Publishers voice concerns over attribution and fair compensation in affiliate marketing

New Delhi: If you are a marketer, then you may have complained about the leakages in the marketing channels available to you, case in point 'publishers', but have you ever tried listening to the other side?

If you haven’t, it is high time you heard from the publishers about how they feel about working with the marketing folks.

On Thursday at the India Affiliate Summit (IAS) 2024, a panel of publishers gathered for a panel discussion titled ‘Charting the Affiliate Terrain: The Trials and Triumphs for Publishers’ to talk about the hues and cries of the publishers.

Addressing the elephant in the room that most large publishers work with—Amazon and Flipkart—Lavin Punjabi, Founder of Affinity, mentioned the pain point of all publishers, which is the attribution window. The problem being discussed here is that publishers may lead a user to download or purchase a product from these e-commerce giants but they don’t always pay the publishers for generating these leads.

Not being paid for your work is something no publisher likes and it’s a huge pain point for publishers. Explaining the problem, Punjabi said, “I somehow got someone to download one of their apps. Yeah, but they didn't buy now. They bought it 15 days later. But I drove the install. Is it fair for me to not get paid for that user 15 days later? No, right.”

Resounding the same bugle, Stephen Suryavanshi, CBO of Grabon (a website for coupons), said, “When it comes to repeat users, if a user is 3 or 6 months old and hasn't made any transactions, some companies treat them as new users. Even if I bring that user back, I've driven the communication across the digital ecosystem to get them to you. So why won't you pay me for it? So I believe their cookie attribution windows should be different.”

Providing more perspective on the issue, Sandeep Balani, VP of JioAds, said, “Any partnership works on a two-way street. It's challenging to identify who is publishing content—whether it's a blogger, a media company, or someone with expertise. The focus has always been on short-term value, but there's also an effort to identify and promote the best contributors for long-term value. The affiliate sector is an unorganised market transitioning into the digital highway and e-commerce transactions. While there are pain points, we understand that any easily accessible business will attract mysterious players. Technology and data can help identify these players and improve the system.

Post-COVID, the 'Content to Commerce' program in India gained momentum, collaborating with top content creators and news companies to push the affiliate program. They created value early on, but some are still catching up. Currently, Amazon and Flipkart hold the negotiating power. The affiliate ecosystem has been tarnished by bad players, and the new rules aim to control this. The goal is to create a cleaner and more organised affiliate ecosystem.”

“India has the lowest ARPU (average revenue per user) market, and the affiliate industry is at the bottom of the curve. When bottom fishing, you find hacks to overcome the ecosystem's challenges. The issue isn't the affiliate ecosystem but the market itself. 

Everyone is trying to optimise every penny and get the best out of the ecosystem. Currently, there's significant consolidation happening. The affiliate ecosystem will find smarter ways to leverage inventory and grow, optimising CPS and CPA models. But yes, there should be at least a one-day attribution window. A half-an-hour window is not justified,” Balani added.

Citing a personal example here, Suryavanshi called the attribution windows discriminatory. From the horse’s lips, “We worked with a pizza company that required a user to order a pizza within 30 minutes of downloading the app for us to get paid. I questioned this, asking if the user planned to buy a pizza later or what if his wife asked him not to eat the pizza. The app download should be valuable for the client in the future. Despite our efforts to bring in new users, we feel under-compensated. We provide significant transactions, value, and clicks, but the conversion rate and average order value metrics don't reflect our contributions accurately.

When validating users and data, we believe our website contributes more than acknowledged. Attribution windows are discriminatory, and our efforts aren't fully recognised. We bring many new users to clients, but the final compensation doesn't match the value we provide. This discrepancy needs addressing to ensure fair compensation for our contributions, as the current attribution windows are discriminatory.”

Moving forward, the panel dived into the subject of tracking the leads generated by the publishers. 

Commenting on how tracking is a major reason for loss of revenue, Suryavanshi said, ‘Tracking has always been a challenge, especially with big players like Amazon. Advertisers often use free platforms like GA or GFO to save money. As publishers, we work with networks to convince clients of the importance of data tracking. This helps optimise traffic, drive disciplined and clean users, and ensure month-on-month growth. Transparency in reporting is crucial. If I get a report after 24 or 48 hours, it's hard to optimise traffic effectively. For example, if I'm driving 100-200 transactions a month for a brand, I need to know in real-time, not after 48 hours, especially during peak seasons.

Real-time tracking is essential for effective optimisation. It allows us to respond quickly and ensure a successful sales period. If other partners agree, real-time tracking will benefit publishers, upgrade networks, and even mobile networks. It provides immediate insights, helping us drive better results and improve overall performance.”

Supplementing Suryavanshi’s thoughts, Anuj Bhasin, CRO at Jagran New Media, said, “As a network, we see extreme value in real-time data. Globally, there's a democratisation of content, and marketers are looking beyond their own views to focus on their business. When the attribution model starts working, despite high global commissions, they explore other avenues. The ultimate aim is to drive traffic to their websites and mobile apps, leveraging the power of information changes.

Currently, content creators must choose between marketing or aggregator e-commerce platforms. A powerful digital infrastructure and attribution model would standardise transactions, ensuring fair payment without debates. This would shift the focus from generating invoices to building value for each other. The goal is to be business partners, not just commission agents, avoiding blame and fostering collaboration.”

Speaking of a ‘trust problem’ in the affiliate ecosystem, Balani said, “Some marketers are trying to solve the trust issue in the ecosystem by offering free tracking, believing it will resolve problems. The core issue is trust, as everyone is vying for every penny. The person who uploads the numbers controls the ecosystem, often keeping an extra 10%-20% for themselves.”

Wrapping it up, Bhasin spoke of adding more value to the ecosystem by having more local player. “Just as Amazon envisioned ‘content to commerce’ 20 years ago, it's time for Vishal (VP of Jio Ads) to think about building a partner program from India. We can collaborate to extend sales beyond metros, reaching the 80 million transacting users, even in heartland and media-dark spaces. The goal is to be a valuable player, not just a short-term business. Scaling requires a long-term perspective, not just short-term thinking.”