Written by: Beau Blackwell, Community Manager

Today, ClickBank made a few changes to our Marketplace sales statistics in an effort to help affiliates better understand what they can expect to earn by promoting a particular vendor’s products. Several of these changes consisted of simply changing the name of the statistic, though we also added one new stat and removed another. This post will summarize the changes.

• Avg $/sale: This stat was previously called Total $/sale. This stat has been updated to reflect the total amount an affiliate can expect to earn from promoting this vendor’s products, including initial sales and rebills in the case of a recurring billing product. As always, this amount is just an average and is not guaranteed.
• Initial $/sale: This stat was previously called Avg $/sale. It represents the average amount an affiliate earns from the first sale of any product. For one-time purchases, this represents the total amount an affiliate can expect to earn. For recurring billing products, it represents the first sale but not any subsequent rebills. This number takes into account refunds, chargebacks, and sales tax.
• Avg Rebill Total: This stat was previously called Future $. It is only shown if the vendor offers a recurring billing product. This stat shows the average amount an affiliate earns on all subsequent rebills of a recurring billing product, and does not include the initial sale.
• Avg %/sale: This stat shows the average commission rate earned for all sales of a vendor’s products, including one-time purchases, rebills, and upsell purchases. Since vendors can offer different commission rates for different types of products, this number may not exactly match the commission rate you earn on any given sale.
• Avg %/rebill: This stat is new. It is only shown if the vendor offers recurring billing products, and shows the average commission rate earned only on rebills.
• %/refd: This stat has been removed from the Marketplace. Based on feedback from affiliates, we decided this stat was no longer necessary.

For more information on what all of our Marketplace sales stats mean, please see Finding Products to Promote in our Help Center.

Developers: We’ve updated the ClickBank Datafeed to version 2 to represent these changes. You can access the new datafeed here. The old datafeed will be accessible temporarily, but will eventually be removed. Please change to the new datafeed as soon as possible.

Take a look at these related posts:

1. ClickBank Analytics Improvements
2. Sort Your Way to Success
3. Download Our Recurring Billing Publisher Guide

Written by: Beau Blackwell, Community Manager

Recently, PayPal announced that they are increasing their processing fees on all PayPal accounts by keeping the fixed portion of their transaction processing fee in the event of a refund. This fixed-fee portion is typically $0.30 per transaction. The fee change is slated to take effect in August of this year.

We’re pleased to tell you that ClickBank is not increasing any of our own fees as a result of this PayPal change, nor will we pass this fee through to our clients for PayPal transactions processed through ClickBank. We appreciate your business, and are committed to providing you with the best e-commerce platform possible. Thanks for doing business with ClickBank!

Take a look at these related posts:

1. ClickBank Offers PayPal for Recurring Billing
2. ClickBank Adds New International Features to Its Online Platform
3. Important Changes to Product Test Process for Vendors

Written by: Beau Blackwell, Community Manager

We’re very proud to announce that starting today, June 17, at 1pm ET, ClickBank will begin hosting the Affiliate Marketing Today show on WebmasterRadio.FM.

The bi-weekly show, which I’ll be co-hosting with our VP of Business Development, Dush Ramachandran, will cover affiliate marketing trends, advice, opportunities, and risks for affiliate marketers.

We’ll have frequent guests, including top Internet marketers and affiliate industry insiders. We’re looking forward to sharing our knowledge and experience with you, and helping you get the most out of your affiliate marketing efforts.

For more info on the show, check out this WebmasterRadio press release.

Please leave a comment with any topics you’d like us to cover, as we’re always looking for great show ideas. Be sure to tune in later today to hear the first episode!

Take a look at these related posts:

1. New Episode of ClickBank’s Affiliate Marketing Today Show: Secrets from a ClickBank Super Affiliate
2. ClickBank VP Appointed to Advisory Board of European Affiliate Marketing Conference a4uexpo
3. New Affiliate Marketing Today Episode: Building Relationships in Affiliate Marketing

Written by: Beau Blackwell, Community Manager

Successful marketers have known for a long time that the more often you can get your product in front of potential customers, the more likely they are to buy. For traditional marketers, this has usually been accomplished by methods such as print, radio, or TV advertising.

