This last point is the key. Merchants already question the inherent value of any partner who doesn’t actually guide traffic to their sites to buy. Many discount voucher sites are aware of the fact that visitors already know what they are going to buy and who from but merely access them ‘last minute’ to secure a discount code. Hence the questionable tactics of opening merchant sites whilst reviewing codes in order to drop cookies.

As a network we are already working with certain affiliates on how to change these processes before merchants decide the value add for this specific sector is limited and either reduce commissions or withdraw for it all together.

If, on the other hand you can justify that your visitors are able to make a conscious choice on accessing any available codes and then choosing to ‘Shop Directly’ from your site you are covered.

This doesn’t always have to be a deterrent either, deep linking to relevant merchant sections or the specific voucher section can be an added benefit for the visitor.

As a final note, discount vouchers sites can be seen to hijack valid affiliate sales as the current ‘last referrer wins’ basis ensures they get to drop their cookies just before the sale, (possibly overwriting any genuine affiliate referrer cookies). So keeping on the right side of the road will benefit you both with merchants and affiliates.

Good luck with your ongoing project.

Kind Regards

Mark

I was thinking of maybe combining the “click here for code” graphic with a tick box saying “Also open the merchant site”. The user therefore has the option of clearing the check box if they don’t want to open the site.