Affiliate

An affiliate (also called an Affiliate Marketer, Associate Marketer, or Publisher) is an individual that promotes a business or product on a website or through another electronic marketing medium, within the context of an Affiliate Program. Affiliates generally sign up to work with an affiliate program either directly through the program provider, or through an affiliate network that provides a variety of affiliate programs all in one place. Affiliates are paid for their ability to send new or existing customers to an online casino. There are a variety of payment models in affiliate marketing, including pay for performance (CPA), pay per impression (CPM), Revenue Sharing (RevShare), and others. Affiliate marketing is a common practice on the Internet, and literally tens of thousands of people make some or all of their income as affiliates.

Affiliate Manager

An affiliate manager is a person that runs an affiliate program. An affiliate manager is compensated by the program, and is responsible for recruiting new affiliates, supporting existing affiliates, maintaining payouts, and keeping the program working smoothly for all parties. Affiliate managers for small companies generally do all these things, but in larger companies there may be different affiliate managers for different aspects of the affiliate program or network.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage is the act of buying a link from one provider for less than they payout provided by another link that's placed on a website in between these two steps. Usually arbitrage affiliates attempt to build extremely simple sites that attempt to “blend” paid links in with normal content. A visitor to the site then clicks on a paid link, and is taken to the advertised site, and the affiliate gets paid. Arbitrage is a complex earnings system and requires a great deal of knowledge in pay per click marketing.

Banner Advertisements

A banner advertisement is an image-based ad. These are common on the web, and can be in a variety of formats; although the most common ones are JPG, GIF, and Adobe Flash. The IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) has a list of the most common and most accepted banner advertising sizes on it's website, and nearly all advertisers and publishers will work with those standards.

Black Hat SEO

Black hat SEO is the process of trying to “game” search engines by exploiting their flaws or deliberately manipulating pages so they rank better than “legitimate” web sites. There are a wide variety of Black Hat techniques, and most successful black hat marketers keep their methods a secret. However, be warned, Black Hat SEO can result in having your sites banned from major search engines, and in some instances can result in all of your websites being blocked, even legitimate ones. Black hat techniques oftentimes work for a very short period of time before the search engine catches on to the technique and terminates the exploit.

Blog / Blogging / Bloggers

A “blog” is short for “web-log”, which simply means an online journal or easy-to-update website. There are numerous blogging platforms on the web today, and there are even websites that will allow you to publish a blog for free. The key elements of a blog are simple functionality to create new posts, the ability for others to leave comments on your posts, and the ability to syndicate your posts through RSS feeds. The key advantage to most blogging platforms is that you can update the website through a web-interface, meaning you don't have to upload code or pages from a desktop computer. There are literally millions of blogs online today for nearly any topic, but some of the most successful bloggers make hundreds of thousands of dollars from their blogging.

CPA

Cost Per Action, also known as Pay-For-Performance or Cost Per Acquisition. This is a large part of the mainstream affiliate marketing industry. In a CPA program, affiliates are paid based on the action of a user. In a pay per action program, once a customer that has been referred to the merchant completes a predetermined transaction, the affiliate is paid. For instance, in eBook affiliate marketing, an affiliate might be paid $10 for each referred customer that purchases a new book.

CPC

Cost Per Click. This is the actual amount of the click link that is being referenced. For instance, if you were researching a certain keyword to promote your new website, it would have a CPC associated with it; which would be the price that you would pay for a single click to your website. CPC is oftentimes used in a bidding environment, where the CPC that you are willing to pay is a maximum amount, and you can purchase clicks for a lower rate than what is published.

Data Feeds

A data feed is anything that an affiliate program provides to simplify displaying products on an affiliate website. Data feeds come in a variety of formats, including simple text documents (sometimes delineated with commas or tabs), spreadsheet documents, RSS feeds, or XML feeds. Most datafeeds are only accessible through a private access portal within the program, and many programs don't have enough products to warrant an entire datafeed.

Ecogra

eCOGRA is another non-profit organization, however this group strives to create a standard practice between online casinos, payment processors, and players. This is to provide players with a guarantee that the casino operates with the proper odds in place, and that the provider is “Safe & Fair”.

eWallet

An eWallet is a technology that acts like a virtual wallet for online purchasing. For affiliate marketers, this is usually in reference to the payment application that a player can fund to then put money in to an online casino. There are several eWallet providers that your players can choose from, and some casinos accept only one or many different kinds of eWallets.

Free Rolls

Free rolls are tournaments or other casino events that don't require the player to pay to play (and often have cash prizes for top players). This method is used to entice players to try out a certain casino, as well as keep amateur players interested in the activity. Some casinos have special free-roll events for existing members only, while others allow anyone to sign up and partake in a free roll event. Free rolls are another positive promotional opportunity for affiliates because the casino will usually pay a good commission just to try to get that player on board; however if you're promoting mostly free rolls, try to choose casinos that pay per player rather than on a RevShare basis.

