Does, or did, the iTunes affiliate program work for you?

[foxtucker]

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Have you spent any time working on the iTunes affiliate program through Tradedoubler or Linkshare?

I've been putting some significant effort in to it over the past few months and found that it has mostly been a complete waste of my time, but because there's essentially no competitor for the product, I find myself continuing to chip away at the damn thing.

I'm keen to reach out to others that are working it, or that have worked on it in the past. One or two things seem to work every now and again, but mostly my results are ****e.

I find that while the click thru rate is acceptable, the conversions are terrible.

While innovative, the mechanics of linking from my web site/html email newsletter through to the iTunes software (where the user makes a purchase) is buggy and that some purchases are simply not credited to the affiliate.

What is your experience of the program?

[Greavsie]

hi foxtrucker

Although i work on the LinkShare UK network; i'd be happy to have a chat with the itunes account manager in the US to see what we can do to help you.

P.s. LinkShare US have a few more merchants in the music sector i.e. Beatport, Wolfgang Vault which tailor for the more niche musical tastes.

email: agreaves@linkshare.com

[jrisby]

Anyone had any luck getting a reply from the itunes affiliate team (iTunesaffiliates@euro.apple.com) ? I emailed them a week ago and nothing yet.

[sgpratley]

Not sure if he's still there, but Grant Little was the guy I met running the programme and was always very helpful.

Ask TD to put you in touch with the right person.

[jrisby]

Not sure if he's still there, but Grant Little was the guy I met running the programme and was always very helpful.

Ask TD to put you in touch with the right person.

The email address I mentioned above is the one mentioned several times in the tradedoubler/itunes info page for point of contact so I would expect a reply of some sort.

But thanks for the tip, I'll try and speak to Grant.

John

[foxtucker]

Anyone had any luck getting a reply from the itunes affiliate team (iTunesaffiliates@euro.apple.com) ? I emailed them a week ago and nothing yet.

Have you started with iTunes? How's it working out for you?

[jrisby]

Not done anything with it yet, waiting for some information from itunes first.

[foxtucker]

I have a number of issues with the iTunes affiliate program. They all stem from the fact that the purchase takes place within the iTunes software.

I'll explain. Take a look at iTunes Top 100 Songs (UK) and you'll see the current Top 100 songs on iTunes in the UK.

You'll note that song listing links via Trade Doubler to a new window. This new window starts up the users copy of iTunes (sometimes, not always) and takes them directly to the purchase page within the iTunes software application.

Now, aside from the fact that in my experience this doesn't always work as intended, there are a number of issues.
1. The users MUST obviously have iTunes installed on the same computer that is being used to click our links.

2. There's no cookie process that ensures we get paid if the user makes additional purchases in the same session.

3. The commission rate is dire. I mean REALLY dire.

4. I know for a fact that I have not been credited wih a number of sales that have taken place. I have a number of users that use links on my site purchase gift certificates for their family and friends. Just 2 days ago, one person made a £40 purchase and nothing has shown in up my stats. That's simply unacceptable.

Now I understand that on a low cost item you can't expect to make big money, but for all the reasons listed above the itunes affiliate program has proven to be a waste of time, despite the fact that I get lots of iTunes traffic and lots of clicks on the tradedoubler links.

From an merchants point of view the Apple iTunes affiliate program is probably one of the most success ever launched. When you consider that a merchants primary objective is to get maximum sales with the lowest possible investment, the iTunes affiliate program has to be one of the most incredibly well executed affiliate programs ever. They have a whole bunch of affiliates giving a mass of interactive brand awareness while paying pennies per sales through a sales process thats as unreliable and buggy. Perfect!

Ever wonder why TradeDoubler/iTunes keep the EPC secret from prospective and existing affiliates alike? Probably has something to do with the fact that no seasoned affiliate would touch it with a barge pole if they were given an idea of the conversion/payout rates.

Ever wondered why you stuggle to get a response from TradeDoubler regarding the iTunes AP? I suspect that the fact that TradeDoubler make so little from managing the program has a lot to do with why there's no one at TD working on it.

Here's more food for thought. The iTunes AP has no problem with doipod.com being an affiliate, but the same site is rejected by the Apple Store affiliate program because it has the word "ipod" in the domain. Hmmm.

[Gavinio]

Hi all,

Just to jump on this from a couple of months ago - if you're promoting iTunes or the Apple Store in the UK/Europe/US then you might want to give me a shout. I'm managing the Apple store and iTunes account for Australia and NZ here at my new employers, dgmAustralia.

They speak English and everything , so your ideas for the UK should translate to some good commissions out here - the market is smaller, but so is the competition.

Give me a yell if you want owt - gavin.hudsonREMOVETHIS@dgm-au.com and we'll see what we can get sorted out for you.

Ditto anything else to do with the Australian market if anyone fancies a dabble - there are good commissions to be made.

Cheers,

Gav

[fizzbird]

I find that while the click thru rate is acceptable, the conversions are terrible.
What is your experience of the program?

I've made about 2 quid in year from this program and don't bother with it any more. Perhaps the fact that you have to download the itunes player in order to make a purchase is a major barrier?

[grantlittle]

The iTunes affiliate programme continues to see dramatic revenue growth in line with the success of the iTunes Store: over 5 billion songs sold to date and over 50,000 movies sold every day (purchased and rented).

Outlined below are a range of tools that will help affiliates to benefit from iTunes catalogue of more than 8 million songs, TV shows, movies, apps, audiobooks and iPod games.

