It doesn’t matter if you are a super-affiliate or a newbie affiliate: the most important thing to check before working a new network is their reputation.
There are dozens of networks to choose from, so it makes sense to prioritize picking one that is trustworthy, has a long track record and is known for reliability both in making payments and protecting brands. Nowadays, thanks to the low cost of technology, anyone who has a little technical knowledge and some sales skills can start their own affiliate network – do you really want to be working with them though?
Do they have enough cash on hand to be able to pay affiliates on time? Do they have advertising clients of their own or are they simply acting as brokers for other networks? Are they running their own traffic in competition with their publishers? If you are an affiliate can you trust them not to copy your campaigns? If an advertiser, can you trust that they will ensure compliance with your brand guidelines? These questions are critical to determining whether a network may potentially be a good partner or not.
Over the last five years we have seen the birth and death of countless networks at a very fast pace, leaving a trail of unpaid affiliates and defrauded advertisers. Running a network is complex and takes a lot of free cash flow (often networks have to float commission payments for a month or more before being paid by advertisers) so it makes no sense to trust someone new to the job. It takes experience to deal fairly with affiliates and advertisers, and to handle the many risk factors such as fraudulent traffic, advertiser non-payment, brand protection, legislative compliance, and so on.
The good news is that there are networks in the industry that have built up solid reputations, that can give both affiliates and advertisers the support they need, and that can deliver performance and ROI. TORO Advertising is an up-and-coming European network with a lot of experience. They were new entrants to the mThink Blue Book rankings for 2017 as one of the top 20 CPA networks in the world.
TORO Advertising believe that network reliability and trust are critical for success in affiliate marketing. Their reputation confirms it.
Do you still have doubts? Stop thinking about it and create your affiliate account now. We are waiting for you!