Affiliates, scared of the new no-cookies browsers?

[jscott]

Ok so this is just about as scary as can be for affiliate webmasters!!!! Now, with all the problems out there, how will THIS one be solved?



Article from Xbiz titled "New browsers may drop affiliate cookies! (http://www.xbiz.com/blogs/98444)"

"Microsoft announced last week that it was adding a "porn mode" to its Explorer browser. When enabled, this function will delete history and cookies after the browsing session is over. Mozilla's FireFox made a similar announcement today (http://www.xbiz.com/news/98426) that it was going to do the same.
While the idea of being able to clean up your tracks is an understandable point, there is a huge implication to the adult industry.
Cookies that are set from affiliate links would get destroyed. A surfer clicks from the affiliate site to a paysite. When they arrive at the paysite, a cookie is set to give credit to the affiliate should the surfer return back to the site. With the "porn mode", the cookies would end being automatically deleted after the browser session was closed.
With the cookies being destroyed after the surfing session, the affiliates will no longer be able to get credit. If the surfer joins the paysite when they clicked over, then the affiliate will get the credit, but the surfer behavior would be to check out the tour and come back later if it was something they were interested in joining.
Paysites will see a boom to their bottom line from surfers who are using this function, because they will end up seeing a lot of type-in or bookmark traffic that is joining without an affiliate cookie session. The paysites won't have to make the payouts because they wouldn't know who to give the credit to.
If enough surfers use this upcoming feature and affiliates are seeing a dramatic decrease in their commission checks, then affiliates will be in a really bad position as far as how to get compensated.
There is already a growing trend of affiliates turning into paysites. They have done their job in aggregating traffic to their sites and sending the traffic to various places.
With the notion of shaving and other fraudulent tactics, this cookie munging could be the last straw for larger affiliates to turn into their own paysites.
Fight the binge and purge!"

[Suckerpunch]

Yeah, I have seen this coming for a long time and you know with the current browser wars that any feature one adds the other will definitely adopt it.

I have long been considering starting my own paysite and this may definitely be a possibility with this coming down the pipe.

[nyllover]

Yes but... if we ALL build our own paysite... who is going to do the "dirty job"? I've always considered affiliates a big resource for any paysite...am i wrong?

I think that the solution has to be technical...don't really know which one but... "we" (as the industry) need to find a way to don't use cookies

[Toby]

"we" (as the industry) need to find a way to don't use cookies

Cookies will still work, but only during that user session. Once the browser window is closed the cookie disappears. What this means is that returning surfers, that don't use a link with an affiliate code, will not get credited to the affiliate.

I've not seen any data, so this is just speculation on my part, but I don't think that is all that high a percentage of total affiliate sales.

I'm not aware of any alternate method for tracking returning surfers.

[NinjaSteve]

Toby's right on this.

this function will delete history and cookies after the browsing session is over

So if they click through and join a site, you'll most likely get credit for the sale at that time.

[jscott]

We'll lose sales thats for sure, still unsure on how common it is for a surfer to find a paysite they like then come back directly to that site to join, those we'll lose on, definately a bad thing for affiliate sales that's for sure though :(

[Nurgle]

Cookies will still work, but only during that user session. Once the browser window is closed the cookie disappears. What this means is that returning surfers, that don't use a link with an affiliate code, will not get credited to the affiliate.

I've not seen any data, so this is just speculation on my part, but I don't think that is all that high a percentage of total affiliate sales.

I'm not aware of any alternate method for tracking returning surfers.

I think u will find its a decent amount.. surfers dont always buy on their first visit

[Suckerpunch]

I think a lot of users don't buy on their first visit. They may visit several methods of promotion before deciding to purchase a membership or not. I have had a lot of people contact me regarding memberships that they bought after being directed from my site under the misconception I own it and quite often the story is they've been visiting the site based on my promotion, galleries, banners etc and "finally decided to join".

For argument sake let's say only 10-15% of the people use this shopping method... this new cookie killing browser could potentially eat 10-15% of my revenue.

As for a technological solution? I think there's a possibility for something but let's keep in mind that it would be from the sponsors end. CCBill would most likely institute something perhaps based on ip tracking but I can't even begin to imagine what that would look like. Don't count on IE or Firefox to find a fix because they are doing this as an anti-porn move and are trying to be visitor friendly damn the consequences.

I have truthfully been considering starting my own paysite for quite some time. I will never see myself not promoting other sites but the reality is I could have a crap load of custom content shot for 10 - 15% of my total revenue.

My two cents.

[Toby]

For argument sake let's say only 10-15% of the people use this shopping method... this new cookie killing browser could potentially eat 10-15% of my revenue.

That depends on how they are returning to the site. If they've bookmarked a page on the sponsor tour, no credit to the affiliate. If they've bookmarked a link to one of your promo pages, then the cookie will get reset each time they visit.

In the case where they've bookmarked a tour page, even if they're not using one of the new browsers in stealth mode, the affiliate still won't get credit if they fail to join before the cookie expires, or if the surfer is in the habit of clearing his cookies frequently.

[Suckerpunch]

True enough Toby. It is hard to predict how this is going to affect us overall. CCBill doesn't tell you when the person originally visited the site through your affiliate link, how many times they've visited or when the cookie was originally generated. I was basically giving it a stab in the dark for arguments sake.

It will be very interesting to see how major sponsors and third party processors deal with this situation. While some sponsor programs may be rubbing their hands in glee, I think there are a lot of great people in this business who are probably already planning on how they are going to ensure their affiliates get credit for all the sales they generate.

[Toby]

...how they are going to ensure their affiliates get credit for all the sales they generate.

