:VigLink
{{infobox company
| name = VigLink
| logo =
| foundation = San Francisco, USA ({{Start date|2009|03}})
| founder = Oliver Roup, CEO
| industry = Marketing, Advertising
| services = In-text Advertising and Marketing
| products = VigLink Convert, VigLink Insert, VigLink Anywhere
| homepage =
}}
VigLink is a San Francisco-based, outbound-traffic monetization service for publishers, forums, and bloggers. VigLink specializes in in-text advertising and marketing.{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/11/17/viglinks-debuts-linkweaver-to-help-publishers-monetize-outbound-clicks/ |title=VigLink Debuts LinkWeaver to Help Publishers Monetize Outbound Clicks |author=Leena Rao |date=17 November 2011 |work=TechCrunch |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/google-googleventures-idUKN1117245620100112 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306152614/http://uk.reuters.com/article/google-googleventures-idUKN1117245620100112 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |title=Google's Investment Arm to Grow Partner Ranks |author=Alexei Oreskovic |date=12 January 2010 |work=Reuters |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://vator.tv/news/2011-12-13-top-10-ways-to-monetize-leverage-your-blog |title=Top 10 Ways to Monetize, Leverage Your Blog |author=Krystal Peak |date=13 December 2011 |publisher=VatorNews |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.digiday.com/publishers/can-in-text-ads-entice-more-publishers/ |title=Can In-Text Ads Entice More Publishers? |author=Brian Morrissey |date=17 November 2011 |magazine=Digiday |access-date=10 July 2013}} VigLink CEO Oliver Roup founded the company in March 2009.{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2011/03/11/viglink-raises-54-million.html |title=VigLink Raises $5.4 Million |author=Patrick Hoge |date=11 March 2011 |newspaper=San Francisco Business Times |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.missyward.com/2012/02/06/whats-the-value-of-a-hyperlink-try-58000/ |title=What's the Value of a Hyperlink? Try $58,000. |author=Oliver Roup |date=6 February 2012 |publisher=MissyWard.com |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://ideamensch.com/oliver-roup/ |title=Oliver Roup - Founder and CEO of VigLink |author=Mario |date=12 January 2012 |publisher=IdeaMensch |access-date=10 July 2013}}
In 2012, Oliver Roup reported VigLink was working on 5 billion pages per month.{{cite web |url=http://www.founderly.com/2012/02/oliver-roup-viglink-1-of-2/ |title=Oliver Roup - VigLink 1 of 2 |author=Tony |date=21 February 2012 |publisher=Founder LY |access-date=10 July 2013}}
As of November 2014, VigLink has raised $27.34 million and is working with 63,000 online retailers including EBay, Target, Amazon.com, and Wal-Mart.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2013/02/18/why-is-google-ventures-investing-in-this/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220164824/http://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2013/02/18/why-is-google-ventures-investing-in-this/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 20, 2013 |title=Why is Google Ventures Investing in VigLink? |author=Nancy F. Clark |date=18 February 2013 |magazine=Forbes |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://upstart.bizjournals.com/money/loot/2013/06/25/three-funding-lessons-from-viglink.html |title=Three Funding Lessons From VigLink Founder Oliver Roup |author=Kent Bernhard Jr. |date=25 June 2013 |publisher=Upstart Business Journal |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/13/viglink-affiliate-link-optimizer/ |title=VigLink's Affiliate Links Get More Up-To-Date (And Lucrative) With a New Link Optimizer |author=Anthony Ha |date=13 June 2013 |work=TechCrunch |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://mashable.com/2013/02/09/monetize-affiliate-marketing/ |title=4 Steps to Monetize Your Blog Through Affiliate Marketing |author=Leyl Master Black |date=9 February 2013 |publisher=Mashable |access-date=10 July 2013}}
Service
VigLink's content monetization solution connects potential consumers to products by hyperlinking particular keywords in a website's content.
The company's technology, VigLink Insert, scans a page for words that could be potentially profitable to the publisher of the page, and connects the keyword with a product from an affiliate program. The publisher is paid when a reader clicks a link contained in the content to buy or learn more about a service or product.
