Affiliate marketing: dying or alive and kicking?

**Maxfalcon** · 29 September 2018, 6:18 am

I'm sorry to say but with new technologies, cookies are no longer needed to track back people to their device. I can do that myself with 90%+ outcome, so the big companies and even medium sized companies can, with the amount of data they have, and the powerful API services, without any problem track back people to their device without any cookie, with 98%-99% reliability. So the cookie blocking and even deleting can be avoided concerning tracking. The aff tag storage can be stored elsewhere than on the device itself. There are services existing. Multi-layer fingerprinting is also very evolved now.

So affiliate programs must evolve from cookie tracking, while maintaining it in the tracking process. A fall back can be implemented when the user returns or signup for example: do I find an affiliate cookie? If not, has the device been already recognized by our system and tagged by an affiliate ID?

Tagged URLs are also a simple solution, but only in case of instant sales. If the person goes back after to the original URL, the tag can be lost. But tagged URLs are not seen well by users, at least some that have a little knowledge. They feel there is something in it, when you refer them. Some people delete the tags after the domain. But it can be a nice addition, that could be activated or deactivated by the webmaster for example. I think that could help instant sales for those where the cookie is blocked.

The graal is person detection, undepending of its devices. And it's nearly already done. Person X goes to Casino A with mobile. Person X goes back to Casino A with its desktop computer and register. Affiliate having referred Person X when he/she was on its mobile gets the sale (if for example the person X comes back within 48 hours). It's technically existing already.

So there are solutions...

**A_Skywalker** · 17 November 2019, 2:28 am

In 2019 and almost 2020 it feels like soon I will have to do other business. Only few of the affiliate programs that I started back in 2007 are still open or didn't block my account. A lot of the affiliate programs changed names and the change was always bad for the affiliate. An affiliate program where I had over 300 players and winning regularly, now for some reason there is no activity and I earned 0$ in the last 2 years.
Another affiliate program that changed name does not want even to email me my new password, yes GVC thats you. I started with bwin more than 10 years ago and now this is the way they dump me. You can at least be honest and say it directly, not that you can't email me my password.

Anyway there are still affiliate programs that I earn from but it feels like in the coming years this business will die for small and medium affiliates.

**drifter8** · 17 November 2019, 3:04 am

I belive that even working under extremely harder conditions can help us to be flexible and surviving. Yes, many of the programs have being doing bad switches and Big Fish ate smalle fish, ending with amazing ****** joint ventures . Just take a look on GVC , killing all the winning path of bwin affiliates and Poker Stars, who never-ever responded to my email for the last 5 years. But all of them pretend they are big. Not forgettting to mention BetFair-Paddypower, who are constantly closing and re-opening my affiliate account.
ALso we all suffer from 5 % rev .share after all the amzing deductions some of the programs made to us.

Even in that sad and violent wolrd of affiliate, I do believe that small and medium affiliate can survive. Noone promised us when we started that it will be easy. Even now in 2019, I would also have start that business.

Even in the saddest and moments of great crysis, there are big possibilities

**Pokerface** · 28 November 2019, 8:46 am

I feel affiliate marketing will remain big and grow however with consideration.
Financials will increase, through consolidation there may be fewer programs and there may be less affiliates promoting as the programs may start reducing the number of affiliates they wish to work with and focus only on the big affiliates.

**Benitho** · 30 November 2019, 3:55 pm

Been doing this since 2002 (!) and the only programs, where I still make decent money are the ones, that do not do quotas and just let me be, even if I only bring as many players in a month that I used to on a slow monday night back in the old days.

I remember days with 50 new players at about a dozen different programs. Now.... - not even in a good month ! Hundreds of visitors and clicks are needed for one tracked player. Rest is free traffic for the programs more or less. Why would they change anything regarding tracking ? We work for free now, basically and it`s not even their doing.

B.

**NeueCasinos24** · 7 December 2019, 1:35 pm

Originally Posted by RickMare

I would say alive and kicking hard

i would agree to that, there are still a lot of people making a lot of money

**wonderpunter** · 8 December 2019, 11:47 am

The standard has gone up and many have not grasped it.. which uis actually good as chances are only quality sites are making the money which is what it should be,,, i remember the days of cookie cutters.. 5 page websites holding number 1 emd positions

**compliance** · 10 December 2019, 8:19 pm

I believe that gambling affiliates will increase in Japan.
This is because in Japan it is likely that gambling will become legal in the future and the number of Japanese who want to participate in gambling will increase.

**markoo** · 27 December 2019, 7:19 am

Well, it is not the same as it used to be. You can't just launch small site and start earning money. Big players are dominating organic search results and it is really hard to enter and make money.

**Malikbhai** · 27 December 2019, 11:24 am

The 4th guy on Google takes pennies. The top guy buys the bank.

In SEO, you're either a winner, or you live on the streets.

**Zalagania** · 27 December 2019, 7:56 pm

The skill floor has been raised significantly, but the money is still the same in my opinion. I'm not just talking about gambling niche though.

When NY times, PC world and other big publishers start doing affiliate marketing, of course the little guy will lose out. That said, to me, that's not a bad sign. You just have to evolve with the times.

