A vetting protocol for affiliate programs before you send traffic

A vetting protocol for affiliate programs before you send traffic

Context: affiliate income studies consistently show that a minority of programs produce nearly all of a creator's affiliate revenue. Selection, not volume, is the lever. Vet before you promote.

The protocol:
— Read the cookie window and attribution model. A 24-hour last-click cookie on a considered purchase is a structural disadvantage, regardless of commission rate.
— Find the reversal/clawback clause. High advertised commissions often pair with aggressive return-based clawbacks.
— Check payout floor and frequency. A $100 minimum on a low-EPC program can strand earnings for months.
— Ask for EPC (earnings per click) benchmarks, not just commission percentage. A 3% commission on a high-EPC product can beat 40% on a dud.
— Verify exclusivity terms don't block competing offers.

Caveat: program-supplied EPC is self-reported and aggregated across all affiliates, including outliers.

Implication: model expected value as EPC times realistic clicks, not commission times wishful conversions.

What we still don't know: realistic EPC distributions by vertical, which no network publishes transparently.