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Is retargeting killing affiliate commissions?

by Prashaant
9 replies
All a vendor really needs to do is create a retargeting campaign with his own affiliate id... especially for clickbank products.

When a visitor visits the vendor's website (through your affiliate id) and surfs away... he's kinda followed with ads from the vendor's site on other websites he visits... often high authority sites that the user trusts. If a vendor uses his own affiliate id, the affiliate who first referred the visitor loses his commission.

any thoughts? is anyone feeling the effect of this yet?
#affiliate #clickbank #commissions #killing #retargeting
  • Profile picture of the author Kevin_Hutto
    Im not an affiliate so I dont know... but I would guess that adsense publishers are feeling it more as ads relevant to the content on their site are being displayed less and retargeted ads are displayed more. No proof... just a thought.
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    • Profile picture of the author aholmes360
      Two thoughts on this:

      1. Retargeting probably cannibalizes your affiliate commissions slightly, but not much. If you have a really strong source of traffic, that traffic will continue, and if anything, retargeting may actually boost your commissions because its reminding people about the product, which may increase your conversion rates.

      2. In regards to publisher revenue, I think retargeting is increasing the effective cpms on any site with lots of pageviews with relatively low value content. For example, I think any type of gaming site, video site, image site, or other entertainment blog is getting better advertising return because of retargeting. With many of my retargeting campaigns, that's where the bulk of impressions and clicks occur.

      I think sites with typically higher-value content will see little affect on their effective CPMs, though if anything, the influx in retargeting ads may reduce their earnings slightly.

      I just wrote an ebook on this stuff if anyone is interested HiddenAudience.com
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  • Profile picture of the author JCorp
    Originally Posted by Prashaant View Post

    All a vendor really needs to do is create a retargeting campaign with his own affiliate id... especially for clickbank products.

    When a visitor visits the vendor's website (through your affiliate id) and surfs away... he's kinda followed with ads from the vendor's site on other websites he visits... often high authority sites that the user trusts. If a vendor uses his own affiliate id, the affiliate who first referred the visitor loses his commission.

    any thoughts? is anyone feeling the effect of this yet?


    This is why you should make sure that you're promoting from people who have integrity and are honest. How do you find people like this. It takes searching around, but if they're affiliate focused, they provide a lot of help to their affiliates, they pay on time with good payment terms, then it's a good chance that they can be trusted.

    Because a vendor who goes and puts his own affiliate id in his own banners, you shouldn't be promoting.

    Shouldn't hurt your conversions, and should actually increase commissions.
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  • Profile picture of the author Top Dog Marketer
    The smartest thing you can do to work around this problem, is to STOP being an affiliate and start being an ADVERTISER.

    You are now your very own super affiliate. You keep all of the profits, and you get access to the customer list. Being an affiliate is a waste of time in the long run because you are not keeping a buyers list which means that you are not actually building a business.

    A lot of people think that its hard to start an info product on clickbank, but it's really not if you have some help and guidance.
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    I'm the "Top Dog" when it comes to marketing.

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    • Profile picture of the author Prashaant
      True... i quite agree... but re-targeting is definitely affecting commissions... and that's a major chunk of my business as of now.. time to change...



      Originally Posted by Top Dog Marketer View Post

      The smartest thing you can do to work around this problem, is to STOP being an affiliate and start being an ADVERTISER.

      You are now your very own super affiliate. You keep all of the profits, and you get access to the customer list. Being an affiliate is a waste of time in the long run because you are not keeping a buyers list which means that you are not actually building a business.

      A lot of people think that its hard to start an info product on clickbank, but it's really not if you have some help and guidance.
      Signature
      Programmer: Wordpress, Joomla, Content Management Systems, Scripts, Troubleshooting - Get Help On ANYTHING technical! - Top Quality, Affordable Pricing
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  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    I can't speak for Clickbank because I'm not sure how long the tracking cookie lasts but...

    In terms of merchants you are promoting through SaS or CJ you WILL still get credit for your sale as long as its within the cookie time frame.

