Businesses often outsource their marketing to third parties, creating what we refer to as affiliate marketing. Unfortunately, under this arrangement, some partners may not always be honest. Given the existence of unscrupulous marketers, scammers, and fraudsters, it is best to implement protective measures that safeguard your interests and prevent you from getting ripped off. One of these measures is affiliate compliance monitoring.
What is Affiliate Compliance Monitoring?
Affiliate compliance monitoring refers to the process by which you constantly review affiliate behavior to ensure these partners follow the stipulations set in the terms of service (TOS) agreement. Essentially, this practice safeguards your brand from losses arising from publishers’ actions that deliberately or otherwise breach the TOS. In addition, it protects you against practices that may lead to fines, reputational risk, financial losses, and misrepresentations of the brand’s image.
Types of Affiliate Abuse
There are several ways through which affiliates can violate the terms of a marketing agreement. These include:
1. Reverse IP Geo-targeting
An affiliate may run ads in locations or during periods in which they deem the merchant will not monitor them
2. Disposable URLs and front/fake websites
Some affiliates use disposable URLs to hide their identity from merchants in an arrangement that allows them to buy and run ads on trademarked words. Once the customer clicks these URLs, they are directed to a front site. This fake website enables scammers to join affiliate programs. Simply, this practice facilitates trademark bidding.
3. Cookie stuffing/forced clicks
This fraudulent practice involves trickery; the scammers trick the merchant’s monitoring system into thinking that a real user has clicked on a link even in cases where they have not. They are therefore compensated even when they should not because merchants pay affiliates based on the number of clicks.
4. Adware and malware
These programs are used to create fake clicks.
5. Typosquatting
Affiliates who undertake typosquatting usually register a domain that is similar to a merchant’s trademarked domain. They then use this fake domain to profit by displaying pay-per-click advertisements.
6. Incentive marketing
Though incentive marketing is an authorized affiliate marketing practice, some affiliates go overboard by implementing unauthorized marketing practices. These include pay-to-complete systems that require users to shell out some money to complete affiliate offers.
Measures to Prevent Affiliate Abuse
You can use various approaches to limit the chances of affiliate-propagated fraud. These include:
1. Creating a comprehensive terms of service agreement
A TOS agreement should cover a lot of ground. It should clearly define the authorized and unauthorized practices, providing an excellent basis and guide for affiliates. It also enables you to easily pick out violations.
2. Pre-approving affiliates
It is important to thoroughly vet the affiliates to ensure that their websites are real and that they are not using disposable URLs, for example. Avoid using the auto-approve program used by affiliate networks, as this automated approach can open you up to scammers and fraudulent affiliates.
3. Web scraping
Web scraping is the process of collecting publicly available data from websites. It is carried out using bots known as web scrapers. Web scraping is an affiliate compliance monitoring technique. It enables you to easily identify instances where affiliates have displayed your ads. Web scraping, therefore, helps you to keep tabs on the affiliate marketing ecosystem. It also enables you to easily identify breaches.
Search engines are a great place to start as they are a database of a vast amount of data on the internet. Using a SERP scraper, you can easily identify websites that may have implemented typosquatting, for example. If you’re looking for a company that offers top-notch scraping solutions, check this page.
4. Use proxies
A proxy is a server that hides your real IP address and assigns you a new one. This arrangement enables you to access web content from any country as if you were a resident. In this regard, proxies, coupled with web scrapers, enable businesses to easily identify cases of reverse IP geo-targeting. In fact, advanced scrapers such as the SERP scraper have built-in proxies that seamlessly serve this function.
5. Monitoring affiliate statistics
Monitoring statistics generated by affiliates can enable you to identify inconsistencies that indicate potentially fraudulent practices.
6. Sticking to one affiliate network
It is important to always use the same affiliate network for your affiliate marketing needs. This is because a long-term working relationship allows you to eliminate abuse, create rapport with the affiliates, and improve profitability. In contrast, constantly changing your networks exposes you to a greater number of affiliates who may have fraudulent intentions.
7. Delaying payments
Because fraudsters always look to profit through cookie stuffing and pay-per-click advertisements, it is imperative to delay payments. Besides enabling you to verify the truthfulness of the clicks, this practice disincentivizes the fraudulent affiliates from propagating their fraud.
Conclusion
Affiliate compliance monitoring is an essential undertaking if you are to maximize the value of affiliate marketing. It enables you to avoid different forms of affiliate abuse, safeguarding your brand image and protecting you against financial losses.
