Top speech:hattip:
Back in the early days, stats were rudimentary and who could tell what went on?
Now most programs have tried to make stats as transparent as possible and things are a lot clearer.
Still, there will always be doubts as to whether stats can be manipulated and if so, whether a specific program chooses to do so.
There is no official audit and while that is so, doubts will always exist.
Individual webmasters (me included) have been doing their own audits for years and based trust or distrust on these. And I have to say that overall I have found tracking to be good.
I find the point that many programs strive to set themselves apart by being transparent and honest correct, competition between programs is high. And yes, of course there are bad apples. Just don’t promote these. Read here and stay up to date and you can avoid them.
To be fair, a lot of programs also have their reservations about affiliates. There is such a thing as affiliate fraud, and at times it is more rampant than at others.
For both sides it’s a good idea to participate here and get to know the other party as well as you can. Communicate!