Last week we spoke about the different types of fraud in affiliate marketing. In our second part fraud series, we will be going into details of the consequences.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS OCCURS?

• The affiliate will be blocked from their affiliate network. Once a network suspects an affiliate of partaking in fraudulent activities, the affiliate network will have not hesitate to block them and prevent them from continuing to promote the offers through illegal ways.
• They will be blacklisted in the industry. Affiliate marketing is a community project. Affiliate networks share knowledge about their affiliates. Hence if an affiliate has got a bad reputation, chances are, other affiliate networks would know about them.
• Their affiliate network reserves the right to not give them their payouts if they find out that their leads were fake.

CONSEQUENCES OF AFFILIATE MARKETING FRAUD;

1. It is a bad practice that reflects poorly on affiliates especially those who follow the rules. For some affiliates, they abide by the rules and the laws and doing affiliate marketing is their sole income source.

2. Gives affiliate marketing a bad reputation. For many years, Affiliate Marketing was questioned as being a scam and not many people trusted in it or knew what it was and how it worked. With more affiliate marketing fraud happening, it will only continue to give affiliate marketing a bad reputation.

3. Affiliate networks face the risks of losing their advertisers. Brands who promoted their products through affiliate marketing were exposed to fraudulent activities and fake leads. Payouts were given to the affiliates for their leads, however a number of the leads were fake and there were actually no potential sale. There brands would not want to rely on affiliate marketing to promote their products again. Affiliate networks who do not own their own exclusive products will be at a lose if brands do not want to work with them anymore. The affiliates will not be blamed, but the affiliate network themselves.

4. Fraudsters leaving bad reviews. Direct Affiliate can personally say that we have encountered  a number of such fraudsters over the past few months. As stated, upon further detailed research on their traffic, we are confident that their leads were fake and hence have refused their payouts that have accumulated to over hundreds of dollars.

One of the most difficult characteristics of affiliate fraud is that tactics evolve instantly. When one method of fooling the system is detected and blocked, fraudsters will simply find or create a new strategy.

Do you have any feedback ? If you`re reading this as an affiliate, merchant or network we would love to hear your thoughts on this important subject. If you have yet to read our previous article on the Types Of Fraud In Affiliate Marketing, please do not forget to do so. In the meantime, stay tuned for our final series in Affiliate Marketing Fraud as we speak about how we detect and prevent such fraudulent activities at Direct Affiliate.

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