Stephanie Lichtenstein

Location: Think Tank October 2007
When: Sunday open discussions
Topic: Coupon Sites vs. Content Sites
Issue: Who gets the commission?

My Summary: In this opening discussion, there was a mixture of opinions in the group on whether or not coupon sites are good or bad and in different situations who deserves to get the commission the content site or the coupon site? It is hard to come up with one answer since there are so many different cases.

Picture these shopping behaviors: in a commission based store you are asked: “Who helped you?” If one person helped I say “Kelly helped me.” If three sales people helped I say “no one helped me.” How do you decide who gets the commission? In a brick and mortar store sales people will split the commission. Better to work with a coupon site to close a deal instead of opening your own coupon site.

Both sides show concerns: Content affiliates expressed that they spend a lot of time on creating content and then their commission is lost to coupon sites at the last minute when user goes to get a code. Coupon affiliates express that they spend lots of time getting their coupons and if coupon site closes that deal, they should get a %. If the consumer can’t find a coupon they may not even make their purchase.

Paying out commissions?
1. Content site gets the % they always get and coupon site would get an extra separate %.
2. Find a way to track things differently. Right now Merchants decide whether they want use coupon sites or not.
3. Merchants have to pay several people some should be paid commissions and some by pixel.

Who is responsible for making these decisions?
1. The networks should set these standards for the affiliates.
2. The business decision is one for the merchant to make. Whether or not you have coupons is up to Merchants.

What is the Priority?
1. Set expectations but not exact rules.
2. Make sure the user is not mislead by forced clicks.

What is the line between a legitimate click and a forced click?
Ex. User clicks to get Merchant coupon, 2 pop-ups would be a forced click.

FTC rule: before customer takes action must know what is going on, if they do not know then it is illegal. Being truthful will give them a good experience and they will return.

How to avoid this questionable line: place guidelines, link must say go to merchant site instead of saying go here for more coupons.

What is ethical for the industry?
First click should get commission?
What is commissionable traffic?

Is that considered a coupon site…
A. Video product review site from consumer standpoint that displays coupons.
B. Site with all elements and it displays coupons.
C. If an affiliate has a coupon on search related to their review site.

The point is not if it is considered a content or a coupon site.
What matters is: Whether it is a good click or a bad click. 

Marketing offline and online have similar conflicts mostly relating around commissions. All working in one building, the three salespeople can either split it or decide on a case by case basis. Industry wide standard in a network would be impossible. Comes down to merchant issue of treating affiliates fairly if affiliate does not like the merchant program then they should not work with that merchant.

Examples

Ex. for a PPC affiliate a consumer has Shrek pjamas then opens a new window to get a coupon. The PPC affiliate loses the sale when the consumers goes to get coupon.
Ex. There is a coupon site with a link that says “please show me more coupons for this merchant.” And a pop-up window with the merchant site. Yes there is a coupon but there are two routes the coupon site with more info, and the pop-up of merchant. Cookie stuffing or navigation for consumer. If you describe where the link is going is it okay or misleading? Sometimes when the consumers click there ends up being no coupon.

Thoughts on my first set of notes? Thanks for stopping by!