Betpartners

Another week and another problem with an affiliate program, it has become as common an occurrence as night following day and so often do issues arise now that I am in the grotesque situation that I would in fact be disappointed if I did not have my weekly dramas with an affiliate programs.


Advertising is the mainstay of my business and the move into affiliation on a large scale has only been in operation for a relatively short time but in this period of time my eyes have been open to some of the astonishing tricks that have been pulled by some affiliate programs, well established ones at that.


Big affiliates can generally negotiate away adverse changes as they are still needed by programs but for the smaller affiliate it is not so easy and generally speaking they are at the mercy of affiliate programs and their current decision making based on market conditions.


The easy answer is to name and shame and attack in forums affiliate programs when they carry out some of their insane actions but it is not always as easy as that.


When a program makes a stupendous decision like Grand Prive then it is a given that the forums will be in uproar but when a program makes a minor change examples of which can be minimum player rule, higher payout levels, lower revenue share and so forth then it is hard to get a momentum going to force them to see the error of their ways.


Especially when the bigger affiliates are not effected.


So what to do?


For me I simply drop them, no fanfare, no fireworks, no public outings, whats the point? The hassle and stress of carrying out a negative campaign can wear you down after a while, you can generally still earn your commission albeit under new restrictions but nonetheless providing the changes have not been on a grand prive scale you generally get what is owed to you.


By changing over a particular program with a newer one can have disadvantages of course but it can also bring other advantages, for starters it sends a message to the program that you may be small, you may not have much influence, you may not be able to change what they have done but you sure as hell can drop them and let them know you have dropped them.


It brings with it a sense of satisfaction that you do indeed retain some power however small and you learn from the experience, lessons that can be applied when you choose a new program to replace the one that thought they could treat you abysmally.


What I have found is that in time as the volatile programs are replaced that I am then left with a hard core of good programs that are a lot less likely to make changes that in truth take money out of your pocket.


I am not quite there yet but as one program has found out this week they have been dropped, they have made an enemy of me, they have not been named and shamed but are now open to negative opinions from me when I see posts about them.


Will I be vindictive, of course not, will I post negative messages for the sake of it, no I will not, but if someone posts a negative post about them and I feel my comment will add to the debate then I will not hesitate.
Why wont I name them, not sure really, I cannot be bothered? Their crime was minor? I don't want the hassle of debating it? I am a coward? Who the hell knows, my gut instinct is that naming and shaming them is not worth it and I don't necessarily want to burn bridges when money is owed to me.


Another factor could be that it is another week and another problem, one could easily become wrapped up in these sort of dramas week in week out and after a while it will have a bigger effect on your business as you become distracted.


The program in question has lost an affiliate, a small one granted but an affiliate nonetheless, they will have to continue to pay me unless they change their terms and conditions dramatically which would bring public outrage and so in the long term they are the losers not me.


My final comment is in the form of a question and that is


Is stupidity a requirement in getting a job advising sportsbooks and gambling operations on their affiliate programs?


PS, I don't blame the managers of affiliate programs, those poor sods are forced to do the dirty work, its those that make these stupid decisions that are the subject of this article.