Ebates.com rebrands at Rakuten.com. Thoughts?

Rakuten is a horrible name, so much so, they have to do commercials with people saying the name and giving them prizes if they get it right.

I liked the previous name better, Buy.com, before they switched to Rakuten. Talking about the ecommerce site, I know Rakuten has been around awhile. They also rebranded the affiliate network Linkshare as Rakuten Affiliate Network.

So now they're switching to a cash-back site? Is this new?

Yes, Ebates is better than Rakuten. Ebates also bought another popular cash-back site back in the day, FatWallet.com. I liked that name.

Used to have issues with Ebates back in the day, original owner (was an ass). They used to use a software reminder program that "interfered" with other affiliates commissions/money.

https://www.benedelman.org/news-121504/

Stupid

Rakuten is behind "LinkShare.com" which has been around for quite a while

I use it on a few pages and at one time, was earning nice bucks from it, in addition to ppc

imo….

Idk...

Rakuten

Thank like raken-up-points but with accumulate at the end lol

Rak-ku-ten

Rakuten is the dominant online retailer in Japan. The word translates to "Optimism".

One can only speculate as to why they have used their Japanese brand in foreign markets. But with all the Chinese influence in the US (Chinese characters prominently displayed along the sidelines at professional sporting events, etc.), I would presume they are vying for their piece of the cultural pie.

NameAcquisitions said:

Just my opinion, Ebates was far more memorable. And Rakuten.com just doesn't roll off the tongue like ebates. The company is still running TV commercials for Ebates too... Maybe I am missing something. Not a fan of this rebrand.

Not quite a brand new story, but didn't see it discussed.

Click to expand...

It will cost 10 of millions.

I remember seeing the commercial and wondering wtf it was even for.

time to fire the branding consultants

fail - imo

They didn't rebrand. They were bought by Rakuten a Japanese e-commerce giant.

JB Lions said:

I liked the previous name better, Buy.com, before they switched to Rakuten. Talking about the ecommerce site, I know Rakuten has been around awhile. They also rebranded the affiliate network Linkshare as Rakuten Affiliate Network.

Click to expand...

They also used to known as Play.com (at least in the UK). That was an awesome name too.

They own Buy.com and Play.com, but chose to be called Rakuten. I personally dislike the name Rakuten too but I think I'd rather have that name than ebates.

creataweb said:

Stupid

Click to expand...

That's about it.

I'm with various people on this - in my (non-expert) opinion their previous name was well known. I say that both on aesthetic grounds (shorter, clearer, more descriptive, more memorable) and also on the basis that they had built a good following around that name. I had not known about the Japanese meaning (thanks @Bernard Wright ) and agree that makes it more understandable, but unless a lot of the world know that meaning then I think the rebrand is still questionable.
Bob

Rakuten is an old brand well known to affiliate earners, why would they change?

I'm a little confused. Are they rebranding (to me still at the eBates site) or simply added a logo indicating they are part of the Rakuten network of companies? I had thought from the OP they were switching but on checking out site it is not obvious to me.

ultradog said:

Rakuten is an old brand well known to affiliate earners, why would they change?

Click to expand...

ive heard of ebates, never heard of Rakuten, nor will i remember how to spell it in the future

3 keys to a good brand name:

1. Easy to remember
2. Easy to spell
3. Short

Bob Hawkes said:

I'm a little confused. Are they rebranding (to me still at the eBates site) or simply added a logo indicating they are part of the Rakuten network of companies? I had thought from the OP they were switching but on checking out site it is not obvious to me.

Click to expand...

I think Bob's right. I don't think they are fully rebranding ebates. They are just creating brand awareness of Rakuten, their mother site.

Bob Hawkes said:

I'm a little confused. Are they rebranding (to me still at the eBates site) or simply added a logo indicating they are part of the Rakuten network of companies? I had thought from the OP they were switching but on checking out site it is not obvious to me.

Click to expand...

Looks like a full rebrand to me. ebates.com redirects me to rakuten.com, and there is no longer an ebates logo up top... though in marketing they still seem to use ebates so it is confusing.

No redirect for me, just co-branding in the header...



I'm in the USA, maybe they are geo redirecting based on IP country?

If you are in the USA, too, then maybe they are redirecting parts of the USA for testing and will roll out a full redirect/rebranding later if results are favorable?

It's probably there to ease the transition for those typing in ebates, eventually it'll just say Rakuten. They did the same with Linkshare affiliate network.

I imagine it's just like Linkshare -

https://www.linkshare.com now forwards to:

https://rakutenmarketing.com/affiliate

Why is Ebates Changing its Name to Rakuten?
https://www.ebates.com/blog/ebates-changing-name-to-rakuten/

You can tell my the comments at the end, this is confusing a lot of people.

https://www.rakuten.com/new-brand

Saw ads for both brands in the same day on national TV channels (yesterday.)

Personally, I think they could use Ebates in USA / Europe and maybe Rakuten in Asia. Or something like that.

Rakuten is a huge and expanding company with a yearly revenue of about 10 billion dollars. It is often referred to as "the Amazon of Japan".

According to Wikipedia:

Rakuten, Inc. (楽天株式会社 Rakuten Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese electronic commerce and Internet company based in Tokyo and founded in 1997 by Hiroshi Mikitani. Its B2B2C e-commerce platform Rakuten Ichiba is the largest e-commerce site in Japan and among the world's largest by sales. The company operates Japan's biggest Internet bank and number one credit card company (by transaction value). It also offers e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications services to over one billion members around the world, and operates in 29 countries and regions.

After Lionel Messi wears it every week, it has become quite memorable. At least to football fans.