Google Dance

Since Google is the number one search engine in the world, every time it Indexes itself is a very important time for webmasters and affiliates. A Google Dance is the time period during which Google is updating its search engine indexes (of which it operates several) and during this time rankings can swing wildly up and down. This process usually takes place no more frequently than one time per month, and a website may climb or fall drastically over the course of a few days. Recently, Google seems to have smoothed out some of it's erratic behavior and now these Dances are far less nerve racking than they were several years ago.

Hybrid Programs

Hybrid Programs are casino programs that mix a CPA payout with a RevShare payout. This means that if an affiliate refers a new customer to a program, they may receive one payout (based on the “new signup”). Furthermore, that affiliate may also earn payouts for the life or predetermined period of time that the customer stays with that casino operator, usually in the form of a RevShare percentage of the transactions. Many affiliates prefer programs that offer hybrid payouts since they can get paid in a variety of different ways, even if payouts might be lower.

IMEGA

iMEGA stands for the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, and is essentially a professional organization to promote the continued growth of online gaming and entertainment. iMEGA is essentially a Political Action Committee, which stands to make certain that the industry is heard by members of Congress and other political organizations. IMEGA was founded in 2007 and is a non-profit organization.

In-House Affiliate Program

In-house affiliate programs are those where the merchant runs the entire affiliate program within the company that is providing services. An in-house program usually takes significantly less time to roll out new updates or provide top-performing affiliates with specialized services (such as custom data feeds or higher payouts).

Link Exchange

Link exchanges really had their heyday in the late '90's, when search engines gave a lot of weight to the sheer volume of links linking in to your website. In today's environment, Link Exchanges are valuable but it's generally agreed by SEO experts that the quality of the link influences the value to the site more than the sheer number of links coming in. Link Exchanges often require that you provide a reciprocal link, meaning you place a link to the referring site somewhere on your website. Link exchanges also result in link dilution, which occurs when a search engine feels you have too many links leaving your site from one specific page or section of your site.

Mobile Gaming

Mobile gaming is an emerging field in online marketing and casino programs, where players will be able to play games on their cell phones or other mobile devices. Mobile gaming is still a small scale operation so far, but as cell phones become more sophisticated and operators are able to provide increased security, this may emerge as a great way for affiliates to earn additional revenue streams.

Outsourced Affiliate Programs

Outsourced programs are those that are managed by an affiliate network or outside manager. These programs usually feature standard options that are shared between multiple offerings. Outsourced programs sometimes have more experienced affiliate managers that can resolve common issues quickly, and since they are a 3rd party provider sometimes provide affiliates with an additional layer of trust.

Payout Method

Payout method is usually the description of how the affiliate gets paid, and what the terms of the payment are. Payout methods can include payment by check, payment by bank wire (or direct deposit), payment via PayPal or other electronic payment facilitator, or payment via prepaid debit card. Payout method will also usually describe the Payment Threshold, which is the amount of money that an affiliate has to earn before they will be paid for their services. Most programs have a low payout threshold of as little as $50, but some require larger earnings by the affiliate before they will make a payment. Payout method may also state the duration that it takes for an affiliate to get paid (such as Net 30, Net 15, threshold payments, or others).

Page Rank (PR)

Page Rank (usually expressed as PR) is a Google ranking system that tries to identify which pages are popular in comparison to other pages on the internet. Page Rank is a scale from 0-9, where 9's are the most popular sites on the web, and 0's are sites that have absolutely no popularity at all (or have not been indexed by Google). Page Rank is not instant; it can take weeks or months for page ranks to update. Page Rank is calculated logarithmically, meaning a site with a Page Rank of 7 is around 7-10 times more popular than a site with a Page Rank of 6. Page Rank can be used to gauge the success and growth of a website, and can also reinforce your site's value to advertisers.

Payment Processor

There are several payment processors on the web, and they are the companies that facilitate the payments to and from casino programs. The payment processor can be an important element of choosing the right program. Some processors take significant amounts of time to manage a new player or pay out winning players – and the longer that a company takes the more time that it can take for you to get paid. Furthermore, some programs use online payment processors to complete your own payment, so as an affiliate finding the right payment processor can mean the difference between getting paid on time and being delayed or having to resolve issues with payments.

Popup

A Popup is a type of advertisement that is shown off the page that it is generated from. There are basically 2 types of popups, a popup that appears hovering over a browser, and another type called a popunder which appears underneath the browser window. These forms of advertisements are considered a nuisance by many web surfers, which has spawned the development of popup blocker software that is both built in to many web browsers, as well as sold as separate applications. Popups are usually large format advertisements.

