What is your preferred tracking system

[TheBoyMitchell]

Lots of casinos use different tracking systems as their back end such as Netrefer, Income Access or Mexos (the Affutd back end) to name a few, but which do you prefer and why?

Does the backend system that is used affect your decision to promote a certain operator?

[universal4]

Anyone that has known me around here very long knows that I am a very big advocate of campaign tracking. I am thinking of reserving my explanation why for another thread since I have written a long enough post below as it is, but will give my thoughts on how some operators have implimented their systems.

There have been a number of changes to some of the systems throughout the years, and yet one that is 8-10 years old still stands out.

Out-of-the-box Playtech has long been providing their licensees with a great stats system that provides pretty good stats with campaign tracking. The only thing I wish they would NOT have changed was removing the affid and campaign out of the direct downloads. (I am talking about the standard old PT system here)

The Mexos system that AffUtd uses is also fairly sharp and provides pretty good look into stats and campaigns etc... The EuroParteners implimentation of the Mexos System has been a complete failure and they should honestly go back to the old PT system) One major drawback with Mexos is that it is a complete nightmare trying to get decent sub-affiliate reports once you have more than a few subs.

RTG now actually has a fairly decent out-of-the-box system (the one that supports subgid's) although not quite as thorough as Playtech's it does provide a good look at traffic and conversions with campaign tracking.

The Income Access stats system is fairly thorough and although many have posted about issues with some programs that use their system, I have run a number of tests over the years and have never found any major issues with the accuracy of their system concerning clicks, download etc including campaign tracking.

As far as the Micro's.... I can't honestly say any of them have really GREAT stats systems. (Ryan at Rewards was getting really close 4 or 5 years ago implimenting campaign tracking but that project was thrown out and no progress since) Fortune has decent campaign tracking, but if you want to see how well 45 campaigns did you have to run 45 reports which is too time consuming. As far as ease of use and ease of reports, Wagershare has decent campaign tracking that a single report will show the majority of what is available concerning clicks, downloads, conversions etc with campaigns.

Rival out-of-the-box system is decent enough and shows affiliates accurate clicks, downloads and conversions with campaigns. I also like the deposit reporting they do as well as being able run the player summary and see the last time players actually visited the casino and played.
(Too bad their conversions and retention are so poor overall)

Over the last few years a number of programs have released custom stats systems and some of them are getting pretty good. Out of all the custom systems I have to honestly say the Affiliate Edge really shines above the others.....I will honestly say that when they first came out I was a bit confused as to what reports did what, but the more I dig into them the more I discover they can show me about my traffic.

Any affiliate program that does NOT offer detailed stats and especially those that do not even allow their affiliates to see traffic stats (clicks), let alone campaign tracking of some sort, are working in the dark ages and do not deserve honorable mention.

Rick
Universal4

[Renee]

As far as the Micro's.... I can't honestly say any of them have really GREAT stats systems. (Ryan at Rewards was getting really close 4 or 5 years ago implimenting campaign tracking but that project was thrown out and no progress since)

FYI I have said this before, but this hasn't been throw out. We have been using it ever since, it just has not yet been implimented in the stats (but that is still in progress). It's possible to use it right now and get send manual reports and this is what is being used until it is in the stats.

[universal4]

Sorry TheBoyMitchell that I never answered your final question.

There are situation where having good stats will affect how much exposure I give properties, but I do not let that be the only piece I look at when determining who to promote.

As an example, when a property provides click stats but not campaigns associated with those clicks, they will "likely" get less exposure than a property that provides the full set of stats with the campaigns....

The properties that do NOT provide any click stats are moved to the bottom of the list.

Like I said above though, there are many other factors to consider such as reputation with players and other affiliates, whether the sky is blue that day or if the grass has stopped growing but I am trying to keep the discussion focussed on the original questions.....

Rick
Universal4

[EugeneK]

The best one is that C-Planet has.
Then goes Income Access (recently I thought it is the worst one - changed my opinion recently)
Brightshare also has not bad system as you can create campaigns on the fly.

[baldidiot]

Top has to be income access - it has campaign management and shows detailed player activity including deposit and bonus information.

Next is netrefer - nice software for at a glance stats, but just doesn't seem to offer as much detail as IA.

On the other end of the spectrum, Uffiliates have terrible stats - I basically have no idea whats going on.

[universal4]

I place Netrefer near the bottom of the list since they are NOT browser independant.

I agree that C-Planet stats are ok, but those of Affiliate Edge actually offer much more deatil once you get to know how to drill down deeper.

I also agree that IA offers a lot of options and reports both on the traffic level as well as the player level.

Great thread though....

Rick
Universal4

[EugeneK]

Affiliate Edge actually offer much more deatil once you get to know how to drill down deeper.

how did you manage to understand it?? )

[universal4]

Well, I have been digging through affiliate program stats for a very long time so I only needed put forth the effort and time to figure them out.

If you need any help with AE stats I suggest you drop Martyn a pm or email and I'm sure he will be happy to answer questions or explain things further.

In fact this should hold true of any program, if you get stuck or do not understand any of the reports or data presented, you should always first check with the managemnet staff at the appropriate program, or star up a thread here, the GIA, GAP or AGD and other affiliates are usually handy to try and help. (Keep in mind though if you do post about stats issues, be sure not to post any private info)

Rick
Universal4

[AE-Martyn]

Eugene and I have been through our stats in depth, eh Eugene?

[EugeneK]

Eugene and I have been through our stats in depth, eh Eugene?

Yep, but such information representation is still hard for me

[tomgalanis]

There are quite a few other affiliate platform products emerging at the moment - I'm thinking of Statswide, eGASS and Oddsmatrix's PartnerMatrix platforms in particular. How important is the reporting platform in the process of selecting an operator to work with? What would it take for you to work with an operator who is using a new, off-the-shelf affiliate platform solution?

[universal4]

Good question defined Tom.

I would consider working with a program using a new stats interface under a number of conditions.

Is the casino new and or does the property have a good reputation with players?
Is the affiliate program small affiliate friendly?

Either of the above 2 questions can be deal breakers for me.

Is the affiliate program new?

Once I have the answers to the above my questions could continue, such as whether the property accepted US Players as well as what other countries etc were restricted. I would also look at the commission rates and the terms and conditions.

What kinds of payments methods are offered and what is the minimum payment threshold. (can become a deal breaker)

Providing I recieve satisfactory answers to the above I am extremely willing to take on a program using new stats interfaces, but depending on what the answers were to some of the above questions decides on how much exposure the property might recieve on my sites.....

Rick
Universal4