what i really like is when i open a new accout with that same sponsor the sales all of a sudden start to come back

someone hit the nail on the head here... sponsors don't "shave" anymore, they just use software to "evaluate" the productivity & profitability of your traffic & if it isn't making a certain amount more than they are paying for it, they just don't report that you ever sent the signup. simple... basically, they are putting the burden of "finding" their money rather on the webmaster rather than accepting the responsibility that is up to THEM how much money they make from your traffic (they make money whether u send signups or not so.... strange concept).


..

You hit it right on the head! :thumbsup

Fucking perfect!

I dont believe in switching people off without them knowing but I dont see why a sponsor should pay for something when they arent making a return. If all their affiliates were unprofitable then the company would close and no-one would get paid.

maybe the new software just sucks, and doesn't credit the affiliate with the join? The sponsor sees the same total joins coming in - but your lost joins go to the master account.

If sales from an affiliate aren't "profitable" and the solution is to steal them, the sponsor needs to rethink their business model. :2 cents:

It would be hard for a big program to keep the fact that they shave quiet, unless the operators were programmers themselves so they don't have to rely on any tech help

I have seen this over and over through the years as well. I dread any sort of upgrade at this point as it always seem to lead to lower sales (coincidence or not). I think Alien has a very valid point with the join form. When one of my sponsors is playing with the join form I am quick to catch it. The worst is the newer forms that really show the surfer they can pay by check or phone when the program doesn't pay the affiliate for those signups.

Let me also throw processors into the mix as well here. One of the private programs I send traffic to has been kind enough to show me my attempt to join/approve ratios on a regular basis. I am amazed at the amount of declines that come through on the "bad days".

So many variables..

I wasnt saying steal them. What I was trying to say is that say an affliate is sending you 100 sign ups per month on a free trail sign up program and none of them are becoming full members then why should the program waste $3500 for that traffic? If it was me I would drop an email to the affiliate saying that in 10 days from now your account will be deactivated and you will be paid up to that date.

Most sponsors wont STEAL, they will nicely tell you your account is suspended because your traffic is not profitable.

You can spot a legit termination from a fake one(ie: webmaster spamming or fraudulent signups etc) by a mile away:

Real termination reasons:
anysiteontheirprogram.com/?id=YOURS : will go to a page saying this webmaster has been terminated. No upsells, no banners, no redirection, no popups.

The program is obviously still wanting this traffic.


Fake termination and/or Shave:
anysiteontheirprogram.com/?id=YOURS :
goes to the main site, with or without one of their internal tracking ID's


Now, prove me wrong!

50 cancelled accounts
edit - bollocks 51

happened to me three times already and one of my golden sponsers just switched a few days ago. :disgust

Ouch
:error :helpme
We all have sponsors that are the best and when shit goes wrong we start looking for things to blame it on. I Know for a fact I have used a well known sponsor that converted well for 2 years then suddenly nothing. I cant say if it was there backend and I know my traffic didnt change. There can be any number of reasons for sales to slow or drop.
:2 cents:

In this case they switched from a free trial to a $1 trial and just did not tell the affiliate. Sort of unqualified the traffic.

I have had to ban affiliates without letting them know due to fraud.. an affiliate is converting 1/8 and there all 34.95 signups and I get a warning that these sales are fraud by one of my prossors so of course I am going to ban him.. any program owner would.... havent paid him and won't for sending fraud transactions.. cause they all end up getting credited back within a month anyways.. so why shuold we as program owners pay on that? when we know it's fraud? why shuold we let the affiliate know? same thing on free trials.. why pay 25$ on signups that arent converting over to make us a profit? makes no sence... what so you keep sending the traffic? what good does it do us if it's not converting over?

and just to be clear all my affiliates are seeing a big increse in sales since we switched to nats... we are an honest company.. and always will be.. if you see a bad ratio with nats must be a bad site...

you say traffic did not change? what it was the same people everyday? well then there comes a time when either they joined or not? traffic changes daily

I think i know the somebody else. :winkwink: :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

I signed up for one and wasn't getting any sales so I stopped the traffic. Next day I had a sale so I switched it back on. Few days later no sales so I switched it off again and the next day another sale. I left it off since then and every day I see click thru's in my stats without sending any traffic.

I've sent some traffic before and after a move to Executive Stats... I actually had better conversions with it.

Sometimes a move has nothing to do with the software, but changes with the program and join pages to fit the new software.

I've never sent much traffic to any of Brad Shaws programs, but if there is one guy I would never suspect of shaving, its him. His payouts are low, but at least you know hes making profit off your traffic, as he should.

I agree not to pay cheating webmasters... but if you say you pay $25 per free trial and the affiliate does not convert well.... you still pay until you talk to him and stop his traffic.