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PayNoRake;199467 wrote:That then brings up another point, let say casino like GP wanted to advertise that has a history of bad dealing with affiliates will you allow them to advertise on CAP????
Shaun
Another great point! Does allowing an advertiser to place an ad on your site, mean that you are an advocate of their goods or service? I mean if you’re an affiliate the answer is easy, NO!. But if you’re a forum for affiliates, how will that change things?
Trader
You get:
The seal/s
Forum access
Programe forum
A couple of banners
I waslucky enough to get into a couple of news letters…..Did i miss anything?
Shaun
trader;199412 wrote:Chances are I am missing the point – I don’t dig to much into the way it all works.So that being the case, the money aside (which i would still like to know how it WAS justified, I am not alone in asking this) what benefits does a operator get from being certified
– As we move into this global recession, every industry including ours, is already looking at costing and resources. So many top level boards, CEO, chiefs at the top are going to be examining every part of there business and at some point that focus is going to turn onto any affiliation with CAP. Inevitably these questions are going to be asked. Be it from a couple of hundred bucks or from the man hours involved in being an active forum post on behalf of a company – what added benefits does a group get from being certified.
So to clarify my point – Step back from the details of HOW a site gains certification, WHY does a site need certification.
I am happy to post this in a fresh thread so as not to derail if you would prefer- however at many conferences i hear this question be asked by operators, however have never seen it posted
Well, as long as there are advertisers, it will be confusing to newbies unless there is a way for them to ascertain in the same location which of these are most desireable from an affiliate point of view.
Yes Simmo, ideally affiliates should go around and do research, but the truth is, most don’t. So it would be good to make the info available. Otherwise we are back to the old problem of confused affiliates automatically assuming a paid ad means the program is recommended by other affs.
AGD provides a great service, and player reputation is also important, but so is responsiveness for example. Even if the place has affiliate friendly T&Cs and players like it, if you can’t get a hold of the aff manager when you need her/him, it’s not such a wonderful thing after all.
What I was looking for is a list of all the other things that contribute to making a program better than average.
@PayNoRake 199467 wrote:
That then brings up another point, let say casino like GP wanted to advertise that has a history of bad dealing with affiliates will you allow them to advertise on CAP????
Shaun
Well in that instance no, because they don’t want affiliates
Actually sod it, “yes” – take their money ‘cos their is no benefit them advertising to us 
But take a program like CPays, then the answer is yes based on my original idea that they have an open and responsive channel of communication with affiliates on the forum. And let’s be honest, the forums will be buzzing with opinions – it’s not like an affiliate won’t be able to quickly find out what people think. (If they dont respond and deal with issues, they lose their rights to advertise)
99.9% of affiliates here are here to learn and read opinions – the whole point of being here. If they just wanted affiliate programs and not interested in what others think then they’d be using Google.
Not sure if anyone here plays around with sportsbook, but a few forums HAVE stop taking advertising from bad books. no reason why a forum sponsor couldn’t either, if a bad rep came to be.
IMO there is no fool proof system and we all could be here for many months debating in circles.
I feel there should be a basic verification of some sort for any affiliate program that wishes to register. Have a poll when introducing potential new programs and let CAP members with a certain level of “rep” be the only ones allowed to vote.
All compliments and complaints against that program must be dealt with in their forum. I often see AM’s getting slightly pissed off because the complainant is using the forum. Once a complaint reaches the forum it must be settled in the forum for all to see. This way newbies, and other members, can see if the program does care about their affiliates.
The best form of advertising is “word of mouth”. Affiliates need to make their own minds up but they need a transparent system to do so.
Keep it simple and there will be fewer things that can go wrong. :hattip:
PS: If a program is de-certified for “shady” activity their forum must still be visible for all CAP members to see and the reason given for de-certification.
Just to play devils advocate I am of the personal belief that if there is a charge for certification there is room for corruption. Anyone can pay for advertising! If this certification process is to be respected then in my personal opinion certification is earned and not purchased. If webmasters involved in the online gambling industry are coming here for guidance about which aff programs are leaders in their fields then it is expected that there is a rigerous process to get that certification not the cost of advertising on this forum. Our group has been in this industry for years and have utilized many aff programs spent a great deal of time and “money” weeding out the crap so perhaps a certification process should really be about conversation amoung the webmasters here in an open forum as this would be the true measure of a legitimate program. Just my 2 cents worth.
I agree that webmasters could ‘rate’ the programs. Perhaps all members with 6+ months membership and minimum 100 posts could rate a program from 1 to 10 and their ranking is shown next to the progam’s name. Think of it as Casino PR.
@FictionNet 199620 wrote:
Perhaps all members with 6+ months membership and minimum 100 posts could rate a program from 1 to 10 and their ranking is shown next to the progam’s name.
That is an important point, because we do get fraudulent affiliates starting derogatory posts about programs that caught them out. These usually are first time posters and the above conditions would stop them from doing damage to the program.
Exactly, Dom. And it would also stop programs creating fake accounts just to highly rate their program
We could then have a top list of highest rated programs. The top programs could be given additional coverage – ie. “Top rated program of last month” or “2008’s Top Rated Program”.
Fictionet is right. I posted the following a few days back, but I think it got lost in the thread.
Do you think something like will work?
@Satya 199397 wrote:
A scenario how the certification process can work –
We need a metric whereby the following groups of people/ organisations can score the programs based on a fixed one time scoring and an ongoing variable scoring.
1. Auditing company
2. Opinion leaders
3. Affiliates/ members
The variable score can go up or down based on affiliate & auditing company’s feedback on the timely payments, quality of support, overall profitability and other parameters. I have put this together very quickly but some research has to done to get all the parameters and the weight age of the scoring right.I been playing around with a system based on my earlier post on this thread, and developed a formula, but is to early to say is a solution, but just a starting point. Hope we get input and suggestions, such as line items to add. Here is what I have so far:
General
Years in business
Agree to arbitration
Open door policy
Toll free number
Instant Messenger
Email
6 days a week supportPositive
Responds rapidly to emails (Same day response)*
Responds rapidly to phone calls (answers live or replies to VM same day)*
Active on forum(s) (replies to forum questions / comments same day)*
Pays on time (monthly number, assuming 4 accounts)Negative
Late Payments
Ignores email
Ignores Phone calls
Not active on forum(s)Based on the above, a program that is around 1 years, and good track record, would be a 1500. I will keep my math to myself for now, but anything under 1500 would be a stay away from type program. I am trying to make this number not have a cap, Therefore, the more program that participated, you would see the best and the worse. The other nice thing about this system, is if a program did NOT want to participate, you as the affiliates would be able to rate them anyways !! Just a start, feedback ? flames ?
Good post casinojack. Very good parameters for the scoring.
A few additional parameters on the overall profitability
– conversions
– player value
– player retention
– player deposit and withdrawal options with limits and time frame
