What's the most important fact when deciding whether or not to promote a program?

[GPWA Aaron]

One of the most important choices an affiliate webmaster makes is the decision of whether or not they will promote an operator. There are thousands of properties and affiliate programs to choose from. Some lure affiliates with high commissions. Others take a personal approach, with friendly, well-known affiliate managers. Others rely on their position as a market leader, knowing that affiliates will want to promote their site because players are familiar with the brand.

While no one relies on just one of these factors when choosing whether or not to promote a program, we'd still like to know what the single most-important factor you consider when making that decision is.


In addition to answering the poll question, let us know your reasoning behind your vote, as well.

[PromoteCasino]

With the way some affiliate programs are reneging on deals that have been in place for years, I am going for reputation although any program can go rogue at anytime they feel like. It is a minefield out there

[JackTenSuited]

Reputation is important and affiliate friendly terms (no quotas etc)

[TheGooner]

The question is a bit off ... it's like asking someone what the most important road rule is when driving ... they are all valid !!
IF you'd made this a check list (more than one option allowed) I would have chosen 4-5.

Here is how I see it.

1/ REPUTATION
Reputation is most important to me (both with players and affiliates) as is the longevity of that reputation. (At least 24 months)
Fail this check and it doesn't matter about the rest. New programs - and many established programs cannot get past this step.

2/ DEAL STRUCTURE
The structure of the deal is then checked, and validation that there are no fish-hooks, unobtainable quotas, mysterious charges.

3/ WEBSITE / STATISTICS
Things that are less important are website interface / statistics, as long as they provide the minimum of information required.
I'm working with some good programs that are awful with player stats and reporting - but the partnership is still good.

4/ BRAND
The brand has little consideration - other than we probably already work with many big brands - but that is also because they do well in the first two items. However if they fail the first two - then the brand doesn't save them ... eg. SkyBet, Poker Stars and 888.con

5/ RELATIONSHIP
Actual relationship with staff is least important during the evaluation phase. It's unlikely that I know them past name recognition (if that), and again even if it's a great AM - if the first two items are poor then there is no chance of an agreement.

[sweetbet]

Here's part of a blog entry that I posted yesterday.

Here is how I decide which affiliate programs to join, and which ones to avoid.

Is there a negative carryover? If there is, then I will not sign up, because I don’t want to acquire players for an outfit that might one day hit me with a massive negative carryover that I might never recover from. This has happened to me at a Playtech casino that I was promoting. The negative carryover was more than $30,000 and I am still in the red at that affiliate program, almost 2 years later.

Is there a minimum activity quota? Do I need to send the affiliate program a minimum number of depositing players every 3 months, or so? Some affiliate programs will not only reduce your revenue share commission if you fail to deliver a minimum number of players within a specified period of time, but they will even close your account and keep all your current and future commissions. What if your site loses its source of traffic, is penalised by a search engine, or you are unable to work for some reason? Will the affiliate program simply close your account and keep your commissions because for one reason or another you’re unable to send them an x number of signups every 3 months or so? It’s always better to avoid programs that have minimum activity quotas.

What is the tracking cookie duration? While some affiliate programs have tracking cookie durations of 24 hours, others have durations up to one year. The longer the cookie duration is, the more likely it is that the referring affiliate will receive credit for the sale. Most visitors will not sign up at an online casino within 24 hours of being referred to it. While the predatory affiliate programs will offer 24 hour or less cookies, the more fair and affiliate friendly sponsors will generally use tracking cookies that last for 30 days or more. This means that the person you have referred to the casino has 30 days to sign up or you will not receive credit for the referral.

Are the tracking cookies overwritten? Will the first or the last referrer receive credit for the sale? The person who closed the sale should receive credit for the sale. Therefore, I will not promote a sponsor who gives credit to the first referrer.

Who is promoting the sponsor’s brands? Are super affiliates promoting these brands, or just a handful of small, unknown affiliates? If the large affiliates are not promoting them, then you’d have to wonder why that would be. Perhaps the sponsor is questionable, or the brands are inferior and don’t convert very well. It is not in the super affiliate’s best interests to top-list and seriously promote inferior sites at the cost of promoting the more decent ones which covert and make serious money.

What are the affiliate reviews saying about the sponsor and the brands? I always take time to read through the gambling forums to learn about other affiliates’ experiences with a sponsor before I sign up. If there are a few too many negative reviews and comments about an affiliate program, then it is best to heed the warnings and not be too eager to sign up and promote it.

