GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - Rant $ / click and why it isn't the only thing to worry about

signupdamnit · 06-25-2014, 06:38 PM

I think it's the best metric to use over all based on mathematics besides $ / impression which is slightly better. But I don't believe it is the sole concern. Here are some notes for why. Relentless, I'll view your posts in this topic.

1. It's not just a matter of what they are supposed to pay you. It's also a matter of actually getting paid. Will the sponsor actually pay you?

2. Revshare. Revshare is typically based on a long term relationship with the sponsor. You could have rebill income tied up for years with the sponsor and you are hoping to actually be paid in the future. It is therefore quite relevant whether or not the sponsor seems to be unethical or prone to cheating you. You must ask #1 as well as whether the sponsor might try to shave your rebills in the future. Can you trust this sponsor reasonably to be around two years from now and for them to be fair with you? Here past performance does not guarantee future performance as it relates to $ / click.

3. Collective consequences. If all sponsors start shaving/adding uncredited popup offers/etc that is going to cause your affiliate income to decline as the effect is undoubtedly that your income will be reduced all things being equal. If you only focus on $ / click for the individual sponsor then you miss this part of the big picture and you are still subject to the collective trends within the industry.

4. Volume issues. Not everyone has enough volume for all sponsors or in all niches to have reliable $ / click data immediately or even within X months. And we are all almost always trying something new. Where you just blindly throw the few clicks you have at the sponsor you are potentially losing income. You have to go by other factors and information you do have then and make an intelligent decision. This is a big one which hits many I suspect. If you are sending 100 clicks a month to 500 sponsors then it is going to take a while to gather meaningful data. And it will take even longer to actually see if they will pay you. Many people who are not actual affiliates or who never were do not get this one but it is a big catch!

5. Labor and time. This goes a bit with #4. When the typical affiliate puts up a sponsor it requires a certain amount of time and labor in investment. Your time is not free. If you don't attempt to look ahead and at other factors besides the immediate $ / click then you are potentially making more work for yourself later on down the road. If the sponsor goes bad this means changing links, pulling content, maybe removing domains,etc. Instead of constantly running around putting out fires you probably want to be building instead. Remember $ / click can change fast. It's true that a smart webmaster will try to reduce the burden of making these changes but regardless it can be a hassle and unnecessary stress.

6. Touched on earlier. $ / click does not take into account CTR. ($ / impression does) It matters how clickable the creative or the link is.

06-25-2014, 06:38 PM
signupdamnit Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,697	$ / click and why it isn't the only thing to worry about I think it's the best metric to use over all based on mathematics besides $ / impression which is slightly better. But I don't believe it is the sole concern. Here are some notes for why. Relentless, I'll view your posts in this topic. 1. It's not just a matter of what they are supposed to pay you. It's also a matter of actually getting paid. Will the sponsor actually pay you? 2. Revshare. Revshare is typically based on a long term relationship with the sponsor. You could have rebill income tied up for years with the sponsor and you are hoping to actually be paid in the future. It is therefore quite relevant whether or not the sponsor seems to be unethical or prone to cheating you. You must ask #1 as well as whether the sponsor might try to shave your rebills in the future. Can you trust this sponsor reasonably to be around two years from now and for them to be fair with you? Here past performance does not guarantee future performance as it relates to $ / click. 3. Collective consequences. If all sponsors start shaving/adding uncredited popup offers/etc that is going to cause your affiliate income to decline as the effect is undoubtedly that your income will be reduced all things being equal. If you only focus on $ / click for the individual sponsor then you miss this part of the big picture and you are still subject to the collective trends within the industry. 4. Volume issues. Not everyone has enough volume for all sponsors or in all niches to have reliable $ / click data immediately or even within X months. And we are all almost always trying something new. Where you just blindly throw the few clicks you have at the sponsor you are potentially losing income. You have to go by other factors and information you do have then and make an intelligent decision. This is a big one which hits many I suspect. If you are sending 100 clicks a month to 500 sponsors then it is going to take a while to gather meaningful data. And it will take even longer to actually see if they will pay you. Many people who are not actual affiliates or who never were do not get this one but it is a big catch! 5. Labor and time. This goes a bit with #4. When the typical affiliate puts up a sponsor it requires a certain amount of time and labor in investment. Your time is not free. If you don't attempt to look ahead and at other factors besides the immediate $ / click then you are potentially making more work for yourself later on down the road. If the sponsor goes bad this means changing links, pulling content, maybe removing domains,etc. Instead of constantly running around putting out fires you probably want to be building instead. Remember $ / click can change fast. It's true that a smart webmaster will try to reduce the burden of making these changes but regardless it can be a hassle and unnecessary stress. 6. Touched on earlier. $ / click does not take into account CTR. ($ / impression does) It matters how clickable the creative or the link is. __________________ You don't like my posts? Put me on ignore or fuck right off. I'll say what I want. Last edited by signupdamnit; 06-25-2014 at 06:42 PM..