[Why Do] Advertisers Scrub Leads? Understand The Basics About Scrubbing!

22 replies
Hey Warriors,

So, You're working with a good network but your conversion rates have decreased ?

Are you no more making as much you used to make few days back ?

ARE you getting ROBBED?

ALERT! Maybe the "SCRUB" is behind it!

So What is SCRUB and Why you should care/know about it ?

Basically a SCRUB means: When an advertiser take's your info and compare it with his existing database, If the leads you're giving him is already in their database, then the advertiser won't give you credit for that lead. You don't get paid for that particular lead because advertiser already has that person/email in his database.

What you read above was a fair thing done by advertisers. BUT.. Its not the END!

Sometimes Advertisers scrub your leads without any specific reason!

Shocking eh? Yes, It's true!

Many Advertisers will scrub your leads because they love money so much that they dont feel like giving it away! Some Advertisers will tell you some sort of fairy tale making you look like you did all the Cr@p to them and you are responsible for that and lot more.....

How you can protect yourself from this?

Well, Honestly till now I have not found any concrete method to save myself from the "SCRUB". Tho, You can do a few basic things to protect yourself:
  • Always split test your offers
  • Maintain good relationship with your manager so that If you smell something suspicious you can talk with him/her and sometimes your manager will himself give you hints that you are being robbed
  • If you get $10 for an offer from "X" network and the same offer you see on "Y" network for $15 then there are high chances that you'll see scrub because Advertiser will maintain their budget by scrubbing your leads. So, If you see 10 conversions on "X" network then you will probably see 3-4 Conversions on "Y" network!
  • FINALLY! If you feel like you are being scrubbed without any proper REASON!... Then its time to MOVE ON!

A Few More Great Points/Suggestions Given By Warriors:

Originally Posted by MTVida View Post

Yep. The comments above make the point pretty well that it's the advertisers that scrub, not the networks.

But how do we as affiliates, protect ourselves from scrubbing?

Well, let's just assume for the sake of argument that advertisers don't scrub anyone for less than honorable reasons. The quality of the leads from every affiliate and every network will be different. Some will back out better than others. If an advertiser gets leads from a network that don't back out as well as others, they may place a higher scrub rate on that network. This can be one big reason why conversion rates differ between networks.

Generally speaking, the affiliates with less experience will produce lower quality leads. Affiliates using shady techniques will produce even lower quality leads. It goes to reason that networks that are more stringent in their approval process will attract better quality affiliates. Better affiliates will produce better leads. Better leads will make the advertiser less likely to scrub.

So, in short, to avoid scrubbing, run traffic to the higher tier networks and keep quality high! It's worked well in my experience.
Originally Posted by williamrs View Post

Some advertisers also scrub leads that don't fit the requirements of the offer. For example, if a dating site pays only for female leads, any male leads will be scrubbed.

When the advertiser scrubs a lead there usually is a good reason for that (duplicate lead, invalid lead, etc). However, when the advertiser or network doesn't record a lead without any decent reason, it's what we call of shaving and is a unfair practice that damages the affiliates.


W
#advertisers #basics #leads #scrub #scrubbing
  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Good post, the other thing you can do is o everything in your power to ensure your quality is up, and the merchant is happy - often if you can do this you can go direct with the advertiser and reduce scrubbing and increase earning
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    • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
      Originally Posted by ChrisBa View Post

      Good post, the other thing you can do is o everything in your power to ensure your quality is up, and the merchant is happy - often if you can do this you can go direct with the advertiser and reduce scrubbing and increase earning
      Yes definitely you need top quality but still some advertisers will do some scrubs.. Sometimes they do it just to get more leads in their limited budget!

      Regards
      ~Sam~
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      • Profile picture of the author Dasilva Marketing
        Originally Posted by Samrath Gupta View Post

        Yes definitely you need top quality but still some advertisers will do some scrubs.. Sometimes they do it just to get more leads in their limited budget!

        Regards
        ~Sam~
        You are absolutely right! They try to make a profit with our work. Lets just get one thing straight... there is not 1 single network that doesnt scrub leads.

        I like this article. Thanks!
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        • Profile picture of the author CreativesLinda
          Originally Posted by Dasilva Marketing View Post

          ... there is not 1 single network that doesnt scrub leads.
          I have to disagree with you. Campaign Creatives, for one, does not scrub leads - never has, never will. If we get paid for a lead so does the affiliate who brought in that lead.
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          • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
            Originally Posted by Dasilva Marketing View Post

            You are absolutely right! They try to make a profit with our work. Lets just get one thing straight... there is not 1 single network that doesnt scrub leads.

            I like this article. Thanks!
            Hey- If you liked this Article then you can press the "THANKS" button below the post

            First of all, NETWORKS DON'T SCRUB leads.. You can not claim that every single networks will steal your leads.. There are a few networks who do but not every network


            Originally Posted by CreativesLinda View Post

            I have to disagree with you. Campaign Creatives, for one, does not scrub leads - never has, never will. If we get paid for a lead so does the affiliate who brought in that lead.
            Agreed with you Linda. Same with CPA Prosperity
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  • Profile picture of the author Greedy
    Quality is king. Defiantly keep sure you aren't using "free" or over selling things too much.
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  • Profile picture of the author danielotc
    there is a lot of competition among cpa networks so its not in our favor to shave or scrub

    users can get similar or sometimes the same offers in other networks so if one offer doesn't convert he moves on and the network loses a good publisher. -> lost revenue

    the best way is to do a 1:1 split test. we are extremely transparent feel free to try any of our offers 1:1 with any other network and see what converts better
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    • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
      Originally Posted by danielotc View Post

      there is a lot of competition among cpa networks so its not in our favor to shave or scrub

      users can get similar or sometimes the same offers in other networks so if one offer doesn't convert he moves on and the network loses a good publisher. -> lost revenue

      the best way is to do a 1:1 split test. we are extremely transparent feel free to try any of our offers 1:1 with any other network and see what converts better
      SCRUBBING isn't possible from networks side.. Scrub is done by Advertisers.. Networks can only SHAVE your leads..

