Please help us!!! (questions)

[Guard Dog]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

 

[Guard Dog]

[FONT=&quot]1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?[/FONT][FONT=&quot]<o></o>[/FONT]

Screenshots, screenshots, screenshots. Also, good information about VIP programs and promotional offers helps a lot too.
[FONT=&quot] <o></o>[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]<o></o>[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] <o></o>[/FONT]
I like having QUALITY banners. I like having HIGH QUALITY reports. I tend to promote places more if they have better reporting. If they have minimal reporting, I won't promote them at all.

Simple navigation is fine, but I would prefer complex reporting to something simple and useless.

[FONT=&quot]3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?[/FONT][FONT=&quot]<o></o>[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] <o></o>[/FONT]
Revenue share only - I don't see the purpose of CPA, I am in this for the long haul and prefer to build up a player base I can live off of.

[FONT=&quot]4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?[/FONT][FONT=&quot]<o></o>[/FONT]

10% subaffiliate share. Although I do very little of this, that helps.

[FONT=&quot] <o></o>[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?[/FONT][FONT=&quot]<o></o>[/FONT]

Good terms and conditions (surprised?), player happiness at the casinos, good revenue share, affiliate manager communication. Not specifically in that order.

 

[Chips]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

Screenshots, professional looking banners... ones without a ton of glitz. Tournament feeds, jackpot feeds

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

Income access software. Newest version for stats on the fly and good deep tracking for analysis of campaings, where visitors come from, multiple tracker set up.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Tiered Rev share on net

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

Multi level, 5-10% min on level one. And being able to track the effectiveness of the campaign.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

The brands reputation, taking care of players, retention, cashouts, service service, service. Strong network with active cash tables at all levels, micro to nose bleed.

Management that is active and approachable via multiple methods... MSN, Skype, email, caring and helpful and knowledgable. No pushy AM's, no spamming or begging to sign up. Respect.

On time payments every time. Friendly, multiple payment methods.

 

[Engineer]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

• Simple, plain text links. No javascript, no spammy title tags meant to help the casino rank well in the serps.
• Banners in various sizes without the ".com" included on the banner.
• Feeds, feeds, feeds.
• Detailed stats. C-Planet has the most detailed stats, so if you can duplicate what they offer, you'll be in great shape.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

• C-Planet
• Any NetRefer system
• Virgin Games

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Rev share based on net gaming is the way to go, IMO. I don't do CPA deals, and I don't like programs that base commissions on the number of "new" players sent per month. The number of new players should be irrelevant. The only thing that matters is whether or not the players (new and old) are making deposits.

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

5% is a nice starting point.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

• Whether players are treated well / player retention.
• Age of the casino (brand new = riskier).
• Whether the program has affiliate-friendly, AGD certified T&Cs.
• Commission rates. If the program offers a flat rate of 40% (or close to it), either publicly or privately, then I'm more likely to be interested -- assuming the other concerns I listed above aren't deal breakers.

 

[mlauriat]

• Simple, plain text links. No javascript, no spammy title tags meant to help the casino rank well in the serps.
• Banners in various sizes without the ".com" included on the banner.
• Feeds, feeds, feeds.
• Detailed stats. C-Planet has the most detailed stats, so if you can duplicate what they offer, you'll be in great shape.



• C-Planet
• Any NetRefer system
• Virgin Games



Rev share based on net gaming is the way to go, IMO. I don't do CPA deals, and I don't like programs that base commissions on the number of "new" players sent per month. The number of new players should be irrelevant. The only thing that matters is whether or not the players (new and old) are making deposits.



5% is a nice starting point.



• Whether players are treated well / player retention.
• Age of the casino (brand new = riskier).
• Whether the program has affiliate-friendly, AGD certified T&Cs.
• Commission rates. If the program offers a flat rate of 40% (or close to it), either publicly or privately, then I'm more likely to be interested -- assuming the other concerns I listed above aren't deal breakers.

I totally agree with Engineer, he has answered all of the questions very eloquently.

