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HostGator AND CJ You Don't Always Get What's Coming...

by tommygadget
32 replies
I referred a fellow warrior to HostGator and they graciously offered to purchase through my affiliate banner! I was excited, nice! I offered her a nice little bonus as gratitude. Well, guess what!?! I saw her clicks in my CJ account, but was not credited for the sale. I sent emails to CJ and HostGator. CJ was very polite and is looking into it. HostGator just sent me a "sorry, too bad" email.

This just brings up a bigger issue. Since CJ and others use cookies and newer browsers like IE8 and above block certain tracking sites, affiliate income can seriously suffer. After all, when I installed Spybot Search and Destroy, my computer is no longer good for testing because all of my banner and affiliate ads get blocked. Affiliate networks like CJ and others, most notably ClickBank really need to get their acts together or we'll see a serious decline in affiliate income. Funny thing is my adsense income just continues to grow

TomG.
#coming #hostgator
  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    CommissionJunction would be the last affiliate network I would trust.. I do not promote any affiliate products anymore really but I have dealt with CJ as a merchant and I still await after all these years for the $1,000 they owe me.. Though unlike your problem they actually paid affiliates that made no sales with me.

    Congrats on the rise in your AdSense income ....

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author elitesystem
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      CommissionJunction would be the last affiliate network I would trust.. I do not promote any affiliate products anymore really but I have dealt with CJ as a merchant and I still await after all these years for the $1,000 they owe me.. Though unlike your problem they actually paid affiliates that made no sales with me.

      Congrats on the rise in your AdSense income ....

      James
      Thanks for the info mate! i seriously didnt have any idea abt CJ being a ripper did you try reporting them for the grand you owe
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    • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      "they actually paid affiliates that made no sales with me"

      James
      That is just plain weird. How about it everybody? Which networks do you trust? Which have worked best for you? Just wondering...

      TomG.
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      • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
        Originally Posted by tommygadget View Post

        That is just plain weird. How about it everybody? Which networks do you trust? Which have worked best for you? Just wondering...

        TomG.
        Tommy,
        I have been with ShareASale.com for a good long time, about 6 years I think.. Although I do not really promote affiliate stuff much anymore, I have been paid by them many times over. I have referred a good many merchants to them for $150.00 a pop..

        I have only had problems with one merchant in their network and the problem was taken care of by ShareASale real quick when I did complain.

        It's a good network... If you want to be kind and signup as an affiliate using my link PM me ..lol

        James
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    There was a similar thread not long ago where someone said that HG pays by the first affiliate cookie on the person's system. To do it carefully you would at least have to clear all the cookies on a browser before clicking on an affiliate link and then buying. Personally I would probably download a browser I don't have right now and then make the first click on the aff link, then the second on the buy button.

    So they could possibly have done everything correctly and honestly, at least as I understand it, from the info I see in your post.

    best wishes, lloyd
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    • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
      Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

      There was a similar thread not long ago where someone said that HG pays by the first affiliate cookie on the person's system. To do it carefully you would at least have to clear all the cookies on a browser before clicking on an affiliate link and then buying. Personally I would probably download a browser I don't have right now and then make the first click on the aff link, then the second on the buy button.

      So they could possibly have done everything correctly and honestly, at least as I understand it, from the info I see in your post.

      best wishes, lloyd
      A reasonable explanation, but no. I had the person clear their cache and cookies, restart the browser, click through the banner and complete the purchase in one session. Done deal. No commission was reported at all for that transaction.

      TomG.
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      • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
        Originally Posted by tommygadget View Post

        A reasonable explanation, but no. I had the person clear their cache and cookies, restart the browser, click through the banner and complete the purchase in one session. Done deal. No commission was reported at all for that transaction.

        TomG.
        What a polite rebuttal! Sorry to hear that and sorry that it doesn't seem to be working properly. "Oh well," I always say when something like this happens to me, "my whole life is like that. Why should today be any different?"

        On the other hand they do quite a sizable payout, so that might help make up for a flaw in the system.
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  • Profile picture of the author GarrieWilson
    They may track more than by cookie. The buyer could have SpyBot also which would be funny. Because, by you using it, you are costing other people sales.

    Can't really complain about not getting sales when you yourself do things that stop them for other people.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Reid
    Tommy - it's been a while since I promoted anything inside CJ, but I do remember running hostgator and being paid. I think they may have some delayed reporting. Check that there isn't a term that the customer last more than X days, or something. If they are promoting a $1 for a month deal or something, payment might be conditional on them getting past the trial.

    Just guessing, but that could be the issue.
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    • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
      Originally Posted by Paul Reid View Post

      Tommy - it's been a while since I promoted anything inside CJ, but I do remember running hostgator and being paid. I think they may have some delayed reporting. Check that there isn't a term that the customer last more than X days, or something. If they are promoting a $1 for a month deal or something, payment might be conditional on them getting past the trial.

      Just guessing, but that could be the issue.
      Hello Paul,

      HostGator acknowledged that an actual sale occurred that was commissionable but no affiliate was noted attached to that sale so SEE YA!! Too Bad, better luck next time, or maybe every 3rd, 4th, 5th or whatever sale.

      TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author LB
    CJ is absolutely terrible when it comes to tracking sales in my opinion. I no longer use them.

    The internet marketing community seems to gravitate towards Clickbank so that is who you hear about, but for whatever problems they have it seems CJ has two.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Did you realize that they pay you $50 and the CJ program pays $100? I used to be in the Hostgator aff. program and realized that I threw over $1000 down the drain.
      If the sale isn't recorded and you don't get paid, the increased commission isn't worth much. I've always used the HG affiliate program and got paid -personally don't like CJ as I've never had good results with them.

      kay
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      • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
        Originally Posted by LB View Post

        CJ is absolutely terrible when it comes to tracking sales in my opinion. I no longer use them.

