Join Page Linking - Will It Stay Around?
 

As many know, ARS is planning big changes in Feb. and March. Rumor has it, join page linking will be disabled. This is bad for those of us who build our own custom tours. Since ARS is pretty vague about all the changes they'll be implementing, I need a backup plan.

I know PlatinumBucks, TopBucks, etc. currently allow linking to their join pages. What I'm wondering is if these and other sponsors who allow such linking have plans to disable it as well in the future?

Don't know if I'm going to have to move my traffic, but like I said, I need a backup plan in case ARS continues to keep this stuff behind closed doors. I can't wait to the last minute only to find out my join links wind up being redirected to the standard site tour...or worse some other replacement site.

Would appreciate hearing from the status of join page linking from other sponsors so I can make an informed decision.

Well I think alot of sponsors are going to have to make adjusments to their business models...cross sales, paid on active member, ect.

I think we're seeing part of these changes in affect right now but who knows what else is in store for the future. The industry for the most part, has been REACTIVE rather than PROACTIVE and it greatly depends on what Visa/MC and the processors do first and how the industry reacts.

I can assure you one thing..these stringent regulations and tightening of the rope from Visa/MC are not over..the industry has just been able to adapt and outsmart them..

I understand why affiliate programs need to make such changes. In many cases, join page linking bloats c/b ratios. Obviously not a good thing these days. ARS may come up with a great solution. But I have a feeling I'll never know until the new "product?" is released.

I feel a good sponsor will step up to the plate and let us know what changes are in store...good or bad. This allows everyone to make an informed decision, and not suffer a loss in profits while trying to quickly move traffic to untested waters.

So let's hear it...if you're a sponsor who allows join linking, tell me if you think you'll need to remove this option in the future. Don't need a concrete answer; just trying to figure out if others plan to follow in ARS' footsteps should they plan to disable it as rumored.

:helpme

A lot of companies are going to have to make changes. We plan on keeping our join page linking at this time. We only have a handfull of people who use that feature so we can watch their CB ratios per account. Typically the reason someone would not allow direct join page linking is because of deceptive tours. As long as your members dont chargeback over 1% its not a problem.

http://www.silvercash.com

Well we have taken a revshare model mostly because of the uncertainties with PPS models, ect. We are working on a PPS model without cross sales and working diligently to increase our member retention and renewals.

I think cross-sales will continue for the time being and I said, programs have been resourceful in their methods to keep C/B's low.

I think our biggest fear, regardless of what the business model is, would be if Visa/MC based CB's on $$ amounts rather that transaction volume. Or, even worse, if they stopped auto-rebills and made that an option.

:2 cents:

I understand deceptive tours as causing a problem with charge backs but in disabling the join page option for everyone who offers custom tours seems pretty drastic. If there is such a problem with deceptive tours there should be a way to get your custom tour approved by the sponsor before being allowed to use the join page function.

Thanx for your reply Mike :) Really wish you'd consider raising payouts on your join page linking. Takes a lot of work to design a tour that converts better than those in your portfolio. Taking a $15 paycut per sale to do so doesn't seem to be worth it.

Not sure why sponsors wouldn't just allow join page linking based on tour approval. If the tour promises things that just aren't in the members area, then tell the webmaster what has to be changed before allowing them to link to the join page. If sponsors approved tours first, it shouldn't affect c/b ratios and everyone's happy :)

If you're afraid the webmaster will change the tour after it's approved, then host it for them instead. Anyway, just a thought.

ouch

double ouch...didn't even consider them taking this approach. that would be pretty damaging...

thanx for your input...good to hear what people are thinking :thumbsup

I agree widget - is there some big sponsors that havethe same payout for join page linking that you know of?

PlatinumBucks: $35/sale; $40 with 50 sales within a 15 day pay period.

Would love to hear Dave or someone give up his opinions on where join linking is going.

TopBucks: $35/sale; $40 with 75 sales within the 15 day pay period.

Haven't really sent TB much traffic, but would consider it if they planned on keeping the join option up.

Other than that, I haven't really researched it too much. Hopefully this thread will reveal a few more options? :helpme

Thanks widget good to know there is backup sponsors but I still love ARS for the other options they offer - in the end I will have to go with who makes me more money though.

I think the important thing EVERYONE needs to start to consider is not what each program pays webmasters..but what they are doing to the surfers..because ultimately, that's what it comes down to.

We're all in this together..

Join page linking is/was never a good idea IMHO. I do not like the idea of a webmaster possibly misleading a surfer, then sending them directly to a join page. Some people insist on sending traffic to join pages, but I can live without their traffic. The fraud rates are too high.

MaxCash has a good system that allows you to link to the JP,and if the charge back ratio is too high,they just simply delete your account
:2 cents:

Thus you will never reap the benefits of having webmasters under you that can convert traffic better with their own designs. The strategy is NOT to mislead the surfer. The strategy is to take a fresher approach to marketing the site.

A good affiliate program should work with webmasters to achieve better conversions. The days of linking to cookie cutter tours and attaining solid #'s are dwindling. Why not see what webmasters have to offer? By approving/declining tours, you still hold the key to your chargeback ratios.

Without informing the webmaster that the cb ratio is too high first? No thanks, I'll pass.

Widget, We are considering raising the join page linking and nopop programs to $25 rather then $20. Obviously it is a problem that people can say they are going to send from whatever pre approved tour pages they want but still the majority of them find ways to cheat it. Guys like you have been hurt because of this and it kinda sucks.

We are always building new sites and are in the process of redoing 20 or so of our old tours to make them more up to date.

The main reason why we can't pay more on direct linking is that there is no exits. After we pay the webmasters $35 bucks a join on a regular signup only 30% of the surfers stay. So we lose money right out the gate. One way to recoup some of that money is through our exits. When we let people link directly we lose those exits and lose money. We are however thinking of raising it a bit and we are about to give a ton of our exits back to the webmasters. We have something huge coming soon :)

ARS has confirmed join page linking will be disabled in 8 weeks. Bump for more sponsors with join page linking to speak up!

Mike...why not let me build a tour, take a look at it to make sure I'm not over-promising anything and then host it for me with your own exit chain. You should be able to pay $35/sale then, no?

We can help you out.

ICQ me for details.