VigLink also offers an outbound analytics service for clients to understand where readers go when they leave their site.{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/19/hyperlinks-are-dumb-and-bleeding-money-how-to-ensure-yours-arent/ |title=Hyperlinks Are Dumb and Bleeding Money; How to Ensure Yours Aren't |author=Oliver Roup |date=19 May 2012 |work=TechCrunch |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y13/m03/i25/s03 |title=VigLink Builds Bridge Between Content and Ecommerce |author=Kenneth Corbin |date=25 March 2013 |publisher=eCommerce Bytes |access-date=10 July 2013}}
Products
VigLink's first service, called VigLink Convert, operates using a JavaScript library that customers install on their web site to identify and monetize all potential links to any of the 30,000 merchants working with VigLink.{{cite web |url=http://www.reviewharbor.net/viglink-review-join-any-affiliate-program-with-ease/ |title=VigLink Review: Join Any Affiliate Program with Ease |author=Snurre |date=23 January 2013 |publisher=Review Harbor |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/affiliate-marketing-viglink/ |title=Affiliate Marketing Going 'Mainstream' Says VigLink CEO Roup |author=John Ebbert |date=17 May 2013 |publisher=Ad Exchanger |access-date=10 July 2013}}
The company also offers an NLP-powered link-insertion solution, VigLink Insert, to automatically insert links into a publisher's content without detracting from reader experience.
VigLink Anywhere is the startup's newest product.{{cite web |url=http://allfacebook.com/viglink-page-revenue-links_b114213 |title=VigLink Generates Revenue for Facebook Page Owners Through Link Posts |author=Justin Lafferty |date=1 April 2013 |publisher=AllFacebook |access-date=10 July 2013}} The Anywhere service is geared towards social media, allowing users to monetize links shared on Facebook, Twitter, and other channels.
History
=Founding and early investors=
Oliver Roup founded VigLink in 2009, after discovering that less than 50% of links to Amazon.com on the web were engaged in the affiliate program.{{cite web |url=http://marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/09/entrepreneurial-market-design.html |title=Entrepreneurial Market Design |author=Peter Coles |date=24 Sep 2009 |publisher=Market Design |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite news |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/2013-03-27/news/viglinks-affiliate-marketing-blogging-skimlinks/full/ |title=Haute Links: When Blogs Become Ads |author=Rachel Swan |date=27 March 2013 |newspaper=SF Weekly |access-date=10 July 2013}} The VigLink product was in market by January 2010.
The same month the product was released in market, VigLink received $800,000 in seed funding from First Round Capital and Google Ventures.{{cite news |url=https://venturebeat.com/2010/01/12/google-ventures-viglink/ |title=With Google Backing, VigLink to Help Content Sites Make Money Off Links |author=Anthony Ha |date=12 January 2010 |work=VentureBeat |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.informationweek.com/security/application-security/viglink-gets-google-backing/222300599 |title=VigLink Gets Google Backing |author=Thomas Claburn |date=12 January 2010 |publisher=InformationWeek Security |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/01/12/viglink-affiliate-programs/ |title=VigLink Raises $800K to Take Hassle Out of Affiliate Programs |author=Jason Kincaid |date=12 January 2010 |work=TechCrunch |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://gigaom.com/2010/01/12/viglink-finds-a-new-way-to-make-blogging-pay/ |title=VigLink Finds a New Way to Make Blogging Pay |author=Liz Gannes |date=12 January 2010 |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/08/05/viglink-buys-affiliate-marketing-competitor-driving-revenue |title=VigLink Buys Affiliate Marketing Competitor DrivingRevenue |author=Katie Deatsch |date=5 August 2010 |publisher=InternetRetailer |access-date=10 July 2013}} Other investors included LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and VP for Products at LinkedIn, Deep Nishar.{{cite web |url=http://www.itproportal.com/2010/01/13/google-backed-viglink-launch-affiliate-links-scheme/ |title=Google-Backed VigLink to Launch Affiliate Links Scheme |date=13 January 2010 |publisher=ITProPortal |access-date=10 July 2013}}
=Acquisitions and technological developments=