    Take this example.

    You send traffic to a merchant through an affiliate link, which places the cookie on the user's machine.

    Site visitor navigates away without clicking, however, comes back and purchases through a retargeting advertisement.

    You still get paid as long as they return within the original cookie's allotted time frame.

    It doesn't matter how the re-entry occurs, if your cookie is still valid then you will get paid.

    If you find a merchant is scrubbing your commissions email them to inquire why. If they state that they identified that the purchase was done through a retargeting campaign and not through your original link, drop them.

    Many don't scrub, but some do, and if they do drop their ass immediately and promote a competitor. Why? Because you sent them the original traffic, and thus you are entitled to a piece of that pie.
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    You're going to fail. If you're afraid of failure then you do not belong in the Internet Marketing Business. Period.
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    • Profile picture of the author Prashaant
      most other networks are not overwriting cookies... but i have seen a BIG Clickbank site doing re-targeting... with an affiliate id, so it's overwriting the original affiliates cookie.
      I've been promoting this vendor for over 2 years now... and suddenly commissions have come down drastically. Quite a concern really.




      Originally Posted by BloggingPro View Post

      I can't speak for Clickbank because I'm not sure how long the tracking cookie lasts but...

      In terms of merchants you are promoting through SaS or CJ you WILL still get credit for your sale as long as its within the cookie time frame.

      Take this example.

      You send traffic to a merchant through an affiliate link, which places the cookie on the user's machine.

      Site visitor navigates away without clicking, however, comes back and purchases through a retargeting advertisement.

      You still get paid as long as they return within the original cookie's allotted time frame.

      It doesn't matter how the re-entry occurs, if your cookie is still valid then you will get paid.

      If you find a merchant is scrubbing your commissions email them to inquire why. If they state that they identified that the purchase was done through a retargeting campaign and not through your original link, drop them.

      Many don't scrub, but some do, and if they do drop their ass immediately and promote a competitor. Why? Because you sent them the original traffic, and thus you are entitled to a piece of that pie.
      Signature
      Programmer: Wordpress, Joomla, Content Management Systems, Scripts, Troubleshooting - Get Help On ANYTHING technical! - Top Quality, Affordable Pricing
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      • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
        Originally Posted by Prashaant View Post

        most other networks are not overwriting cookies... but i have seen a BIG Clickbank site doing re-targeting... with an affiliate id, so it's overwriting the original affiliates cookie.
        I've been promoting this vendor for over 2 years now... and suddenly commissions have come down drastically. Quite a concern really.
        Not too familiar with Clickbank as I don't promote their products, but if it this was happening to me I'd drop them like a rock with an anchor tied to its ass.

        I don't have time to deal with vendors like this and I would encourage you to find another source of revenue. If I send the original traffic I expect to paid on that. I promote merchants that have cookies varying between 10 and 60 days.

        Those are the terms and I expect to merchant to adhere to them. I understand this is not the case in your situation, but regardless, its the way I feel.

        Are there any other products or services available that you can promote in place of the one you speak of?
        Signature
        You're going to fail. If you're afraid of failure then you do not belong in the Internet Marketing Business. Period.
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        • Profile picture of the author Prashaant
          Yup... doing just that now...


          Originally Posted by BloggingPro View Post

          Not too familiar with Clickbank as I don't promote their products, but if it this was happening to me I'd drop them like a rock with an anchor tied to its ass.

          I don't have time to deal with vendors like this and I would encourage you to find another source of revenue. If I send the original traffic I expect to paid on that. I promote merchants that have cookies varying between 10 and 60 days.

          Those are the terms and I expect to merchant to adhere to them. I understand this is not the case in your situation, but regardless, its the way I feel.

          Are there any other products or services available that you can promote in place of the one you speak of?
          Signature
          Programmer: Wordpress, Joomla, Content Management Systems, Scripts, Troubleshooting - Get Help On ANYTHING technical! - Top Quality, Affordable Pricing
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