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[Amy Ely]

Demonstrating strong performance worldwide, the online ticketing industry continues to see exponential growth:

• Leading live entertainment and ecommerce company, Live Nation recently reported 2Q results above expectations
• Ticketmaster reported $2.1B in ticket sales, up 15.7% from 2010
• Seatwave, Europe’s fastest growing digital media company, reported revenue growth of 70% year over year in 2009 with a 155% increase in the number of fans selling tickets through their site
• The secondary ticketing market in the US saw immense growth over the past 5 years and is predicted to reach a value of $4.5B by 2012

A versatile and attractive category for affiliate marketers, new advertisers are entering the online ticketing industry and developing programs that are designed to succeed in the performance marketing industry.

Coinciding with its expansion into the US, global performance marketing network buy.at became fully invested in this industry with the exclusive launch of Ticketmaster’s affiliate program in November 2007. Now managing the affiliate marketing activity for several online ticket retailers, the company is seeing a variety of payment models designed to accommodate multiple publishers and promotion types.

TicketSizzle launched on buy.at in 2011 with a unique modified CPC model, rewarding affiliates for valid clicks through to trusted ticket sellers. This online ticketing service provides a real time database with over 80,000 events worldwide, enabling customers to search and compare prices for tickets to concerts, sporting events, theatre and more, then click through to purchase from their company of choice.

Attracting lead-based affiliates, Goldstar is an exclusive program on buy.at, with commission payouts based on qualified new member sign-ups. This company targets a growing audience of consumers that respond to time-sensitive, deep discounted deals and has grown to become the world’s largest online seller of half-price tickets to theatre shows, concerts, comedic acts and sports. Featuring an inventory of 10,000 live events across 20 U.S. markets, Goldstar is focused on continuing the expansion of their membership base.

Dedicated to supporting more traditional sales-based affiliates, online ticket providers on the buy.at network also include Ticket Liquidator, SuperStar Tickets, and Movietickets.com which serve customers looking for discounted tickets, event tickets with no service charges, and movie tickets. As the competition within the online ticketing marketplace continues, leveraging the experience of online publishers with relevant targeted traffic can be hugely beneficial for these brands and the next five years will no doubt be even more exciting than the last.

Alex Forsch, Head of buy.at Account Management says: “Beginning our exclusive partnership with Ticketmaster in 2007, buy.at has grown to become the performance marketing network of choice for primary and secondary ticketing and entertainment programs. Our advertisers greatly benefit from high converting traffic into premium and remnant ticketing sales driven through our well established and experienced publishers.”

In addition to the results-based benefits of the affiliate channel, online ticketing advertisers are enticed by the ability of affiliate publishers to reach across online communities, engage in social media, and leverage the power of word-of-mouth advertising in driving ticket sales. A 2011 UK study confirms that today’s online ticket consumers are “becoming ever more connected to – and influenced by – their peers.”

Click here to view the full post on the buy.at blog.