Publisher Refuses to put Analytics Code on Thank You Page...

well, i think it is normal that the code-proposal was rejected. why he should add it? yes, he get one more affiliate, but the downside is: what if the code could do what it is not supposed to do? you may say he can check the code. why he should take time to check the code for you?

just some thoughts. anyway, I will not add any codes from affiliates just so the affiliate can track my traffic. The request is weird enough.


david

Yeah, I wouldn't do that for an affiliate I didn't have some kind of agreement with - there's just way too much you can do with tracking code. Depending on your industry, that kind of data could actually be considered trade secret.

I personally wouldn't want to give anyone any insight into my traffic numbers even if it WOULD help them sell more copies. It could also help them evaluate reverse engineering my whole product and cloning it.

Adding jscript code to a page can slow loading time significantly, possibly even resulting in a time out. It's his business on the line here, don't forget.

With most CPA networks, we can place tracking pixels before and after the sale to track the conversions. I wish other affiliate networks provided that capability. So I understand where you're trying to go here, but I don't blame the merchant for denying your request to load the page with code that won't directly impact his bottom line.

Why not ask him to place your Prosper202 tracking pixel on his confirmation page? much less work and page load and will not reveal data to you beyond the Prosper202 information, which tracks kws, PPC campaign, etc.

Edit: Not to mention the fact that YOUR GA jscript on HIS confirmation page would give you data from all of his sales, not simply your sales. It would be very risky and insecure for the merchant, IMO, and he/she probably understands that. Again, just ask him/her to place your tracking pixel.

Create a competing product and offer the product in different versions (audio, video, PDF, worksheets, etc...) to increase the value over the other product... Contact all his affiliates (there are tools to get that info) and let them know about your product and that they get a bigger commission, more affiliate tools, etc...

That's what I would do...

Mike Hill

Offer a bonus and place the code on your bonus confirm page.... that's what I do

Use a program like xconversions that creates a TID based on the data you need.

Garrie

Yeah, I mean you say he has no reason to not place the code on the thank you page, but then you say how your gonna re-create the product and unleash hell on him.

Maybe that's his reasoning behind why he won't place the code on his thank you page?

ClickBank has tracking available. Is it not reliable, even if cumbersome?

A client of ours recently recommended this StatsJunky - Automatically Download And Compare Your Affiliate & PPC Stats to people who wanted to track their affiliate PPC campaigns. I have no experience with it, but it has a free trial that might be worth looking at.

Alice

Ok sorry for the confusion...

When I mentioned the google analytics code I meant that special affiliate code which restricts most of the private stuff... and allows you to see your sales from keywords, etc... not my actual google analytics code. (Which I did mention to the publisher and no luck...)

Can't T202 or whatever you're using already tell you this data without putting conversion code on the affiliate site?

As long as whatever network it's on supports subid tracking, each click you send should have a unique subid which you can track back to the original click (and referrer, keywords used, etc).

Those subids would be in the commission reports, doesn't T202 import those?

I only played around with it for a few days before realizing T202 wasn't for me (and went and built w3roi to do the kind of tracking I need) , but I thought it already had those abilities.

What's in it for him?
If he has plenty of affiliates why does he need
to trust you on delivering a whole lot more sales
by doing tweaking on his page?
If it was me, I would refuse too. It is my product,
and I want to control the data flow.
It is kind of an ego issue, but still I can relate to the guy.

Igor

I too would recommend StatsJunky.com.

That way you can track the keywords without putting any code on the thank you page.

I believe Statsjunky actually have a sale on at the moment. It's usually about $79 a month but you can get LIFETIME ACCESS for about $297.

That's a VERY good deal if you find the software useful.

Many vendors have their reasons for not allowing this. First and foremost, a lot of that information is often a business secret that they don't want to give out. Even if you make some sales for someone, why should they give out all their numbers to you?

On top of that, you say that you're going to copy his product and then later say that you wouldn't use the analytics information against him. But I'd reckon that that's probably not going to be the case. If you know he's getting tons of traffic to his download page, that's all the more reason you're going to be motivated to copy him. Whereas if it's minimal, you might not be wasting all that time.

In addition, why would anyone want to help your advertising campaign, even if you're making him some sales, if you're just going to copy him later? That's like going out of your way to help the competition.

Now don't get me wrong, I've had serious affiliates that we sometimes go out of our way for, and I've had some that made a couple sales and thought they were entitled to everything. Often times, the last ones take up far more of your time, complain about minor differences, etc. and it's just not worth it.

Now to answer your question, an easy way, as mentioned above, would be to offer a killer bonus and have the tracking code on that page. There are a few tools out there where you can automatically offer bonuses, and this is a workaround that some affiliates do.

Koz

I've had hundreds of requests to put peoples' tracking codes on my sites. I very rarely do it, but I have made exceptions for affiliates who have a track record with me (hundreds of sales+) and will allow an adwords conversion code.

I will say the OP is an exception at least in the regard that he has already made some sales, most people promise untold success and never make a sale.

Tracking codes can cause the page to load slowly or freeze up, especially when multiple codes are in place.

A few dozen sales is a good start, but I would also not allow code at this point either. It's no secret that many affiliates are about a week away from trying to rip your product off so it pays for vendors to keep things on lock down.

Last year I paid my lawyer to get a site shut down that had stolen portions of my sales page as well as my product verbatim. When we finally got the domain registrar's info, it was on of my previous top-affiliates doing it.

Food for thought.

you need decent KW tracking software by the sounds of it, something that can track based on IDs.

why not ask the vendor for a white label deal?

Meaning that he/you would create his site on another domain and you will be the only person driving traffic to it..he would just have to set up the payment buttons and all that...
so now, you will see only your own keywords and stuff and not his entire data.