I was very happy getting several new affiliates every day, but when they asked for free content and then never started any promotion, I decided to make a test. Most affiliate programs care about partners a lot; this includes simplified registration processes with instant account activation, especially for those using NATS to let new registrants into their affiliate area, where they basically can reach everything.
The trends show that 8 out of 10 affiliate registrations are useless. Surfers have gotten used to the fact that they can get the content of any site by simply registering as an affiliate. And we do give content to affiliates. I registered to almost all affiliate programs to test how easily I can get through, how much content I can find and how the affiliate content would affect my decision to join a paysite.
The results were shocking and I think we in the adult industry should protect our affiliate content much better than we do now. For example, I love BangBros, but they reveal all their content to affiliates without requiring any proof that they are really affiliates. Sure, you can argue that you only give ¾ to affiliates and you never show the link to the final episode, but you don’t need to be a genius to alter the link of the third episode to get the final one, i.e. changing a URL like "clips_hi/es2468-3.wmv" to "clips_hi/es2468-4.wmv."
Or I could mention PerfectGonzo. They require one sale before they give affiliates access to all of their sites and content. For a smart surfer, it is really worth $29.99 to get premium access to 10 sites. So he visits the site though his affiliate link, pays and then gets his premium membership, plus the referral commission.
The only affiliate program I had difficulties in registering with was SilverCash, as they took the time to simply check if the domain name really belonged to my affiliate account.
But let’s take a closer look at what a surfer will get by registering as an affiliate: he gets access to all the picture galleries, all the movies galleries, all the downloadable content and even receives email notifications with direct links to the latest galleries, plus all the paysite content (in some cases). That is a lot of content!
For a general surfer who is not a niche addict, it is more than enough. And if it’s not? No problem, there are tons of other affiliate programs to register with. And what is the result? Lots of fake affiliate registrations and more importantly loss of profits for all of us.
The process itself is very dangerous, because the surfers who revealed how to get content without paying a dime, most probably will never pay again. So granting access to affiliate content for surfers causes losses to the entire industry.
But what can we do about this? The solution is very simple. If we want to stop losing money on the smart surfers, we have to revise all our affiliate accounts and check all new affiliate registrations before we grant them access to our affiliate content.
In this business we work fast. Most affiliate programs have 24/7 support. That is why I really don’t think 5-10 minutes (or even a couple of hours) delay in the account activation would cause any damage in the partnership with your affiliates...
