🤔 What's The Deal with Meta's New Affiliate Tools?

Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another Affiliate Pulse!

It’s another busy week at Hello Partner HQ, but I’m still thinking about the PMA Brunch last week. On Thursday, we hosted an amazing event for industry veterans and PMA shortlisters to connect, celebrate and reflect. What stuck with me? Maya Raichoora’s deeply moving and inspiring keynote on mental fitness and visualisation. 

The room was full of industry heavy-hitters; people at the top of their game; professionals with decades of experience. But what surprised me was that when Maya asked the room if their mind was their enemy, many raised their hand.

So often, we compare ourselves to others and underplay our achievements, moving straight on to the next thing, but, for me, at least, those 30 minutes were a chance to pause, reflect and ruminate on mental obstacles. As Maya said: “You will never outperform your self-image.”

I also got the chance to connect with our top 20 Industry Icons, who shared inspiring stories of their own — keep an eye out for our Industry Icon montage. 

And this week, we’ve got a jam-packed newsletter, from Meta controversy and industry collaborations, to top tips on confident communication and repositioning affiliate. 

Now, let’s get on with the news.

In today's newsletter:

• Pick of the day: Meta Is Making Moves in Affiliate, But Some Creators Question Its Tactics
• Trending: Affiliate Needs to Write a Better First Chapter
• Industry Insight: There’s a Solution to Aggressive Ad Hijacking.

Pick of the day

Meta Is Making Moves in Affiliate, But Some Creators Question Its Tactics

In February, influencer and entrepreneur Julia Berolzheimer made a post on her Trade Offs Substack, alleging that Instagram was “stealing” her content to sell knockoffs via its Shop the Look feature.

We spoke to Tricia Meyer, Executive Director of the Performance Marketing Association (PMA), to hear what platform uncertainty means for affiliates.

Trending

What's hot on Hello Partner right now

impact.com Expands Creator Management Capabilities with YouTube’s Creator Partnerships API

The expanded collaboration with YouTube comes as brands seek greater visibility into creator performance.

Affiliate Needs to Write a Better First Chapter

It's time to switch into ‘agency operation’ mode, says Genie Goals’ Rachel Said.

Henkel Bloo Taps into Retail Media With WPP Media Partnership

The partnership strategy implements a connected retail media system, using shopper data and closed-loop measurement.

Consumer Journeys Are Changing, and Affiliate Must Keep Pace, Says Rory Sale

As last click falls out of favour, we spoke to Rory Sale about how the industry adapts.

Simon Hares Breaks Down Confident Communication and Negotiation

The Sales and Management Trainer says it’s important to know what you can and can’t move on.

Industry Insight

Stay at the top of your game

This week, we’ve got an antidote for ad hijacking from Ishtvan Torpoi. 

Ishtvan notes that while ad hijacking is a real problem in the industry, aggressive violators are easy to spot in three simple steps.

One thing to look out for? Negative impact on internal Google Ads brand campaigns, says Ishtvan.

Recounting his experience, Ishtvan said that Auction Insights didn’t surface the hijacker, but the damage to internal brand campaigns was real, all the while with no surge in regular competitors.

In this instance, he progressed to step two: looking for a brand keyword in Google.

​Ishtvan says that due to the Google Ads drop being so significant, he and his team were primed to find something quickly, and this is exactly what happened, both on exact match and other variations.

​“The affiliate was bidding so hard that they appeared right away.”

The next step is clicking on the ad and reviewing the redirect path. Here, Ishtvan notes that using the correct tracking parameters is important.

“Make sure all your affiliate tracking links include: affiliate name, network name.”

And once the account name is confirmed, action immediate removal and reject all commissions, he says.

According to Ishtvan, even if affiliates agree to run “a clean show,” they can still break the programme terms.

“And in such aggressive cases, they make our jobs very easy.”

However, there’s a caveat: if the affiliate is clever, manual checks aren't that effective, Ishtvan adds.

Amusing Affiliates

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Until next time,

Madaline Dunn Community Editor Email me Connect with me on LinkedIn