Written by Brook Schaaf

Now is as good a time as any to share what FMTC would most love for Christmas: two new APIs from every network — one for a program’s tracking configuration and another for its commission rates.

Why? We had a subscriber this year who was keen to know how each merchant had its tracking set up so that they could only join programs with the most reliable tracking, which was important for their particular business model. Unfortunately, FMTC couldn’t provide this data because no network provides it that I am aware of.

True, one might conceivably examine a given link and the landing and confirmation pages, but such a tedious process would still largely be guesswork — not to mention time-prohibitive. 

Would this information be helpful outside of rare use cases like the one above? Absolutely. Some tracking configurations work better than others and affiliates have, if not a right, then at least a reasonable expectation to know how likely their conversions are to get credited. This is especially true for cashback and reward sites, which deal with disappointed and vexatious customers. Hello Partner had a write-up on the problem with consent boxes in the UK and Europe, but tracking fails for other reasons as well.

A tracking configuration API could include things like the method of tracking; frequency of batches, if applicable; third-party certifications, as relevant; last outage or audit, etc. This information would help affiliates choose where best to direct their traffic and incentivize merchants to be both more fair and more competitive. 

Commission APIs would naturally complement this information. To be fair, at least CJ and Awin have APIs that go in this direction, though they could be more robust. For example, it would be helpful to have the public commission rate, private commission rate, and average commission rates for other merchants in the same category. 

Together, these APIs would help affiliates better choose partners and pressure merchants large and small to be more competitive. Networks that adopt these APIs could gain a competitive edge by attracting affiliates who prioritize transparency and fairness. 

This wouldn’t just be a holiday gift for FMTC and its subscribers but for all of affiliate marketing. 

How ‘bout it, Santa?

The post A Call for Configuration Clarity appeared first on FMTC.