        The internet marketing community seems to gravitate towards Clickbank so that is who you hear about, but for whatever problems they have it seems CJ has two.
        That is what I have begun to suspect, especially in light of some other unrelated blog's earnings tanking.

        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        If the sale isn't recorded and you don't get paid, the increased commission isn't worth much. I've always used the HG affiliate program and got paid -personally don't like CJ as I've never had good results with them.

        kay
        Yes, that is very true. What good is even $1000 per sale if it never gets credited? At this point I don't want to even promote HostGator anymore simply because of the crappy way they handled my inquiry.

        TomG.

        TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ultramark
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    • Profile picture of the author Keyword
      Originally Posted by Ultramark View Post

      Guys,
      CJ's advertisers are very stable... sometimes they are there for even 5+ years.
      I've had CJ not notify me of a merchant dropping out until several days after the fact. Lost advertising money promoting a company they no longer serviced.
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  • Profile picture of the author flnz400
    This is funny, I just did this yesterday.... sent someone a recommendation via email with my link embedded.

    Signed up, reporting shows their click, I verified their new account. Nothing.

    I've emailed CJ and will see what they have to say, though I would recommend HG anyway, but it's annoying when I went through the trouble of setting up their links and they don't work properly.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lindsay Brynn
    I think this just happened to me too! I referred someone on thursday and i see a click but no sale. I'm not sure if it takes time to register or something because I don't use CJ very often at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony Vercetti
    Well it looks like either hostgator is shaving leads, or there is some "malfunction" in their system. I do agree with the IE8 part, it does seem to block many tracking cookies that should not have been blocked.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sean Kelly
    Its not just SpyBot, I'm running the free Sunbelt Personal Firewall and it blocks 50% of all websites I visit.

    eg:
    - Sometimes whole pages on the warriorforum
    - I was working with a graphics guy yesterday and he was showing me his work on flickr, the problem was that the firewall always blocked the very pic I wanted to see.

    Software isn't intelligent, it's as stupid as it's programmed to be

    Sean
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    Have any of you actually been paid by hostgator in the past for affiliate sales? I've never had any problems with lunarpages or bluehost but currently I'm considering recommending Hostgator to my clients.

    Tyrus
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  • Profile picture of the author iBBnet
    I've had 2 referrals this year that I lost commissions on. I know I received credit because they were posted on my CJ account ($100 each). However, I never received the commission after months of waiting. In fact, they dropped off my account... as if they never existed. I checked reversals, etc... but does not show any report regarding those.

    I'm thinking of dropping HostGator now.
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    Bryan
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  • Profile picture of the author ny_mariposa
    I run the HG program directly from HG. I have a CJ account, and was considering doing my HG from there for the extra bang, but I'm wondering if it's worth the chance.

    That really stinks when you make a sale and no one acknowledges it. Hope CJ can fix it for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimmytron
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    • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
      Originally Posted by iBBnet View Post

      I've had 2 referrals this year that I lost commissions on. I know I received credit because they were posted on my CJ account ($100 each). However, I never received the commission after months of waiting. In fact, they dropped off my account... as if they never existed. I checked reversals, etc... but does not show any report regarding those.

      I'm thinking of dropping HostGator now.
      Originally Posted by ny_mariposa View Post

      I run the HG program directly from HG. I have a CJ account, and was considering doing my HG from there for the extra bang, but I'm wondering if it's worth the chance.

      That really stinks when you make a sale and no one acknowledges it. Hope CJ can fix it for you.
      Originally Posted by jimmytron View Post

      Haha Ive done the same thing a few times only to have the commison canceled.. The reason was they go a refund according to the AM.. haha I thought that was crazy because they were all still using thier hosting accounts.
      Thanks for reminding me of how annoyed I was about this issue. I just removed CJ and HostGator and went with Adsense. The clicks over time are much more worth it than the occasional "reported" sale

      TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author bobsedge
    I haven't used CJ much at all as an affiliate, but I use to be a fairly large Linkshare merchant.

    Unfortunately for affiliates, spillage was a fact of life. That's why merchants can sometimes afford to pay out more that seemingly makes sense. And as a merchant, there was really nothing I could do to verify the origination of the lead (though this was a few years ago so maybe there are ways now).

    That being said, though I made some money on lost affiliate trackings, I lost much more on crap that was being sent to me from bogus affiliates (mostly from eastern Europe). In the end, I quit Linkshare because they sucked at policing their network and felt the effort and cost to self-police was too great.
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  • Profile picture of the author googlerankingexpert
    Banned
    A lot of eople with CJ and the hostgator affiliate program have reported shaving and bad experiences. Stay clear of them both.

    I also think CJ is one of the crappiest affiliate networks
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  • Profile picture of the author Damien Roche
    I'm a little confused about the cookie checking. Do CJ or Hostgator, or indeed many other affiliate managers, place precedence on the address bar variables?..

    ?affid=abc123

    ..then if that isn't present, check for cookies. That seems like the logical way of doing it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
    HostGator itself is weird...We have had countless referrals and have been paid for 1

    Even though many of the sites are still live and kicking months and months later.

    I've never really taken the time to understand their affiliate program so, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it at least appears that we have some money coming to us
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  • Profile picture of the author Russ Reynolds
    Hey Man,

    They owe me $900 and it is looking like I might not see it.

    First they 'extended' it and then they lopped off $300 but I still not have been paid for the other $600.

    We will see...but I am done with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author iBBnet
    Right now, I am trying HostGator's affiliate program directly. Hopefully, that works much better than the result I got from their CJ version. $200 of commissions is a lot for me to lose, especially when I know those 2 referrals are still hosted with them.
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    Bryan
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