Recommendations and Awards of Merit for Excellence in Affiliate Management Software

After you've done all of your research, which software do you ultimately select? While there is a lot of good, workable software out there, what is excellent? What is currently setting the standard? And what is priced well for the small to medium businesses that need excellent products?

I have developed the Web Marketing Today Award of Merit for Excellence to highlight the best companies. Here are my picks of four affiliate management software programs that deserve this special recognition, as well as others to consider. I will discuss my recommendations based on the various types of affiliate software....

Network Model

In the network model I see three clear winners. If price isn't a consideration, consider LinkShare. One of the earliest programs available, it is still leading the pack in innovative features needed by its clients -- large retailers.

Small to large businesses will find Commission Junction attractive. It has a large pool of affiliates, charges monthly minimums that can be afforded by smaller but active Internet businesses, and can tailor its program to meet about any merchant or lead generation need. It also offers the Commission Junction University every summer in Santa Barbara to help both merchants and affiliates increase their sales.

For small to medium businesses that are trying to control expenses, I think KowaBunga Technologies' My Affiliate Program (MyAP) is a winner! Its monthly price is a flat rate rather than a percentage of commissions like LinkShare and Commission Junction. KowaBunga's growing Kolimbo affiliate network is helpful in getting affiliates, and KowaBunga allows the merchant to "own" the affiliate. You'll find user responses (mostly positive) from 30 users in the appendix.

There are several good network model vendors, but LinkShare, Commission Junction, and MyAP win the Web Marketing Today 2005 Award of Merit for Excellence in Affiliate Management Software (Network Category).

ClickBank is extremely popular among small merchants selling digital goods and works well for many. But ClickBank hasn't noticeably improved functionality and commission flexibility for merchants. Another downside for newer merchants is that the ClickBank site itself makes it very difficult for affiliates to search for a ClickBank merchant by name. You'll find comments from 23 ClickBank users in the Appendix.

ASP Hosted Model

KowaBunga Technologies' MyAP moved from an ASP to a network model with the addition of the Kolimbo affiliate network, though they kept their flat rate pricing model. But instead of leaving the ASP hosted model entirely, KowaBunga spun off a lower priced AffiliateClicks brand, essentially MyAP minus the Kolimbo network and limiting number affiliate clicks and the level of customer service. Since KowaBunga keeps improving its software, offers excellent customer service, and has kept the monthly price at a very competitive level, I see AffiliateClicks as a excellent choice for a new business, with an easy upgrade path to MyAP as the business grows. While there are several fine programs in this category, I am awarding AffiliateClicks the Web Marketing Today 2005 Award of Merit for Excellence in Affiliate Management Software (ASP Hosted Category).

Another ASP hosted program to consider is Interneka Affiliate Software 3.0. It offers many features, and in addition to an ASP service is about ready to license its software so that it can be hosted on the merchant's webserver if desired. Several user comments are available in the appendix.

Licensed Stand-Alone Model

Since the licensed stand-alone software model for affiliate management software doesn't bring in a steady month-by-month service-based income, programmers can't spend as much time adding new features to the software. As a result, while there have been improvements in this category, I don't think any rises to the level of excellence set by the best of the network and ASP hosted models, so I am not awarding an Award of Merit in this category.

I am most familiar with Ultimate Affiliate Software, which I've used for several years. The very recent v2.3.0 upgrade added a number of important features, including shorter URLs and unlimited product graphics, which convinced me to stay with it. But other improvements are needed, such as more consistent responsiveness to customer questions. Other software in this category that holds promise includes Post Affiliate Pro, iDevAffiliate v4.0, and Paul Galloway's well-supported Your Own Affiliate Program (a stand-alone version of the affiliate program in his Synergyx shopping cart).

Integrated into Shopping Cart Software

I am unimpressed by the quality and versatility of the affiliate management systems that are incorporated in the 55 different shopping cart programs that have this feature. For the most part they are pretty basic, but are lacking flexibility and advanced features. For the most part I think serious merchants would be better off to select dedicated affiliate management software to handle their affiliate program.

Clickbank, discussed under network models above, is a hybrid, offering a basic shopping cart for digital goods sales along with an extensive affiliate network. Paul Galloway's Synergyx is a better software alternative but without an affiliate network.

1ShoppingCart offers an affiliate program, shopping cart, digital download feature, newsletter list software, autoresponders, and ad tracking all in a single package. Though its affiliate program is unexceptional, the overall package is popular with small merchants selling a limited number of products, especially those offering digital goods. For some, it's all the software they need to run an online business.