Interview on Affiliate Program Software, Post Affiliate Pro and More

One of the more popular solutions for in-house affiliate program tracking and management is Post Affiliate Pro by Quality Unit. I’ve known Viktor Zeman, the CEO of Quality Unit and one of the original developers of this software, for some time already. So, I decided to reach out to him to ask a few questions about affiliate program tracking options in general, and his software (which per Quality Unit is being used by some 15,000 affiliate programs worldwide) in particular. Today I am publishing the interview here:

Viktor Zeman - CEO of Quality UnitGP: What are the benefits of running an affiliate program on an in-house software versus an affiliate network?

VZ: One of the most important advantages is that the merchant has full control over his affiliate program and can communicate with his affiliates without any restrictions. He defines the rules and controls them. With affiliate networks you need to comply with their rules, which sometimes do not exactly suit you. The next reason for having an in-house affiliate program is that it is more efficient to operate a program on your own, and not to share profit with affiliate network. Over the past years I saw multiple clients who migrated from affiliate network to own in-house affiliate program or use both options at same time. The general sales trend we’re seeing shows that each month we sell more and more copies of Post Affiliate Pro, what means, that more and more merchants want to build in-house affiliate programs as opposed to entering into relationships with affiliate networks.

GP: How is Post Affiliate Pro (PAP) different from other software solutions on the market? Give me your top 3-5 advantages.

VZ: One of the strongest advantages of Post Affiliate Pro is the quality of tracking. We integrated multiple methods together, and our tracking is one of the most accurate on the market of affiliate software. I believe that most of present-day affiliate networks aren’t capable of providing the precision of tracking Post Affiliate Pro supports.

Post Affiliate Pro contains hundreds of unique features, but if I’m limited to just 5, I would list following features:

  1. Split Commission
    Post Affiliate Pro Split Affiliate Commission
    Merchant can reward multiple affiliates working on same sale by splitting commission between them. This cracks the old commission model which rewarded either just the last, or the first affiliate.
  2. Rebrand PDF Feature
    Rebrand PDF Post Affiliate Pro Feature
    Merchant can rebrand PDF document for each affiliate with few easy steps. The only thing the affiliate has to do is download his ready rebranded file. He doesn’t need to modify it in any exe application by himself; all is done by Post Affiliate Pro on background.
  3. Site Replication Feature
    Site Replication Feature of Post Affiliate Pro
    Our software enables real-time replication on any web application (e.g. php, cgi, perl, asp, …). This feature replaces (on the fly) predefined variables by merchant with real values entered in affiliate account. Affiliates can then promote merchant’s products by ready to use web presentations prepared by the merchant. The only work the affiliate has to do is just promote his replicated website.
  4. Coupons Offline Marketing Feature
    Post Affiliate Pro Coupons Feature
    Post Affiliate Pro also supports offline affiliate marketing. A merchant can generate or import coupons from his shop or payment processor and define nice, ready-to-print coupon templates. The merchant has full control over every coupon created in PAP, defining validity, number of uses, etc. Our software can also generate bar codes in those coupon templates, ones that merchants can read with their in-store bar code readers.
  5. Affiliate Link Formats
    Post Affiliate Pro Affiliate Linking Methods
    PAP supports multiple affiliate link formats, which are optimized to give the highest SEO benefit for the merchant. We also support direct links (without affiliate id parameters).

GP: Are there any policing tools embedded in your software?

VZ: Sure, Post AffiliatePro contains multiple Fraud protection functions [details here], which can filter fraudulent clicks/sales or sign-ups. Merchants can even define if they do not want accept clicks/sales or sign-ups from certain countries or IP address ranges. One of our plans for the near future is to extend PAP with more advanced GeoIP features like targeting campaigns for select countries, or allowing to define different commissions for each country.

GP: Does PAP support cookie-less tracking?

VZ: Yes, we do. Post Affiliate Pro supports multiple tracking methods, including visitor tracking by Flash cookies, first party browser cookies, third party browser cookies, and as a backup – tracking by IP addresses. Flash cookie tracking allows us to even track cross-browser transactions (e.g. if the first few clicks are in Internet Explorer, but the order itself is placed in Firefox).

GP: Why would an affiliate want to join a merchant who runs an “indie” program versus a program on an established network?

VZ: The main goal of every affiliate is to earn money, and in case with in-house software solutions merchants can generally offer more attractive terms (e.g. lifetime commissions, bonuses, more attractive commission levels). The most important things are that the affiliate trusts in the quality of tracking, and that merchant will pay the promised commissions on time.

