<b>Q: Network or in-house program — how do I actually decide?</b>

<b>Q: Network or in-house program — how do I actually decide?</b>

Decide on tracking liability and recruiting reach, not on the percentage fee. A network's 30% override buys you two things you may not be able to build: trusted third-party tracking affiliates already believe, and a logged-in audience of partners.

Go network when:

— You're new and have zero affiliate relationships to seed from.
— You can't credibly run your own dispute resolution yet.

Go in-house when:

— You already have 20+ active partners who'd follow you.
— Your margins can't absorb the override, and you have engineering to own tracking and fraud.

Caveat: most mature advertisers run hybrid. Keep your top 30 partners in-house on a direct deal, leave the long tail on a network for discovery and dispute coverage. Don't frame it as one-or-the-other. The override is rent on infrastructure you haven't built yet.

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