The importance of testing your Affiliate Account

[mojo]

Just my suggestion. I have not been diligent enough on this myself.

All that needs to be done is to find a trusted person/people to sign up and deposit from your affiliate tag from the casinos/poker/sportsbooks you promote. You can moniter the results on your affiliate stat account.

You can do it in groups or individually. APCW runs some audits but it would be helpful if we all did.

For example, see This Thread.

If there is a descrepancy, I recommend posting so that it helps us all get what is owed should there be an error.

Also it is important that the casino t/c's are honored when choosing a tester.

[jctroy440]

U Da Girl!

[arkyt]

Testing is good, but it doesnt and cant catch all shaving ...

Some of the biggest shaving goes on when programs asquire other programs.... cant help but recall RB acquiring TS - I had a few big whales vanish over night never to return.

[mgcasinos]

The testing is very importance for us because more and more programs ride us off and use some stupid methord such as cross-promotion email.

[Lee-Ann]

I would highly encourage always testing tracking links and would be happy to assist any affiliates who work with us to do this. I know testing may be considered "laborious" and it may delay starting a new campaign, but better to know things are working properly than have problems later on?


A good relationship is built on "trust" and therefore as a working "partnership" - affiliates should feel comfortable with working openly and honestly with operators at all times.

[dhayman]

This is a very important post, and it is very often neglected by affiliates. A solid reminder - sometimes the obvious things are the most neglected, and the most important.

[vcasino]

If you do find some discrepancy what is the best way to approach them about it?

Because I think I saw in the terms and conditions on a lot of the affiliate programs they say things about not getting your friends/family to sign up.

[TravG]

Yes - this is a great idea. I always have a buddy sign up when I start a new campaign and make sure I'm getting the credit. Then every 6 months or so I ask him/her to make a deposit and play to make sure I am still getting the credit.

While this may not work for a "highroller" that dissapears because none of the accounts I can keep track of are big money, it still helps me sleep a little better at night.

[grem]

any serious affiliate must test

[casinobonuseslisting]

even testing is done, still how can 1 be sure that he is getting full credit from all players.

[Lee-Ann]

Hi VCasino -

Best way to approach this is to contact your affiliate manager directly, most programs do not allow friends and family to sign up (this is to prevent collusion) - so if you did want to test your tracking links, simply contact your account manager - tell them that you wish to do a test and then send them the account information to get your deposit refunded and the dummy player account closed.

That way you are not violating any T&C's and you get to see if your affiliate account tags are tracking.

In terms of understanding player revenues, that does depend on what information is shown in the affiliate reports.

Usually you will see:

Gross Revenue (Income - payouts - chargebacks - admin & processing fees - costs etc.)
Net Revenue (Gross Revenue - Free bonus monies)

The Net Revenue figure is what the affiliate comissions are calculated on.

Again - the programme terms and conditions should list exactly what deductions are being made on Gross and Net Revenues.

This basic illustration varies greatly from operator to operator though depending on the program and products that are being shown in their reporting, some programs only show Net Revenue and New Players as a minimum.

Hope that helps?

[GamTrak]

Hi VCasino -

Best way to approach this is to contact your affiliate manager directly, most programs do not allow friends and family to sign up (this is to prevent collusion) - so if you did want to test your tracking links, simply contact your account manager - tell them that you wish to do a test and then send them the account information to get your deposit refunded and the dummy player account closed.

I'm sorry, but IMO this method defeats the purpose of testing. If I wanted the affiliate manager/casino to know who my tester is then I would not bother testing and just trust them.

Being that most and not ALL programs do not allow friend/family to deposit sais something in itself. If there was something wrong with this method then it would seem to be a rule across the board/platform and not an individual program decision.

Sometimes the only folks you can TRUST are your friends/family so that option needs to be available if you truly want us to trust your brand because in this day and age of igaming I trust no one outside my family/friends.

[GFPC]

I trust no one outside my family/friends.

I am your brother from another mother right? Does that count?

I sometimes ask the program if I can test the sites on my own. Some say its ok some say it is not ok. But i think from now on what I plan to do is let them know I can test the site at anytime.

I kind of like the idea of letting programs know i will random at will and can happen anytime but afterwards I will ask them to untag it.

[mojo]

I'm sorry, but IMO this method defeats the purpose of testing. If I wanted the affiliate manager/casino to know who my tester is then I would not bother testing and just trust them.

Being that most and not ALL programs do not allow friend/family to deposit sais something in itself. If there was something wrong with this method then it would seem to be a rule across the board/platform and not an individual program decision.

