5 Types of Affiliate Commission Leaks with Screen Shots

[Linda Buquet]

Most pro affiliates know all about affiliate leaks, but many newer affiliates don't know what to look for and often merchants don't even realize they have leaks.

So 1st of all, what are affiliate leaks? A leak happens when an affiliate-referred visitor is presented an opportunity on the merchant site to complete an action that results in the visitor bypassing the affiliate. The leak may generate revenue for the merchant but could cause the affiliate that actually did the work to loose income.

The most obvious example is a merchant that has a big 800#. The affiliate sends traffic but the visitor places the order by phone. The merchant makes the sale but the affiliate works for free and loses the commission. (If the merchant has not implemented phone tracking.)

Another example is a merchant that has Adsense on the site. The affiliate's traffic reaches the merchant but can click away from the site after clicking an Adsense ad. This generates revenue for the merchant but the referring affiliate that actually sent the visitor gets nothing.

I like this article Geno wrote for eConsultancy because he shows screen shot examples of 5 types of commission leaks - and a pic is worth a thousand words.

<strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/3931-5-ways-affiliate-traffic-can-leak">5 ways affiliate traffic can leak</a></strong>

"Every e-business that starts an affiliate program must become extremely sensitive to the fact that once the program goes live some of the traffic will be sent to the business' website by marketers who are paid on performance basis only. This should get translated into becoming respectful of affiliate marketers' efforts, and removing any possibilities for the visitors they refer to "leak" without completing the desired action.

There are 5 main types of leaks that merchants are prone to…"

 

[beryas]

I think many overlook affiliate leaks. I know many affiliates don't realize how many sales are taken away by large phone numbers on the company's landing pages or even some company's sites take away your lead and don't count it if they purchase through an exit-window program.