GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - Is it worth sending traffic to affiliate programs, these days?

izzynew · 03-03-2011, 09:51 PM

I've been looking around for some new sponsors to replace some who are not converting well and what I've found are some very strict TOS.
I'm all for knowing where you stand before you begin to promote a sponsor, but if you look at sponsor TOS over the last year or so they have tightened up dramatically. Many sponsors update their TOS without telling affiiates (because we are expected to check them regularly). And with some sponsors there are so many 'get out clauses' in their TOS, they could get rid of most affiliates without paying them if they chose to do so.

I'm not naming any names here - if you read your sponsor TOS you may have some of these, but hopefully you won't:

Sponsors who demand to know the exact place on a page on each of your websites where you are showing each of their banners.
Sponsors who previously encouraged affiliates to name their brands on their sites and who now say this is a violation of their trademarks.
Sponsors who used to encourage affiliates to build landing pages which looked like their own sites and now ban them for doing so.
Sponsors who are now saying you must have a warning page (even on a blog) when they didn't say this before.
Sponsors who insist you do not link to the join page even though their tours are crap.
Sponsors who insist on no changes to the anchor text used in their links at all, even if it reads ridiculously on your blog.
Sponsors who insist you do not change their link codes with php or a cloaking plugin, even though their codes break your sites.
Sponsors who change their link codes and not changing them immediately on all your sites can be reason for banning.
Sponsors who say they will ban you for spamming if you get too many chargebacks in a pay period, even though there is often nothing you can do about it.
Sponsors who say they will ban affiliates who send them traffic from certain countries, even though, even with .htaccess coding this isn't always possible.
Sponsors who say they will ban affiliates if their ref codes are found on a forum, even if the affiliate didn't put them there.
Sponsors who have no idea that the average TGP or blog needs more than 8 of their galleries to promote.
Sponsors who insist you do not modify or compress their pictures in any way and then send you zips full of 2meg pics.
Sponsors who suddenly want to know more details about their 'foreign' (non US) affiliates than their own mother knows.

And then you get:

Sponsors who let you fill in the sign up form, say you will hear in 48 hours, but you never hear from them for 6 months and thats to tell you you're banned for not sending any traffic.
Sponsors where you make an immediate sale or two when you sign up and then your ratios fall back to 1:4000.

I could go on but I've probably said enough.

03-03-2011, 09:51 PM
izzynew Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 174	I've been looking around for some new sponsors to replace some who are not converting well and what I've found are some very strict TOS. I'm all for knowing where you stand before you begin to promote a sponsor, but if you look at sponsor TOS over the last year or so they have tightened up dramatically. Many sponsors update their TOS without telling affiiates (because we are expected to check them regularly). And with some sponsors there are so many 'get out clauses' in their TOS, they could get rid of most affiliates without paying them if they chose to do so. I'm not naming any names here - if you read your sponsor TOS you may have some of these, but hopefully you won't: Sponsors who demand to know the exact place on a page on each of your websites where you are showing each of their banners. Sponsors who previously encouraged affiliates to name their brands on their sites and who now say this is a violation of their trademarks. Sponsors who used to encourage affiliates to build landing pages which looked like their own sites and now ban them for doing so. Sponsors who are now saying you must have a warning page (even on a blog) when they didn't say this before. Sponsors who insist you do not link to the join page even though their tours are crap. Sponsors who insist on no changes to the anchor text used in their links at all, even if it reads ridiculously on your blog. Sponsors who insist you do not change their link codes with php or a cloaking plugin, even though their codes break your sites. Sponsors who change their link codes and not changing them immediately on all your sites can be reason for banning. Sponsors who say they will ban you for spamming if you get too many chargebacks in a pay period, even though there is often nothing you can do about it. Sponsors who say they will ban affiliates who send them traffic from certain countries, even though, even with .htaccess coding this isn't always possible. Sponsors who say they will ban affiliates if their ref codes are found on a forum, even if the affiliate didn't put them there. Sponsors who have no idea that the average TGP or blog needs more than 8 of their galleries to promote. Sponsors who insist you do not modify or compress their pictures in any way and then send you zips full of 2meg pics. Sponsors who suddenly want to know more details about their 'foreign' (non US) affiliates than their own mother knows. And then you get: Sponsors who let you fill in the sign up form, say you will hear in 48 hours, but you never hear from them for 6 months and thats to tell you you're banned for not sending any traffic. Sponsors where you make an immediate sale or two when you sign up and then your ratios fall back to 1:4000. I could go on but I've probably said enough.