Can't rest on your laurels in affiliate marketing.

**FictionNet** · 28 December 2019, 11:28 pm

Originally Posted by Aidan90

Sometimes I wonder why I persevere with my site when I'm getting cut to 5% revenue just as I build up momentum with a brand or when I get an account closed without warning.

Cut the dead wood. Fight back. We made a hard left or right decision 12 months ago to fight back and take back control of our business within the industry we work in, and it's worked. Was risky and cut revenue temporarily but we are now stronger than ever. Own your sites. Own your industry. Own your business. And any programs who do not follow YOUR rules do not get past the door.

**Sherlock** · 29 December 2019, 2:04 am

Originally Posted by compliance

I believe that gambling affiliates will increase in Japan.
This is because in Japan it is likely that gambling will become legal in the future and the number of Japanese who want to participate in gambling will increase.

I am no expert for Japan (still), but spending there few months a year, this seems to me like a wishful thinking. Same case as USA.

I would like to hear arguments why Japan has to be the golden goose.

What I see is corporate driven market for everything. Ads, sponsorships, no place for smaller guys and especially no mentality of people to act on their own.

Japan is incredible gambling market for sure, but changing to online and changing to AM means that a lot of cultural issues have to be broken. It is possible, but I can see a possibility that it can go wrong completely. But what I would like in Japan is that if they legalize and open the market, it could be actually great for affiliates, because it might be something much more solid that the sh1t that happens in EU and USA. Because of the culture where people steal much less, honor business deals much more and understand long term relationships.

**Malikbhai** · 29 December 2019, 5:07 am

No one can make good money in places like South Korea and Japan, unless you actually live there. Only, then you can make your website with a DNA that they are compatible with.

**Former Member 14** · 29 December 2019, 2:20 pm

Originally Posted by Benitho

Been doing this since 2002 (!) and the only programs, where I still make decent money are the ones, that do not do quotas and just let me be, even if I only bring as many players in a month that I used to on a slow monday night back in the old days.

I've been doing this since Feb 2000, and I'm pretty much in the same boat, these days. The inflated competition doesn't worry me, just like competing for highly regarded money terms didn't concern me years ago. Maybe I just view things differently, and do things differently, than most.

I look at my stats now, and 15 NDP's per month, is a great month. Whereas years gone by, that was, as you say, a slow day. I remember when casinos were a minimum deposit of US$25 (a few were $50). These days it's $10 or even $5 at some places.

Agree, the tracking is an issue, but if it doesn't affect a program's bottom line, it wont get fixed.

Either way Benitho... we must be doing something right, or we wouldn't have survived this long

**A_Skywalker** · 30 December 2019, 1:23 am

I used to get a lot of sign ups, now I have in some affiliate programs months without sign up, where before I had in the numbers of hundreds. Very strange. And I see a lot of people are saying the same thing.

**Sherlock** · 30 December 2019, 1:32 am

There is nothing strange about it. 9 from 10 programs do not give a ****. Even if you show them how cookie is not dropped or how is erased by miracle or whatever, they just do not give a ****. There is not even pretending that they try to understand. It is an affiliate holocaust.

The strange thing is that this goes on for couple of years now and webmasters rather live in blissful ignorance.

**Former Member 14** · 30 December 2019, 1:44 am

Originally Posted by Sherlock

It is an affiliate holocaust.

Never looked at it that way. But yes it kinda of is, hey!

Originally Posted by Sherlock

The strange thing is that this goes on for couple of years now and webmasters rather live in blissful ignorance.

Agree. But what's the solution? Boycott programs...That might work if everyone joined forces. However getting affiliates to band together (all for one, one for all), is akin to herding suspicious cats, and domesticating them.

I said it years ago... If we don't say enough is enough, we'll end up losing more and more, till, we have nothing left.

**A_Skywalker** · 30 December 2019, 1:59 am

Originally Posted by Sherlock

There is nothing strange about it. 9 from 10 programs do not give a ****. Even if you show them how cookie is not dropped or how is erased by miracle or whatever, they just do not give a ****. There is not even pretending that they try to understand. It is an affiliate holocaust.

The strange thing is that this goes on for couple of years now and webmasters rather live in blissful ignorance.

So what affiliate programs will you suggest, that are honest?

It is really hard to unite all affiliates, most of them do not even visit the forums.

**Sherlock** · 30 December 2019, 2:28 am

Generally I suggest slowly die off in peace and try something else. Blockchain standard for tracking would be a total gamechanger, but I am too sick of lazy devs to start working on that. On the top monetization is unclear for developing such product. It has to be something open sourced.

For bookies:
Bet365, bestpartners, SIA, 1xbet family, 5dimes have legit tracking. Probably Kindred, Betway are ok too. Except SIA avoid IA at all costs. But lack of tracking is just first line of thievery. The holocaust has many faces.

Probably my estimation of 90% is too high. There are a lot of programs that have tracking still ok, but they do not convert, because they have **** brands. The better the brand the worse they intentionally care about tracking. Conversely 1xbet is a horrible bookie but/hence kudos to their multi-domain tracking.

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