Some advantages and disadvantages i would like to share:
Advantages
1. The products and services of the advertisers (merchants) are more reliable and well-known (i.e. known software companies and known brand advertisers)
2. Variety of advertising links are available, for the affiliates: various banners, text links, product links, and search boxes. (so you may choose best which msuits your needs)
3. The commission is managed and paid by CJ (Commission Junction) and not through the merchants, thus no payment delays.
4. Payment options: Direct Deposit (selected countries / or on special request) OR via “Checks”.
5. Better tracking reports, providing (optional) link encryption and capability to hide the tracking code in link.
6. Instant Publisher Approvals.
Though there could be possibly more advantages but i have mentioned all, which currently i could remember.
Now some bad things…
Disadvantages
1. The payment threshold for the publishers is $50 for direct deposit and $100 for paper check. (for small publishers this is a dis-advantage)
2. Bad to below average Customer Support. So expect longer response times.
3. Affiliates earned commissions are protected only for six months when the amount itself too small to be paid out.
4. Some offers need to be “approved” by the merchants and handling rejection and asking approval can be painful. (Yes truely painful most of times, when many known Brand advertisers will take a lot of time to approve you manually).
BUT….
Just like any other CPA – Affiliate Ad Network, CJ also does has its strict policies, and those Publishers/Partners who fail to generate a successful and valid sale (also known as ‘lead’) during first five months period, in that case the publishers commission junction account is de-activated (or suspended) and goes into dormant state after passing next 30 days (if no Zero figure remains during this period as well – so 6 months in total).
Following is the email which usually a Publisher will receive in the said case:
Dear ABC,
You are receiving this email because your Commission Junction publisher account has not generated any valid commissions during the last five months. Commission Junction is committed to maintaining a dynamic and productive marketplace. Consequently, per the Publisher Service Agreement, we regularly deactivate accounts that are not actively earning commissions and do not have a sufficient balance amount. Your account has been deemed inactive and is scheduled to begin the dormancy process in the next 30 days. What that means is that beginning 30 days from now, your account will begin accruing a monthly dormant account fee against any balance that currently exists in the account. Once the account has reached a zero balance, the account will be deactivated. This fee only applies to dormant accounts that currently show a balance; if your account currently has a zero balance, no fees will be assessed and your account will be deactivated immediately following the next 30 days of inactivity. Please note that once your account is deactivated, you will not track or earn commissions and your advertiser relationships will expire if you do not reactivate the account within the first 90 days of dormancy.
How exactly to Save and Prevent Commission Junction – CJ Account from Deactivation?
Commission junction not only informs affiliate about the inactive status of his account but also gives useful suggestions to prevent commission junction account from going into dormant state. Below are given those tips which can prevent account deactivation at commission junction.
If you no longer wish to keep this account active, simply disregard this email and your account will be deactivated in 30 days through the normal process described above. If you wish to continue using this account, here’s what you can do to get your account into active status:
- Generate a commission before your account is deactivated. Deactivation will occur only 30 days after the account balance has reached the zero mark, or 30 days from the notification date.
- If you are unable to generate a commission within the next 30 days, your account will enter the dormancy state. If this happens, than simply log in back to your account within 180 days from the day of deactivation and follow the prompts for reactivation. This will reactivate your account with no consequences except for loss of tracking records between date of deactivation and reactivation date and the loss of any advertiser relationships between this time will be an additional minus mark.
- You may call Commission Junction Client Support anytime (in case of problems with reactivation process) and request for your account to be restored. You may call them at 1-800-761-1072. They are available from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm U.S Pacific times, Monday to Friday, excluding company holidays. Client Support can only reactivate accounts once they are dormant; Client Support cannot prevent an account from going dormant. If you do not wish for your account to go dormant, the only way to prevent the status change is to earn a commission within the next 30 days.
If you have any questions at any time, please call them at the number above or email them using the Contact Us link in your CJ Account Manager.
