Affiliate marketing Affiliate Scams – Verification and Ban
Affiliate marketing is a way of life for many people. You can earn money from it even full-time, and also treat it as an additional source of income. Unfortunately, working with some affiliate programs can be risky due to unfair practices. Both publishers and advertisers can fall victim to fraud. Each party to the cooperation must remain vigilant and know the most common types of fraud, as well as methods of protection against them. If you want to create effective affiliate campaigns , it is worth using the advice of experts, such as Onaffiliate.
A Way to Scam
In affiliation, we often talk about fraud. This term refers to unethical behavior – deceiving affiliate networks, affiliate programs, and advertisers, and sometimes customers. According to the definition, fraud is a crime that is aimed at misleading a specific person, leading them to mismanage their property adversely, or taking advantage of someone else’s mistake or inability to understand their own actions. Frauds are motivated by the desire to achieve financial gains. They most commonly come in three forms, the most popular of which is affiliate fraud – prohibited activities that lead to receiving an undue commission from an affiliate program or affiliate network. The legality of specific marketing activities in the context of a given campaign is specified in its terms and conditions. You can also come across ad fraud that manipulates conversions and extorts money. First of all, when undertaking affiliate activities, you need to keep an eye on payments. Some companies may not pay commissions or delay the transaction significantly. Changes in affiliate networks are also important. A dishonest contractor changes the terms of the program during its term or resigns from it without prior notice. A good affiliate agency, such as Onaffiliate , will help you run effective, honest operations.
Profit & Loss
Both publishers and advertisers can commit fraud for their own gain. Affiliates should be wary of insolvent affiliate networks, networks that manipulate conversion counting results (to pay less for the work done), networks that require payment to join (most trusted affiliate programs are free), the promise of quick earnings, fake products and services, as well as pyramid schemes and MLMs. In the latter case, the dishonest advertiser creates “legitimate training programs,” which are actually recruitment funnels designed to reaping the benefits of new recruiters. Dishonest publishers, on the other hand, try to extort commissions unjustly. They use, m.in, cookie stuffing by placing tracking cookies on users’ devices (even if they haven’t interacted with the partner’s content), generating fake leads by filling contact forms with other people’s data, fake traffic via bots, or automating clicks. Another scam on their part is the modification of Google ads, cloning websites or impersonating the brand’s websites. Some of these crimes are simply unethical, others are officially crimes. Affiliate marketing will be completely safe when both parties take care of it. The Onaffiliate agency will help them with this.
Am I being scammed?
Advertisers should have a clear document outlining their policies and the consequences of breaking these policies. It is necessary to constantly monitor the traffic on the website. Unusual behavior, leads coming from the same IP addresses, or suspicious domains should arouse suspicion. You also need to check your conversion rates. Their sudden spikes are food for thought, as is the rapid increase in sales of less popular products. Publishers should focus on a thorough analysis of the chosen affiliate network. The terms and conditions must include information about the benefits that the affiliate can get, how the program works, commission systems, and payment procedures. Programs that are too promising can turn out to be a scam. It’s a good idea to verify the opinions about a given network, its history, the level of customer service, and the anti-abuse policy. The best advice will be given by an affiliate agency and the experts working in it, e.g. Onaffiliate Agency.
Ban & Settlement
Publishers should primarily focus on finding a trusted affiliate network. Rogue, insolvent networks, whose purpose is to steal confidential information, for example, can be reported to the relevant authorities. If you suspect that you have been scammed into an affiliate program, you must contact the affiliate network or the company offering the partnership directly as soon as possible. In addition, you should collect evidence and document any irregularities and seek the help of a lawyer or cyber security agency if necessary. Advertisers should screen their potential affiliates in person or through a trusted affiliate program manager (if they use an affiliate network or agency). They must also take steps such as collecting, retaining, and regularly reviewing program information, such as IP addresses, referring URLs, and chargeback code data (refunds after the buyer cancels the transaction), to catch patterns of fraud as early as possible. If crimes such as cookie stuffing are detected, they can be reported to the police. It’s a good idea to make sure that your payment service provider keeps an eye on your affiliate partners and incoming transactions to catch any suspicious ones. There are special tools that monitor suspicious activities and block them. Dishonest publishers may incur financial penalties.
Affiliation activities, such as affiliate campaigns, are fully legal. However, both affiliates and advertisers should know how to protect themselves from dishonest associates. No industry is without the risk of fraud.
