Yes, there are 99 ways to skin an affiliate.
Trust and reputation go a long way in helping affiliates sort out which sponsors are the ones to invest in, but even that is just fine until it isn't.
Transparency is helpful.
Even though stats can be manipulated, the more real time verification affiliates have to balance their expectations with sponsors' reports the better.
And then there is independent regulation and oversight.
As a mainstream software publisher, my contracts included periodic access by my accountant to the books of my publisher.
Independent third party auditing might not be a bad idea.
Every large corporation proactively audits, but as Enron hopefully taught us, even auditing requires trust and integrity.
Given the difficulties most affiliate have in getting a real peek "behind the curtain", maybe a lesser, even zero, tolerance of cheaters might be the only way to knock out bad players.
??
-Dino
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manfap
Any affiliate prog can cheat affiliates, it's just as easy with NATS and harder to catch.
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