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Highlights of Affiliate Management Software
User Survey
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant
Web Commerce Today, Issue 46, May 15, 2001
I'm offering an overview of this important survey for the readers of my free publications. However, paid subscribers to my Web Commerce Today newsletter get full
user feedback about user likes and dislikes of various programs, plus my own picks for the best programs in each category, and
warnings about things to watch out for.
An April-May 2001 survey of 90+ users of Affiliate Management software
systems gave some very valuable feedback about
nearly two dozen of the applications they were using to manage their programs. Here are highlights of the survey.
Affiliate Program Categories
 As I studied user comments and the features of the various programs, I found that Affiliate Management Software falls into five different categories, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
- Commission-based ASPs
(Application Service Providers). Payment is a percentage of sales revenue.
This group comprised the largest number of respondents (37%), with the bulk
giving feedback on Commission Junction. These respondents also reported the
largest number of affiliates.
- Fee-based ASPs
. These are hosted solutions that charge a flat monthly fee for services. 29%
of our respondents gave feedback on programs in this group, largely on My
Affiliate Program.
- CGI Programs
: These are Perl programs hosted on the merchant's Unix server that don't charge recurring fees or commissions.
Only 6% of our respondents used this type of program and these seem to be
represent merchants with the smallest number of affiliates.
- E-Commerce Programs
that incorporate an affiliate program. Several of the ones listed are for sales of digital goods.
Synergyx had the most respondents here.
- In-house Custom Applications
. While theoretically merchants can get anything they want, these were ranked lower overall (5.8 out of 10) than most off-the-shelf applications.
In
a companion article for paid subscribers I discuss the strengths and weaknesses
each of these categories of Affiliate Management Software, and give my Editor's
Choice picks for the first four categories. While I drew from the user ratings I
received, I also spoke with representatives of most programs to get a good idea
of the features of the leading programs.
Top Rated Programs
Many of the programs only received feedback from one respondent, or the respondents hadn't implemented the program yet. Excluding feedback from only a single respondent and
respondents with less than two affiliates, these were the rankings:
|
Program Name |
Ranking |
Respon-
dents |
Affiliates
(average) |
|
Synergyx |
9.4 |
7 |
2,420 |
|
My Affiliate Program |
8.7 |
15 |
817 |
|
Ultimate Affiliate Package |
8.5 |
4 |
23 |
|
AffiliateShop |
8.7 |
3 |
22 |
|
AssocTRAC |
8.0 |
4 |
368 |
|
ClickBank |
8.0 |
3 |
2,008 |
|
BeFree |
7.8 |
4 |
6,333 |
|
AffiliateTracking |
7.3 |
4 |
203 |
|
LinkShare.com |
7.2 |
6 |
12,500 |
|
Commission Junction |
6.9 |
15 |
2,443 |
|
Tradedoubler.com |
6.5 |
2 |
51 |
|
ClickTrade |
6.5 |
2 |
108 |
|
In-House Programming |
6.4 |
13 |
2,479 |
But that doesn't tell the whole story. All programs are not created equal, and you might be surprised at the criticisms users level at some of their program vendors.
In a companion article
I discuss these more thoroughly and offer my Editor's
Choice picks.
Respondents with 1,000 or More Affiliates
The largest affiliate programs tend to be administered with a small number of software vendors -- LinkShare, in-house programming, Synergyx, Be Free, Commission Junction, and My Affiliate Program.
|
Program_Name |
Affiliates |
Rating |
|
LinkShare.com |
50,000 |
7 |
|
In-House Programming |
19,000 |
10 |
|
Synergyx |
10,000 |
10 |
|
LinkShare.com |
9,000 |
7 |
|
BeFree |
9,000 |
8 |
|
Commission Junction |
8,000 |
7 |
|
BeFree |
8,000 |
7 |
|
Commission Junction |
5,700 |
8 |
|
Commission Junction |
5,000 |
7 |
|
My Affiliate Program |
3,600 |
8 |
|
Affili.net |
3,500 |
8 |
Web Commerce Today subscribers can view the entire list of affiliates and ratings.
