Affiliate Programs in 2012... any good ones left?

[JuniperPark]

After a few years of ignoring affiliate programs after I personally caught CJ.com in the act of fraud (http://www.dnforum.com/f128/cj-com-c...ead-67776.html), it's time to see what's working in 2012 and what isn't.

I've been testing out Amazon's program for 1 year, and it's been a DISASTER. First of all, they simply "decided" that publishers in California would not be paid their commission for sales. They still COLLECTED the money, but pocketed it for themselves, under the reasoning of "we don't like your governor". Also, they have a "2000 hourly query limit", which means that no more than 20 pages can be clicked per hour across ALL of your sites, and when that is exceeded the customer cannot shop or get to their cart. The average pages shows 10 items, so that's 10 queries per page. Also, if Google or any bot visits, that counts against your total, so you're dead in the water.

Any good alternatives out there?

[I33]

Any particular categories?
There are many exclusive CPA affiliate programs that are doing well!

[JuniperPark]

I've got at least a few domains in each major category. Quite a few in photography, wedding, and small business.

I'm not sure what you mean by "exclusive CPA"?

[INFORG]

Shareasale
AvantLink

[I33]

I was referencing to exclusive offers

There are those INFORG mentioned, and others! If your site receives alot of traffic, take advantage of this.

[dcristo]

+1 Shareasale

I've also heard good things about LinkShare but don't have personal experience with this network.

I can't even manage to speak to a real human over at CJ.

[aclass]

Amazon's API limits are the worst thing that they could do to send their affiliates away, but it's not exactly as you've pictured it. One page, if requested right, can contain 10 items which are all taken as a sinple query and count as 1. Also if you sell, the 2k limit gets quite high.
Thus said if a bot comes to your site, which you want to happen as you want it to be indexed, the limit is reached in no time. And if you have a couple of hundred sites like me, the limit is gone for 5 minutes most of the time.
Amazon still works but it seems like they only want the direct linking affiliates and not the API storefront ones.

Have you tried Google's affiliate system?

[LarryWentz]

I've been using affiliate networks like CJ, Shareasale, Linkshare, LinkConnector, MaxBounty & a handful of others for years - there always are great affiliate programs available thru these networks or that are independent. One thing I don't like about independent affiliate programs is the payment thresholds that are typically in place. You could earn $20 but if they have a $50-$100 payment minimum then you won't get paid until your balance reaches that point. EbayPartnernetwork, Infolinks (or Kontera), Amazon (not my favorite because of short cookie length) & other independent programs all produce me income as well.

The key is to target niches & try not to be a shopping center. Can you make income off a site about jumping ropes? Hell yeah! Find the merchants that sell jumping ropes & place product links if available. Set up a link directly to Ebay targeting the keyword "jumping rope" & get paid per click. Use the evil Adsense & get paid per click. Any exercise programs/videos that utilize jumping ropes that you can earn affiliate income on? Mention those too.

My affiliate income has had it's peaks & valleys over the years for my various websites but there is nothin' like making a few hundred or more every month off a site that requires little or no effort after you get it set up. Of course there also are other sites that make me hardly anything at all.

[dcristo]

Amazon (not my favorite because of short cookie length)

Thats true, but you get commission on products you aren't promoting directly, and with Amazon's huge inventory, there are a lot of products you can potentially get a commission on, which makes up for the short cookie length and low commissions to a certain extent.

[Welkin]

I actually think CJ are not a fraud company but they do not care a lot to resolve issues. As I've written in a topic I've just started I have had a lot of problems with web Hosting affiliate programs. On the other hand I use other programs through CJ that work pretty good. So my conclusion is CJ are not trying to cheat their publishers but unfortunately, they do not put a lot of efforts in resolving their issues with advertisers. And this could be really frustrating at times.

[JuniperPark]

I actually think CJ are not a fraud company but they do not care a lot to resolve issues. As I've written in a topic I've just started I have had a lot of problems with web Hosting affiliate programs. On the other hand I use other programs through CJ that work pretty good. So my conclusion is CJ are not trying to cheat their publishers but unfortunately, they do not put a lot of efforts in resolving their issues with advertisers. And this could be really frustrating at times.

Let's go over this again:

I PERSONALLY CAUGHT and DOCUMENTED a case of FRAUD by COMMISSION JUNCTION. When confronted with the evidence, they REFUSED TO REPLY or PAY me for it.

I don't "think" they committed fraud, I proved it.

[Welkin]

Let's go over this again:

I PERSONALLY CAUGHT and DOCUMENTED a case of FRAUD by COMMISSION JUNCTION. When confronted with the evidence, they REFUSED TO REPLY or PAY me for it.

I don't "think" they committed fraud, I proved it.

I read most of your posts in this and the referred thread but maybe I've missed the post where you've mentioned the proof of fraud. I've got the impression that you've been cheated by the particular advertiser rather than CJ.

[JuniperPark]

I read most of your posts in this and the referred thread but maybe I've missed the post where you've mentioned the proof of fraud. I've got the impression that you've been cheated by the particular advertiser rather than CJ.

My connection to the advertiser is CJ, via reporting tools, ad code, and payment. If there was an issue with the advertiser, CJ still should have responded to the complaints, not run and hid. They tells me CJ is causing the fraud, not the advertiser.

[bobbigmac]

I run a site selling tools and services for pro photographers. The referral programme pays ~20% depending on what services the photographer uses. If it might be useful to you, drop me a PM.

[Melly]

There are lots of CPA companies that are alive and thriving. I personally have used LinkShare, MaxBounty, A4d, neverblue and a few others. Most of these companies have a wide variety of offers and you should be able to find something to fit the niche you want to market. I have used these for floral, credit, real estate, music, freebies etc. All of these companies also have offers that are normal as well as with incentive which is great.