In a move that should benefit affiliate marketers and vendors, Google announced yesterday that they’ve brought this same ability to remarket to customers to PPC advertising.

Basically, in your Google AdWords account, you can specify that you want to display ads for your products or site to people who have already visited your site from a paid click. Your subsequent ads will be shown to them in the Google Content Network, when they’re browsing other sites related to your product. This gives you a great opportunity to remind people of the benefits of your product, or offer them a reason to come back and check out your site again. It’s possible that the first time they visited your site, they just weren’t ready to buy, but after browsing around online, a well-written ad could be just what it takes to get them to come back and buy this time.

If you do AdWords advertising, be sure to check it out!

Take a look at these related posts:

1. A New Advertising Frontier for Affiliate Marketers: TV Ads?
2. The Next Google?
3. Advertising Strategy: Daypart Bidding

Mar. 16, 2010 – While Amazon.com moved swiftly last week to halt its business relationships with affiliate marketers in Colorado, ClickBank officials vowed to continue to work with affiliate marketers located in the company’s home state despite a new law that taxes affiliates’ sales.

Amazon terminated its marketing affiliate program in Colorado just eight days after a new law took effect that will tax affiliate sales. In what was viewed as a surprise move by some of the estimated 4,000 online affiliate marketers in the state, Amazon distributed a letter to affiliates saying the company would immediately cease doing business with them because of the new tax law.

But ClickBank, a global online retailer headquartered in Broomfield, Colo., says it has no intention of terminating relationships with affiliates or discontinuing its longstanding policy of collecting and remitting taxes to the appropriate tax authorities in various domestic and international jurisdictions.

“We will continue to honor our agreements with affiliates in Colorado and all other states in the U.S., and will continue collecting and remitting taxes in compliance with the new laws affecting affiliate sales,” said Dush Ramachandran, ClickBank vice president of sales and business development.

Take a look at these related posts:

1. ClickBank Stands by Affiliate Marketers Despite New Tax Laws
2. Our Response to the New York Tax Law
3. ClickBank to share insight on European affiliate marketing growth strategies at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas

Dush Ramachandran to lend international affiliate marketing expertise to a4uexpo board as plans solidify for Munich conference this May

Feb. 11, 2010 – ClickBank Vice President Dush Ramachandran has been appointed to the advisory board of a4uexpo, a European conference focused on bringing together top affiliate marketing specialists to discuss global industry trends and business opportunities.

Ramachandran joins other leading affiliate marketing experts on the a4uexpo advisory board including Sabine Haase, director of marketing & performance technology at affilinet GmbH; Alison Guise, general manager at ValueClick; and Missy Ward, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

“Dush gives the board an added dimension,” said Matthew Wood, founder and managing director of Existem Events Ltd, the company which coordinates the highly-successful series of a4uexpo conference events. “He has a considerable amount of practical experience and industry knowledge, not to mention a network of more than 100,000 affiliates to tap into. This is complementary to the many resources that existing advisory board members bring to the table.”

Wood said affiliate marketing opportunities in Europe are numerous and extremely diverse. The advisory board, he said, helps ensure that conference agendas, presentations and panel debates remain current and relevant.

“I look forward to working with the extremely talented and knowledgeable members of this board, and to helping ensure that a4uexpo remains Europe’s premiere affiliate marketing event,” said Ramachandran.

Take a look at these related posts:

1. ClickBank to share insight on European affiliate marketing growth strategies at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas
2. ClickBank Sponsoring a4uexpo in Germany & Offering Discount Code
3. ClickBank Executive Dush Ramachandran on Affiliate Boards

Starting early next week, ClickBank will improve the way vendors place test orders for their products.

Currently, each specific product is placed in Test Mode using the My Products menu. In the new testing method, vendors can generate a test credit card number that is usable only for their products, and which expires after 24 hours for security purposes. This card information is generated using the My Site page, and can be used to place test purchases for any product in the vendor’s account, whether it has been approved or not.

This new testing method will allow vendors to place test purchases of their products while they are still available for sale, which was not possible before. In addition, we will now send Instant Notifications for test purchases, allowing vendors to verify that Instant Notifications are working properly.