Sometimes the only folks you can TRUST are your friends/family so that option needs to be available if you truly want us to trust your brand because in this day and age of igaming I trust no one outside my family/friends.

The only real way to test is to just test and not say anything. Honest programs should welcome this.

Affiliates have been doing this for years. If a program adds that affilaites cannot test in their t/c's I'll stay far away.

Testers are always players too. Whether affiliates or not. They are usually acquenteinces or friends from all over the world and trusted peers we meet online. The account stays and they play periodically to continue testing. Not only to test but because they enjoy the casino. We are not trying to earn off of them because we encourage them to go ahead and cash out to test that too for the overall experience.

Programs should never have a problem with that if they stand by their stats and player experience. In fact, some would be happy to learn the results. It is not done out of malace, but to ensure a positive relationship all around.

If it comes back that the tracking is bad, we need to be able to share that with others such as in the PS thread. There are many tech savvy people here to help with that whereas I am not as knowledgeable to get to the bottom of it. Also, it could be affecting others and needs to be corrected.

I will be upping my testing without a doubt. I can't afford bad tracking.

[vcasino]

Thanks for your input.. I often wondered about this before and it seems like a bit of a grey area. Because like others have said, it's important to test it out and know whether the links are actually working and we are getting credited for all the signups, but the T&C's about family and friends not being allowed makes it seem like they are against people doing that..

It's only fair though that we should able to test it out and make sure we're not being ripped off. I'm sure that if the situation was reversed and we were the ones supplying the betting websites and casinos with our earning figures for them to pay out each month, they would want some form of assurance that we were being honest with the numbers and not bumping them up to earn more.

[Renee]

Thanks for your input.. I often wondered about this before and it seems like a bit of a grey area. Because like others have said, it's important to test it out and know whether the links are actually working and we are getting credited for all the signups, but the T&C's about family and friends not being allowed makes it seem like they are against people doing that..

It's only fair though that we should able to test it out and make sure we're not being ripped off. I'm sure that if the situation was reversed and we were the ones supplying the betting websites and casinos with our earning figures for them to pay out each month, they would want some form of assurance that we were being honest with the numbers and not bumping them up to earn more.

I can't speak for other programs, but we have that rule in our T&Cs.

We allow testing.. So if you deposit a couple hundred bucks we're not going to close your account.. It's once the numbers start looking like you're actually playing under your own account that we take action, and generally we will just untag your player account..

There have been cases where an affiliate has had his wife join through his account, and starting playing with much cash. I untagged and let him know that it's not allowed. So she opened another account under at another casino under his account and kept playing. Same thing - untagged the player and told him this is against the T&Cs. It happened again and I closed his account. He couldn't understand why I closed the account even after I had told him twice already that it's against the T&Cs.



This is why:

You deposit $100 into the casino.

You lose it, but you're making ~35% of that back. So really, if you lose, you still win. If you win, you win and we have to cover the negative due to no negative carry over.

It's basically the same reason that employees are not allowed to play at their own casinos.. The same reason that lottery agents and their families are not allowed to buy lottery tickets.

It's like hedgebetting.. Another thing that is not allowed at most casinos.

[mojo]

Thanks for the info Renee. Question.. is it ok to do testing with a non family member who doesn't live with you?

Some programs allow affiliates to play on their own account. I'd like to hear more from AM's on their policies if possible?

[thepokerkeep]

It's like hedgebetting.. Another thing that is not allowed at most casinos.

But why would someone want to bet on a hedge??

[Renee]

Thanks for the info Renee. Question.. is it ok to do testing with a non family member who doesn't live with you?

Some programs allow affiliates to play on their own account. I'd like to hear more from AM's on their policies if possible?

As long as the family member is testing and not playing so you can profit from them, there are no probs whatsoever..

Regarding the testing, we don't mind if you're depositing a small amount every so often to test that the player still shows in your stats.. That's what testing is right?

Just wanted to clarify that..

[Renee]

But why would someone want to bet on a hedge??

LOL

A few reasons why this is not allowed..

Main reasons - MGS casinos pay royalties on every dollar wagered.. So even though you're technically not winning or losing, we are still paying for that bet..

Another reason - it's an easy way to satisfy wagering requirements without risking any funds.

Regarding affiliate commission, this doesn't affect other groups the same as us, but if the affiliate is on the wager model, and the player is hedgebetting, even though the player is not winning or losing, the affiliate is still making the same amount per bet. Easy way to make money without risking anything..

BTW we have stuff in place to look out for this, just in case anyone was thinking about trying it