I just wanted to let everyone know that Affiliate Fair Play Testing Service went live yesterday. This is the service from Kellie Stevens of AffiliateFairPlay.com. Here’s all the general information.

I have been beta testing the service for over a month and I think it’s going to be a very valuable resource for the industry.

Just in case you haven’t seen the latest issue of Revenue, here’s the article (page 122 of the Sept./Oct. issue) I wrote on the service.

All’s Fair

AffiliateFairPlay.com is looking to provide a new service that promises to unearth data about affiliate behaviors – good and bad.

The subscription-based service – called Affiliate Fair Play Testing Service – delivers specific data on affiliate behavior and affiliate programs to a variety of groups including merchants, networks and affiliates, according to Kellie Stevens, president of AffiliateFairPlay.com.

The service offers different-tiered levels of information and access to various subscribers. There is a level for merchants and networks and another level for affiliates. Merchants and networks will have access to affiliate IDs, while affiliates will not see that type of information.

There are separate areas that include factual data and reports on specific subjects and there will also be distinct discussion forums where everyone can comment on those issues. Each member has access to only the discussion forum for their group’s level. There are forums on adware, typosquatting, forced click (cookie stuffing) and others.

“I want to keep the factual information separate from the opinion and emotion of this,” says Stevens, who notes that the service is based on forum software because it is the most familiar type of application for most users and typically includes robust search capabilities.

In addition, anyone using the service can submit a private request for testing and that criteria threshold for testing may be included in the report.

There is an adware forum, where Stevens is testing for 15 or 20 behaviors – including what names companies are operating under, the version of the adware being used in the action, if controversial behaviors are happening or not, the affiliate ID associated with the adware and other notes as well.

She is testing for how revenue is being generated: Is an affiliate redirecting a pay-per-click campaign? Are they redirecting another affiliate? Is it happening via affiliate links, media buys, comparison shopping or PPC? She is not testing and documenting drive-by installs. She is also documenting which merchants are working with which affiliates.

This is not a certification service, according Stevens, who claims that it’s much too resource-intensive to attempt to certify affiliates. Also affiliate behaviors change too quickly for a certification process to actually ensure that affiliates are not engaging in rogue behaviors once they have been certified as clean.

Stevens is also quick to point out that although she has “distinct beliefs and philosophies” on what is appropriate affiliate behavior, that it’s not up to her “to impose my beliefs on other businesses. I can’t say for everyone’s business what is best.” Instead she’s simply providing subscribers with information that in turn allows them to make informed decisions.

Providing this type of information to people is not new to Stevens, who has been providing similar services on an ad hoc basis (and for free) for many years. As a courtesy she will often IM or email affiliate managers if she sees bad behaviors.

At press time the service was currently being beta-tested by about 35 people, and was slated to go live at the end of August.

One beta tester says the value of the service is the time it saves by allowing subscribers to get an idea of what programs are making money and converting, and weed out those programs that allow technology players that have shady or unethical practices. That’s very useful when there are more than 14,000 programs out there for affiliates to choose from, the beta tester explains.

“It’s an additional screening tool for the affiliates,” another beta tester says. “The technology is complex, and keeping tabs on merchant programs and what they are doing is not easy. This lets me know what’s going on in a matter of minutes.”

Annual subscription prices have not yet been set. But Stevens says she expects to charge more to the networks and merchants and less for the affiliates. Membership is confidential and there is a verification process to ensure that affiliates don’t attempt to get access to the data that is only for the networks.

Let me know what you think. lisap@revenuetoday.com