PPC

Pay Per Click marketing is the process of either buying or selling links that get paid based on any time a link is clicked. In most instances, affiliate marketers will purchase PPC links from an advertising network to promote their site, or they'll place PPC link blocks on their site to earn income from the clicks of those links.

Rake

A rake is what the casino takes during games of equal-weighted chance, such as Poker. In the game of Poker, the players are betting against one another, which means that the house does not have an advantage. In this instance, the house takes a cut of each pot that is played, and in those instances an affiliate that is paid through a RevShare model receives a portion of that rake.

Rake Back

A rakeback is a promotional technique that some casinos use to give a portion of their house “rake” back to that player, usually for a limited period of time. Rakebacks are a good promotional method for affiliates because usually the program will still provide some or all of the commissions due to that affiliate simply for the ability to earn that customer. If you're working on a RevShare basis, it may be valuable to choose rakeback programs because your players will keep more of their money and may play with that casino for longer.

RevShare

Revenue sharing programs are those that share a percentage of a transaction with the affiliate. These programs are extremely common in casino affiliate marketing. The affiliate will be paid a portion of the amount of money that a player deposits or loses (RevShare programs vary from program to program). The percentage of the transaction that the affiliate receives is disclosed ahead of time, and often is increased as the affiliate sends more or better quality traffic through the affiliate program.

ROI

Return on Investment, this is most commonly associated within the affiliate marketing world in relation to earnings based on an investment of advertising or website development. ROI is usually calculated as a percentage or a ratio, based on the investment made and the resulting performance yielded. Most affiliates use ROI calculations to help guide future projects based on previous ROI results.

Rogue Casino / Rogue Programs

This term refers to any casino or affiliate program that doesn't pay it's affiliates (either at all or has numerous late payments or other incidents). These programs are generally promoted quickly and aggressively, and provide unrealistic payouts to try to incentivize affiliates to send traffic to them. These programs usually run for no more than a few months before affiliates world-wide recognize they are being scammed and stop promoting them.

RSS Feeds

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”, and is the standard format for content syndication across the web. RSS feeds allow you to provide snippets or entire articles through a standardized format. The main reason to syndicate your articles and website content is because there are pieces of software called “feed readers” which take a variety of feeds and display them in simple form for a user. Oftentimes, if an article catches a reader's eye, they will click through to the originating website, yielding a free source of traffic.

Scraping

Scraping is a black-hat technique used by rogue affiliates to literally steal the content off another website to display on theirs. Scraping is literally copyright theft, and is one of the worst problems successful affiliate marketers have to deal with. The issue becomes further complicated because Google gives greater preference to sites that feature original content. If that content is scraped and placed on another site, Google may index the other site before yours. This means that you can lose Page Rank and your ranking in the SERP's may fall.

Scumware

Scumware is a technology that literally steals traffic or interrupts affiliate commissions by installing software on the user's computer. Scumware is very similar to Spyware or Adware, but this term specifically relates to software that “injects” the ware's affiliate ID where a legitimate affiliate ID should be. This technology is usually embedded in a download package, and oftentimes the computer user has no idea that it is even installed on their machine. Some scumware is so divisive that it cannot be uninstalled using simple tools, and requires specialized software or removal techniques. Scumware affects user computers so dramatically that sometimes the browser won't even be able to operate properly.

SERP

Search Engine Results Pages are literally the pages that are displayed when a query is sent through a search engine. Many affiliate marketers spend a great deal of time improving their overall ranking on a SERP, and in turn getting more traffic to their website. SERP's are often referenced when an affiliate is working on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The top-5 leading search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com, and AOL.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving organic search engine results. Organic search engine placement is literally the description of where your website sits on the SERP's based on certain keywords or key-phrases. The higher up the SERP that your website is located, the more visitors will be able to find your website, and in turn visit your advertisers, driving up your income. SEO is a complex process and there is no “magic bullet”. It requires research in to the ranking methodology of the individual search engine, and also requires significant time and energy in to optimizing each page of your website to be easily searched and indexed by the search engine. There is a huge amount of information (some accurate, some speculative) about search engine optimization available on the web, and there are also thousands of firms and individuals that can provide expert optimization at a range of pricing and results. Steer away from any SEO consultant or service that guarantees “top” ranking – expert SEO consultants will guarantee improvement, but cannot guarantee specific positions or absolute results.

Shaving

Shaving is a process where the affiliate program “shaves” some transactions from affiliates, for a variety of reasons. Some are completely legitimate technical errors – some users have cookies disabled so that affiliate transactions cannot be recorded at all. However, some rogue affiliate programs use shaving techniques to save themselves a portion of their commission. Most affiliate programs that “shave” will tend only to shave off 10-15% of transactions in an effort not to be noticed by affiliates. Other cases where a transaction might get shaved is if a program offers something online, but then uses another technique (such as phone or email) to secure a sale, thereby denying the affiliate the earnings they deserve.

