-time e-commerce and product pricing - in 2013.[23] [24]

Products

Through relationships with various affiliate networks like Commission Junction, Pepperjam, and Linkshare, Skimlinks aggregates over 24,000 merchant programs which are available to publishers who join the service.[8] To use Skimlinks, prospective users need to apply. Once approved, publishers receive a custom JavaScript snippet to be installed in the footer of their site(s). Users can also install Skimlinks using a WordPress plugin. The snippet will then automatically affiliate applicable URLs in their content.[18] By using Skimlinks, publishers can earn money via commissions on sales, from product links and references in their content to merchants in the Skimlinks network.

Skimlinks is used by 1.5 million domains globally by online publishers like BuzzFeed, Condé Nast, Hearst Digital, WordPress, Time Inc., and Mail Online.

The company has released a variety of tools to which users have access in order to monetised their content. The main ones (as shown on the company's website) are as follows:

Skimlinks also offers a series of extras, like the URL shortening of regular links into monetisable links, and SkimRSS which allows users to affiliate links in their RSS feeds.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Pitts. Beth. Alicia Navarro, Founder, Skimlinks: Trust Your Gut Over Your Data!. 23 October 2013. The Next Women. 1 August 2013. 1 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140901085744/http://www.thenextwomen.com/2013/08/01/alicia-navarro-founder-skimlinks-trust-your-gut-over-your-data. dead.
  2. News: Butcher. Mike. Skimlinks Raises Growth Funding Led by Greycroft Partners, Opens Japanese Site. 23 October 2013. TechCrunch. 22 April 2013. 25 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131025163050/http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/22/skimlinks-raises-growth-funding-led-by-greycroft-partners-opens-japanese-site/. live.
  3. News: Ranger. Steve. Are these 25 companies the next wave of tech superstars?. 23 October 2013. ZDNet. 17 October 2013. 20 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131020034016/http://www.zdnet.com/uk/are-these-25-companies-the-next-wave-of-tech-superstars-7000022075/. dead.
  4. News: Shead. Sam. Tech City UK chooses first high-growth start-ups for Future Fifty programme. 23 October 2013. Tech World. 17 October 2013. 19 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131019232829/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/04f0c8c6-367e-11e3-aaf1-00144feab7de.html#axzz2hzJkgAct. live.
  5. News: Ha. Anthony. Affiliate Linking Service Skimlinks Raises $16M More. 10 July 2015. TechCrunch. 4 February 2015. 12 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150712015445/http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/04/skimlinks-series-c/. live.
  6. News: Rogers. Stewart. Skimlinks raise $16 million to bring 'comtent' to the masses. 10 July 2015. VentureBeat. 4 February 2015. 15 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150715132613/http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/04/skimlinks-raise-16-million-to-bring-comtent-to-the-masses/. live.
  7. News: Kiss. Jemima. Skimbit refocuses on affiliate marketing service. 23 October 2013. The Guardian. 12 December 2008. 3 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203052429/http://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2008/dec/12/startups-marketingandpr. live.
  8. News: Anderson. Elizabeth. The Great British immigration scandal: Young, gifted, foreign - and shut out of the UK. 23 October 2013. Management Today. 26 February 2013. 2 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235245/http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1171968/. live.
  9. News: Cummings. Corey. SkimLinks Helps Startups Make Money, Focus On Other Things. 23 October 2013. TECHLI. 3 March 2012. 22 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131022033156/http://techli.com/2012/03/skimlinks-helps-startups-make-money-focus-on-other-things/. live.
  10. News: Baker. David. How to adapt your business model on the fly. 23 October 2013. Wired. 12 April 2012. 19 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131019075020/http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/05/how-to/how-to-adapt-on-the-fly. dead.
  11. News: Kiss. Jemima. London's Skimlinks acquires US rival Atma Links. 23 October 2013. The Guardian. 7 July 2011. 22 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140322001213/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/pda/2011/jul/07/skimlinks-atma-affiliate. live.
  12. News: Bateman. Kayleigh. FDM everywoman 2014 technology awards winners announced. 21 March 2014. Computer Weekly. 20 March 2014. 22 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140322001606/http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240216545/FDM-everywoman-2014-technology-awards-winners-announced. live.
  13. Web site: Davis. Josh. Pinterest is quietly generating revenue by modifying user submitted pins. LL Social. 23 October 2013. 23 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131023012920/http://llsocial.com/2012/02/pinterest-modifying-user-submitted-pins/. live.
  14. News: Madrigal. Alexis. Why Pinterest Is Playing Dumb About Making Money. 23 October 2013. The Atlantic. 17 February 2012. 26 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131026071057/http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/why-pinterest-is-playing-dumb-about-making-money/253273/. live.
