Web Affiliate Marketing Blog

Yesterday I was approached by Affilinet asking if I was interested in running with a closed campaign for the Toyota Yaris. I welcomed the opportunity and within a matter of hours, had a nice list of keywords and phrases loaded on to Adwords and Adcenter ready to go. A quick bit of development on a simplistic landing page (with added content to keep the Google people happy) and we were set to go.

As stated when I accepted the campaign, I didn’t point any adverts to their website directly, but created a landing page with pictures and details taken from the Toyota website so to be sue I used only approved text and images. This way I was sure not to upset anyone… oh how wrong I was! Below is a screenshot of the landing page and I will be first to admit, its nothing fancy and was thrown together in less than 5 minutes.

Today I was contacted by Affilinet and was told “the homepage would have to be pulled“. So I am to pull the homepage, but I am not allowed to link directly to the landing page as per Google and the Merchants rules.

I asked exactly what the reasoning was. If it was something that could be fixed quickly then let me know and I could amend it now, but having looked at it, I couldn’t see any possible problems. It turns out that Affilinet are dealing with a Design Agency who I presume are running this on behalf of Toyota and it is them (the Design Agency) who have requested it be pulled immediately.

I am completely baffled by this, yet at the same time, not the slightest bit surprised that it has come from a design agency who, in my opinion, has no real understanding of how online marketing works. I am sure the people at Affilinet are just as baffled as me, but it appears the design agency were adament that the site was pulled offline as per an MSN conversation I had with them.

• Removed the MSN Conversation as requested. Sorry, wasn’t intended to upset you guys

I have dealt with Affilinet for over a year and have always found them to be one the few networks out there, that really do value their affiliates and the work they put into campaigns. I therefore know that this isn’t their call, and I truely believe they are confused as to what the issue is. If only design agencies could learn to work WITH affiliates and not expect us to be at the beck and call.

If they were not happy then surely it would have been better to inform the network or the affiliate, what the exact issue was, so that I could easily and quickly modifiy it. Instead I have paused the campaigns and am waiting to hear what the actual issue is. It’s so annoying for both the affiliate and the network!