What are the player reviews saying about the brands? Read what the players’ experiences are at the casinos of interest. What are the players saying about the casino, the games, customer support, the banking process, the promotions, etc?

What methods of payment is the affiliate program offering? While most affiliate programs have a wide range of payment methods, some have limited payment methods, such as check or deposit into player account. Personally, I prefer e-wallet payments because I find them to be fast and convenient.

What is the minimum payout for affiliates? Some affiliate programs have a minimum payout of $50, while others have a minimum payout of $500. Large affiliates might not mind a $500 minimum payout, but smaller affiliates who might refer the odd $20 player every now and then might have a long wait before they see any money coming their way.

Who are the people behind the affiliate program? Does anyone know who they are? Has anyone worked with them before? There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there, and it is always in your best interest to know who is behind the affiliate program that you are interested in joining? Would you join an affiliate program if you learned that it is managed by the same group of people who managed a rogue affiliate program in the past?

How helpful are the affiliate managers, and how quickly do they respond to your questions? There are affiliate programs that have little to no customer support. You might find an email address on the site, but no one ever replies to your emails, until you post about the affiliate program on the message boards, and lo and behold, someone replies to your post.

Does the affiliate program pay? Are there a few too many payment issue posts on the message boards? If the affiliate program is regularly having payment issues, then it is best to avoid it. You might also want to monitor the monthly payment threads to see if the sponsor is mentioned by an affiliate as having paid and when the payment was made. If the sponsor is rarely mentioned in the payment threads, then it may be that not many affiliates are working with that sponsor, or the sponsor’s brands simply don’t convert.

There are other factors that one may take into consideration before deciding which casino affiliate programs to join, and which ones to avoid, but these are the primary factors.

[Doolally]

They're all valid but Reputation must be the leading factor. If other affiliates are having problems, I'm not even going to look at what's on offer.

[golfbettingsystem]

For me brand familiarity just about edges it over reputation, I've tried promoting smaller sportsbooks and whilst getting an FTD is generally easier than a bigger more saturated brand, the ongoing revenue hasn't proved to be anywhere near as strong.

[Triple7]

Player reviews about the casino, player complaints about the casino and than I check the casino (terms & conditions, license, bonus terms, etc).

[blackriver]

For me the most important thing is reputation (I always check affiliate forums before joining any program), then commission structure and stats.

[bene2050]

For me the most important thing is reputation (I always check affiliate forums before joining any program), then commission structure and stats.

but isn't it a problem if you promote a bookmaker with good reputation, that many users are already registered there?
So you can not get that much new customers?

Wouldn't it be better to have aaffiliate partner that only few of your users know?

[colin3005]

but isn't it a problem if you promote a bookmaker with good reputation, that many users are already registered there?
So you can not get that much new customers?

Wouldn't it be better to have aaffiliate partner that only few of your users know?

I sort of go between the 2, I have a lot of banners on my landing page and on the forum itself I have about 6 or 7.
I have a horse racing forum and although we get a lot of UV per week, when people find us they usually have accounts with the major bookies, especially high street ones. I had banners for Coral, WH, Ladbrokes, Betfred and Paddy Power on my site for over 2 years and have got less than 20FTD combined with them! This is from a site that has around 1000-1500 UV per week at times. Bet365 has been negative for around a year now. I do get more customers on sites like 888sport, Racebets and the like, but the revenue is low.
Part of the problem, and I see it mentioned all the time on the forum is them limiting bets. I refer high rollers, and after a couple of bets, win or lose, they get limited to putting 67p wins on.
I actually had a customer sign up to racebets a few years ago, deposited £30000 over Cheltenham, ended up losing about £4000 of it, and he posted on the forum a week later saying he tried to put £100 on a horse and his max bet size was £1.21. So that good customer was lost. Thats so annoying. OK, I made over £1000 from him in that one week, and the same from the other 40+ FTD I referred that week, but it should be ongoing, not finish a week later.

So for me, a bookie that people have heard of but not too big, one that pays regularly and doesn't have a reputation for limiting customers for smaller bets. Anyone should be able to put £50 on a horse, I got limited on Ladbrokes after placing a £10 win, my max bet size went down to under £1, they haven't had a single banner since then. The only time I'll consider a bigger bookie is if theres a CPA deal rather than rev share.

[Bobby Sand]

For me it has to be reputation and commission structure i.e. do I see them advertising offline, what is their retention rate like, I guess this instills the longevity of players you send as opposed to one off players who jump ship