Affiliates: What's appropriate notice when a sponsor changes affiliate processing?

[gaybucks_chip]

The topic was mentioned briefly in another thread about what happens when a sponsor buys an affiliate program from another program, and changes in the backend platform (changing between NATS, MPA, CCBill, whatever)

What steps would you want to see a sponsor take when they are changing or converting their backend affiliate processing from one platform to another?

I would think that the following would be a minimum, but I'm interested in what others have to say

- supporting the old platform for at least 60-90 days after cutover to new platform

- Create translation scripts if at all humanly possible to allow links from old platform to seamlessly credit affiliates on new platform.

- Provide notice to affiliates in advance of making new platform available (and obviously well before discontinuing old platform)

- Provide reconciliation of sales and funds on old platform at termination of traffic to old platform, or roll data into new platform


What have I missed? For those who have been through it, what can a sponsor do to make it most painless for affiliates?

[basschick]

i can't see what reason there is not to support the old platform forever. it doesn't cost extra, and some people may prefer going with ccbill or epoch over the new cascading options. also gallery makers who don't use redirects can't change their links, so they are pretty much screwed when programs do this. all a program has to do is leave the old tour up - it probably has a different url than the NATS tour anyway - and everyone is happy.

yes, translation scripts rock. not sure if you can do it for ccbill to NATS, but i worked with someone who had it done for MPA to NATS.

and yes, i think an email to affiiliates in advance of the changes is appropriate and will give people who are out of town, sick or very busy time to get things changed over.

[gaybucks_chip]

You're making the assumption that the old platform is free, such as CCBill or Epoch to one of the commercial ones (MPA, NATS, Exec Stats, etc.) :)

If it's one such as ExecutiveStats or NATS or MPA where it's leased, then there's a cost that can be as much as $1000/month all in, and even if it's a purchased license, it eventually has to be upgraded to prevent security vulnerabilities, etc.

BTW, CCBill to NATS is VERY easy to do. NATS has a translation script, and only one minor change in the CCBill config is required. Apparently it's also reasonably easy to do NATS to MPA and MPA to NATS. I haven't heard anyone speak on going to/from ExecStats. Perhaps Luke or Bill or somebody from NatNet can speak to that.

[Gaystoryman]

Frankly I think the first step is TELL THE AFFILIATE that it was changed. Some make assumption that everyone is part of their board or forum or talks to them often enough to KNOW IN ADVANCE of the changes.

WRONG!

If the previous program is on ccBill or Epoch, it should be left alive, as Patti says. I mean come on, just how hard is it to use a different URL for the tour when they are 'redesigning it anyhow'? :grrr:

[basschick]

actually every NATS program i use had to use a different url for the tour as the NATS tour had to be put in its own folder. i think the program owners just get excited and think "now all the traffic will lead to better sales!" without thinking about potential problems for affiliates.

Gaybucks_Chip, NATS can set programs up so that MPA links work for NATS, and i expect that it's the same for all the cascading programs.

[gaybucks_chip]

I think it's an alias domain. Our tour links, for example, start out at join.boyfunk.com which is actually an alias for nats.gaybucks.com, which in turn redirects to the tour. Our tour is on the root of the domain, but we separate the tour from the members area for traffic and capacity reasons. So the NATS tour for Boyfunk, for example, is at www.boyfunk.com.

I don't claim to be a NATS expert, but that's my recollection of how it's set up at least for our system.