 

[ziggy]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

Qualtiy banners, at least a general review from which to quickly compose something on the fly for the time being; chat contact with affiliate manager: lets me know they are working with me.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

I like Brighshare; LuckyAcePartners (I can hear the boos) really provide a tremendous amount of marketing tools including screenshots, great landing pages, etc.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Revenue Share. I just have never had any luck with CPA - to the point now I just don't trust a CPA arrangement.

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

A lot offer 5% which I feels is too low. 10% seems more reasonable to me as well.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

Quality of their casino/poker site. And their help to me. If they help me; they will provide the same type of customer service via me to players if necessary.

 

[weasel]

I can't add much to what has already been said but important factors for me are:-

revenue share only - no CPA or tiered revenue based upon number of new/active players
no negative carry-over. Not a deal breaker but very nice to have

 

[darmac]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?
Banners are best for me, better at grabbing a player's attention.


2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)
I like G3/Playshare, Brightshare and Casino Rewards

Quote:
3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?
Revenue Share, I never made much off any CPA deals I have taken.


4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?
Definitely a higher % here also.


5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?
Good quality programs with good graphics, definitely a good manager to work with and a good customer service for members..

 

[ScottB]

Accepting US players is still the top factor for me.

Then the commission rate.
Programs that start at 20-25%, I am likely to give a miss.

Would rather have 30% minimum commission rate than extra sub-affiliate commission - Giving 10% for sub-affiliates is likely to reduce the primary rates.


Having regularly updated sites also helps a lot when considering which sites to promote more. If you put yourself in the position of the player and figure if they are likely to sign up or not.

eg Mainstreet affiliates offer great terms : 40%/no bundling/no carryover.
But their casino sites look very dated now..

 

[firstclass]

Banners , ofcourse ,

revenue share if you adress highrollers or if your business is well exposed , and good news only - put only reputable casinos that will satisfy the clients

 

[flyingscotsman]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

None; I only promote bookmakers betting sites and for these I prefer banners.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

Ease of use.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Tiered revenue share as this seems to yield greater commission; I don't generate much traffic.

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

None and nothing.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

Size of revenue share and reliability. The biggest problem is not receiving commission due.

 

[bonustreak]

Thanks for all the replies everyone it will greatly help us mold the forum to better serve all affiliates and affiliate managers etc ;D

 

[mojo]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

Banners and self changing banners. Easy links.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

Rewards has everything. I like programs with as few clicks as possible to get what you need. Quick access saves time that can really add up over a week.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Rev share 1st. Wager share depending on the program.

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

The bigger the % the better.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

Topmost is AGD certified and feedback from other affiliates and players. Also whether or not neg carryover and bundling. And definately No High Roller Term!!

Payment consistancy and AM response.

 

[Nandakishore]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

Text links, up to date banners - outdated banners should be removed - including banners on the newest games, jackpot tickers, tournament and news feeds to keep us up to date on all latest developments.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

No system is completely satisfactory, but C-Planet, Rewards and Brightshare are quite satisfactory.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

tiered rev share

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

5%-10%

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

1. A T&C that does not confuse 2. Reputation in the industry, especially in forums like AGD, CM and GPWA. 3. Commission structure 4. Affiliate Manager.

 

[TheGamblingGuru]

• Simple, plain text links. No javascript, no spammy title tags meant to help the casino rank well in the serps.
• Banners in various sizes without the ".com" included on the banner.• Feeds, feeds, feeds.
• Detailed stats. C-Planet has the most detailed stats, so if you can duplicate what they offer, you'll be in great shape.

Totally agree, if the banner has the website domain name on it a lot of players will just simply type that in the address bar and avoid going thru the affiliate, I know..I did that for years myself.

C-Planet absolutely has the best I've seen so far. The only other thing I would add to everything that has already been stated is for the programs to get rid of the Negative Carryover. The more I look at adding new programs the more I am finding myself looking for this one first. I refuse to add any more programs in the future that have Negative Carryover. Total BS IMO!

 

[Pokerkeep]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

Customized banners.
Custom bonus codes.
Money added tournaments for new sign ups.
Personalized landing pages


2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why?

