Do You Think More And More Smaller Program Owners...

Are looking for more devious ways to screw their affiliates out of earning money?

It seems that as of late, there has been a lot of talk on the boards about program owners not honoring affiliate cookies from some of the processors and even having their affiliates send traffic to non-standard domain tours so that when type-in traffic is generated, the affiliates do not get credited for sales.

Do you think this is a deliberate attempt by some program owners to screw their affiliates out of income of do you think that this is just telling as to why inexperienced individuals shouldnt be running their own paysites?

I mean, if a program owner cant even get the 'basics' right when it comes to not crediting affiliates with sales, what else are they doing wrong?

Your thoughts?

Regards,

Lee

i think it is because of both reasons they do not now what they are doing and also that they are trying to scam and think they can get away with it because they do not know what they are doing and can use that as a excuse

I agree.
I run a small site myself and do affiliate sales as well.


I spent weeks researching which processor to use to ensure that affiliates would be paid fairly and on time for sales. I've stuck with that same processor to ensure affiliates get their money as is fair if they send the traffic that leads to sales. When I make changes to the program such as adding a bonus tier, I call the processor to make sure everything is right and then check it twice to be sure.

As an affiliate, I read very closely the rules, payouts, and check on the reputation of sponsors by searching the forums and asking other affiliate program owners. It's amazing the stuff you can find in the small print of some programs and see first hand when you click your own links to their programs. Compared to most of you, I'm a very small fish. Maybe not even a fish, more like a 1 cell organizim floating in the muck. But I like to make sure that I'm getting what is due.

In the end, you get what you give. Shady program owners and fraudulent affiliates will get theirs in the end. It's better to be up front and honest, after all, the sponsor/affiliate relationship is a business partnership. Partnership!

There are a LOT of desperate people posting on boards the last few months.

It's frustrating seeing people posting and making excuses for doing everything from hidden xsells to cookie stuffing.

I say live and let live just don't get involved with people doing the wrong thing.

I think so many in our industry will work with scammers, and just get burned.

I remember the research I did on Samebb when he first came on the scene and all the info I posted, some worked with him anyway and are now posting about being his latest victims.. some of the same people accused me of causing drama back then by posting facts. Google is your friend when researching who to do business with people :bunny:

i think it's pretty easy to spot the "bad" from the "good" when it comes to small program owners. and if someone can't spot the difference (ie by asking other webmasters, looking at their site's tour, paying attention to their marketing practices etc etc), then they were going to get screwed one way or another working in this industry, anyway.

and i actually think the "good" small program owners, are actually more honest than the larger program owners, since they have to work twice as hard these days to remain competitive so employing any bad-business tactics could completely put them out of business. my $0.02

We use Verotel to handle all our affiliate program admin - so we have no access to it. It's easier for us and affiliates seem to prefer using a trusted name to deal with.

Can't speak to the established programs, but as someone who sees a lot of start-ups coming in, I have to say that a lot of the brand new ones just do not know how to set-up a program.
They are winging it, and don't seem malicious in intent, but simply don't do the research in advance or make the investment in the project to do it right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ccjax

They are winging it, and don't seem malicious in intent, but simply don't do the research in advance or make the investment in the project to do it right.

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That would make sense, i know a few smaller program owners who literally just have paysites and programs so they can boost their own egos among their friends and say that they 'have one'.

Its unfortunate if you think about it, because a lot of these people will be the ones a few months down the line that get accused of shaving, etc potentially ruining their reputations.

Regards,

Lee

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ccjax

Can't speak to the established programs, but as someone who sees a lot of start-ups coming in, I have to say that a lot of the brand new ones just do not know how to set-up a program.
They are winging it, and don't seem malicious in intent, but simply don't do the research in advance or make the investment in the project to do it right.

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That's why we use CCBill for all of our Affiliate programs. Our clients and individual customers have the added peace of mind of dealing with an established billing company with a strong positive reputation and we never have to worry about accusations of skimming, scamming or any other such unethical behaviors. I just wish some of these jokers would stop and look at the big picture...You might make a few extra bucks right here and now, but your reputation will catch up with you quickly and once your name gets tarnished in this industry you are DONE.
We here at CBL may not be flying around the country in a private jet, but we're still here and we'll be here as long as there is a need for our sites!