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Interesting project but I've always half-consciously avoided self-hosted affiliate programs because of one simple reason: trust. My (possibly misguided) though
by throwaway2016a 4y ago
Interesting project but I've always half-consciously avoided self-hosted affiliate programs because of one simple reason: trust.
My (possibly misguided) thought is that when dealing with self-hosted referral tracking the affiliate needs to trust that their commission is being tracked properly. But when the SaaS controls the database themselves the affiliate is putting a huge amount of trust in them that tracking is working. And if it isn't working, it seems suspicious at best and fraudulent at worst.
With third party tracking you have external "proof" if presented with compliance or legal needs.
With that said, I see they do offer a hosted option, which is interesting too.
- thayne 4y agoWell a hosted service that is open source would be even better for trust right, since you can inspect the code and make sure it isn't doing anything nefarious. Of course, ideally you would want some kind of garantee they aren't making any changes to the code before deploying it, but a periodic third party audit could potentially accomplish that.
- throwaway2016a 4y agoYou can inspect the source code of the published version. Doesn't mean what is running on the server is identical and not modified. So I'm not sure it adds trust. Trust it is bug free maybe but not trust no one is doing something underhanded.
- bradycassidy 4y agoHave you ever considered that most affiliates wouldn't have the technical chops to audit the code? Even if they did, they wouldn't waste their time.
- XCSme 4y agoMy experience was the most 3rd party affiliate system (rewardful, CJ) actually don't properly record conversions (most likely they are blocked by ad-blockers or other technical issues that popular 3rd party services have).
- bradycassidy 4y agoDo you have any proof that the named systems don't properly record conversions? Sounds like a hoax as Rewardful ties directly into the payment processor. Ad-blockers do (or will) block tracking scripts from every provider, open source or not, once they reach enough scale to get on their radar. Although there's always ways around them if you know what you're doing.
- XCSme 4y agoI was an affiliate on both CJ and rewardful, got both clicks and conversions but they were not tracked. Maybe 1 in 10 clocks was tracked.
- bradycassidy 4y agoHow would you know if someone clicked and/or converted if it wasn't tracked? Sounds like smoke & mirrors to me.
- XCSme 4y agoBecause I sent them the link and they purchased through me, I know at least several cases.
- XCSme 4y agoI think the best solution that works with most platforms and doesn't have to deal with adblockers, is to use coupons (e.g. 10% discount using the affiliate's code).
- bradycassidy 4y agoThis can work, but you lose click tracking and most SaaS companies don't have a coupon input box or want to discount their product. Also, you end up on all the shady coupon sites pretty quickly.