Will Fraud Kill Affiliate Marketing?
Will fraud kill affiliate marketing?
It is up to you. You choose.
But here’s a clue: the BP oil spill probably just killed the Louisiana wetlands. I think we should take that as a warning of just what can happen.
The affiliate marketing industry is an ecosystem. It consists of a web of interdependent species: affiliates, merchants, networks, merchant processors, etc. Sometimes they compete, sometimes they are symbiotic. But they all rely on each other for survival.
As in Louisiana, it’s a nicely balanced ecosystem – but now disaster looms, threatening the survival of all.
In Louisiana the problem is an oil spill. In the affiliate marketing industry it’s a an unholy alliance of the FTC, the Russian mafia and the credit card companies. And while drawing a parallel between affiliate marketing and the Louisiana wetlands is an imaginary exercise, the issue of fraudulent activity is not.
If we don’t deal with it, it threatens our existence.
Here’s the point: we all need each other to survive. Merchants need good publishers. Publishers need good offers. Networks need both.
But we also need each other to behave. We all need to stick to the rules of the ecosystem.
There is temptation for all. Affiliates are tempted to try new traffic sources that may not convert well for the advertiser. Advertisers may push out creatives and disclosures that are incomplete or deceptive. And networks may choose to turn a blind eye so long as the conversions keep coming and advertiser cash keeps flowing through to wash away the dirt.
How do we change this dynamic? The only way has to be to recommit to a fraud-free environment. To recommit to the future of the industry. Which is our future.
Seriously, if you are tempted tomorrow, what will you do? Will you ignore the super-affiliate who sends you $50,000 of leads even though you’re not sure where they came from? Or will you syndicate an offer out to your network of publishers even though you don’t know if the advertiser can deliver?
It’s up to you. It’s up to all of us. We can stick to the rules of the ecosystem. We can play by the rules and prosper in the long-term. Or we can ignore advice and do our own thing until the drilling rig explodes and the crude oil washes over us.
It’s your choice. Just remember, the Louisiana wetlands aren’t coming back to life anytime soon.
- Chris Trayhorn's blog
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AM/OPM's need to network together to out fraudsters. By sharing information on those we catch in our respective programs we can remove those that others catch. Also speak to your network to request more tools and specific reports to help police our programs. The majority of programs are on auto-pilot and affiliates just game the system. If the FTC cracks down we all have to find other careers. Don't wait for the disaster to hit!
Chris, When you broadly talk about "Fraud Killing Affiliate Marketing" you do a huge part of the affiliate industry a disservice. Our OPM practice works through Google, Commission Junction, Linkshare, ShareASale and many other affiliate networks. In over 10 years of working with these networks, fraud has never been an issue of any major consequence. These networks do an excellent job of policing their affiliates, affiliates are totally transparent to me the program manager allowing for easy negation of any fraud issues and merchants employ data capture techniques that preclude fraud to a great extent (credit card required, automatic call back on leads, and etc.). So, please specify more clearly the types of affiliate networks you are referring to and leave the one I have mentioned above out of the mix. I totally get what you are saying and it is clear a great readjustment in the market is coming.
Durk, that's a fair point and I probably overstated my case a little for dramatic effect. :-) But at the same time, it's still the case that you don't have to look far to find shady people advertising to buy affiliate accounts for the networks you mention. Perhaps those people are all caught before they do any harm, but clearly they still find it economically viable to buy the accounts. So something's going on. But I'm open to be persuaded. Why don't you write a piece for us?
It now seems the new plan is to pump in concrete and dirt. $50,000 of leads if you did not find out where they came from may turn out to be of the same value of the dirt BP will be using. What amazes me is that incoming leads are often left unchecked and left invalidated.
In addition to verifying that you are gaining a callable landline telephone number by checking in real time against all callable telephone numbers, Data8 are now able to validate the mobile number is correct and that it is a live regularly used mobile. Finally you can ensure that you have obtained an email address which has a real active domain that can accept messages.
Adding these checks not only adds real value to the quality of leads , but also administration time in processing payment for invalid leads:
http://www.data-8.co.uk/integr8/services/validation_services.aspx