In August 2010, VigLink announced it had acquired competitor company DrivingRevenue.com.{{cite news |url=https://venturebeat.com/2010/08/02/affiliate-link-startups-team-up-viglink-acquires-drivingrevenue/ |title=Affiliate Link Startups Team Up: VigLink Acquires DrivingRevenue |author=Anthony Ha |date=2 August 2010 |work=VentureBeat |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.webpronews.com/google-backed-viglink-acquires-driving-revenue-2010-08 |title=Google-Backed VigLink Acquires Driving Revenue |author=Chris Crum |date=3 August 2010 |publisher=WebProNews |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2010/08/affiliate-marketing-company-viglink-acquires-rival-drivingrevenue.html |title=Affiliate Marketing Company VigLink Acquires Rival DrivingRevenue |date=3 August 2010 |publisher=Marketing Pilgrim |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2010/08/04/affiliate-links-start-up-viglink-acquires-driving-revenue |title=Affiliate Links Start-up VigLink Acquires Driving Revenue |author=Mark Hefflinger |date=4 August 2010 |publisher=Digital Media Wire |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.amnavigator.com/blog/2010/08/03/new-acquisition-viglink-buys-driving-revenue-inc/ |title=New Acquisition: VigLink Buys Driving Revenue Inc |author=Geno Prussakov |date=3 August 2010 |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/08/02/daily31.html |title=Google-Backed VigLink Buys Driving Revenue |date=3 August 2010 |newspaper=Silicon Valley Business Journal |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2010/08/03/viglink-grabs-wheel-at-drivingrevenue/ |title=VigLink Grabs Wheel at DrivingRevenue |author=Wade Roush |date=3 August 2010 |publisher=Xconomy |access-date=10 July 2013}} The cofounder of DrivingRevenue, Raymond Lyle, became the president of VigLink. The acquisition brought over $100 million in transactions from merchandise to the company.
The startup closed a Series B funding round in March 2011.{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/10/viglink-raises-another-5-4-million-to-help-publishers-monetize-outbound-clicks/ |title=VigLink Raises Another $5.4 Million to Help Publishers Monetize Outbound Clicks |author=Jason Kincaid |date=10 March 2011 |work=TechCrunch |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2011/03/11/viglink-raises-5-4-million/ |title=VigLink Raises $5.4 Million |author=Wade Roush |date=11 March 2011 |publisher=Xconomy |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/03/14/affiliate-marketing-technology-firm-viglink-raises-54-million |title=Affiliate Marketing Technology Firm VigLink Raises $5.4 Million |author=Thad Rueter |date=14 March 2011 |publisher=InternetRetailer |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/idUS139122+11-Mar-2011+MW20110311 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130712072626/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/idUS139122+11-Mar-2011+MW20110311 |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2013 |title=VigLink Raises $5.4 Million in Financing Led by Emergence Capital |date=11 March 2011 |work=Reuters |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.sugarrae.com/affiliate-marketing/interview-with-viglink-ceo-oliver-roup/ |title=Interview With VigLink CEO, Oliver Roup |author=Rae Hoffman |date=13 April 2011 |publisher=The Sugarrae Blog |access-date=10 July 2013}} The $5.4 million round was led by Emergence Capital, with continued funding from Google Ventures and First Round Capital. Emergence Capital partner Kevin Spain also became a member of the VigLink board.
In November 2011, VigLink debuted the new LinkWeaver service.{{cite news |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/viglink-intros-linkweaver-to-boost-content-monetization-on-websites/ |title=VigLink Intros LinkWeaver to Boost Content Monetization on Websites |author=Rachel King |date=17 November 2011 |work=ZDNet |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=https://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/11/17/viglink-launches-linkweaver-to-make-in-text-ads-less-annoying-and-more-focused/ |title=VigLink Launches LinkWeaver to Make In-Text Ads Less Annoying and More Focused |author=Brad McCarty |date=17 November 2011 |publisher=The Next Web |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tmcnet.com/topics/articles/238784-viglink-unveils-linkweaver-content-monetization-technology-website-publishers.htm |title=VigLink Unveils LinkWeaver, Content Monetization Technology for Website Publishers |author=Tammy Wolf |date=17 November 2011 |publisher=TMCnet.com |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=https://www.btobonline.com/article/20111129/MEDIABUSINESS12/311299999/linkweaver-offers-new-alternative-for-publishers-looking-to-monetize |title=LinkWeaver Offers New Alternative for Publishers Looking to Monetize Their Websites |author=Matthew Schwartz |date=29 November 2011 |publisher=BtoB Media Business |access-date=10 July 2013}} The new technology functioned to enhance VigLink's automated link affiliation by detecting merchant and product references within a website's content and linking them to relevant merchant pages. Contrary to alternative in-text methods, the LinkWeaver solution was designed to seek out direct merchant and product references and to avoid hyperlinking keywords to products unrelated to the website's content. In April, 2013, the company renamed its LinkWeaver product to VigLink Insert.
