Standardisation, Self Governance And Self Regulation As An Industry – Can This Become A Reality?

Matt Bailey – Head of Affiliate – i-level

Alistair Nichols – Head of Agency Sales – Webgains

Helen Southgate – Head of Affiliate – dgm

Pete Wilson – European Product Manager – buy.at

Why is regulation important?

WIN – WIN – WIN - WIN

Satisfying all parties

Merchant Affiliate

Network

Agency

What we will cover

• Affiliate Approval• Affiliate Business Model Categorisation• Protecting against fraud

– Lead Generation• Spyware and adware• Brand Bidding• How to regulate

Alistair • Affiliate Approval• Affiliate Categorisation

Helen• Fraud identification• Lead Based Campaigns

Peter• Bidding on brand• Malware

Standardization, Self Governance And Self Regulation Affiliate Approval and Ongoing affiliate monitoring

• Free to join networks – the benefits / disadvantages

• Automated Programme Approval

• Manual Approval and what Account Managers are looking

for

• Red Flags

• How networks and affiliates categorise business models

• Network Quality technology

Manual Approval

• Gives the client ultimate control over the affiliates on a programme

• Easier Brand Control

• Limits the business models on a programme

• Easier to group affiliates

• Sets up a relationship from the onset of a programme

Red Flags

• Check against database of known fraudsters

• Controversial Content – pornography, violence, etc..

• Location – checked by IP Address

• Check WHOIS details

• Payment methods – Paypal / Cheque

Affiliate Business Model Categorisation

• Most networks categorise affiliates into one business model

• Affiliates themselves nominate their category (usually their

biggest revenue / traffic generator)

• Problems arise when affiliates utilise two or more business

models – Voucher and PPC

• Network Quality Technology can categorise affiliates on the

granular or source of traffic

Protecting your Campaign

Quality Vs QuantityProactive Vs Reactive

• What do you need to look out for?– Unusually high / low Conversion Rates (click to sale)– High Deletion / Rejection Rates– Unknown Referrer IDs / direct links in referrer IDs– Relevance of Web page – IP addresses– Human touch– Short Sales Lags

Being REACTIVE

Example

Being PROACTIVE

• Vet all affiliates onto your campaign– Do they have a relevant URL?– Are their contact details correct?– Have you had direct contact?

• Have a validation system in place– Is there a cancellation period?– Spot check sales

• Quality Assess Affiliates– Known affiliates on different terms– Trial new affiliates on longer validation / different remuneration

Working with a network?

• What systems do they have in place– Applications– Activity Monitors– Removal of unethical affiliates– Preventing re-sign ups– Dual network campaigns

Lead Based Campaigns

• More susceptible to unethical activity

• What can you do to limit risk?– Have a clear lead validation process – Be able to check validity of leads– Have a closed campaign– Work with new affiliates on a trial basis– Do not over incentivise– Consider a commission based on conversion in addition to lead

Brand Bidding

• What is it?• The use of branded terms associated with

an advertiser to display advertisements usually on a PPC basis.

• Where can you see it?• Google Adwords, Yahoo search marketing,

Microsoft Adcenter.

What does it look like?

What to look out for

• High conversion rate• High number of clicks compared to other

affiliates• Sales and clicks at certain times of the day

usually outside office hours, when they think nobody is looking.

• Referrers, they could be linking direct as in the example. – E.g

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=gobaz&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

What can you do about it

• Have firm terms and conditions about this e.g. Three strikes and your out

• Your network should be monitoring this, ask them what tools they have?

• Look for them, Use Firefox and a plugin called HTTP headers. This will show you all the tracking connections that your browser follows before getting to a page.

Spyware and Adware

• Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used. Some types of adware are also spyware and can be classified as privacy-invasive software.

• Probably the biggest non publicised negative effect on your Affiliate Account.

• They are usually adding no value at all and effectively stealing sales.

What to look for

• Very high clicks with a very low conversion rate. You should be seeing a conversion rate of 2% plus for the majority of affiliates.

• Strange or no referrers.• Poor website but seeing more sales than

you would expect.

What can you do?

• Unless your network has invested in technology to combat this, very little.

• Ask your network what they can do to combat Spyware and Adware.

What does it look like?

• Video to go here

Regulation – is it feasible?

• Demands understanding of the channel

• Requires buy in from all parties

• Zero tolerance

What we’ve done in the UK

• IAB Affiliate Marketing Council

• Not a regulatory body

• Best practice guidelines issued– Managing an affiliate campaign– Voucher codes– Rebate catching toolbars

Questions for delegates

• What would you like to see covered?

• Is the UK experiencing the same issues as the rest of Europe?

• How far can we go?