Skill Games

Skill games are an area of casino affiliate programs that require skill or talent in addition to luck in order to win. The most common skill game is Poker. These games usually involve the casino simply facilitating the game, and taking a Rake off each hand that is played. Skill games are popular because players feel they have a better advantage if they practice when compared to pure luck games like slot machines or roulette.

Social Network

A social network is a website that facilitates interpersonal relationships online. Two of the most common social networks today are Myspace and Facebook, although there are literally hundreds of copycats and alternatives on the web. Most social networks share some similar attributes, such as the ability to publish a biography, upload pictures, and collect friends in to “friends lists”. Other elements vary from platform to platform, but usually include features such as the ability to publish a blog, comment on other user's profiles, and send messages through the site. Social networks can be useful places for affiliates to find people that might be interested in your website, but be cautious, social networks are aggressive against spammers. Social networks can also be good places to find other affiliates and to find personal friendships.

Spam

Spam is one of the most prevalent aspects of the Internet. In most instances, people referring to spam are referring to “junk” or unsolicited emails. Numerous efforts have been made by email providers to weed out spam, although it still continues to be a problem to this day. Most affiliate programs have clauses in their Terms of Service that will remove affiliates from their program if that affiliate is found to be spamming.

Super Affiliate

A “super affiliate” is an affiliate that earns a large amount of money through affiliate marketing. There's no standard answer when asking what a super affiliate must make or earn to be considered. Generally, a super affiliate earns at least 5 figures (USD) of income per month from affiliate marketing, and their websites receive millions of page views per month. Super affiliates probably account for less than 2% of all affiliates, but drive 80+% of all affiliate transactions, making them extremely sought by affiliate managers. Most super affiliates drive so much traffic that they're also able to negotiate their own preferential payout rates with their program partners.

Tiers

Many affiliate programs offer affiliate multiple tiers to recruit other affiliates. A tiered affiliate program literally means that an affiliate gets paid a portion of the earnings of the affiliates that they recruit. Some programs offer only 2 tiers, which means an affiliate gets paid a portion of the earnings of the affiliates that they directly recruit. Other programs pay out to multiple tiers of recruitment, which means an affiliate gets paid not only on the affiliates they recruit, but they also get paid on all the affiliates that that affiliate recruits, and so forth.

Tracking Link / Tracking Code

Essentially, all affiliate programs operate use very simple pieces of code called tracking code. Usually this code is designed to active a Cookie, which is usually created by a tracking pixel. A tracking pixel is a tiny element that rests within the link that triggers a message to the affiliate program that someone has clicked on a link. This method is how an affiliate program can record affiliate referrals without embedding heavy amounts of code on to a site.

UIGEA

UIGEA stands for Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act of 2006, which was integrated in to the Safe Port Act in September of 2006. The UIGEA directly influences many of the online casinos as well as their ability to provide online gambling services to US customers. Most of the UIGEA actually centers around the ability for funds to be deposited or extracted from US funds to and from offshore gambling businesses. It is important that as an online casino affiliate, especially operating from the US, you understand the UIGEA and comply with it's requirements. There is lots of information on the UIGEA within the Casino Affiliate Programs forums.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a term to describe contemporary websites or web technology that has been implemented using the latest standards and design techniques established after the dot-com crash of 2001. Web 2.0 doesn't refer to any fundamental change in the Internet itself, but rather the design focus has shifted to attractive and clean designs, and many functions that were once only available to large-scale websites have now become available for nearly any web developer to use. Much of the growth in Web 2.0 technology has come from open source development, meaning programs where the source code is provided to anyone that wants it, free of charge. This has led to a rapid expansion collaborative coding projects which aren't fueled by a major corporation, but rather are assembled together by coders that simply want to create interesting technology.

White Label Programs

A “white label” affiliate program is one that provides a complete casino that the affiliate can re-brand and promote as their own. This has the distinct advantage of giving the affiliate far more flexibility in promoting the affiliate program, and also empowers the affiliate to make the best possible casino experience. Most white label programs allow re-skinning of the casino interface, as well as the standard fare of payout options and program benefits. Many white label marques also share players between games, meaning affiliates aren't entirely responsible for filling their casino.

XML Feeds

XML stands for eXstensible Markup Language. XML feeds are very common in affiliate programs to provide a unified platform to transmit and decipher data feeds. XML files are formatted with portions of code that resemble HTML markup, but each bracketed field represents a unique element of the feed. For instance, one element of a feed might be a product name, another may be product description, and another field may be product price. An affiliate can write custom software that pulls the XML feed in real-time from the affiliate program, which ensures that the correct information is always displayed on the site, and reduces the affiliates' time spent updating product information.