The only solution I can think of at this point is to insert the affiliate code into the url on the tour so that it appears within every link and url on the tour. That way any page that a surfer bookmarks then contains the affiliate code.

That still won't work if the surfer returns from some other link without an affiliate code.

But it also means that such links won't expire like cookies.

I'd be very surprised if any sponsors even make an attempt to offer a solution.

[Eddi]

sponsors have to search for a solotion.
sponsors need affiliates, if sales will drastically decrease affiliates wont send
traffic anymore to fhgs and sponsors wont make any money neither.

In every case one day there has to be a drastic change in that business, considering that as well, lety say 99% of all tgps out there are illigal, and
i am not talking about copyright infringments.
I am talking about letting minors access to free pornographic material, or do you really think that wussy descriptions like "if you are not 18 years you have to leave" helps keeping away minors from looking porn ?
lawmakers are not stupid as well. they will eventually change the laws. internet
is still wild west, with hardly any regulations. but there will come a change, not in 5 years maybe not in 10 years but it will come.
And what will sponsors, affiliates, webmaster do, if there is a worldwide regulation?
90% of all tgps and blogs will disappear. how will you make your living in porn than ?
only sites with somekind of registered membership will be possible. and that leeds to paid submissions and more paid memberships. only those will survive who have built up massive amounts of traffic all over the years and those who adapt to the rapid changing laws.

regards

[nyllover]

To be honest... i think you are seeing a world that will never come.
You are missing something: internet is a worldwide thing. Have you ever seen a law like the one you are suggesting being applied everywhere? I never did. Look at prostitution. It's legal somewhere, illegal somewhere else.

Internet cannot be regulated the way you are saying. It's the same conclusion discographic and movie majors are slowly coming to accept.

There will be a change, surely. But i don't think it will ever come an era where in every single place of the whole world internet will not be free.

Internet is not just the US. Internet is worldwide.

[Eddi]

Take a look where your members come from:
European Union, United States no more.
and yes it is more then easy and can come very fast, that those
two countries change laws.
The rest of the world traffic is worthless.

[nyllover]

True. But i just don't see what you see it's coming. Different poing of views? Optimism? Don't know...

[Eddi]

You can see it comming from all sides.
An example is recent xbiz article like above. It perfectly shows how only
a small technical change in a bloody browser shakes the industry.
Another example is the thanks god already dead discussion on .xxx domains.
And believe me, the ones who have to fear on that issue are not affiliates, no its the sponsors. of course there will always be porn and always be money in porn its just moving very fast.
Like 5 years ago 70% of paid memberships were from us clients and 30% from euro clients, now its vice versa. however its still possible to make even more money with ccbills fantastic new regional pricing system.
A solution for sponsors would be for example just to increase the revshare on euro clients, just to balance the "lost" signups which came without cookies.

[nyllover]

Well... i'm glad to be the owner of an italian foot fetish paysite then :D

[Eddi]

I know this thread is quite old (october) however I found this interesting article below about internet content regulations:

Rough times ahead buddies, as I predicted:

ROME -- While Americans fret about whether President-Elect Barack Obama will lead the country from center left or center right, Italy’s new president has made no bones about his right-of-center intentions. In fact, the G8 leader has let the world know that one of his first international pushes will be to “regulate the Internet.”

While addressing Italian postal workers, long-time media baron, real estate and insurance tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi announced that he intends to use his presidency within the G8 group to move beyond previous forms of regulation.

According to Reuters, Berlusconi informed those assembled that “The G8 has as its task the regulation of financial markets… I think the next G8 can bring to the table a proposal for a regulation of the Internet.”

Although Berlusconi is not yet G8 president, his term will begin on January 1st, 2009. Each member country takes turns organizing and hosting G8 meetings, as well as setting its agendas. Berlusconi was G8 president in 2001, during which time the annual meeting in Genoa was disrupted by riots.

Although Berlusconi did not elaborate about what he means by “regulate the internet,” the comment inspired deep concern among Italian pundits, with The Register reporting that the left-wing L’Unita observing that “You can not say that it is not a disturbing proclamation, given that the only countries in the world where there are filters or restrictions against Internet are countries ruled by dictatorial regimes: those between China, Iran, Cuba, Saudi Arabia.”

Berlusconi’s history of pressuring opponents into silence has inspired considerable controversy, leading The Economist to declare him not “fit to run Italy” and Italian bloggers to protest any attempts to clamp down on Internet content access. La Stampa reports that bloggers intend to display anti-Berlusconi banners on their sites.

Belusconi is currently in litigation with American critic Andrew Stille, whom he accuses of defamation.

Unfortunately for free speech advocates, the tone of industrialized nations has been supportive of declaring certain types of Internet content to be objectionable, with the UK both introducing new laws and breathing life into sometimes strange old ones in order to end access to online content it deems to be too extreme. Australia has poured enormous amounts of money into filters, each of which has been easily hacked by young tech enthusiasts.

[nyllover]

Well, to say the least, using "L'Unita" as a way to judge Berlusconi's words is... not objective. It's like asking Castro what he thinks of USA.

But a part from that, we've been hearing things like this in the last 10 years here in Italy, and i am still here with my websites open. We'll see what happens, but "regulate internet" doesn't necessary mean to censor it. The same people that are saying now that Berlusconi will bring Italy to a place similar to Cuba are the same people saying, since 1994, that Italy doesn't have any Democracy...

[NylonMichelle]

With all the things Berlusconi creates to protect his own business (and criminal things) I wonder why he was re-elected at all.

[nyllover]

I don't know... Maybe because people also look at what he does for the country? We don't have ANY alternatives here: he does his interests? Perhaps, but he is the only one that made something for this country in all these years.