no 3rd party tracking -- is it safe?

[kid mercury]

hello,

i recently signed up for the affiliate program of zzounds.com, a vendor of musical instruments. after signing up it seems to me that they manage their own affiliate tracking solution as opposed to outsourcing it to a third party like commission junction.

i know there are many merchants who do this. is this really safe? it just seems to me that it'd be too easy for the merchant to intentionally shave off some of the affiliate's earnings.

any words of advice on this would be greatly appreciated. oh, and if you're familiar with the zzounds affiliate program and have any thoughts about it, that'd be great too (i've read some good reviews so far but would love to hear others' stories as well).

thanks for your time and consideration.

<<moved by Linda from merchant forum to affiliate forum so affiliates can weigh in on the topic>>

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi kid mercury,

I know some affiliates are more leary about in-house tracking programs and it's good to be cautious. However the zZounds affiliate program has been around for years and is highly respected. I have never heard any complaints and they have cut checks for over 10K a month.

Bottom line is, if they are a 5 Star program you can trust them. I wont work with merchants that are dishonest and don't treat affiliates right. I've been working with zZounds for over 3 years now and consider them to be one of the highest integrity programs I know.

To be TOTALLY HONEST and I almost hate to say this, because I wish I didn't know some of the things I know and hate to talk about certain things but, you know me, I'm gonna say it anyway. With the amount of ad blocking, cookie deletion (from firewalls and anti-spyware software that targets network cookies and 3rd party cookies in general) and with the tracking problems some networks have - I almost think affiliates have a better chance of earning all commissions that are due them going with a "trusted and proven" indie these days.

My 2 cents...

 

[kid mercury]

hey linda,

thanks for the great info! from what i've read around online their aff program seems to have a pretty good reputation, which is good to hear.

With the amount of ad blocking, cookie deletion (from firewalls and anti-spyware software that targets network cookies and 3rd party cookies in general) and with the tracking problems some networks have - I almost think affiliates have a better chance of earning all commissions that are due them going with a "trusted and proven" indie these days.

that's very interesting. thanks for the tip.