trends in affiliate programs and compliance in digital channels€¦ · slide 12 conclusions while...

Survey Summary Results

Trends in Affiliate Programs and Compliance in Digital Channels

©2012 MarkMonitor, Inc. All rights reserved.

Background

Unchecked, misguided affiliates can misuse trademarks and brands: siphoning a brand’s legitimate traffic; driving up cost per click rates on branded terms; resulting in unnecessary commission payments.

In this survey, ‘affiliate abuse’ is defined as violations of a brand’s affiliate program policies by misusing brands, trademarks or copyrighted materials on the Internet or in other digital media.


Does your company have an affiliate compliance policy defining terms and conditions for logo and copyright image use online?

The vast majority of companies have a stated affiliate compliance policy.

Yes 73%

No 10%

Don't know 17%


Approximately how much traffic is driven to your company’s website via your marketing affiliates?

30% of responders rely upon marketing affiliates to drive more than 10% of their web traffic.

7%

9%

14%

21%

21%

27%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

More than 20%

16% to 20%

11 to 15%

Don't know

6 to 10%

1 to 5%


While over half of the respondents are concerned about affiliate abuse, for those

directly in charge of their company’s affiliate program, 61% are concerned.

Slide 5

To what extent is affiliate abuse a concern for your company? (Rate 1 to 5, 1 = unconcerned, 5 = very concerned)

9%

22% 23%

18%

20%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

1(Unconcerned)

2 3 4 5(Very concerned)


To what extent are you concerned with marketing affiliates buying your brand names as “keywords” to trigger paid search ads?

Affiliates using branded terms as keywords triggers a high level of concern for 42% of respondents.

4%

17%

27%

16%

26%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

1(Unconcerned)

2 3 4 5(Very concerned)


To what degree do you think affiliate abuse is impacting your business? (Rate 1 to 5, 1 = not impacted, 5 = highly impacted)

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Higher cost-per-click (CPC) due toaffiliates bidding on keywords

Higher or unnecessary commissions

Overall increasedonline marketing spend

Brand erosion

Competition on keyword buys

Customer confusion


Affiliate abuse impacts companies most in terms of customer confusion and competition on keyword buys.

What examples of affiliate abuse have you experienced?

For the majority of companies, the misuse of logos and trademarks as well as the misuse of brands as keywords are the most common instances of affiliate abuse.

63%

48%

45%

29%

24%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Misuse of logos

Misuse of trademarks

Misuse of brands as keywords

Misuse of trademarks as keywords

Misuse of copyrighted images


Where have you experienced these affiliate abuses?

Companies experience affiliate abuse most often in website content and in paid search/search engines.

57%

39%

30%

29%

6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Website content

Paid search ads/Search engines

Social media

Email

Mobile applications


Do you currently have any solutions in place to monitor for affiliate abuse online?

The majority of companies conduct manual searches or outsource the monitoring of affiliate abuse, while 26% do not monitor for affiliate abuse at all.

28%

3%

26%

23%

28%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Don’t know

Use a technology solution

We don’t actively monitor for this type of abuse

Outsource to a third party

Manual searches


What methods do you use to enforce your affiliate compliance policy?

Those respondents that monitor for affiliate abuse choose to inform non-compliant affiliates via email.

3%

7%

28%

31%

33%

50%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

We do not take any action

We do not monitor for affiliate abuse

We remove the affiliate from the program

Don't know

We notify the affiliate by phone

We notify the affiliate by email


Conclusions

While most companies have an affiliate compliance policy in place and the majority of respondents are concerned about affiliate abuse, over a quarter of companies (26%) do not monitor for affiliate abuse.

Affiliates are responsible for driving a significant level of web traffic. Nearly half of respondents (48%) reported that affiliates drive up to 10% of their web traffic and 16% reported that affiliates are responsible for driving as much as 20% of their web traffic.

For those that are directly responsible for their company’s affiliate program, the misuse of brands as keywords in paid search is of greatest concern.

Companies often see the misuse of logos and brands as keywords by affiliates (63% and 45% respectively). As a result, brands experience customer confusion and competition on keyword buys. Those respondents that are more knowledgeable about their company’s affiliate program, also report paying higher or unnecessary affiliate commissions.

Although companies find the most instances of affiliate abuse in website content and on search engines, social media is a growing channel that brands must monitor for affiliate abuse.


Methodology

Online survey fielded to channel management executives; including marketing, branding and sales professionals.

93% of respondents were director-level and above and the majority of respondents were from companies with annual revenues of more than $500 million.

35% of respondents reported being directly in charge of their company’s affiliate program. Where appropriate, their responses are highlighted in the report.


MarkMonitor, the world leader in enterprise brand protection and a Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property & Science business, provides

advanced technology and industry-leading expertise to protect the revenues and reputations of the world’s leading brands.

More than half the Fortune 100 trust MarkMonitor to protect their brands

online.

To learn more about MarkMonitor, our brand protection solutions and services, please visit us at www.markmonitor.com or call (800) 745-9229.

About MarkMonitor®

©2012 MarkMonitor, Inc. All rights reserved. MarkMonitor® is a registered trademark of MarkMonitor Inc., part of the Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters. All other trademarks included herein are the property of their respective owners. The information contained in this report is the sole property of MarkMonitor and may not be used, reproduced, redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print and digital form without the express written consent of MarkMonitor and Gatepoint Research.

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