Use ClickTrade? Be Wary!
ClickTrade has grown to become one of the largest, and most widespread
affiliate programs on the Internet. They also offer advertisers
one of the least expensive and easiest to set up affiliate programs
on the Internet. I even choose them to begin promoting ClickQuick
about 3-4 months ago.
Unfortunately, ClickTrade has not been without it's faults, and these faults seem to be on the rise as of late. Over the last two weeks or so I have received an increased number of complaints about the ClickTrade program, from both affiliates and advertisers alike.
A handful of affiliates have claimed that their accounts were terminated without cause. ClickTrade said that they had artificially inflated click-throughs, which these affiliates strongly protested. Taken singularly this may not seem like much, since some affiliates do indeed participate in this practice. However, receiving no less than 6 such complaints in the last two weeks has me convinced that ClickTrade is cracking down on affiliates they suspect of abuse, and perhaps being overly harsh.
One affiliate had been using ClickTrade for quite some time and decided to take the plunge and open an advertising account to promote his web site. He depositing the standard $100 in funds to begin. Shortly thereafter, his account was terminated, with ClickTrade stating he was faking click-throughs. The commissions he had earned, as well as the money he deposited to start advertising were all forfeited. He says his emails of protest were met with an automated response from ClickTrade explaining their policies on counting click-throughs, with his subsequent follow-up asking about the status of his deposit completely ignored.
This seems to be a serious offense on ClickTrade's part, and could be considered outright theft by some. It also highlights one of the problems with ClickTrade's architecture: they combine affiliate and advertiser account balances into one account if you are using both.
Other affiliates have claimed that clicks are being under-reported compared to what their outgoing click-tracking software tells them. Previously I have also heard complaints that sales are not always being tracked correctly for ClickTrade programs that are pay-per-sale.
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