Commission Junction Affiliate Review

Company Overview:monthly basis, not by the merchants. There is no set
Is the Internet a good venue for getting online leadsminimum commission per merchant. This means that if
and sales? Oftentimes, online merchants areyou earn five dollars ($5) each from ten merchants in
disappointed or disheartened and end up reverting toa single month, Commission Junction will remit fifty
traditional media for their advertising needs. Creating adollars ($50) to you immediately. Also, Commission
website is not enough. Submitting the URL (withJunction offers a centralized online commission report
appropriate Meta tags and keywords to make the sitefor all its merchant programs.
searchable) is not enough. Having a merchant accountAnother benefit that makes Commission Junction so
on your site is not enough. The best way to get theattractive to merchants and publishers is that they also
most traffic to go to your site is through the forging ofoffer their merchants the same two tiered program
relationships with other companies. Short of poundingthey offer their affiliates. This means that all merchants
the pavement or writing emails to anonymousare also entitled to the five percent (5%) second tier
companies who may not give you the time of day, thecommissions.
best solution offered by the internet today are —Commission Junction also offers a variety of affiliate
affiliate programs.programs that you can promote on your site. Aside
Commission Junction is a one of three ValueClickfrom the big name companies, Commission Junction
companies. Together they provide complete Internethas attracted the attention of many smaller merchants
marketing solutions to its clients and partners.that are highly targeted and are focused on a
Commission Junction's expertise lies in forging strategicparticular niche. This helps in targeting your site as well
relationships between publishers and advertisers;and will increase the opportunities of finding a merchant
thereby creating an open marketplace low risk andappropriate for your target audience.
high reward for its clients.Visitor Feedback:
Commission Junction is one of the largest affiliateI've read several comments about Commission
programs on the Internet today with over threeJunction on the Internet from forums and review sites
hundred advertisers in the UK, France, and Germanyand there seems to be mixed feedback, depending on
alone and over 1,700 merchants and growing daily.whether you are a merchant or an affiliate.
Their partners and clients include leading big nameMerchants have given glowing reports all around.
Internet and traditional companies such as Air France,According to the merchants, Commission Junction
Ebay, Microsoft, Palm, Razorfish, Thomas Cook, andoffers them a well-designed and well-implemented
Yahoo. Commission Junction ranks as one of thesolution at a reasonable price. From the affiliates,
largest ad networks in the world.though, there have been a few glowing reports and
Program Details and Benefits:quite a few not so desirable ones. Here are some
How does it work? Once upon a time we had acomments posted:
simple term for it. We called it "banner swap". Another· (August 23, 2001)I could spend all day on their site
was direct ad placement. Publishers would include adstrying to figure out which programs to choose from
or links to advertisers in the content of their websitethe thousands on offer. Don't make much money from
(oftentimes in the form of banners). This helpsthem despite the programs looking good.
advertisers in building their brand, drive up their sales,· (February 25, 2003) Hardly makes you any money
and decrease the acquisition cost of customers.even if you try hard. They used to be a good and
Income and commissions are generated by what wereliable bunch, but since they've left the pay per click
call "click through"s. This means that the publishersystem, they've gone downhill in many respects. When
makes money every time the ad is seen or clicked byI requested payment, next thing I knew was that they
a person. The commission rate is often set in batches,terminated my account, accusing me of cheating! This
for example, every 1,000 clicks, etc.was supposedly detected by their infallible anti-cheating
There are several reasons why Commission Junctionsoftware... I subsequently emailed them several time
is considered one of the best affiliate programs on theasking for an explanation, and they never replied once!
Internet today.What can you do! I'd say skip them if you're looking for
1) Commission Junction has a very competitive pricinga company with integrity. There are many around, like
scheme for their merchantsTradedoubler, Fastclick and Focusin.
2) They pay out commissions to their members quickly· (February 4, 2004 - from a 2-year Commission
and on timeJunction member) Commission Junction offer a
3) They constantly look for ways to improve theirfantastic business opportunity from people working
services by increasing the benefits of their clients (orfrom home (who have a website) wanting to earn an
affiliates) and encourage them to help in expanding theextra income brilliant companies on offer easy to join
Commission Junction network.and add links to - Their payment structure is second to
Commission Junction employs traditional affiliatenone - I now receive a guaranteed monthly check
commission models such as "pay per click", "pay perwhich is always more every month!
lead" and "pay per sale".· (April 16, 2004) Commission Junction seemed to be
Commission Junction's affiliate program offers agood, but I have just recently requested payment and
variety of benefits to its affiliates. The first is the twofound my account has been put on payment review
tier commission plan.for 30 days and then if they think I have increased
1) An affiliate can earn a referral commission ($2clicks they will terminate my account. This is very
up-front) by encouraging other webmasters orannoying and I don't think I'm the only one who has had
companies into joining the Commission Junctionthis problem. My advice would be to look elsewhere or
network (assuming they are not yet members of thedeal directly with the companies of which you want to
Commission Junction network) once they sign up. Forbecome an affiliate.
example, if ten (10) people click through from your site· (October 18, 2005) Commission Junction interface is
and all of them sign up. That means that the affiliatehard to navigate, keeps crashing. Stay well clear.
automatically earns twenty dollars ($20) in referrals.As you can see the comments are mixed. In the early
2) An affiliate can earn a five percent (5%)stages of Commission Junction's history there were
commission on all commissions generated by theirreports of undelivered commissions and inaccurate
referrals. This only applies to new accounts, and nottracking. On the up side, the last negative comment I've
existing members of Commission Junction. Forread was the one listed above (October 18, 2005). I
example, if all ten become active members and eachassume this means that Commission Junction has
one generates twenty dollars ($20) in commissionsironed out their bugs and has definitely moved forward
each month, then the first tier affiliate will earn anand been able to supply its merchant partners and
additional ten dollars ($10) monthly income. Thisaffiliates with the quality service they promised. With
translates into an annual income of around onenine months of glowing reviews, I think it is safe to
hundred twenty dollars ($120) — all from referrals!recommend Commission Junction to merchants and
Second, commissions are pooled together in onepublishers all over the net.
check paid directly by Commission Junction, on a