De-duping affiliate sales against other channels is common practice, but what are the rules and how far is too far? Find out common practice and why we need an industry-wide best practice standard.

1. Affiliate Summit West 2010 Deduping, the Great Unknown in Affiliate Marketing Mary Young Head of Account Management, AffiliateFuture Inc.

3. Transaction Deduplication Deduplication of transactions across affiliate networks is widely known and commonly accepted. Merchants engaging in multi-channel marketing are increasingly deduplicating their affiliate transactions against other channels to avoid paying multiple times for the same transaction.

4. Cross-Channel Deduping Merchants/agencies may dedupe affiliate transactions against other channels including: Search Paid Natural Display Email Third party Internal Other

5. The Problem Lack of transparency Which channels are being deduped How affiliate traffic is being prioritized Misallocated resources Under/over performance of channels Data will largely drive what becomes best practice, but it can’t stand alone. Stakeholders in the performance marketing industry must secure a seat at the table

6. Cross-Channel Deduping Why is this important to you? Now more prevalent and a higher priority Performance based marketing requires optimization and this is an essential piece of the puzzle Technology is evolving and attribution is becoming more sophisticated

7. Rise in Deduping Prevalence Greater overall online marketing spend Multi-channel marketing diversification Growth of affiliate marketing as a key channel, also sharing space with more traditional e-marketing channels Economy has forced merchants to cut spending, boost ROMI

8. Performance Marketing CPS/CPL model means deduping directly impacts an affiliate program’s bottom line, affecting all types of affiliates if bundled together Optimization is critical for affiliate programs. Relevant information needs to be communicated to make strategic decisions Sustainability and growth of affiliate programs depends on performance

9. Evolving Technology Manual deduplication – where companies match up reports post- transaction and reactively dedupe transactions. Technical deduplication - agencies and major brands are most likely to depend on technology to proactively dedupe, whereby the relevant advertising tag is displayed. Last click – a standard that advertisers/agencies are keen to shift away from Attribution – weighted credit/commissions

10. Evolving Technology Third party proactive tagging providers: Atlas Doubleclick Mediaplex Tagman Other Advertisers desire greater integration and transparency Shifting towards increased flexibility for credit/commission prioritization and attribution

11. Interactive Attribution Forrester defines this as: The practice of measuring the correct partial value of each interactive ad that drove a desired outcome. In performance marketing this translates to weighted commissions

13. Attribution: Sample Report Weighted Commissions

14. A Shared Responsibility Your voice is needed No one network, merchant, affiliate, OPM, agency, or technology partner should control the outcome of this conversation Shape the future of the affiliate marketing industry with your valuable insight

15. Best Practice An industry wide best practice = a more meaningful conversation all stakeholders can participate in. Involve key organizations and groups in discussions: IAB – Interactive Advertising Bureau DMA – Direct Marketing Association PMA - Performance Marketing Association Affiliates Merchants Affiliate Networks OPMs Media Agencies

16. Best Practice: What Would We Suggest? Do not dedupe against or give priority over affiliate traffic for: Brand search Post impression Do not paint (or track!) all affiliates with one brush Plan ways to meet objectives with stakeholders They can give you insight before you make decisions about your deduplication policy and attribution models Inform stakeholders of changes to your deduplication policy and attribution models that will affect them prior to them occurring so affiliates can support your efforts

17. Moving Forward: The Solution Dedupe Right! Collaboration to establish best practice, covering: Communication of major changes to stakeholders Common pitfalls to avoid Capabilities of technical providers Education, including white papers and case studies

18. The Future Other variables may be added to the mix. Offline channels Environmental factors Use to our advantage to propel performance marketing forward.

19. Take Action Now! Claim your seat at the table. Please take action now to join the debate: Twitter – Start your own discussion, #DedupeRight LinkedIn Group – DedupeRight Performance Marketing Association – join the PMA and get involved! membership@performancemarketingassociation.com

20. Thank you for listening! Now what do you think?

21. (Hint: The End is NOT Nigh!)