I could do an article on Merchant Fraudsters also and I will do one day, but today it’s a short article about Affiliate Fraudsters. I will write a few more posts on this subject as time goes on but for just now I will ask some questions that I already know the answer for.
- Why is it that most Affiliate Fraudsters either use free space or pretend legitimate Affiliate websites belong to them?
- Why is it that most Affiliate Fraudsters use a free email account such as one from hotmail, yahoo or gmail?
- Why is it that many Affiliate Fraudsters have English sounding names and address in UK, USA or Canada yet are actually not from these countries?
- Why is it, that they target leads based programs more heavily than sales based programs?
I know lots of “whys” and no answers. The reason I didn’t post the answers is that they are easy to work out. However what is not easy to work out is how can you reduce the risk from Affiliate Fraud to ensure good honest Affiliates are being paid while the fraud ones are being booted from Networks?
I have yet to see a fail safe system that allows for open, free and easy access to the Networks and Merchants for honest Affiliates but that will keep the bad Affiliates out. To say everyone with free space is up to no good is also not very fair, but is it unreasonable to ask Affiliates to invest in at the bare minimum….. a domain name? I don’t think so.
I believe that while it’s only a very tiny percentage of such Affiliates that try to fraud a Merchant or a Network, it is the honest ones that end up paying the price with reduced commissions to counter balance lost revenue and so on.
Time for everyone to tackle the problems these people bring head on, if you see someone up to no good report it to the Networks and Merchants involved.
Posted in General March 7th, 2007 by Clarke | No comments
Here is this weeks list of Merchants that have went live across all the UK Networks.
Afform
Affiliate Future
- Amber Magic
- Casino Splendido
- Cresta Holidays
- Haversley Overseas Properties
- Whitesmoke
Buy.at
- HQ Hair
- HQ Man
- Leisure Direction
- O2
- Superdrug
- Tradex
LinkShare UK
OMG
PrimeQ
Webgains
- 14clubs.com
- Bigpoint
- Course Monster
- Get Me A Quiz
Posted in General March 2nd, 2007 by Clarke | No comments
Here is this weeks list of Merchants that have went live across all the UK Networks.
Advertising.com
- Plum Offers
- Volkswagen Jetta
Affiliate Future
- Books Direct
- PCIQ
- PrizeBug
Affiliate Window
- Eshopmegastore.com
- Jersey Plants Direct
- QuickRooms
- The Body Shop
Buy.at
- Kingolotto
- Ipsos
- Pipex Broadband
LinkShare UK
Webgains
- Design My World
- World First
Do I get to use my building blocks joke about the Lego program again? No, oh well 
Posted in General February 23rd, 2007 by Clarke | No comments
Here is this weeks list of Merchants that have went live across all the UK Networks, as ever if I have missed any then please drop me a line, thanks.
Affiliate Marketing (AM)
Affiliate Window
- Austrian Airlines
- Leo Mobile
Affili.net
Buy.at
Webgains
- Beautiful Homes
- Celldorado UK
A lot less new merchants to pick from this week!
Posted in General February 16th, 2007 by Clarke | No comments
Here is this weeks list of Merchants that have went live across all the UK Networks, as ever if I have missed any then please drop me a line, thanks.
Advertising.com
Affiliate Future
- Clover Signs
- TalkingTrip
- Alura White
- Orangemobileshop
- Ferry Cheap
- Leo Mobile
Affiliate Window
- HiFiBitZ
- Lunarpages Web Hosting
- Northern Tool
- Times Online Dating
- Wedding Delights
Affili.net
Afform
- Quiz For Money
- Ipsos Research
Buy.at
- Casino Swiss
- Golden Palace
- Goldshield Healthcare
- Van Insurance
- Virgin Media
DGM
Linkshare UK
- Boden
- Charles Tyrwhitt
- L’Occitane
- The White Company
- Yoox
Tradedoubler
Webgains
Zanox
Loads more for you to pick from this week!
Posted in General February 9th, 2007 by Clarke | No comments
Here is this weeks list of Merchants that have went live across all the UK Networks, if I have missed any then please drop me a line and explain where I can find out about your Networks new Merchants, thanks.
Affiliate Future
- Casino For Me
- Eurocredit
- Just Socca
- Lollipop Animation
- Maximuscle
Affiliate Window
Buy.at
- Brora
- Picture Loans
- uSwitch
Commission Junction
Linkshare UK
- Bidz.com UK
- Cath Kidston
- Fleurop UK
- Pure Collection
Online Media Group
- Debtbuster Loans
- National Guarantee
Tradedoubler
Webgains
Zanox
- Condor (part of Thomas Cook)
- Nielsen NetRatings
Not as many as last week but still a good number to pick from!