Sign up to the iTunes affiliate programme here

iTunesaffiliates@euro.apple.com

CREATE AD HOC AFFILIATE LINKS

> Affiliate Link Maker:
http://hst.tradedoubler.com/file/$$$$$$/linkmaker.html?aid=********&pid=$$$$$$

Replace $$$$$$ with Programme code
Replace ******** with affiliate ID

CREATE AUTOMATIC LINKS TO iTUNES CONTENT

> Match your site's content with iTunes content using the iTunes web services API

The iTunes Web Service Search API document available here outlines how to pass a fully-qualified URL content request to the iTunes Store parse the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format returned from the search and display the results on your sites.

See how the below sites have used the iTunes web service API to create a fully searchable iTunes catalogue within their site. Enter an artist name in the search box to see the functionality in action.

> Buecher.de
> iTunes Live: London Festival ‘08

See how Ticketmaster US have matched Artist names with the corresponding iTunes content (Click iTunes music from the left side menu)

> Ticketmaster site.

See how radio stations have made use of the iTunes search API:

> Download some of the hottest iTunes tracks as recommended by Choice FM
> Nova1069 :: Nova iTunes Store
> Capital Downloads - Capital 95.8
> Radio 105 - MUSIC STORE - DOWNLOAD - ITUNES

For every iTunes link (phobos link) that the Search API generates, the following tracker link will be need to be added to ensure correct affiliate tracking:

http://clk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=$$$$$$&a=********&url=PHOBOS_URL&partnerId =2003

For example:

http://clk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=$$$$$$&a=********&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphobos. apple.com%2FWebObjects%2FMZStore.woa%2Fwa%2FviewAl bum%3Fi%3D17641110%26id%3D17641181%26s%3D143442%26 partnerId%3D2003

Replace $$$$$$ with Programme code
Replace ******** with affiliate ID

ADD DYNAMIC ITUNES CHARTS TO YOUR SITES

The RSS feed accessed through the link below will generate affiliate links for the top 100 albums, songs, new releases, exclusives and just added content all split by genre. All feeds include song and album artwork as well as genre, label and pricing information.

RSS Feed Generator:
http://hst.tradedoubler.com/file/$$$$$$/rssmaker.htm?aid=********&pid=23708

Replace $$$$$$ with Programme code
Replace ******** with affiliate ID

CREATE A SEARCH BOX FOR ITUNES CONTENT

<form
action="http://clk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=$$$$$$&a=********&url=http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjec
ts/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?partnerId=2003" method="post"><input name="td_term" value="Search"
type="text"></form>

Replace $$$$$$ with Programme code
Replace ******** with affiliate ID

IMAGES TO USE WITH ITUNES LINKS

> Small iTunes badge (38*12)
http://images.apple.com/itunesaffili...mall_badge.gif

> Download on iTunes button
http://images.apple.com/itunesaffili..._on_iTunes.gif

> iTunes identity guidelines
http://images.apple.com/itunesaffili...ide_012808.pdf

[Qui Gon Jinn]

Historically from this program from about 40,743 clicks total commissioned earned was about £324.09 so less than 1 pence per click. It's been one of those programs we just can't seem to get working well. When a sponsored listing would have yielded a better epc, which we would probably opt for related to music downloads when the pipeline music site is eventually developed. It's the kind of program you would like to see a better solution, considering the lifetime value of the customer, perhaps in it's current condition a pay per lead model maybe more attractive.

[John Jupp]

I was seriously looking at ITunes as a replacement to 7 Digital, considering AF don't provide updated datafeeds and the only way I could effectively promote is to deeplink, thereby destroying all the SEO I have for the title of every download awarded to me in the SERPS because of the way my script stores datafeeds.

I do an internet search for a title track and provided its in the feed, I'm on page 1 Google. Out of date feeds, waste of time (one merchant kindly gave me a direct link to their Froogle feed; citing that there wasn't the takeup on AF to justify producing one for them, not surprising considering they don't update properly).

So considering its my bandwidth and feeds need to be accurate and frequently updated, I want a bit of service from the network and the merchant. If there's doubt about the platform tracking to that merchant then the network should be doing more.

Conversions on music downloads are rubbish. I'd be better off promoting AdSense. Give me decent fees and accurate feeds and maybe, just maybe it's worth doing. Fed up of maxing MY bandwidth on a program that's pointless promoting. Fed up looking for alternatives where the affiliate always comes last in consideration instead of first.

[3wdl]

I was seriously looking at ITunes as a replacement to 7 Digital, considering AF don't provide updated datafeeds and the only way I could effectively promote is to deeplink, thereby destroying all the SEO I have for the title of every download awarded to me in the SERPS because of the way my script stores datafeeds.

About 2 weeks to go till our new feed system John!

[John Jupp]

James

I seriously hope that the new system is the beez nees! Too many merchants have voiced their disquiet over feeds and it's a bit much when I have to contact AF merchants direct to make alternative arrangements. Kind of them to help out but still a considerable effort on their part and mine.

Not wholly the fault of AF as building a platform doesn't happen overnight, HOWEVER it would have been nice to keep what existed with updated feeds rather than let that whither on the vine.

Providing the new system is good then I may actually start actively promoting some of those I'm subscribed to through your platform. I am sure many others would voice the same.

Back to ITunes though. Surely TD should be addressing the issue of tracking. If ITunes has no problem on the dgm.au network then why the problems here?