Blushingbuyer Program Closing

[steveaich]

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To some extent it's a network issue and I suppose that's where their brand monitoring tools come in handy.

As you rightly said, it;s the merchant who ultimately accepts or denies affiliates onto their program, which is why I think it's down to their management style.

So an affiliate asks to join our scheme, and says they will use PPC to promote us. Do we accept them as PPC is a good way to promote us, or reject them because they may be brand bidders?

I would say the network needs to be policing, so that I can accept them with confidence that they are not an affiliate with a history of brand bidding and or breaking T+C's. From my experience they could have just been brand biidng on 10 other merchants, but still on the network.

That's not good for me as a merchant, my other affiliates, or the industry in general.

[8601cam]

I just want to voice some thoughts.

As a network Affiliate Window has a proven track record of implementing tools and services to both identify and eradicate erroneous affiliate activity. Here’s just a few;

A controlled affiliate registration process, requiring credit/debit card verification, url verification and additional profiling data.

Snoopy – proprietary 24/7 keyword monitoring tool for the major search engines

Agent99 – proprietary spyware and adware monitoring tool for AW merchants

Bespoke voucher code system to monitor usage or potential abuse

Monthly internal merchant training seminars regarding ‘best practice’. 200+ merchants so far in 2009

And more recently AWin Analytics to give merchants true visibility on the value of their affiliate traffic

There are more developments in the pipeline too that will demonstrate our proactivity in this area.

We have been both supportive and vocal on establishing a network and affiliate code of conduct both internally and via the IAB Affiliate Marketing Council. There are already plans afoot for all networks to pool their knowledge regarding affiliates who commit fraud (although I must clarify this currently does not include specifically transgressing a merchant’s T&C’s).

It pains me to see such network advances eradicated by the experiences of one merchant. I’m not suggesting that Steve shouldn’t feel aggrieved, where unsavoury affiliate activity goes unnoticed it will of course form a large percentage of the activity, that’s the draw for those affiliates, it’s lucrative through volume.

Affiliate Window has made considerable strides to balance the requirements for all merchants regarding aspects of account management whether they are account development SME’s or key account brands. To this end 2/3rds of the company are focused on servicing our clients’ needs in one form or another. The tools that were originally developed for key accounts have gradually been cascaded throughout the whole AW merchant base but as with all technologies it takes both time and resources to facilitate access to these tools for everyone. In instances where an account development merchant raises a concern we will look to accelerate and initiate monitoring tools. The tools are free and as such the system demands prohibit making this ‘live’ for all merchants unless they are set up with the correct terms to monitor.

Steve has highlighted his concerns and regardless of private or public we take all issues seriously and systems are continually reviewed. To couch all of this as a deliberate act by a network in order to secure surreptitious override is a gross injustice. In the main a network appreciates that any short term gain via this route will ultimately end in the loss of the merchant, hence the investment in tools to manage this. Affiliate Window’s merchant retention record is very good.

I’m hoping that if a merchant or affiliate is allowed to voice their concerns, then a network is given leeway to acknowledge the issues and be given the opportunity to respond and/or redress them.

It was mentioned previously that it would be unlikely for AW to allow BlushingBuyer the opportunity to communicate to their affiliates the option of working directly with them. Whilst unorthodox I would be more than willing to give this option to the affiliates and allow Steve the option to email them with this offer so all parties can move forward on a positive note.

Kind Regards

Mark

[hpops]

To couch all of this as a deliberate act by a network in order to secure surreptitious override is a gross injustice. In the main a network appreciates that any short term gain via this route will ultimately end in the loss of the merchant, hence the investment in tools to manage this.

I utterly concur with this statement. I have spent a serious amount of time on all sides of the fence. Short termism tends to be far more prevalent on both the affiliate and merchant sides of the triangle. (triangular fences?).

The VAST majority of networks are focused on delivering business value in the long term, this simply cannot be delivered via a client base beholden to non-transparent practices.

It can be very tempting to shout - "they just want their override" in this industry - I seldom have seen it proven in the fullness of time. (particularly I may add in the case of this particular network)

However, this is an interesting thread as it highlights concerns that are valid, fair and increasingly pressing within the industry at large.

Rest assured, such debates are widely read, internalised and then acted upon. The wheels may not turn as quickly as some would like but there has been genuine progress industry wide in areas such as transparency, best practice guides and overall engagement.

I get the feeling next year will be a time of dramatic and positive change in these areas.

[steveaich]

Mark, thankyou for your reply, and also for your very generous offer to allow us to send an email to affiliates.

It would appear from your post that Awin are being proactive in protecting the industry. It would seem a real shame therefore that this isn't being communicated.

I was totally unaware of Snoopy, or Agent 99. Now these may have been emailed out in a newsletter, but I never know which one of the hundreds of newsletters I recieve has got THE important bit of information, so like many other people, they tend to get binned. (And you are honest with your self how many email's do you bin without reading!)

As these are so important, why have you not called all your merchants to inform them of the services, you have 700 merchants, so it's a few calls, but could be easly achieved in a month by your team of account managers.

Also, why when I called to close the account due to brand bidding were these not mentioned? They have only been mentioned on this public forum. I would like to think that this is a staff training issue, are ALL your staff aware of these tools and what they do?

I'm not sure even I believe that newtworks are deliberately allowing unfair practices to generate override, but it still feels as though a blind eye is sometimes being turned, rather than the unfair practices being aggressivley stamped on. If this were not the case (and I am talking about the WHOLE industry here, not just about Awin, who as Mark has pointed out are doing things) why would companies like myvouchercodes still be in business??

[8601cam]

Steve, likewise thank you for your measured response. Apologies for not responding sooner but like you, I only consider the forum as part-time to my day job

Regarding emailing your affiliates, contact Claire who will co-ordinate this, we may need to work with you on the content but she's more than capable of handling this.

Obviously it would be crazy to jeopardise long standing merchant relationships by offering them a poorer service so I can assure this is not the case. Newsletters are only one route to be informed and contrary to the norm most of our merchant and affiliate newsletters and both opened and actioned. All account managers are aware of the tools and I have reviewed your calls and I do believe you were incensed at the discovery and were adamant you wanted to close your programme and there was little opportunity for any of the contacts to mitigate the circumstances.

Regarding communicating our protection tools, I can only hold my hand up and say that this only relates to some of our early merchants and is something I am looking to rectify. I think there is a natural assumption that our long standing merchants have both the knowledge, relationships and experience regarding affiliate marketing and potentially this thinking can be flawed. Merchants who regularly engage with our network, attend the training seminars or review our communications have a better chance of being informed and I'd like to think this is the vast majority. The number of accounts who have set restrictions for Snoopy and the activty level of Agent99 searches does seem to confirm this.

On that note can I make an offer? I know you're based in Caerphilly but would you like to visit our operation and view for yourself first hand our tools, practices and meet the team. In fact on Tuesday 28th we have our monthly merchant training seminar, it's already fully subscribed but I'm sure I can pull a few strings and get you in. That could make your visit even more eventful? Regardles of leaving the network the advice is universally appropriate to those managing programmes in the affiliate channel. I'm so confident you will find the experience rewarding that we'll even cover the cost of your travel.

Finally on the voucher codes side of things you must know how big an issue this is and all I can say is that the wheels are in motion for the industry to address this as a whole. You'll know what I'm referring to when it's released, which will be soon.

Let me know your thoughts on visiting the office.

Kind Regards

Mark