Re: Affiliate Programs and Trust
Trust is a huge issue, particularly in this business, and I guess it boils down to who you do trust (and how you determine you can trust them.)
I am not sure, but in the case you’re describing it sounds more like the sponsor might not have realized the intricacies of that biller’s affiliate system (and there are definitely some weird and arcane things in that biller’s affiliate setup). But given a choice between a biller’s affiliate program and an unknown proprietary one by the site, I would probably, all things being equal, choose the biller’s affilate program. At least you know you’ll be paid promptly and on time, and the biller in question certainly has never been accused of shaving.
Now… if you trust the program, then it shouldn’t really matter if they are using a biller’s affiliate management or their own, or a third party such as NATS or MPA. However, I will also say that blind trust in a program because they use a third party such as NATS or MPA is misplaced; in spite of all of the marketing to the contrary, it is quite possible for underpayments to happen, which could be done intentionally or through buggy software. A good program will catch it and make it right; a less ethical program won’t bother to tell you or may even rig the system to take advantage.
There was a discussion some time back on GWW about whether you’re better off taking a program that you know is shaving, but pays out well in what you actually receive per-click, or whether you should take an honest program that pays less. I argued that with the shaving program, you really have no idea what you’re actually earning, so I’d choose the honest one, but I can see the argument the other way.
Also, I have to agree with you that the biller you’re referring to does, for some inexplicable reason, seem to have consistently lower conversion than the other major biller in our experience. However, from the perspective of the sponsor, there are other factors; customer service simply isn’t comparable between the two, and each offers options and flexibility the other does not. As far as integrity, they both seem to be honest in the way they conduct their business, as far as we’ve been able to tell.
We have always considered honesty and integrity as key in our communication with affiliates, and that’s one of the reasons why the current affiliate software we use has been so frustrating; I get really tired of explaining to affiliates why the software has broken again and/or why the reports are wrong again because it makes us look bad when, in reality, we’re the ones finding and reporting the problems to the vendor.
I don’t know for sure if other programs simply don’t have the problems, or have them but are afraid to mention them for fear of reprisals or loss of affiliates. (I suspect it’s the latter.) I guess it’s a business decision that each program has to make, and there is good and bad that comes from either choice, so it’s not cut and dried.
In short… I don’t think any of the affiliate billing solutions out there are perfect. Some are definitely better than others, and we are still trying to find the right, best solution for our affiliates and our own needs. But what it boils down to in the end, at least for me, is that affiliates need to check up on their sponsors, and, at the same time, if they have a sponsor they suspect isn’t being straight with them, there is little or no reason to continue working with that sponsor when there are so many others to choose from.