Media Zone

All News

Affiliate Window Tackles the Multi-Attribution Maze

Friday, May 21, 2010

Of the burning issues in affiliate marketing at the moment, a fairer commission payment system continues to generate more questions than answers.

Last click wins, (that is the last referring affiliate in the purchase chain), remains the standard payout trigger for performance marketing. For the past three years the industry has scratched its head for alternatives that better reward this unique sales’ channel that touches on all aspects of online.

As more advertisers move to de-duplicate all their online activity, so the imperative for alternative payment solutions heightens; a price comparison site initiating product research, a blog providing the fuller picture, a voucher code site displaying the latest deals, all will lose out if the consumer then chooses to purchase via a cashback site.

Such a system clearly doesn’t take into account the intricacies and vagaries of a consumer journey that is growing in both sophistication and number of online interactions.

So what’s the industry doing about it? The concept of commission splitting, rewarding all parties involved, is not a new one but no practical blueprint has emerged compelling enough to force change.

In a sense, multi-attribution is no fairer than last click. Why should such an arbitrary measurement determine the ‘value’ of the interaction? Surely value is defined by multiple metrics that may differ between merchants; latency, time spent on site, engagement, average order value, new customer acquisition numbers and so on all inform as to the value of affiliate  traffic.
Such is the need to arrive at a more general solution that the IAB’s Affiliate Marketing Council has formed a committee to specifically draw on experience from all areas of the industry.

At the Online Marketing Show you’ll have your opportunity to pose your questions about this topic to leading players of the Council.

They’ll also be considering the increasing role of digital agencies in Affiliate Marketing, new innovations that could help to shape future direction and how to assess the true value of some key volume driving affiliates.