Posted in General February 2nd, 2007 by Clarke | No comments
I thought I would try out listing the new Merchants that went live across all the Networks this past week running 19th Jan to 26th Jan. I am not yet sure if this will be a permanent feature as a good bit of work was involved in getting this information but I hope you find it helpful.
Advertising.com
Affiliate Future
- Famous Retail
- Henoo
- Jumbogo
- Mobile Rainbow
- PCIQ - The National Network of Local Computer Experts
- Phones On Finance
- The Toy Farm
Affiliate Window
- Fusion Retail
- Next
- Redten Internet
- Unpackaged Holidays
Afform
- Etribes
- Media People
- PartyPoker
- Unfair Bank Charge
Buy.at
- Barclays First Additions Current Account
- Barclaycard Student Credit Card
- Tesco.com
Commission Junction
Online Media Group
- Barclaycard Student Credit Card
- Firstplus Secured Loans
Paid On Results
Webgains
- British Condoms
- Dr Gillian McKeith
- Sainsbury’s Contact Lenses
- Under Five Pounds
Zanox
As you can see that is a lot of new Merchants to pick from this week!
Posted in General January 26th, 2007 by Clarke | No comments
I just got an email in this evening giving me the link to download the UK Affiliate Census Report undertaken by E-Consultancy and Affiliate Program Advice. 1,536 Affiliates took part (I was one of them) so it should be a good guide as to what’s going on in the UK Affiliate Marketing space and if they keep doing it each year it will be interesting to see how things change.
A couple of things where no real surprise, Affiliates believe payment is crucial and that tracking software is also crucially important. Now I say that’s no real surprise but I have a feeling this might be a shock to a number of Merchants who don’t pay invoices on time or think the old world style of waiting 30/60 or 90 days to pay an invoice as if the just bought some copier paper applies when paying their “partners” who provide them with sales. If the majority of Merchants paid up front it would allow all Networks to pay faster and so making Affiliates very happy in what was listed as the most crucial function of a Network.
27 Affiliates in the UK made over a million in income from Affiliate Marketing, so congratulation to these people, it certainly shows it’s possible to make a few bob out of this industry however a bit more down beat was the number of people that think you can’t make any income at all, so a big divide but I just wonder how many of these people that think it doesn’t work gave it long enough to build up, as this is certainly is no over night, get rich quick scheme.
And the last thing I will comment on for just now is, 23% of Affiliates have only 1 website. This was a surprising to me, as most of the Affiliates I know have a number of websites and this includes the Affiliates doing direct to merchant PPC. Could the same people that have only 1 site be the same ones that can’t make an income from Affiliate Marketing? I think it could be a major factor for sure.
The survey was promoted on the A4U Forum and the Networks taking part: Affiliate Window, Clash-Media, DGM Affiliates, OMG, Paid On Results, Smart-Quotes, TradeDoubler and Webgains. Notably this means Affiliate Future and Buy.at did not support the census, so come guys next year pull the finger out, it benefits everyone.
If you’re a subscriber to E-Consultancy you can download a copy for free so if you’re not a member highly recommend that you should join because for £149 a year you get access to many reports that offer a good base of knowledge covering many different areas. You can find out more about E-Consultancy by following this link E-Consultancy
Posted in General January 22nd, 2007 by Clarke | 1 comment
Welcome to Affiliate Marketing Blog. My name is Clarke Duncan many of you will know my by my A4U Forum username Supercod.
I have been involved in Affiliate Marketing since 1997 so I have been doing this a while now and hope I have picked up a thing or two over the years. I have been thinking on and off for a while now about getting my own Affiliate Marketing Blog, with so many good ones already online I held a vote at the A4U Forum … I kind of knew that people would vote that they would like to hear what I had to say, I just wanted to make sure more than 10 people would turn up so thought that would be a great way to know for sure, luckily (or unluckily, I will let you know in a few months) I managed to get more than 10 people who where interested in hearing what I had to say and so Affiliate Marketing Blog was born. A special thanks to Fraser and Jason for help and advice on choice of software and what plug-ins to go for
It’s going to take me a few days to get used to this blog lark so don’t expect to see anything for a little while. When I get started I hope you enjoy and bookmark this site.
Posted in General January 19th, 2007 by Clarke | No comments