PublisherSpot

Updated - 27/10/2008

Go to www.cj.com

Easily one of the largest affiliate networks on the Internet today is Commission Junction. Commonly referred to as CJ.com for short, Commission Junction is home to a wide variety of advertisings, ranging from large corporations to small startups. This provides publishers with access to a number of different affiliate opportunities, promoting well-known products as well as ones that cater to a very small and specific niche. Instant approval of a publisher application is also a definite plus, especially for beginning publishers who don’t have impressive traffic numbers yet.

Like other affiliate networks, Commission Junction boasts a large number of different advertisers. Instead of operating on a pay-per-click basis or on the basis of the number of ad impressions, the advertising offering through Commission Junction is based on sales and leads. Publishers earn a commission when a site visitor fills out a form or completes a sale with the advertiser.

One of the features that sets Commission Junction apart from the competition is the SmartZone. With a SmartZone, a publisher can assign multiple campaigns and ad creatives within a single location on his or her website. The code remains the same on the website end of things and adjustments to what ads are being served in that SmartZone are edited through the Commission Junction interface. Publishers can define the SmartZone based on the type of ad creative being served as well, choosing between different text link lengths and banner sizes.

The Commission Junction control panel, also called the CJ Account Manager, is broken down into five broad sections, each of which is represented by a tab near the top of the screen.

Under the Home tab, publishers gain access to “at a glance” information about their accounts. On this page are CJ announcements and messages, program performance for 3 months and 7 days (EPC), quick account stats (commission earned, leads, clicks, impressions, etc.), trend graphs, and new advertisers. Many of these areas can either be hidden or edited to suit the needs of the publisher.

Under the Account tab, publishers find three sub-sections: Administrative Settings, Website Settings, and Services. For the Administrative Settings, publishers can change their personal information, apply for the CJ Performer program (for high-level affiliates), and edit the payment information. This is also the page where the publisher can add and edit the different users under the account. That is the section for changing a user password, for example. The Website settings are where publishers can add new websites and edit existing ones. Finally, the Services tab shows any services that have been enabled for that particular account.

The third tab is Get Links. It is here where publishers can review the various affiliate offers from the CJ advertisers. They can be found through general categories, through an advertiser list, or by relationship. Publishers can also search based on the name of the advertiser, the link, or the product. The Get Links tab is also where publishers can retrieve SmartZone settings. The SmartZone is described further under the Features section in this review.

The fourth tab is Run Reports. Publishers can review both performance reports and transaction reports here. There are a wide range of both types of reports, generating information based on commissions, clicks, sales, and payments.

The fifth and final tab is Mail. This is the internal messaging system for Commission Junction, connecting publishers with advertisers on a more personal basis. Mail can be organized by folders and messages from advertisers can be forwarded directly to a chosen email address.

Registering for a publisher account on Commission Junction is comprised of two steps. After clicking through the application form (found under Publishers on the main page), applicants are asked to fill three initial fields: language preference (English, French, German, or Spanish), country, and functional currency (Euro, US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Swedish Krona, or British Pound). The functional currency determines the minimum payment thresholds. For example, the minimum payment threshold for the US dollar is $25, whereas the minimum for the Canadian dollar is $35.

In the second half of the application, the prospective publisher will need to read and accept the Commission Junction access service agreement and the privacy policy. In this second half, the applicant will also provide basic website information, contact information, company information, tax information, and payment information.

There are no minimum traffic requirements. Commission Junction publisher accounts are approved instantly.

Publisher support through Commission Junction (CJ.com) is not as extensive as one may experience at other affiliate networks. Each publisher is not typically assigned an account manager and, thus, each publisher typically does not have a personal point of contact at CJ.com.

For the vast majority of inquiries, publishers are faced with three primary options. First, they can search through the available information in the help library. Second, they can check through the documented questions and answers in the FAQ section. Third, they can submit a question to the Commission Junction client services team for further assistance. The status of the question can be reviewed through the control panel, as well. All three support options can be found through the “Contact Us” link near the top-right of the CJ.com control panel.

Commission Junction offers two payment options for publishers. They can either opt to receive a check in the mail or they can choose direct deposit. For the latter to work, obviously, publishers would need to provide Commission Junction with the appropriate banking details and direct deposit may not be available in all countries. There is no fee for either choice.

For both checks and direct deposit, Commission Junction issues payments once a month. Processing of the payments begins on the 20th of each month for the preceding month, typically being issued before the end of that month. For example, publishers can expect their November commissions to be paid out between December 20 and 31. The minimum payment threshold is $25, though publishers can set a higher threshold if they prefer.

According to the FAQ, Commission Junction does not have an active referral program for publishers at this time. This is very unfortunate, because it would benefit both the current publisher and Commission Junction if the latter offered a referral program. Most affiliate networks have a referral program of some kind, usually offering either a flat “finder’s fee” or a percentage of the referral’s income over a certain period of time, so there’s no reason why Commission Junction can’t do the same.

For many Internet startups, Commission Junction is the preferred affiliate network for marketing their new online product or service. In this way, publishers gain access to many niche products that may not be available through other networks, as well as bigger name advertisers with better-known product lines. The SmartZone feature offered by CJ.com is also very useful, as it allows publishers to create a more dynamic ad experience on their respective websites. Other positives include the relatively low payment threshold and the instantaneous approval of the application.

There are two areas where Commission Junction needs some serious improvement, however. First, there is no referral program. Publishers need to be motivated to refer additional publishers (and advertisers), and a lucrative referral program is a great way to do that. Second, the documentation is not very straightforward, especially for a control panel that can be a little difficult to navigate. Changing an account’s password should be a very easy exercise. It would be very useful if the Help and FAQ sections were more clearly available to the publisher, perhaps in the form of links near the top or bottom of the page. This information should be available without having to log into an account. In the FAQ, basic information like payment frequency, payment options, payment thresholds, and so on should be included.

In the end, Commission Junction is definitely a solid choice for a publishers looking for a good affiliate advertising network. It’s not surprising that CJ.com has grown to become one of the biggest affiliate networks today.

1 Comments