      PS: Not every networks shaves your leads!! haha..
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  • Profile picture of the author quamism
    As others have mentioned, the only way to know for sure is to split test the conversion rate over multiple networks. Also, make sure you continue to split test at intervals as I have has scrubbing kick in 30 days into a campaign.
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  • Profile picture of the author cpaweeds
    Your opinion is absolutely right. Cpaweeds.com will never scrub leads of publishers. But this is problem of Advertisers. They have done. I have not found any way effective to protect myself and our publishers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
      Originally Posted by cpaweeds View Post

      I have not found any way effective to protect myself and our publishers.
      So far, I've myself not found any rock solid method to protect myself with it!

      Tho, I'm researching on various methods to safeguard myself from scrub!

      I'll keep you all posted if I get any good method
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      • Profile picture of the author MTVida
        Yep. The comments above make the point pretty well that it's the advertisers that scrub, not the networks.

        But how do we as affiliates, protect ourselves from scrubbing?

        Well, let's just assume for the sake of argument that advertisers don't scrub anyone for less than honorable reasons. The quality of the leads from every affiliate and every network will be different. Some will back out better than others. If an advertiser gets leads from a network that don't back out as well as others, they may place a higher scrub rate on that network. This can be one big reason why conversion rates differ between networks.

        Generally speaking, the affiliates with less experience will produce lower quality leads. Affiliates using shady techniques will produce even lower quality leads. It goes to reason that networks that are more stringent in their approval process will attract better quality affiliates. Better affiliates will produce better leads. Better leads will make the advertiser less likely to scrub.

        So, in short, to avoid scrubbing, run traffic to the higher tier networks and keep quality high! It's worked well in my experience.
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        • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
          Originally Posted by MTVida View Post

          Yep. The comments above make the point pretty well that it's the advertisers that scrub, not the networks.

          But how do we as affiliates, protect ourselves from scrubbing?

          Well, let's just assume for the sake of argument that advertisers don't scrub anyone for less than honorable reasons. The quality of the leads from every affiliate and every network will be different. Some will back out better than others. If an advertiser gets leads from a network that don't back out as well as others, they may place a higher scrub rate on that network. This can be one big reason why conversion rates differ between networks.

          Generally speaking, the affiliates with less experience will produce lower quality leads. Affiliates using shady techniques will produce even lower quality leads. It goes to reason that networks that are more stringent in their approval process will attract better quality affiliates. Better affiliates will produce better leads. Better leads will make the advertiser less likely to scrub.

          So, in short, to avoid scrubbing, run traffic to the higher tier networks and keep quality high! It's worked well in my experience.
          Agreed with MTVida's Points.

          If the traffic and leads are of high quality then Advertiser will think twice before scrubbing your leads because he will never want to loose you! Always send high quality leads to advertiser

          Regards
          ~Sam~
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  • Profile picture of the author d1ey0u
    Thanks for this informative post Samrath! I just hope this doesn't happen to me!

    So the advertisers scrub individual affiliates for said low quality, and the network is affected as well?
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  • Profile picture of the author williamrs
    Some advertisers also scrub leads that don't fit the requirements of the offer. For example, if a dating site pays only for female leads, any male leads will be scrubbed.

    When the advertiser scrubs a lead there usually is a good reason for that (duplicate lead, invalid lead, etc). However, when the advertiser or network doesn't record a lead without any decent reason, it's what we call of shaving and is a unfair practice that damages the affiliates.


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    • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
      Originally Posted by MTVida View Post

      Yep. The comments above make the point pretty well that it's the advertisers that scrub, not the networks.

      But how do we as affiliates, protect ourselves from scrubbing?

      Well, let's just assume for the sake of argument that advertisers don't scrub anyone for less than honorable reasons. The quality of the leads from every affiliate and every network will be different. Some will back out better than others. If an advertiser gets leads from a network that don't back out as well as others, they may place a higher scrub rate on that network. This can be one big reason why conversion rates differ between networks.

      Generally speaking, the affiliates with less experience will produce lower quality leads. Affiliates using shady techniques will produce even lower quality leads. It goes to reason that networks that are more stringent in their approval process will attract better quality affiliates. Better affiliates will produce better leads. Better leads will make the advertiser less likely to scrub.

      So, in short, to avoid scrubbing, run traffic to the higher tier networks and keep quality high! It's worked well in my experience.
      Originally Posted by williamrs View Post

      Some advertisers also scrub leads that don't fit the requirements of the offer. For example, if a dating site pays only for female leads, any male leads will be scrubbed.

      When the advertiser scrubs a lead there usually is a good reason for that (duplicate lead, invalid lead, etc). However, when the advertiser or network doesn't record a lead without any decent reason, it's what we call of shaving and is a unfair practice that damages the affiliates.


      W
      Great Points Given by MTVida and Williamrs
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  • Profile picture of the author cpaweeds
    It is not simple issue, we dont have got something to monitor this process. How everything goes fairly and honestly.
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