Doyle's Room, and any others where the banners are easily selected and I can create my own bonus/tracking codes on the fly.


3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Rev share all the way.


4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

Minimum of 5% on high earning sites and 10% on smaller ones.


5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

Player and affiliate friendly T&C's.
Responsive AM.
Established/reputable brand name, proven track record.
Decent rev share plan.
Quality software.
Good selection of marketing materials.
Competitive bonuses/rakeback.
Unique promotions, for example; value added tournaments (guaranteed tournies with overlays), satellites to major land based events, reload bonuses, celebrity bounty tournaments...

 

[matted]

Answering the survey before reading results to avoid bias, so I apologize in advance for any duplication...

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos

I love things like XML feeds and sticky content. Auto-updating banners are high on my list as well.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

Is none a valid answer? It seems they all make you jump through hoops to get what you are looking for. Typically, the only search parameter I want is banner size.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

I wish casinos would switch to a rev share by player - That would fix the high roller problem. I'll explain this below...

But I'm still a fan of rev share - The payout is just much higher than most crappy CPA deals. And the hybrid deals tend to favor the casino even more.

The reason CPA is attractive at all is no blackmail... "Promote us more or we'll take away your players". You get paid once when the player signs up and deposits and there is no further obligation on either side.

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

I dont have time to waste referring webmasters. There are so few webmasters (who will make any money) versus many times more potential players.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

1. A good reputation (casinos and program)
2. The T&C are fair
3. They are willing to pay by check or wire to US addresses
4. I put high preference on programs which are US friendly


So - to explain my preferred rev share...

Go player by player... Find out the casinos lifetime earnings from the player. Calculate your commission. Subtract amount already paid to you for that player. The difference is your earnings for the player. If below zero, call it zero for the month and recalculate next month (starting from the debt position). Add this up for each player.

This way, a winner will not pay you comms again until the casino has a positive earning on that player again. And at the same time, the affiliate isn't thrown under a bus with commissions gone for months or subject to some unfair high roller policy... or have a whale removed from their account because they had a good month.

That's my two cents!

 

[Vrindavan]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

text link, auto-updating banners, professional design creatives, dynamic banners

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

bodog - easy and fast to select and grab banners

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Rev-Share

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

10% of sub's profit

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

ability to pay me : either bankwire or cheque
reputation
good conversion

 

[sipka]

Great discussion Andy, thanks for bringing it up! And now my answers:

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

• Text links without any fancy javascript and other codes
• Gif banners, so I can link them into my adserver for tracking and geotargeting, flash banners are often pain to work with
• Solid banners - no flashing, blinking 90's web style that burns out my eyes
• Progressive tickers
• Casino games I can put on my website (actually this one is starting to be very important as in my experience it converts really well

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

• C-planet is far the best
• Brightshare is very good to see favorite games and age groups
• I really love Netrefer, very slick appearance, ease of use, unlimited tracking codes, detailed reports

I am starting to be picky with programs, I hate when a program doesn't provide click tracking. I track clicks on my side, and if a program doesn't show me the clicks, I cannot compare which content converted on my site and which needs to be improved.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Revenue share for the win

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

5-10% is fine, not that much money, but every little piece counts.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

• AGD's opinion
• Casinomeister player opinions
• Payment options available: I won't work with a group that only offers cheque, come on, it's the 21th century! Moreover in my country cheques are very rare, banks are suspicious with cheques.
• I don't like negative carry-over either, but when a program performs very well, I can slip over this, actually I can understand the negative carryover policy too, the programs and us are sitting in the same boat virtually.

 

[Vrindavan]

>> I won't work with a group that only offers cheque, come on, it's the 21th century! Moreover in my country cheques are very rare, banks are suspicious with cheques.

no cheque, Then Bankwire please.

i hate cheque too. It is not modern. But
- cheque is cheap to send out and clearing fee is very low for me
- i cannot use Neteller and Moneybookers where i am based.
- there are always high currency conversion and withdrawal fees for other ewallets
- no other ewallet is widely used by majority/nearly all affiliate programs