Jon Fisher, the forum fuhrer over at WickedFire just dropped a bomb on the entire industry today.  Read the entire post here.

As much as I like the folks at Hydra, I think you need to let them know that if they don’t pay you, you’re going to sue them, and then follow through. Affiliates need to start taking legal action against networks when the networks decide they aren’t going to pay. If a network’s terms clearly state that they won’t pay you because of issues on the advertiser’s end, then DO NOT WORK WITH THEM.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY.

To all affiliates:

From now on, get in WRITING (can be an email too) that YOU as the affiliate will get paid as long as you follow the rules.

The whole fucking point of a network’s existence is to be the middleman between the affiliate and the advertiser. If networks keep pulling shit like this (which they have been since the beginning) there should be some sort of affiliate uprising. Unless affiliates start taking action against the networks, the networks will just keep screwing you guys over.

I really don’t get it.. As an advertiser, we get leads that we wish we didn’t have to pay for, but we do it anyway. Why? Because that’s what the contract states. We pay for specific actions, once those actions are completed, its up to us to turn them into customers, not the affiliate’s job. The affiliate’s job is simple. Follow the rules and promote the offer, that’s it. Once their job is done, its our job to complete the rest.

So if Hydra doesn’t pay you, boycott them. Sue them. Cause so much unrest until they fucking pay you. This goes for ANY network out there. If you as an affiliate, followed the fucking rules, and a network says they aren’t going to pay you because the advertiser didn’t pay them? Well, too fucking bad. As a network its their JOB and sole existence to pay you for what you did.

For the networks:

Don’t you think it’s about goddamn time you start making your terms, rules, contracts tougher for the advertisers? You guys bitch and moan about how bad some affiliates are, well what about how bad the advertisers are?!

How about requiring deposits or suing the shit out of advertisers who don’t pay? Or tacking on heavy fines/fees for advertisers who don’t pay? You guys are supposed to have a considerable amount in cash reserves to be able to pay the affiliate first before getting paid by the advertiser, that’s the way the business worked for years. That’s the whole fucking point of being a network, is so affiliates go through you guys instead of directly to the advertiser, and you guys take care of TRACKING and quicker PAYMENTS. Networks who can afford it, pay out quicker than the standard NET 30. If you can’t fucking afford to pay out weeklies or less than NET 30… DON’T FUCKING DO IT!

I’m getting so sick and tired of hearing about affiliates who do follow the rules and don’t get paid, and then about affiliates who don’t follow the rules but do get paid.

Hell, WickedFire will even help you guys by creating a database of delinquent advertisers so other networks don’t get fucked and so you networks run into these issues less and less. (see affiliate manager section)

You know what, instead of bitching about all of this let’s see if we can get a network to change right away:

Here’s an incentive for you networks to change the way you do business…

To the first TWO networks that change their Terms of Service to address this huge issue mentioned in this thread and hereby agrees to finally back the affiliate more than the advertiser, and agrees to pay the affiliates in FULL, I’ll give you guys 3 months free advertising on WickedFire (728×90 leaderboard RON AND your own section for six months – worth over $35k total). — You MUST change your rules and prove so, don’t just email me and say “we already do this” because it’s a fucking lie. NO network I know of takes the side of an affiliate and pays them in full (full amount they are owed) and acts the way a network should act anymore and its a fucking disgrace.

Don’t do it for the incentive, do it because it’s about goddamn time one of you steps up and does something for the affiliate, the guys who make and break you sons of bitches. You’ll not only win a boatload of free advertising, but the respect and trust of the hardworking affiliates who DO follow the rules.

Related posts:

1. Affiliate Managers and Azoogle piss me off
2. Hit the Streets Marketing
3. Affiliate Manager Expectations
4. I quit Affiliate Marketing and went to Mexico!
5. Do you advertise in a country that speaks a foreign language?