Having just enjoyed my longest break away from the daily grind of webstuff (although admittedly I did keep an eye on things to make sure all was well – but I didn’t read any emails – so not too bad!) I’m starting to wish that I’d extended my stay with Mickey, Donald, Jude and the 100s of Alligators at Gatorland (simply the coolest place in Florida, after Seaworld and maybe Island of Adventures… oh and The Animal Kingdom and.. and..).

Anyway I digress as all is not sweetness and light in the affiliate world!

Nothing new there then, but the last few days has seen some quite dramatic events take place.

Firstly, although unsurprisingly, Figleaves have decided to close their affiliate program. This was a really good converting program that just seemed to collapse in on itself towards the end of 2008. Reduced commissions and cookies coupled with a 20% discount spammed around the internet meant that the writing was always on the wall for their affiliate partners.

The 20% discount was the start of the fall of Figleaves and discount codes are currently getting a rough ride in AM as merchants line up to try and understand their incremental sales value (what about cashback’s value??).

*Edit* – apparently Figleaves are not closing their program on TD.. so some good news!

Next up to the oche is big electrical store Comet, who have decided to carry out a study on the effects of voucher codes on sales by temporarily removing some affiliates from it’s program. The study is apparently going to take 3 months although it raises a lot of questions and has generated a fair bit of confusion for affiliates, especially those of us who promote codes AND who also use feeds, content and other promotional methods.

These kind of studies are probably necessary but (especially given the current economic climate) the way they’re conducted needs to be better organised. Comet seem to have already phased out the volume of codes they offer, but that won’t stop “comet+voucher codes” search traffic still filtering through to directories or other sites. Also with people probably less willing to buy in Q1 compared to Q1 or Q4 of 2008 – how is the comparison going to work?

Perhaps Comet could have a shufty at the results of a study conducted by DRL (who manage Sainsburys Kitchen Appliances, Boots Kitchen Appliances, Next Domestic Appliances, Appliances Online and Appliance Deals) who two months ago asked big voucher sites to drop promotions “to understand if voucher code sites generated any incremental revenue”. Today they’ve now announced that they “would like to pause activity on all affiliates within the voucher code directory”.

Again what happens to affiliates who’s single Awin account covers more than just a code area?

Well, the best thing to do is contact Awin and explain to them your activity, demonstrate what you’re doing and where and hopefully it won’t result in lost commissions.

One though has to wonder if any kind of forced click was removed from the affiliate industry whether these concerns about “incremental value” would have surfaced. I also wonder whether analysis of the the time of cookie drop vs completion of sale would be better data to investigate – then remove those affiliates who’s cookie drop to sale time is exceptionally quick?

To add misery onto further misery (especially for the code affiliates) another merchant, Prezziesplus, has decided to leave affiliate marketing behind – at least via networks and perhaps to see how the rest of the year pans out. We did a few sales with them over Christmas by promoting The Slanket so it’s disappointing to see them flounce off into AM history.

Anyway, if all that wasn’t bad enough, of course there’s the various merchants who have closed down due to administration. 24-7 Electrical, Miller Bros, QED-UK and Empire Direct have all gone in the electrical area – so anyone in this affiliate sector (and who uses codes) will have had several body blows… and I almost forgot about Currys et al reducing their cookie lengths!

Of course, affiliates do have the advantage of (hopefully) being able to bounce back, refocus, and change direction if need be – something that those made redundant due to company closes may not always have – so in that respect we should try and remain upbeat and motivated about AM.

However, if several key merchants close down or change their program terms all at the same time – it can have a hefty impact on any business model for any size affiliate… and somehow I don’t think we’ve seen the last of these issues! It just goes to show that affiliate marketing perhaps isn’t as “recession proof” as some may think – and 2009 is going to be a very very bumpy ride for those who aren’t strapped in!

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