Affiliate fraud can take can take different forms. Most of them as well as the ways to prevent these from happening were discussed here. Today I’d like to draw affiliate program managers’ attention to one particular feature available to merchants on one particular network. I am a strong believer that good work deserves good praise. Hence, this post.
ShareASale is a network known for its strong ethical stance, and I really appreciate what they’re doing to help merchants make wiser decisions on affiliate applications. Not many people know it, but ShareASale is, in my knowledge, the only affiliate network that has an affiliate feedback score feature. Essentially, it’s a way for merchants who have previously worked with an affiliate to leave their feedback on an affiliate. As ShareASale puts it the “feedback scale is absolute, with 1 point given for a positive rating, and 1 point taken away for a negative.” Also, for affiliates: “if a merchant leaves negative feedback, it will then show up in your account and give you a chance to respond or rebut the claim” [source]. So, an affiliate who is truly kosher, shouldn’t end up displaying this terrible of a feedback score:
The above is a screenshot of an affiliate application I’ve received this morning. Needless to say what my decision was.
If you’re running an affiliate program on ShareASale, make sure you put this feature to good use. It will save you a lot of headaches (yes, I’ve approved affiliates with negative feedback before, and I know from experience what results it leads to) in the future.