Operating in the Performance Marketing arena since 2002, Clickbooth has seen countless changes in our industry. One constant that will forever remain is the importance of traffic quality. Quality traffic delivery is the heartbeat of every successful performance marketing relationship.
Relationships are disrupted when affiliate fraud is introduced. The impact is felt on every level, from the advertiser and affiliate levels, all the way to the end consumer. In Performance Marketing, your name and reputation are on the line with every click. As a result, our compliance department attacks fraud head on with a multi-tiered approach. We begin with a rigid affiliate approvals process, followed by a sophisticated monitoring system and auditing process.
We all know the saying “one bad apple can ruin the bunch”, and that holds true in the world of affiliates. The ever-present practice of affiliate fraud creates an uneven playing field for those affiliates who truly want to do things the right way. As an organization, we have found that a stringent initial screening process is key in mitigating fraud. Typically, individuals who are willing to resort to fraudulent practices are looking for the easy way out. The more that is required of the affiliate applicants, the less likely they are to follow through with the entire vetting process. This ensures that the affiliates we do approve share our same interests – delivering quality traffic. We recommend that advertisers research the affiliate approval process employed by all of their traffic sources. After all, these are the prospective marketers who will be promoting their brand or service, and it benefits them to understand what kind of screening process their business partners are utilizing.
The most diligent approval process is a necessary element to providing industry-leading quality, but fraud prevention doesn’t stop with partner selection. Rather, it’s an ongoing process and one that must include a comprehensive traffic monitoring system. Utilizing third party monitoring services and proprietary technology allows for us to have a complete overview of the traffic running through our platform. Technology driven monitoring, however, is not where fraud detection should end. Fraud monitoring through technology can always be enhanced by in depth reviews conducted by expertly trained eyes that can provide a more enriched analysis of the data. With that in mind, Clickbooth continually conducts regularly scheduled audits to enhance our monitoring levels.
Having a dedicated compliance team allows us to focus our attention on constantly learning and adapting to the ever-changing nature of the market. Bad actors will always be looking for new ways to surreptitiously deliver fraudulent traffic, and we believe that, as the people overseeing the quality of the traffic on our exchange, we must be willing to be innovative in our detection practices. Clickbooth made the ongoing commitment to put compliance at the forefront of our business because we recognize the importance of “performance” in performance marketing.
