Picking an affiliate platform

[DennisG]

Hey all, we are in the process of building new a new casino and sports-betting site through the Everymatrix software group. Eventually a poker site if things work out. As part of this, I have been tasked with the affiliate management aspect of things. I will be the first to admit I am new to this, and though doing a pile of homework, still very green.

I have been comparing software to run the affiliate program and basically narrowed it down to 3 (maybe only 2?) choices...Netrefer and Income Access...and then Everymatrix's own PartnerMatrix.

I am partial to IA already because they are located in Canada (as am I) and the time zones mesh much better, as does the language barrier aspect. From what I have read here, the biggest issue people have is the time frame in which reports are populated...ie:daily. I just got an email back from my IA sales rep stating that the reports (sales data) can be uploaded hourly if it better suits us...While it's not real-time, it should be enough to make affiliates a lot happier?

Netrefer appears to be a lot more user friendly, though still waiting to hear back on a walk through and pricing.

PartnerMatrix seems relatively easy/straight forward..and their integration time is obviously quite fast...but I don't see a lot of comment on this particular software?

Thoughts? Comments? What am I missing?

Thanks!

[Renee]

Hey Dennis

There was a poll thread a while ago about this that might be helpful for you.

You can find it here: https://www.gpwa.org/forum/what-affi...er-216182.html

Cheers

[DennisG]

Hey Dennis

There was a poll thread a while ago about this that might be helpful for you.

You can find it here: (not enough posts to copy and paste the link)

Cheers

Thanks Renee I did read that one, and that drew me to the two picks IA and Refer (Income Access was already on the radar) ...but I notice a lot of people had said they only didn't like the daily updates on IA..they preferred them more often. My IA rep tells me they can update every couple of hours if that is what we wished, so thought that might sway some opinions. I guess it would have been better to comment in that same thread..but hey..that is soooo 5 months ago...lol

Dennis

[-Shay-]

I think any brand new program should update as close to real time as possible. It helps with credibility right out of the gate --- hope that opinion helps your decision. Best of luck.

[F-L-C]

Neither Netrefer or IA are real time and they still came top of the poll so what does that tell you

[-Shay-]

Neither Netrefer or IA are real time and they still came top of the poll so what does that tell you

Without derailing this thread too far, that tells me very little, aside from those two being the most widely used platforms - popularity contest and brand recognition.

If a new program wants to build instant credibility - the best way to start is affiliate friendly/fair terms, player friendly terms & promos focusing on retention, and as much transparency as possible.

Hourly or nearly real time stats would help accomplish transparency right out of the gate. I can think of a (relatively) new bingo brand that we pushed right out of the gate due largely in part to real time reporting and we would not have gone to the extent we went if stats updated daily. The real time stats ticked off the final box we were looking for and removed any questions we might have had during what would normally be the "test the waters" phase.

[F-L-C]

While real time stats are undoubtedly better I do think it would be misleading to let the OP think they are some kind of deal breaker for most affiliates

[-Shay-]

While real time stats are undoubtedly better I do think it would be misleading to let the OP think they are some kind of deal breaker for most affiliates

I would agree with that statement as a whole. I did state it was my opinion ("I think").

I do know that some people have checklists they go through when evaluating a new program (we do). One such item on our checklist is track record of a program, which has items such as brand history (of both the actual gaming company and the affiliate program). If a program has little to no history, then generally speaking, we will not work with them until they have established a track record.

However, there are items that can either speed up the process or completely override the absence of track record. One such item is real time stats, as once again - this helps in terms of transparency and shows me that we're not being shaved (or if we are, the program is going to have to work hard to shave). I'd personally prefer to see real time stats than pretty charts and graphs and if what the OP has stated about IA having hourly stats available, it begs the question on why more programs have not moved to such reporting. We don't have to wait for tomorrow's edition of the local newspaper to come out to know what is going on in the world and our own community, as there are numerous real time news sources out there. We can also log into our mobile accounts and see real time usage in terms of data and minutes used. We can see our website stats in real time and we can see our banking details in real time. Why is it that we cannot see our stats in real time?

For most, the absence of real time stats causes me to wonder what there is to hide and why - especially when real time stats or nearly real time stats are in fact available. And for new programs, having less opportunity to hide & less to call to mind what is being hidden and why whilst establishing a track record - for me at least, is important.

[pinkytoe]

Myaffiliates ruled out?

I quite like their software.

You could try get your hands on the old c-planet software.