Should affiliate networks run affiliate websites?

[jess1]

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Super: Yup, your right!

[woutermols]

Excellent post Clarke.

With regards to this: "The networks use 302 redirects to forward the browser on to the merchant. The browser will then send the same request headers to the merchant as they did to the network, including the referer. I've just checked this and the data is definately available. http://tracker.networkname.com will not show in the merchant's logs."

Seems like I have to rethink a strategy here... lol. I always thought that my redirect scripts would prevent the networks etc. from seeing exactly what page my visitor came from... while I could keep track of that info. Arrrggggghhhh....

What I would like to know is how I could block this information from being passed on? Do I have to use a 301 redirect instead???

[pistol101]

One important thing to note is that the large proportion of traffic through some networks is actually from pure content sites, whether it be freebie sites, travel guides, ISPs etc. Is a network going to be able to create a new Kelkoo or AOL? unlikely.

Yes networks could see the keywords for PPC, but it's not as simple throwing cash at the keywords as any good PPC expert will know. A network is going to make more money by helping the affiliates and negotiating volume commissions with the merchant.

It helps merchants and other affiliates when the people at the networks have real experience.

[Rich]

I rather deal with people who disclose upfront what they do and many of the best folk here are upfront about it.

I'm exactly the same and I think we would all trust the network referred to at the start of this post a little more if they came forward and said it was them - even if they gave no reason why they were competing with affiliates or gave no statement that they weren't using data from the network. As always the more communicative a network is the more likely I am to trust them, even if it isn't all positive spin.

I still think a network doing PPC as a company is a bit different to a network's employee also being an affiliate.

As for hiding referral information, I guess I'm not the only one that doesn't totally trust the networks and merchants . Either a meta refresh or javascript can be used to stop the referral information being passed on, but neither are ideal - meta refreshs cause a pause in the navigation (e.g. when you click out of kelkoo) and javascript won't always be turned on. Even when using those, others can still use things like searchengine caches and backlinks to trace things back. I just link directly or via a 302 for updating my own stats.

[Malcolm Cowley]

Hi

I think just about everyone on here knows I am an affiliate - I was before we had our first big affiliate program on buy.at and started to call ourselves an affiliate network and I will be long after I retire from my day job - in fact in one form or another as long as the net is here ill pretty much be an affiliate till the day I die .

One thing I dont do is ppc - If I did I would undoubtably be in the top 5 pay per click affiliates in the country in terms of earnings as I have access to all the stats regarding ppc at the network which would make me very hard to compete with if I also had the capital to be agressive with the knowledge.

The guys who do a lot of ppc for us know I see this info and they know I could use it and they also know I dont and wouldnt and so trust plays a big part.

I also dont use buy.at programs but I do think this is less sensitive than the ppc and I may use buy.at programs personally in the future who knows.

As for building an seo'd or ppc driven affiliate site as a network i think this is very strange - we have our self contained buy.at community group sites which we had before the affiliate network but they are not in what I would consider to be direct competition with affiliates sites or ppc affiliates.

So there you have it - me personally I am an affiliate , a merchant and I work for buy.at where i am a shareholder and an active part of the team with plenty of access to all the stats under the sun to rip as many people as I can off in as quick a time as possible risking my Million pound pay off and my satisfying salary in the process instead of just reading the forum - talking to people like Clarke and searching google for clues with a big dose of trial and error and 100's of hours of labour :-)

Its ppc where the line needs to be drawn and for me i have drawn one so rest easy adwords mafia :-)

Mal

[jess1]

I represent a merchant and I am an affiliate. I dont do PPC either as a merchant nor as an affiliate.
Rich: I completely understand re

I guess I'm not the only one that doesn't totally trust the networks and merchants .

hopefully there are some networks and merchants that you trust more then others :0)

[D-Mac]

Its ppc where the line needs to be drawn and for me i have drawn one so rest easy adwords mafia :-)

Just out of interest, why should the line be drawn, (if indeed a line should be drawn) at PPC?

Inside information can be used to influence 'natural' serps much as it can for PPC.

[Malcolm Cowley]

Hi

Because i can pay to be top - so i only need to know the keywords that produce the sale and how to optimise for adwords and with a big enough budget to bully I am off.

With SEO I know the page a sale was generated from but not the search done to get to that page or indeed whether the traffic had ever come from a search engine or a link or an adword or what....

So you see knowing someone does well from natural traffic doesnt mean you can go and do the same if you try to copy as you dont have all the info to hand - no more really than someone who goes and searches google for the top 10 in any big search string.

With ppc however i can match up everything and produce the ultimate campaign with no leakage on underperforming keywords etc etc.

I hope this makes it clearer why I draw a line at ppc

Mal