"We use DirectTrack for our own program."
We do not have an in-khouse fraud prevention system other than on the accounts payable side. They look for things regarding the order, credit card etc. but that's on the customer side - not the affiliate.
I wasn't actyually here when the program was set up - but I suspect the company decided not to invest in fraud prevention software due to ignorance of the need and the fact that CJ's network quality looks for fruad, as Linda mentioned.
Is CJ's system good enough or should we have an in-house system as well?
"We require that all applications fill out a W8/W( at the time of applying which is a new feature I have added."
CJ requires that publishers turn in their tax information before they can get paid - however, a publisher can be approved for an affiliate program, post links and make sales without providing this information.
What do you think about this?
To me just not allowing a fraudulent publisher to get paid is only a fraction of the issue. They are still partnered with our company - they are posting our links and promoting our brand. This in and of itself could be damaging to our program in terms of credibility.
It seems like CJ is a bit behind the times a lot of Affiliate 2.0 issues. Shawn Collins blogged yesterday that:
"CJ merchants benefit from the ability to customize affiliate program sign-up and login areas, allowing Commission Junction powered affiliate programs to finally provide a branded experience for affiliates."
CJ also seems to be behind the pack a bit when it comes to requiring tax information. LinkShare has a portion of their application where applicants are required to give their tax information before they are approved. Publishers also have to turn in a hard copy - but as you say, giving tax info upfront can help scare away those committing fraud.
I know CJ is and has been a big dog in affiliate - but don't you think they're a little underdeveloped when it comes to keeping up with tools, issues and technology?
I'm going to submit an incident requesting whether I can do a customer build of the application to include tax info beofre approval. If I can't do it now I'll at least suggest that they implement this - perhaps they're already considering it with all the LMI and web services changes.
I'll definitely start doing the Alexa and Whois look ups right away. It's going to make my application review task a much more time consuming task - but I see the value in spending that additional time.
Please feel free to "go on and on" on this topic.
Another ? : is there a whois site that you like best?
Thanks again,
Sarah
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