We will include more detailed information in your account once the test mode process changes.

Take a look at these related posts:

1. Using ClickBank Instant Notification
2. ClickBank Vendors: Create Your Vendor Spotlight Now
3. Affiliate Strategies: A Powerful Technique to Test New Products- Part 2

Jan. 27, 2010 - In the wake of several merchant account closures due to what major credit card companies consider ambiguous continuity program terms, ClickBank, a global online retailer, is offering several guidelines regarding best business practices for continuity program merchants.

Dush Ramachandran, ClickBank vice president of sales and business development, says clarity is key.

“If you are engaged in a practice in which goods or services are provided automatically, and the customer must either pay for the service or specifically decline it in advance of billing, you must be very clear and upfront about it,” he said. “This type of practice is not unethical unless buyers do not fully understand the terms or sellers do not accept the consumer’s decision to discontinue the service or return the product.”

Ramachandran said the need for transparency and a willingness to accept cancellations also hold true for offers with confusing terms or delayed charges. “Credit card companies are no longer going to support merchants engaging in ‘free’ offers that are not actually free.”

Finally, he said, customers must receive goods or services in exchange for a credit card payment and, for any offer, must provide an affirmative consent such as a mandatory “I agree” statement checkbox where the customer acknowledges the terms and conditions of the offer and consents to be entered into a continuity program.

“At ClickBank, we’ve found that the best way to avoid compliance issues and keep our client’s continuity programs up and running without interruption is to be completely transparent with consumers regarding the terms of continuity programs.”

Take a look at these related posts:

1. Online Retail Giant ClickBank Expands Services to International Markets
2. ClickBank Executive Dush Ramachandran on Affiliate Boards
3. ClickBank Offers PayPal for Recurring Billing

Are you a ClickBank vendor who would like to sell physical versions of your product, such as CDs, DVDs, or books? If so, please apply below to be part of our Shippable Media pilot program!

Some of the features of our Shippable Media capabilities include:

• Order form address capturing & editing
• Shipping profiles that are customizable by region and country
• Integrated ticket system support
• Shipment notifications
• Shippable orders report

If you’re ready to offer shippable versions of your products, or physical products that complement your existing digital product, please fill out the application below.

No more submissions accepted at this time.

If you are chosen to participate, ClickBank will contact you with additional information regarding the pilot.

Please note that only a limited number of respondents will secure a spot in the pilot, so we recommend that you reply quickly!

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission continues to make internet commerce a top priority. The FTC recent issued new regulations that govern the use of “endorsements” to promote products. Those regulations can be found at 16 C.F.R. § 255 or here. Note, the new regulations are effective December 1, 2009.

The new regulations cover all sorts of third party testimonials and endorsements—by consumers, experts and celebrities. If your promotions use customer or consumer endorsements, the FTC requires that the results described must be typical or, if not, you should “clearly and conspicuously” disclose that the results presented are not typical. Also, such customers should be “bona fide” buyers of your product, and not, for example, a fictitious person or your cousin who is doing you a favor. For expert endorsements, the person involved should have special knowledge that qualifies him or her to make the endorsement, e.g., if you use a doctor to sell a diet plan, that doctor shouldn’t be an eye doctor, but have special knowledge in the area of nutrition.

Also, the FTC requires all endorsements to disclose any “material connection” between the vendor and the advertiser. For example, if an affiliate runs a website offering an “independent review” of two products and gives a favorable review of one, they should disclose the fact that they are receiving a commission from the sale of that product. These rules also apply to third parties, such as bloggers, who receive a free product and are asked to do a review. Under the new FTC rules, not only should the blogger disclose he got the product for free but the vendor who gave him the product should make some effort to make sure that the blogger makes that disclosure.

Please review these new rules yourself and if you have questions, please ask your own legal counsel. ClickBank cannot and does not give legal advice to our vendors or affiliates, and our approval of your product does not constitute an approval of any specific marketing, promotion or endorsement used to sell the product.

Take a look at these related posts:

1. Using Trademarked Names in Affiliate Marketing