I mentioned yesterday that Linkshare is releasing a series of interesting new platforms within the affiliate network's interface.  Here's the update on those: Flex Links (a video link embed platform), Mobile Links for pay-for-performance tracking in the mobile space and Link Locator 2.0 for enhanced web services.  All in all, this is a great step ahead for the affiliate network space as the performance market continues to mature and encompass other areas than traditional (or "1.0" if you will) affiliate sites.

Here's the official press language regarding Flex Links (way to embed affiliate links into video):

LinkShare now offers you the capability to post a video, widget, flash, or any other kind of clickable object from advertisers on your site to earn a commission. Flex Links convert advertiser links embedded in virtually any kind of object into tracking links for you. When you visit the create links page for an advertiser who has created a Flex Link, you will see a new option in the link types area called Flex Links. Simply copy and paste the code on your page and start earning.

It's no secret that video is hot and is only going to get hotter as we move into 2008 and the walls around video publishing tools continue to be broken down by YouTube, cheap editing software and cheap video cameras like The Flip.  If Linkshare can play their cards right, this could be a huge boom for both themselves and affiliate marketing.  The beta program of Flex Links goes live today.

Secondly, Linkshare is rolling out Mobile Links (in beta with 1800Flowers) today:

Today we are pleased to announce our new technology for tracking mobile commerce. With Mobile Links, you can now tap into the rapidly growing mobile consumer market and track mobile transactions on a pay-per-action  asis.v Mobile commerce is expected to be the next disruptive force in e-commerce and LinkShare is aggressively working on your behalf to stay ahead of it. Stay tuned for more news from us on the m-commerce front.

Our beta partner for Mobile Links is 1800Flowers. If you are already partnered with 1800Flowers, you'll see a new option in link types for Mobile Text and Banner links.

Mobile is, no doubt, a direction that affiliate marketers will have to consider as more and more consumers begin to depend on their mobile device as more than just a voice communication tool.  With the rapid increase in computing power that US handsets have seen in the past year (thanks in part to the iPhone's release), mobile is becoming a very attractive space for advertisers looking to increase their performance marketing responsiveness. 

The other new release for today, Link Locator, is for the more specialized affiliates and publishers comfortable with web services:

Link Locator is an XML data feed that gives you access to updated promotions and products without having to login to your account and manually create links. We've enhanced this web service by:

• Allowing access to all available links, not just text and banner
• Supporting both REST and SOAP web service calls
• Now, instead of six pre-defined promotion categories, advertisers can
name their creative in any way they like

You can find full implementation guides here (pdf).

We'll see how affiliate uptake of these new services go in the following months.  It will take some experimentation from the trailblazing and innovative in the affiliate community to push ahead with Flex Links and Mobile Links but these are still great advancements for the network space (and affiliate marketing in general) in my opinion.  While these platforms are available in other places and from niche specific companies, it's a good indicator that the major networks are moving into video and mobile.