IAR Bits and Bytes for Friday

FreeShop.com Partners With BeFree to Expand Affiliate Program

Direct marketer FreeShop.com said it will incorporate products and services from cost-per-acquisition marketer Be Free in its affiliate program.

Through the FreeShop affiliate program, partners earn commissions by placing promotions and generating FreeShop customer referrals directly on their Web sites and through emails.

Be Free’s technology helps its clients set up content-sharing systems to drive traffic and acquire opt-in user information.

DoubleClick Sweepstakes Signs IBM, Fodors.com, Britannica.com and Planethollywood.com

DoubleClick this week said its sweepstakes division will handle promotions for a bevy of new clients, including IBM, travel site Fodors.com and Britannica.com.

DoubleClick’s sweepstakes unit helps businesses acquire new customers by providing marketing professionals with online tools to design and manage customized sweepstakes. DoubleClick acquired the offerings through its acquisiton of <http://www.flashbase.com”>FlashBase in May of this year.

IBM will use DoubleClick’s services to drive traffic to its developerWorks site through the “Search the Zone” sweepstakes, which provides clues to a trivia contest within the site.

Fodors.com’s 15-month deal signs DoubleCick to run several sweepstakes, including a “10 Week Fly Free” promotion that runs until November 25th. Britannica.com launched its “Getaway to Greece” sweepstakes to promote its Olympic content and to build a database of opt-in email prospects.

NetCreations to Offer Promotions.com PromoMail to E-mail Marketers

Promotional marketer Promotions.com this week announced a deal with opt-in email marketer NetCreations, whereby NetCreations will offer Promotions.com PromoMail to its PostMasterDirect.com clients to help enhance the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns.

PromoMail, which helps marketers build promotions and coupons into opt-in email messages, will be available through NetCreations’ PostMasterDirect.com email service.