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
Network
Merchant Affiliate
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 Quantity
Proactive Vs Reactive

Being 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

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&btn
G=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?