28 thoughts on “Interview on Affiliate Program Software, Post Affiliate Pro and More”

  1. Good review Geno – I’ve known the QU team for a while, and they are def. pushing the technical boundaries in our space.

    I think the split commission feature is pretty innovative, as it gets us out of the tired old paradigm of “first or last cookie?” that we all assume are the only choices.

    Now it’s first, last, and some in between, which opens up a wider range of affiliates who are involved in the entire sales process.

    Cheers,
    Peter

  2. Yes, that is certainly a question/issue that will be discussed as long as affiliate marketing exists, Peter. I wonder how affiliates themselves would feel about split commissions… Worth a poll of its own.

  3. Great interview Geno and Victor…. I am in process of launching an affiliate program for a friend of mine. We looked into several networks, but have decided to try the in-house program. This of course led me to do research on the affiliate software which in turn led me to your blog…

    I hope you can answer a few question. Which version of the software would you recommend?

    If I were to buy the $999 version for example. I see they offer support and upgrades for 6 months. Do I need to repurchase the license every time they come up with major upgrade or do they offer discounts to current users?

    Thanks in advance.

  4. Vlad, I’ve used both their least expensive, and the most expensive versions. Both could use some tweaking (especially when it comes to English), but both were great.

    I’ve ealso mailed Viktor about your comment here. So I’m sure he’ll respond to your other questions soon.

  5. Hi Vlad,
    if you will buy Ultimate version for $999, which you mentioned in your post, you have lifetime updates for free.
    You will not need to order anything extra after first purchase.
    Also you will get for free all new features, which will be introduced into new versions of PAP4.

    If you will choose other license, you can still order it together with lifetime updates (extra $100), what will grant you the right to download all new versions of Post Affiliate Pro. In lower editions are not included future features, which we will develop into PAP.

    I hope I explained all your questions. In case you have some more questions, just start chat with our support agents – they will answer all immediately. Or write me email to vzeman at qualityunit dot com

    Thank you.

  6. Viktor,

    Thanks for your explanation. One of the reasons I am looking into Post Affiliate Pro is that Post Affiliate Pro is one of the very few applications that offer integration for OpenCart… Having said this I am yet to see any reviews of how well Post Affiliate Pro works with OpenCart. If you know anyone using Post Affiliate Pro with Open Cart I would love to hear what they have to say. Feel free to e-mail me at vladzablotskyy at gmail dot com.

  7. Vlad, I’m sorry, I don’t have list of customers, which are using this shopping cart.

    We don’t collect such data about our customers.

    In case you will need assistance with integration, we offer also full integration service for $199 – in this price we will do complete integration with any shop for you.
    In case we will fail to integrate it, we offer full refund within 30 days after order, so your money are always safe.

    In each case take your time and evaluate different options on market. In case you will need any help, just let me know.

    thx.

  8. As an affiliate, I avoid any affiliate program that uses this anti-affiliate, user-UNfriendly, cheatware, aka Post Affiliate Pro.

    I know automatically that any affiliate program that uses Post Affiliate Pro is more interested in cheating affiliates and making it as hard as possible for affiliates to actually make and get paid by their choice of this time-wasting, inefficient, affiliate-hating crapware.

    It may make money for the adminstrators, but not for the affiliates. The choice of this software shows they don’t give a crap about promoting and ensuring their affiliates’ success.

    1. Could you please elaborate on what exactly you mean, and whether this comment is directed at Post Affiliate Pro specifically, or any in-house based software (as opposed to affiliate networks)? I’m somewhat confused here, because Post Affiliate Pro provides software. What merchants do with it (i.e. how they run their programs) after they have purchased the software isn’t in any way connected with the manufacturer of the software. Any program can be mismanaged, regardless of the platform it is being run on.

      I’d like to hear a bit more in clarifications here.

      Also, if possible, include your name (even if its just the first name).

  9. OfficialUSA: I’m sorry for your bad experience with affiliate program, which was tracked by Post Affiliate Pro, but we have no impact on behavior of merchants, which use our software.

    In case you feel there is anything wrong in affiliate panel, what caused, that you lost commissions, please contact our support and we will examine it.

  10. On first view I was surpised of some features. Then I tested the demo of Post Affiliate Network intensively for almost one week and realized it doesn’t meet a lot of important basically requirements for some countries. Especially EU countries. I saw in forum requests regarding missing of important functionalities and the progress of solving them seem to take long time. For my country I unfortunately could’nt use it too in this status. A friend of mine unfortunately bought it and can’t use it. Since weeks he ask almost twice a week for fixing very serious bugs – but the answers of developers are senseless and time stretching or they simply close the requests with note “won’t fix”. Not a really great support service.

