Cemmerce, an Israeli startup helping publishers monetize through affiliate linking, has raised $500,000 in new funding.
The round comes from digital holding company Navitrio. The firm, which also offers its portfolio companies office space and administrative services, previously invested $500,000 in Cemmerce last year. Navitrio co-founder Dror Liwer is also co-founder and CEO at Cemmerce.
Cemmerce pitches itself as a new way for publishers to monetize their content. You just add a few lines of code to your site, or install one of Cemmerce’s plug-ins for WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr. Then the company will automatically scan the text for product names and add affiliate links allowing visitors to purchase the item on various e-commerce sites. Cemmerce makes an affiliate fee from the purchases, which it splits with the publisher.
There are other companies offering automatic affiliate linking, such as VigLink and Skimlinks. However, Cemmerce isn’t just creating standard affiliate links. Instead, users mouse over a link open up a “Cemmerce bubble”, which displays the four best prices for the product.
Cemmerce also offers dynamic banner ads, and publishers can add “Buy Now” links to the end of articles, allowing users to purchase the products that they just read about.