An open letter to ClickBank (long post)

[I've been a lurker here off and on for several years, though I think this may be my first post. In the light of several ClickBank discussions here recently, I thought that some might be interested to read this. (I've also put it on Digital Point.) With the experience that some affiliates had had of renewed sales after contacting CB, I sent an email to CB in early November 08 detailing my sales-on, sales-off experience and overall major loss of sales. I received a personal reply stating that the system was working perfectly and my campaigns' problems must be due to "market demand, customer interest, holidays and seasons" as well as "the current distress of the American economy". After several more weeks of effort, here is my response.]

Hello,

Since your reply of 2008-11-06, I have continued to persevere with ClickBank promotions, even starting and developing some new ones. I am sorry to say that I have found no consistent improvement taking place.

I do understand that there is currently an economic downturn, and that this is reflected particularly in reduced US sales. However, since I have started promoting products on other networks I have been able to generate consistent and reliable sales to the point that the income I had been receiving from ClickBank in the earlier part of 2008 has now been entirely replaced, and continuing to grow - and this despite the economic difficulties.

After generating well over $50,000 in commissions on ClickBank this year (much of it before the summer), I am forced to accept that CB is now finished for me as a means of income generation. I like the ease with which hoplinks can be set up and the reliable TID and payment systems, but loss of confidence in CB's sales capture and the affiliate tracking thereof, coupled with my own experience of decimated commissions, have meant that I have finally had no choice but to discontinue all of my CB promotions.

I have heard several theories as to why CB commissions have collapsed for many affiliates. The three which make most sense to me, and which fit with own observations and experience, are:

- faulty tracking: the sale goes through but the affiliate is not credited; I know this happens because several vendors who do not do their own promotions have reported no-affiliate sales;

- overzealous credit card fraud detection: many reports of false positives thrown up by the system resulting in lost sales, reported both by vendors who have received complaints from customers and affiliates who have tested the system for themselves;

- account blocking: connected with the above fraud detection, an affiliate account where the system has detected an attempted credit card fraud (correctly or incorrectly) is blocked from receiving further affiliate sales for a period of time; this would explain at least some of the occasions when I observed sales going well but suddenly stopping for an inordinate length of time.

If my experience with other networks were currently the same as that with ClickBank, I would be the first to take the above three contentions with a pinch of salt. But the fact remains that my campaigns on other networks are generating consistent sales and at a much lower campaign cost. I can be profitable elsewhere, despite the current economic situation, but I can't be profitable on ClickBank.

I realise that the loss of my promotional efforts will not make much of a dent in ClickBank's business overall, but I believe that there are many other affiliates and vendors who are close to reaching this point, if they haven't already. I certainly know of several who are researching alternative networks. Meanwhile, being able to unload the frustration and distraction caused by the ongoing failure of my CB campaigns latterly will enable me to put more time and energy into the successful campaigns I am running elsewhere.

I do not wish to see ClickBank fail. I sincerely hope that CB can reverse this downward spiral and continue to be the foremost affiliate network for digital products.

Certainly, if CB makes material changes in its system which results in accurate affiliate tracking, minimised credit card rejection and discontinuation of any affiliate account blocking or capping, I would be very happy to hear from you. I would be delighted to try again with a cleaned-up ClickBank system.

Yours sincerely,

Iain