News & Events

Mary Beth hit on some key points: networks cannot cater to each and every affiliate. The network provides services to the masses and therefore, cannot always meet the unique needs of each affiliate. From my experience, this is true, to some extent. Networks do not have the resources to cater to each individual affiliate. However, affiliates can certainly provide valuable feedback to the networks. Affiliates can provide information on the types of tools, reports and APIs that help streamline their efforts.

The subject of feedback leads me to another good point brought up by Adam Weiss. Adam explained that affiliate networks can make the lives of affiliates easier by providing options. He provided an example of such by explaining that different affiliates use different methods of transfer… some use FTP to retrieve data, some use APIs and others download files directly from the interface. Everyone is different, so if you can cater to the masses by offering variety, it helps.

Gary Kibel touched on the legal aspect of running a network. He touched on several hot topics in the industry right now…from the Advertising Tax law that is affecting affiliates in various states, to the EU privacy law that requires users to consent to cookies being placed on their computers and to issues involving jurisdiction. Kibel also mentioned that there are several contractual agreements with the parties involved in affiliate marketing.There are network to merchant contracts, merchant to affiliate T&Cs, network to affiliate agreements and so on. In short, there are lots of contracts between those parties involved in affiliate marketing.

The session was informative and to the point. However, there are several other topics that the panel missed. Most of the session focused on affiliates (aside from Kibel’s points on the legal side), which is fine because the panelists are experts on the affiliate side of the business. However, I expected a bit more commentary about running a network in relation to working with advertisers. Networks not only have a responsibility to affiliates, they also have a responsibility to advertisers. Advertisers rely on networks to assist with setting up tracking technology, interface training, ensuring the quality of traffic on a network, issuing payments to affiliates on their behalf, assisting with program optimization etc.

Running a successful affiliate network requires the network to service the many different parties involved, as there are lots of moving parts. Affiliates, advertisers, agencies, and other third party providers all rely on affiliate networks to gain access to their programs, campaigns and/or clients. The network is essentially a meeting ground for all of these parties, so many of them rely on the assistance of the network.

Overall, the session at ASW 2010 was great. Next time though, there should be more talk about what affiliate networks do on the advertiser/client side . Just my two cents!