[best123]

Why do merchants disapprove an affiliate site if the traffic stats are too low?

I don't see any reason why they should disapprove especially if they are offering a PPA and not PPC

unless it cost merchants extra to add affiliates to their program

[Leader]

Why do merchants disapprove an affiliate site if the traffic stats are too low?

I think merchants who do that are idiots. And some of them are anal idiots, who just can't stand looking at the deadpool at the bottom of the stats list and want to "clean it up."

IMO if just one of those low/no traffic affs ends up owning the #1 in G for the right keywords (causing a massive sales spike), the mild irkedness which arises from seeing all those 0-hit wonders will be well paid back. And since G's like a lottery, it could be any one of them.

unless it cost merchants extra to add affiliates to their program

AFAIK, It doesn't at any major network that I know of. But there may be some "indies" (non-network merchants) whose tracking-software license charges by the amount of affs...

[Eric Ewe]

I do not think that they disapprove due to low traffic. I have not done that but there are mechants that do that.

I have disapproved a lot of sites cos there isn't a match with our product/service or just a horrible site. I have seen a site with 200 banners on one page and 30% of them were rotating/animated. Think about the confusion and headache..
**Wow

If you get disapproved cos of a certain reason, email the merchant and tell them your case.

[Brian_AffiliateFuture]

I've dealt with merchants who also worry about the branding of their site. They want their banners/ads only placed on sites that have a certain look or design to them.

I don't necessarily agree with that, but I can see what they're trying to do.

[Ron Bechdolt]

I have one of my top merchants who will not allow me to put competitors links or banners on the same page as theirs. They have a bunch of other strict rules too, but in this particular case it has worked well for me.

[Eric Ewe]

Originally Posted by 7-days

I have one of my top merchants who will not allow me to put competitors links or banners on the same page as theirs. They have a bunch of other strict rules too, but in this particular case it has worked well for me.

It depends on their product or service and sometimes, it will work for them. Usually, by doing that, some aff will not be too happy with that..

[swankette]

When I get turned down by a company, I figure it's their loss because all of their competitors will be on my site making money!

[Eric Ewe]

Originally Posted by swankette

When I get turned down by a company, I figure it's their loss because all of their competitors will be on my site making money!

That's my take..

[Brian_AffiliateFuture]

hahaha, that's what i try to tell all of our merchants that choose to remove affiliates! but sometimes they just don't listen! =(

[DesignerWiz]

I believe that AM's that remove low or non-productive affiliates are truly missing a great opportunity and are showing a complete lack of experience & understanding.

As an AM myself, I focus on contacting non-productive affiliates and see what we can do to assist them in becoming a more productive affiliate. I have seen a non-productive affiliate turn around and become 1 of the top 20 marketers for a program we manage after working directly with the affiliate!

And, as Leader stated ... if that one time non-productive affiliate happens to gain a SERP spot that turns their figures totally around ... the inexperienced AM that dumped the non-productive affiliate has then led that affiliate to a competitor AM that is super happy to have that affiliate onboard ... and the affiliate remembers how the "inexperienced AM" treated them and will generally never look back to that company for marketing their products.

When you receive a notification that you have been removed from their affiliate program because of low stats, conversions, etc. ..... you should send them over to Andy for a real education on how to work with affiliates that are non-productive ... they obviously need good training ... that's my opinion.