Peter Glaeser » Affilinet

Affilinet Becoming an Affiliate Agency

Peter Glaeser — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:22:23 +0000

I’ve just heard the news about eBay pulling their affiliate programs in German-speaking countries out of Affilinet next month. eBay has done this in most countries before already. It makes total sense as they are now able to customize everything to their needs and switch to a performance-oriented click commission (away from pay-per-sale).

However, what struck me is the fact that Affilinet will continue to the following things for eBay here:

program management
affiliate scouting
program development

Now, isn’t this what we usually describe as “affiliate agency services” or “outsourced program management” (OPM)?

Granted, all networks are more than just technical solution providers. They try to push their affiliates into the most profitable programs, share data, and so on. Everyone is out there to get the most out of things.

However, networks must maintain a minimum level of neutrality. I think with AffilinetÂ openly providing full service to a single merchant they’ve lost their neutrality. I’m a strong believer in the separation of powers between merchants, affiliates, networks, and agencies. Fishy stuff will happen whenever you mix up the roles.

Ask yourself: If you were a merchant, would you run an affiliate program on a network which is also the full-service agency of your competitor?

Affilinet Makes A Move

Peter Glaeser — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:25:05 +0000

German affiliate network Affilinet is finally moving. After many years of fat revenue from eBay and relatively little technical progress they are rolling out a set of new features for publishers.

Languages

First of all, the publisher interface has become multi-lingual. It’s now available not only in German but also in English, French, Spanish and Dutch.

RSS Feed for Payout Changes

Affilinet finally offers an RSS feed for payout changes. It’s a personalized URL that can be used with RSS readers without having to be logged on to Affilinet.

Web Services

Just like zanox, Affilinet is trying to open up and give publishers more access through the use of APIs. Publishers can now access their reports (including sub IDs) and also download product data including tracking links.

affilinet Launches In The Netherlands

Peter Glaeser — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:42:50 +0000

Germany’s leading affiliate network affilinet is expanding to another neighboring country: the Netherlands.
They have just launched the Dutch version of their site. Too bad that the domain affilinet.nl belongs to GSMPlaza, a Dutch vendor of mobile phones and contracts.

One Small Step For ebay, One GIANT Leap For Affiliates

Peter Glaeser — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:10:27 +0000

ebay decided to leave affiliate networks and start their own in-house affiliate network. Today they announced to leave Commission Junction. I would say that’s a big hit for CJ. I wonder how German Affilinet will deal with this as ebay is a major income source for Affilinet.

I have to say that ebay’s move makes perfect sense. The company is capable enough to run a tracking system on their own and adapt it to the needs of their affiliates. Here are some examples of the advantages of their in-house system:

Easy global registration to multiple countries simultaneously

New, targeted banners and rich media creatives

New landing page optimization and geo-targeting capabilities

More detailed reporting capabilities for eBayâ€™s programs