tl;dr – By understanding the differences between affiliate industries on either side of the Atlantic, European companies can successfully export their programs.
· Issue 29 · January 2015
North American Stumbling Blocks for
European Programs by Matt Wool
A
s the world of online retail grows increasingly global,
Additionally, large European advertising and marketing
many European merchants are looking to expand to
agencies have well-developed affiliate management. As a re-
the mega markets of the United States and Canada.
sult, there are fewer independent affiliate marketing agencies
However, many of these companies have stumbled with their
or OPMs. This contrasts with the United States and Canada,
affiliate programs as they cross the pond. Why?
where full service networks generally charge additional stand-
One likely factor is the difference between the affiliate in-
alone fees for program management services (with a few
dustry in North America and Europe when it comes to regula-
exceptions, such as Affiliate Window, which originated in the
tions, the agency/network landscape, and attribution.
United Kingdom), and large advertising and marketing agencies generally do not have affiliate practices.
Regulations
The result is a confusing array of management possibili-
In Europe, the IAB (an association representing the digital
ties that run the gamut of cost and sophistication, including
businesses of twenty-seven countries) has been instrumen-
many small OPMs with limited capabilities. European mer-
tal in creating affiliate industry standards supported by major
chants may assume most management is created equal in
industry players. These standards make operating an affiliate
the United States and Canada, and can be disappointed with
program in Europe a little safer than in the United States and
the outcome.
Canada, as much of the activity around software downloads, cookie stuffing, and other activities is self-policed by the industry, especially the networks.
Attribution Across Europe, it is increasingly the norm for merchants
In the United States and Canada, however, no such stan-
to look at cross-channel attribution to determine whether or
dards exist. While some networks make efforts to limit certain
not to pay affiliates. They look at their attribution model, and
affiliate activities, the onus is ultimately on the merchant to
if an affiliate is in a certain place in the click stream in relation
be the last line of defense. European merchants are often un-
to paid search, email, or other channels, they withhold com-
aware of this dynamic and may be surprised to discover cer-
mission. In the United States and Canada, changing payouts
tain behaviors that leave their programs vulnerable.
based on an affiliate’s position relative to other affiliates has gained traction, but companies rarely withhold commissions
Agency/Network Landscape
based on multi-channel attribution. As a result, when a Euro-
The delivery of program management services is quite
pean company looks at their US and Canadian affiliate pro-
different In Europe than in the United States and Canada. Eu-
grams, the data and costs could be quite divergent from what
ropean networks typically include a level of program manage-
they are used to.
ment services along with their technology platform services.
European affiliate programs can still find success in
The logic being that if they can help the merchant grow their
North America, but only if they keep these major differences
program it will increase the overall fee level.
in mind.
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Matt Wool is the General Manager of Acceleration Partners, overseeing day-to-day operations for the firm.