Pros and Cons for Affiliates of Commission Junction versus Azoogle
I’ve wanted to weigh in on the issue of Affiliate Networks versus Ad Networks for some time, but I’ve waited to get about 10-months or so of experience using the ad networks (publisher & advertiser) before offering an opinion. I have about 7-years experience on traditional affiliate networks.
First, if you are an an internet entrepreneur and haven’t made money with Ad Networks such as Azoogle Ads or CPA Empire, stop reading this post right now and open an account - do it now!
There are some fundamental differences between Affiliate Networks and Ad Networks. Here are a few:
(1) Affiliate Networks focus primarily on advertisers (merchants) who sell products (think traditional e-commerce), while Ad Networks focus primarily on advertisers who promote offers (think lead generation.)
(2) Affiliate Networks tend to have merchants that pay affiliate marketers on a percentage-of-sale basis, while Ad Networks pay on a cost-per-lead basis. (Affiliate Network Example - DKNY pays affiliates up to 8% of each sale - the amount the affiliate makes varies based on the total sale; Ad Network Example - Foreclosure.com pays affiliates up to $25 per lead - the amount is fixed and is not influenced by sale amount.)
(3) Affiliate Networks focus on building relationships between merchant and affiliate (more transparent for merchants), while Ad Networks focus on generating large volumes of leads by building relationships between Ad Network and affiliate (less transparent for merchants).
(4) Merchant offers on Affiliate Networks are long-term, while offers on Ad Networks can be short in duration. For example, a lucrative offer (from an affiliate standpoint) on an Ad Network may be up for two weeks and be discontinued abruptly without explanation, while offers on Affiliate Networks tend to be constant and dependable.
(5) Affiliate Networks tend to have restrictive (merchant-friendly) payout structures, while Ad Networks tend to be less restrictive. For instance, on many of the leading Affiliate Networks, including Commission Junction, Linkshare, and Performics you may have to wait several months to get payment for a transaction that happened today, while on an Ad Network you can depend on timely payment usually every two weeks for leads generated just days prior.
So, I’d be happy to add to the above list if you’d like to suggest some fundamental differences between Affiliate networks and Ad Networks.
Now let’s take a look at the Pro and Cons of Commission Junction versus Azoogle.
(1) Commission Junction (CJ) offers affiliates a much broader selection of offers compared to Azoogle. In fact, CJ offers affiliates over 2,000 merchant partners, including EBAY, Buy.com, and Jay-Z’s Rocawear. Azoogle offers affiliates at most 200 offers or so, many of which are repetitive and difficult to promote (i.e. It’s easy to find a product to promote on Buy.com (CJ), but it can be difficult to promote an offer for a non-branded teeth whitening product.) ADVANTAGE: CJ
(2) Azoogle pays affiliates every two weeks, while CJ pays roughly every 30-days. Azoogle’s payment structure favors search-engine marketing affiliates who have to put up their own money to generate transactions. ADVANTAGE: AZOOGLE
(3) Azoogle’s affiliate managers tend to be much more attentive and skilled than CJ’s. ADVANTAGE: AZOOGLE
(4) CJ offers product feeds; Azoogle does not. ADVANTAGE: CJ
(5) Both CJ and Azoogle offer usable reporting interfaces, but Azoogle has made more of an effort to use Web 2.0 technologies. Azoogle’s interface is not necessarily better than CJ, because in general both interfaces can be much better than they currently are. ADVANTAGE: NEITHER
(6) Some CJ merchants retroactively reverse as much as 25% of commissionable sales due to returns, while Azoogle seems to have an overall low reversal rate. This means that the commissions you see in your account on Azoogle are more dependable than the commissions you see in your account on CJ. ADVANTAGE: AZOOGLE
(7) In many cases, Azoogle offers on average higher payouts than CJ on the same merchant (ex. Shoebuy). Note that Azoogle is able to do this because they actually act as a “Super Affiliate” and are therefore able to negotiate a higher than base rate (private) offer. ADVANTAGE: NEITHER
(8) Azoogle offers rewards (prizes, usually gift certificates) to affiliates on a monthly basis to incentivize performance, while CJ does not. ADVANTAGE: AZOOGLE
(9) Azoogle offers a meaningful affiliate (sub-affiliate) referral program, while CJ does not. In other words, Azoogle will pay you a percentage of all commissions that are generated by affiliates you refer to Azoogle. ADVANTAGE: AZOOGLE
(10) CJ offers web services (developers tools), Azoogle does not. ADVANTAGE: CJ
My analysis of Affiliate Networks versus Ad Networks suggests that affiliate marketers should selectively participate on both. While Commission Junction offers more merchant offers, product feeds, and web services, Azoogle offers a better payout structure, better affiliate managers, and incentives. The secret sauce is to develop a strategy that works and replicate it across as many affiliate networks and ad networks as possible. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re not successful unless you are making X thousands dollars per merchant; instead, figure out a way to profit at least $50 per merchant or offer, per month. Think about it and develop your strategy…with thousands of merchants and hundred of offers you can generate substantial revenue whether you are focused on affiliate networks, ad networks, or both.
