Clean Sweep
By: Lisa Picarille
It's not easy being clean. Just ask affiliate managers.
You're thinking of working with a merchant, but you don't want to be involved in any program that includes affiliates using questionable, if not illegal, practices. But how can you know for sure whose program is squeaky clean and whose is not?
It's not easy to tell which merchants have clean programs. Maybe that's because it's not easy to pin down exactly what "clean" means.
"That's the $64,000 question," says Kellie Stevens, president of AffiliateFairPlay.com. "The answer varies. Clean means different things to different groups. The definition varies even among affiliates."
The general consensus at the most basic level is that a clean program will not allow parasites of any kind to sign up and will remove offenders if they are discovered. This means that affiliates with downloadable applications that are installed without the knowledge of the consumer or that redirect affiliate links or overwrite affiliate cookies are out.
But there are those even stricter in their definition.
"For some, even if a user can opt out of the download, they consider that parasiteware," Stevens says. "So if a merchant partners with that affiliate, they are considered to be supporting the parasite financially and they risk being labeled as unclean."
"As far as some affiliates think, there is no clean program," says Shawn Collins, a consultant. "They have a very black-and-white view of anyone who uses adware. They think there are no possible [good] intentions from anyone who uses adware."
Collins calls that "a simplistic and lazy viewpoint." "Maybe they don't understand the issues completely or they are taking this stand from a selfish or competitive viewpoint," he says.
Under that stringent definition of clean, Collins says any affiliate manager that partners with any loyalty, reward or incentive program would be considered dirty. He disagrees.
"If an affiliate is using the adware for something like shopping and the application is very compliant in allowing users to de-install the program, I think that's okay," Collins says. "Not all adware should be grouped together. It's not like they are all drive-by downloads or installed or bundled without users' consent."
He notes that many in the online marketing community do not consider RemindU from UPromise a parasite, but notes that it uses the same technology as eBates, which is often targeted as being a parasite by affiliates.
Affiliate managers themselves seem a little more lax about what constitutes a rogue affiliate. According to a poll on AffiliateManger.net, a community message board and forum, 54 percent of affiliate managers stated that some adware affiliates are dirty and some are clean. Talk about straddling the middle ground.
But affiliates don't always see eye to eye with program managers. Most affiliates agree that parasites typically prey on merchants that are ignorant about such nefarious practices or affiliate managers that turn a blind eye to these activities because their program is making a lot of money from rogue affiliates.
It's a Matter of Trust
That's why developing trust between affiliates and those managing programs is a crucial component of doing business. Both parties must feel that they've entered into a partnership. When you do business with partners there is an implied level of trust that the relationship needs to work for both parties.
"The trust sustained between a network and affiliate is paramount," says Bret Grow, vice president of LinkMo Advertising Network. "Our affiliate trusts that we keep our links alive, pay a competitive price for their sales/traffic and report it honestly. Networks trust affiliates to provide credible data and lawful traffic no matter the level of volume."
Andy Newlin, affiliate marketing supervisor for SierraTradingPost.com, knows about trust. He's earned it. Two years ago, his program was widely criticized by very vocal affiliates. But Newlin listened to those critical affiliates and worked hard to weed out the bad affiliates. His continued clean up efforts and willingness to listen earned him a certain level of trust and respect with the online marketing community. Now if a bad apple slips in, affiliates alert Newlin and he takes care of it immediately. In other words, affiliates are now willing to cut Newlin a little slack.
"Back then I didn't know about running a clean program and relied on affiliates to educate me," Newlin says. "And once I had a good idea what a bad affiliate was, I took on every affiliate account and tested it myself and then made a decision on whether or not they were clean and could stay in the program. Every now and then an affiliate will alert me that a spyware or parasiteware affiliate has snuck in. I'll thank the affiliate for letting me know and then take the appropriate actions right away."
Newlin says that if you take the advice of good affiliates and ask for their help, they get over the hard feelings.
Some affiliate managers are revered by the affiliate community as managers who run clean programs. Chris Sanderson of AMWSO, an affiliate marketing firm based in Bangkok, Thailand, and Andy Rodriguez of Andy Rodriguez Consulting are the most notable and mentioned the most often.
"Eighty percent of the [ABestWeb] board hates LinkShare," says Haiko de Poel Jr., president of ABestWeb.com. "But they love Chris Sanderson. And if he says a program is clean, then come hell or high water, affiliates believe him. By definition, a trusted program is a Chris Sanderson program or an Andy Rodriguez program. There is a huge trust factor with those guys and affiliates."
This summer Rodriguez held the first Affiliate Program Manager Certification seminar in Florida. The response was so overwhelming that Rodriguez has a second one planned for October.
"Andy is probably the most trusted affiliate manager out there, and it comes as no surprise that he's the first to offer such a seminar," says Greg Rice, an outsourced affiliate program manager with Commerce Management Consulting in Medina, Ohio. "As a veteran affiliate, I'm very interested in this topic." Rice worked as an affiliate several years ago when Rodriguez managed the affiliate program for Tiger Direct.
"That's where I got firsthand knowledge of how he inspires trust in people. If he says he'll do something, he does it. He quickly resolves issues and he did a lot of cleaning up of that program to get the parasites out," Rice says.
Rodriguez says it's all about building relationships with people.
"If you respect people and are honest with them, they respond to that," he says. "In my opinion that is what affiliate marketing is about - people and treating them with the same respect you expect to be treated [with]."
But people change jobs, so don't confuse the merchant with the affiliate manager of that program, advises de Poel. Continued on Page 2...
Tags:
clean, programs, affiliate managers, rogue affiliates, parasites, spyware, adware, commission, redirect, regulation, policing, squeaky clean, loyalty reward, viewpoint, adware, incentive program, stringent definition, affiliate manager, affiliate managers, illegal practices, downloadable applications, pin down, overwrite, simplistic, good intentions, parasite, parasites, financially, consensus, opt out, shawn collins,
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