Polls
Who is the pretty boy of affiliate networks?
- Jason Baker
CommissionJunction
(26%, 78 Votes) - Lee Griffin
TradeDoubler
(16%, 47 Votes) - James Little
AffiliateFuture
(14%, 41 Votes) - Darren Newmark
LinkShare
(12%, 35 Votes) - Doug:)
Sexy beast
(11%, 33 Votes) - Adam Ross
AffiliateWindow
(11%, 32 Votes) - Mark Walters
AfilliateWindow
(11%, 32 Votes) - Chris Mockford
Buy.at
(9%, 26 Votes) - Tyson Pearcey
Buy.at
(5%, 14 Votes) - Warwick Lambert
Buy.at
(4%, 11 Votes) - Clarke Duncan
PaidOnResults
(3%, 10 Votes) - Giles Parnell
AffiliateFuture
(-22%, 10 Votes)
Total Voters: 297
Loading ...- Jason Baker
18
Super Cookies for Super Affiliates
Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Did you know that certain affiliate cookies have so much power that even if your cookie is dropped last it will not count?
Bet you did not know that:)
So who is the owner of such super cookies, ask the networks or the merchants as they both know they just forgot to mention it.
Doug
Popularity: 2% [?]
Hey Doug, do both cookies dropped still generate commission, for example merchants with BBG’s using a different cookie in addition to their standard affiliate programme?
Doug no I didn’t know that, though sadly I am not surprised. Thanks for the heads up.
(Transparency from the networks would just be a great thing woudn’t it?)
- M
Hi Doug,
Just for the record we’d like to publicly state this isn’t Affiliate Window. On our network the last affiliate referrer will always be attributed the transaction if their cookie is present.
If other networks feel so inclined as to state their position we might be able to identify who operates such a system by process of elimination.
Unless you just want to tell us Doug?
Cheers
Mark
Doug, sounds interesting. I have seen instances of other channels winning the sale when they were not the last click, but not within the affiliate channel itself.
I’ve also seen some programmes on “first click wins”, which, although crazy, might explain your findings….
Interesting to see who/what this is though…
[...] at the disaster that is Southampton FC, Doug was blogging. In typical Doug style his article on Super Cookies for Super Affiliates was short and sweet. He claims that (no surprise) “that certain affiliate cookies” are [...]
I have heard that some very large media corporations who operate large sites, effectively as affiliates, have merchants agreeing to dedup against the smaller affiliates. This actually means a large portal who deals with a large merchant directly with an affiliate type relationship will dedup against smaller affiliates who in most cases will be using an affiliate network.
So who does this? This surely is not fair
Doug
That’s a very different scenario to the one you initially implied though. Within the affiliate channel, the deduping is standard: first or last cookie, the setup should be stating it, along with any other parameters (voucher code use, for example).
If the direct affiliates are paid on a CPA model, why wouldn’t the merchant include them in their local tracking? They include CPC activity already and I’ve found merchants deduping with their email campaigns included (now, THAT is a fun quarrel to have).
would a case be …. large comparison and/or review sites in travel vertical?
Networks know what is being deduped. Because a company has a direct deal it does not mean they are not an affiliate.
Oops it looks like the cat is out of the bag.
Doug
In some cases we do know how duplication is taking place but certainly not all the time.
The problem typically arrives when advertisers work across many media channels and have extensive SEM, SEO, display, performance based display, behavioural media buys, email, affiliates and direct deals in place. They could also be running Post Impression. Its these scenarios where duplication gets tricky. How are the rules prioritised? Are brand based search terms included or excluded from duplication? Click cookies should always take precedence over PI but is this the case? What technology is used to manage this process?
Overall, I think this does need serious discussion as deduplication is a growing issue.
Pete (affilinet)
I very much doubt there are network cookies out there that take priority over cookies from the same network for the same program on the same promotion terms.
For merchant deduping processes and which channels/partners are included, there’s a lot of room for clarity, so that affiliates make informed decisions. Personally, I don’t see the reason for concern if CPA activity is depuped provided again that all partners are on equal terms with regard to their cookies.
As to the statement “networks know what is being deduped”, I think that’s true to an extent – we know when we do the integration and ask the question. If a merchant changes the criteria afterwards, they don’t tend to inform anyone.
Oo supercookies … let me have a guess which sites they might be attached to…
doug, put a tickbox to notify us of follow up replies, will ya please? It’s most useful!
your copyright needs updating too! (attention to detail, doug, forget the non existent super cookies…)
Hero
There are super cookies out there and we both know some of the companies involved, you probably many more than me. Because these companies do not use affiliate networks, but direct deals it does not mean to say they are not affiliates.
My issue is still simple networks know what is going on, as it is most of the networks T’s and C’s that they have with merchants.
Doug
for the record, Doug, I know of NO company that dedupes with super cookies. I know companies that dedupe against email marketing, their own SEO and other stupidities like that. And I have refused to promote them.
If a merchant is “clever” enough to believe that some cookies are worth more than others, well, they get what they deserve.
If you have any large finance merchants then ask them
Doug
[...] earned commissions reminded me of a post i noticed whilst travelling by Doug Scott titled “Super Cookies for Super Affiliates“. As is Dougs style, the post caused a bit of a stir, but my general understanding was that [...]