[Tweerym]

I read an article about parasitic-ware dated 2005 and the theft of commission. This would explain why I have accounted for thousands of clicks and no commission. Can anybody elaborate, Because this is what I have been suspicious of . I have no way of knowing what gos on across domains when the customer leaves my site to the merchant site,it's all pure faith. What I'm I missing here?

[Convergence]

Originally Posted by Tweerym

What I'm I missing here?

Tweerym,

You are missing experience and I suspect are a little suspicious and paranoid.

Seriously...

[daiarian]

You may wish to cloak your affiliate links if you suspect you are being hijacked. I am sure 2busy has posted a solution just run a search to find it.

Alternatively run a Google search for "Cloaking Affiliate Links" all the answers you ever need will be there.

[AffiliateHound]

Parasites exist and it is a substantial problem, with some networks much more than others. However, if you have "thousands of clicks and no commission" you cannot attribute that simply to parasites. I have seen estimates that parasites redirect somewhere around 10-20% of commissions, not 100%.

There is a wealth of information on ABW as to parasites, and about which networks partner with parasites, which networks accept parasites, and which networks do everything possible to be parasite-free.

[Tweerym]

Originally Posted by daiarian

You may wish to cloak your affiliate links if you suspect you are being hijacked. I am sure 2busy has posted a solution just run a search to find it.

Alternatively run a Google search for "Cloaking Affiliate Links" all the answers you ever need will be there.

I will look into that.

[Tweerym]

Originally Posted by AffiliateHound

Parasites exist and it is a substantial problem, with some networks much more than others. However, if you have "thousands of clicks and no commission" you cannot attribute that simply to parasites. I have seen estimates that parasites redirect somewhere around 10-20% of commissions, not 100%.

There is a wealth of information on ABW as to parasites, and about which networks partner with parasites, which networks accept parasites, and which networks do everything possible to be parasite-free.

I read that Commission Junction was bad and shareasale was good. Thanx for the info I will read up on that as well.

[kaizen]

Originally Posted by Tweerym

This would explain why I have accounted for thousands of clicks and no commission.

Just curious here... are you relying on network/merchant reports to account for your clicks, or are you using other method(s) as well?

[Tweerym]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Just curious here... are you relying on network/merchant reports to account for your clicks, or are you using other method(s) as well?

Yes that is all I'm aware of at the time . Google analysts will not Analyze cross domain Traffic that I'm aware of .
I'm on disability and I thinking of going back to college to advance in Am.

[teezone]

It's also important to understand & analyze where the traffic is coming from.. are you advertising, is it organic (ie. natural SERP), and are you providing enough information for the visitor..? Your goal is to send traffic to merchants who are prepared to buy.. are you helping your visitors make that decision..? Or are they clicking to the merchant site because you didn't provide enough info?

I was just as concerned about commission theft at the beginning of my affiliate career, but as AffiliateHound said, it accounts for a small percentage of total sales.

Take a look at your site - your goal is higher conversion, not higher clicks. Make changes, experiment with layout, review the results, etc. etc. That's a big part of this process.

[Zeus]

An average percentage of commission theft can give a false feeling of safety.
The percentage of commission theft of total sales in Affiliate Marketing is small, I agree.
This percentage varies widely depending of your vertical, competition, network, merchant, promotion, if it's sales or leads... For some products it could be a real problem.