  15. News: McGee. Matt. Pinterest Drops Skimlinks, Might Try Ads; Says Copyright Issues Not A Significant Issue Yet. 23 October 2013. Marketing Land. 16 February 2012. 24 July 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130724125046/http://marketingland.com/pinterest-skimlinks-might-try-ads-copyright-issues-not-significant-6213. live.
  16. News: Cowley. Malcolm. Pinterest drops its partnership with Skimlinks. Are other social channels exploring the affiliate links route?. 23 October 2013. Social Media Today. 2 March 2012. 18 February 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140218102127/http://socialmediatoday.com/malcolmphg/460313/pinterest-bows-media-pressure-drop-its-partnership-skimlinks-are-other-social-chan. dead.
  17. Web site: Davis. Josh. Pinterest adds disclosure about how they (might) make money. Conversation with Pinterest CEO. LL Social. 28 February 2014. 3 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140303020011/http://llsocial.com/2012/02/pinterest-adds-disclosure-and-info-from-ceo/. live.
  18. News: Butcher. Mike. Skimlinks secures first round investment. 23 October 2013. TechCrunch. 23 February 2009. 26 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131026060847/http://techcrunch.com/2009/02/23/skimlinks-secures-first-round-investment/. live.
  19. News: Andrews. Robert. Skimlinks Takes $4.5 Million Bertelsmann Investment For Affiliate Links. 23 October 2013. paidContent. 11 November 2011. 17 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131217094938/http://paidcontent.org/2011/11/11/419-skimlinks-takes-4-5-million-bertelsmann-investment-for-affiliate-links/. dead.
  20. News: Skimlinks backed for £900,000. 23 October 2013. Startups. 18 December 2009. 26 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131026121437/http://startups.co.uk/skimlinks-backed-for-900000/. dead.
  21. News: Kincaid. Jason. SkimLinks Harnesses Atma Links Acquisition To Power SkimWords 2.0. 23 October 2013. TechCrunch. 6 October 2011. 20 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131020055010/http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/26/skimlinks-harnesses-atma-links-acquisition-to-power-skimwords-2-0/. live.
  22. News: Skimlinks has figured out how publishers could unshackle themselves from Facebook. Butcher. Mike. 5 May 2017. TechCrunch. 5 May 2017. 5 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170505171319/https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/05/skimlinks-has-figured-out-how-publishers-could-unshackle-themselves-from-facebook/. live.
  23. News: Butcher. Mike. Skimlinks Acquires InvisibleHand Product And Team, Forward Gains Stake. 23 October 2013. TechCrunch. 9 August 2013. 15 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131015050007/http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/09/skimlinks-acquires-invisiblehand-product-and-team-forward-gains-stake/. live.
  24. News: Skimlinks buys InvisibleHand to add product matching and pricing intelligence to its toolset. 23 October 2013. The Next Web. 25 August 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130825083727/http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/08/09/skimlinks-buys-invisiblehand-to-add-product-matching-and-pricing-intelligence-to-its-toolset/. live.
  25. News: Grant. Rebecca. SkimLinks helps publishers nail affiliate marketing, no wooing required. 24 October 2013. VentureBeat. 22 April 2013. 25 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131025163603/http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/22/skimlinks-helps-publishers-nail-affiliate-marketing-no-wooing-required/. live.
  26. News: Butcher. Mike. Skimlinks Is The Real Story Behind Pinterest's Success. 24 October 2013. TechCrunch. 8 February 2012. 3 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131103190203/http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/08/skimlinks-is-the-real-story-behind-pinterests-success/. live.
  27. News: The content economy: the answer to brand, publisher and consumer co-existence. 24 October 2013. Marketing Week. 29 October 2013. 26 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140826081437/http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/the-content-economy-the-answer-to-brand-publisher-and-consumer-co-existence/3019958.article. live.
  28. News: Butcher. Mike. In the Wake Of Funding, Skimlinks Launches New Products To Face Off Opposition. 23 October 2013. TechCrunch. 2 May 2013. 22 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131022201627/http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/02/in-the-wake-of-funding-skimlinks-launches-new-products-to-face-off-opposition/. live.
  29. News: Woods. Ben. Skimlinks Editor is a simple Chrome extension for quickly viewing online retailers' referral rates. 3 March 2014. The Next Web. 2013-11-22. 2014-03-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20140303215157/http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/11/22/skimlinks-editor-simple-chrome-extension-quickly-viewing-online-retailers-referral-rates/. live.
  30. Web site: Skimlinks Editor. Skimlinks. 3 March 2014. 5 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140305190049/http://skimlinks.com/editor. live.
  31. Web site: Skimlinks has figured out how publishers could unshackle themselves from Facebook TechCrunch. Butcher. Mike. 5 May 2017 . 2017-08-22. 2017-05-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20170505171319/https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/05/skimlinks-has-figured-out-how-publishers-could-unshackle-themselves-from-facebook/. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Skimlinks".

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