The left column includes links to user-feedback (for paid subscribers of Web Commerce Today). I have edited user comments for spelling and grammar, but have left in their blunt -- and glowing -- evaluations. You'll learn
much more from reading these comments than from talking to salespeople.
|
Program Name
with link to user feedback |
Company, URL, Price |
Type |
Rating |
Responses |
|
Affili.net |
imedia Gesellschaft für neue Medien mbH, Germany
http://www.affili.net |
ASP-Commission |
8.0 |
1 |
|
affiliate Direct |
QCommerce, Seattle
http://www.affiliatedirect.com/ |
E-Commerce |
|
|
|
AffiliateShop |
Pendulab Pte Ltd.
http://www.affiliateshop.com/
$345 plus $45/month |
ASP-Fee |
8.7 |
3 |
|
AffiliateTracking |
Craig Belcher, AffiliateZone
http://www.affiliatetracking.com/
$75 plus $34.95/month |
ASP-Fee |
7.3 |
3 |
|
AssocTRAC |
Cory Rudl, Internet Marketing Center
http://marketingtips.com/assoctrac/
$347 plus $35/month |
ASP-Fee |
8.0 |
4 |
|
Be Free |
Be Free Inc.
http://www.befree.com/
$5000 plus negotiated transaction fee (2%-3% of sales) $3000/month minimum |
ASP-Commission |
7.8 |
4 |
|
Clickbank.com |
Keynetics, Inc.
http://www.clickbank.com
$1 plus 7.5%/transaction |
E-Commerce |
8.0 |
2 |
|
ClickTrade |
Microsoft bCentral
http://www.clicktrade.com/
No setup fee, 30% of affiliate commission |
ASP-Commission |
6.5 |
2 |
|
Commission Cart |
CGI Script Center
http://www.commissioncart.com/
$249 |
E-Commerce |
3.0 |
1 |
|
Commission Junction |
Commission Junction, Inc.
http://www.cj.com/
$1295 first yr + plus 30% of affiliate commission (as of 7/1/01), $250/month minimum |
ASP-Commission |
6.9 |
15 |
|
Complete Tracker |
Could not find on the Web |
? |
10.0 |
1 |
|
FreeFiliate.com |
JB McKee Creative, Salt Lak City, UT
http://www.freefiliate.com/
Free (pop-up ads, $45 registration fee), or $169 setup, plus 5% of affiliate commission, $16.95/month minimum |
ASP-Commission |
6.0 |
1 |
|
LinkShare |
LinkShare Corp.
http://www.linkshare.com
$10,000 plus 2%-3% of sales transaction, $2,000/month minimum |
ASP-Commission |
7.2 |
6 |
|
Little Salesmen Affiliate System |
Wes Blaylock, CGIToolbox
http://www.cgitoolbox.com/
$197 |
CGI |
9.0 |
1 |
|
My Affiliate Program |
Kowabunga! Technologies
http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/
$795 plus $50/month |
ASP-Fee |
8.8 |
16 |
|
In-house Development |
Various |
In-house |
6.4 |
12 |
|
PlugInGo Affiliate Network |
PlugInGo.com, Inc.
http://www.plugingo.com/
$995+ plus 18% of affiliate commission |
ASP-Commission |
9.0 |
1 |
|
Plug 'n Pay |
Plug and Pay Technologies
http://plugnpay.com/
? |
E-Commerce |
8.0 |
1 |
|
Pro-TRACK |
Pathfinder Software
http://www.affiliatesoftware.net/
$697 plus $25/month |
ASP-Fee |
6.0 |
3 |
|
ShopSite Pro |
Market, Inc.
http://arket.com/shopsite/
$1,295 |
E-Commerce |
10.0 |
1 |
|
Storefront 2000 |
LeGarde, Lawrence, Kansas
http://www.storefront.net/
Prices not on website |
E-Commerce |
8.0 |
1 |
|
Synergyx |
Paul Galloway
http://www.synergyx.com/
$1500 installed |
E-Commerce |
9.4 |
7 |
|
TradeDoubler |
TradeDoubler (UK, Europe)
http://www.tradedoubler.com/
?+ plus 30% of affiliate commission |
ASP-Commission |
6.5 |
2 |
|
Ultimate Affiliate Package |
Groundbreak.com
http://www.groundbreak.com/
$200 |
CGI |
8.5 |
4 |
|
Verotel Billing Solutions |
Verotel, Inc.
http://www.verotel.com
12% to 15% of sale |
E-Commerce |
9.0 |
1 |
You may purchase the entire 108-page report in PDF Format (or sell it through our affiliate program). "Fantastic job ... by far the most thorough analysis of the choices available I've seen anywhere." -- Allan Gardyne, AssociatePrograms.com
Other articles from this issue
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Copyright © 1996-2002 by Ralph F. Wilson, all rights reserved. Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission. Trademarks and terms of use.
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