On June 12, 2012, the company announced it had integrated with vBulletin, granting VigLink access to 100,000 forum websites.{{cite web |url=http://vator.tv/news/2012-06-12-viglink-integrates-with-vbulletin-to-access-100k-forums |title=VigLink Integrates with vBulletin to Access 100k Forums |author=Bambi Francisco Roizen |date=12 June 2012 |publisher=VatorNews |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://performinsider.com/2012/06/viglink-wins-vbulletin/ |title=VigLink Wins vBulletin |author=Murray Newlands |date=13 June 2012 |publisher=Performance Marketing Insider |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://feedfront.com/archives/article005730 |title=vBulletin 5 Connect Integration with VigLink |author=Shawn Collins |date=16 June 2012 |publisher=Feed Front |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95320 |title=vBulletin Announces VigLink Integration with vB 5.0 at ForumCon |author=Murray Newlands |date=15 June 2012 |publisher=The Admin Zone |access-date=10 July 2013}} VigLink also reported that it was processing over 500 million clicks every month.
The following October, VigLink announced a new partnership with iTunes and iOS App Store link optimization service, GeoRiot.{{cite web |url=http://khanhumayun.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/affiliate-platform-viglink-partners-with-georiot-to-enable-location-based-referrals/ |title=Affiliate Platform VigLink Partners with GeoRiot to Enable Location-Based Referrals |author=Khanhumayun |date=22 October 2012 |publisher=Humayun Khan's Writing Portfolio |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url= http://performancein.com/news/2012/10/23/viglink-upgrades-itunes-affiliate-links/ |title=VigLink Upgrades iTunes Affiliate Links |author=Simon Holland |date=October 2012 |publisher=PerformanceIN |access-date=10 July 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/10/worldwide-itunes-affiliate-links-via-georiot-related-tools-for-musicians.html |title=Worldwide iTunes Affiliate Links Via GeoRiot & Related Tools for Musicians |author=Clyde Smith |date=26 October 2012 |publisher=HyperBot |access-date=10 July 2013}}
In May 2013, blog advertising company Skyscraper announced its partnership with VigLink.{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/05/28/blog-monetization-service-skyscraper-comes-out-of-closed-beta-adds-viglink-integration-wordpress-plugin/ |title=Blog Monetization Service Skyscraper Comes Out of Closed Beta, Adds VigLink Integration & Wordpress Plugin |author=Frederic Lardinois |date=28 May 2013 |work=TechCrunch |access-date=10 July 2013}}
In June, VigLink unveiled a new link optimization solution as an optional upgrade to the VigLink Convert service.{{cite web |url=http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/new-link-optimizer-technology-from-viglink/ |title=New Link Optimizer Technology from VigLink |author=Shawn Collins |date=14 June 2013 |publisher=Shawn Collins Consulting |access-date=10 July 2013}} The update modified the original URL, redirecting users to a higher profit-margin retailer.{{cite web |url=http://feedfront.com/archives/article007308 |title=New Link Optimizer Technology from VigLink |author=Shawn Collins |date=15 June 2013 |publisher=Feed Front |access-date=10 July 2013}}
Reddit announced that they would begin using VigLink to redirect affiliate links in June, 2016.{{cite web|title=Affiliate links on Reddit|date=6 June 2016 |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/4mv578/affiliate_links_on_reddit/}} In February 2017, VigLink partnered with MSN to monetize its online content.{{Cite news|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/msn-partners-with-viglink-to-unlock-new-revenue-streams-from-existing-content/|title=MSN partners with VigLink to unlock new revenue streams from existing content|last=Brown|first=Eileen|work=ZDNet|access-date=2018-06-11|language=en}}
In October 2019, Norton Safe Web blocked traffic redirected via Viglink and reported that the site contained identity threats.{{Cite web|url=https://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?url=viglink.com|title=Report for viglink.com|website=Norton Safe Web|language=en|access-date=16 October 2019}}