It doesn’t seem like five minutes since the last UK Affiliate Census but apparently that was two years ago and so it’s time for another survey of the industry. If you’re a UK affiliate take the survey (thanks to Awin for the link) before the 27th January and get your information in to help profile the current state of affairs in the industry.

Having looked through the survey it’s packed with some interesting and topical questions. For example you’re asked “what impact will brand-name publishers have on the industry as they enter the market?”. You’re also asked about whether the rise of voucher code sites are “an opportunity or a threat to your affiliate marketing business”?

Surprisingly the bigger threat of cashback and most certainly 100% cashback is not included in that section. Anyone can compete on the voucher code level, if they so wish, but on a 100% cashback level it’s nay on impossible for a community or content site to compete. Perhaps the questioning demonstrates that the rise of voucher codes, not just in revenue terms but discussion volume, helped move the focus off how equally problematic cashback is for non-cashback affiliates.

Just as aside my “affiliate hero of the week” are James Villas who in the latest Affiliate Window newsletter when asked what they would change about AM said: “Get rid of cash back websites!!! In my opinion giving the commissions earned away to consumers is wrong. This is not what affiliate marketing is all about. It is also unfair to the smaller affiliates struggling to make sales”.

Back to the census and another question that’s highly topical is “What is your view on the ‘last click wins’ reward model?”. Last click has always been the simplest, and dare I say it the most sensible, option to have, but as analytical tools drill down and look deeper into customer journeys there’s been some calls to change the system (perhaps in the light of cashback and voucher code sites rise to dominance).

A radical idea here would be that if everyone goes back to the “show content, user decides to click link, user sets cookie” as opposed the numerous “force to click” methodologies then the “last click wins” could easily remain – well that and stop cashback sites altogether! )

The survey also has an extensive section on networks and you’re invited to “rank the following networks by revenue generated through their merchants”! Disappointingly you have to rank them 1 to 10 which is a bit tough when a number of them all share bottom spot.

One trend we noticed in 2008 was just how much less we were earning from some networks (or how much nothingness we were earning – so much so the number of networks we work with is almost in half now). Things have got so bad at one network that recently there’s little trade and not much doubling going on!

Whether that’s the same for other affiliates I don’t know, but the results of the census will be out in February and it’ll be interesting to see just how things lie across the industry in 2009 and how things have changed since the last census.

Anyway if you have time (and do try and make time) make sure you leave your mark – take the survey!

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