  11. Al Basar, this is not true! Shouldn’t we call you with real name Fred Montero ?
    You simply decided, that you will post on Internet bad comments until we will implement for free feature you need personally.
    In Germany use our PAN multiple networks and only you say, that it is against law.

  12. Hello Viktor,

    at first I’m not Fred Montero instead one of his reporters named Aldin Basarto who are watching the requested bugfixes of required

    basics to meet EU law and rules of some other countries for i.e. Canada and that you call here “free features”. Even you should’nt forget about that no one of our reporters is your customer.

    We just know some of your customers personally because they asked us about helping them in those matters because by getting more and

    more tired in time stretching, senseless and unhelpful discussions support on your sites.

    Even in this way we are telling you again that we report such things regarding missing features also to EU Court of Justice as we know you’re using a faulty software by yourself that speaks against EU law and rules and try to make customers believe missing requirements by law are “normal”. That it seem to be just for you, your company and customers who don’t know much about law and rules until they’ll meet them in practice.

    In provement in your forum discussons, suggestions and at least developement zone there are lot of very required issues that don’t meet EU law by using your software and that you don’t work on since month.

    Isn’t it that you would like to call serious bugs here as “free features” in intention to sale missing important requirements to your customers as a paid programming service?

    We tell you this isn’t the way of correct support and as long as you keep going on treating some customers may like small stupid clowns you would better do on it to start fix very serious bugs instead writing a little more lie here.

    All people who are reading our true reports even have the chance to read in provement that kind of senseless discussions on your sites and that some of your customers who knows a little bit more about rules of their countries are getting more and more angry by missing support in very important requests.

    If you’re going on that way you’ll have a lot of work to answer such true postings like this in future.

    Instead you would better make a use of it to organize that time for supporting and developing important and urgent requests of your customers – don’t forget: we are not your customers and in this way you will answer against mills by writing missing requirements are “free custom features”.

    Your one and only success by this might be that you’ll make yourself a “writing bad things nice reporter” in public. Is this your intention?

    If you like going on to discuss in this way here as next we can post also some links of your sites – or in case you’ll delete entries on your sites as screenshots we made of it – for provement that of both storys our is actually – and even unfortunatley – the true one.

    You know – we’re no monsters who just want to quarrel you. We are just a community that helps customers to get their rights in EU countries and especially in Germany. It’s a completely free service we serve if we’re interested making wrong things right.

    Up from the point nothing of important requirements will be missed anymore and your software meets law and rules by EU countries you of course we’ll take back also our reports in public and help your company promoting a correct working product.

    And in case you might get some unjustified trouble by EU law and don’t know how to fight against it we would help you too. Even all after this trouble our customers had with your company.

  13. Positive to hear – this is already one step (of some more to do – you know which) moving forward to make it hopefully soon and secured usable for all customers.

    After all is correctly fixed of course we’ll take also time to promote even positive reports here and each other reported sites.

    We are fair and won’t let stay statements in old status if missings have changed in correct working functions.

    We won’t be your lifetime enemy if everything is going on fair and alright regarding rights of your customers.

    By this you have got our public promise that we start reporting true positive reports on from the moment if all urgently required fixes have been done.

    Sincerely,

    Aldin Basarto

  14. Unfortunately nothing of all what has been disscused is progressed after more than 3 month. It’s left just empty promises of Qualityunit. And some features like cookie policy solution was brought of a friend of mine to their customers because they never started to work on things like that. It’s really bad Viktor. You’re just trying to write a bad workflow nicer. And all customers who still can’t use what they bought you let keep on waiting. This is not the way.

  15. We have also good news these days. A friend told me he received a refund almost 5 month after buying PAN that he could’nt use in his country because of missing features that does’nt meet EU laws. QualityUnit let came true their promise of refunding today. One more happy QualitUnit customer of the past who can use his money now for another usable affiliate software. Many thanks to Viktor!

  16. Aldin,
    in EU use our software many affiliate networks without problems.

    Only your friend and group around you had the problems.

    Common scenario was, that your friend requested any custom feature in our feature suggestion module and the same day we had 25 fraudulent votes on this feature from the same city in Germany (always under different email and name as we can see it here in this post).

    Also is true, that if we suggested to implement his special requirements as payed customization, he had refused to pay – it was much easier for him to blackmail us to implement something with posting huge amount of messages in all kinds of forums and blogs.
    (Latest messages in this blog post are all linked to the same customer even it looks like it was always posted by other user.)

    We want to have just happy customers and therefore I did the refund for your friend (even if we payed to them also commission for their own sale and lost about $390).

    I know, that after this post I will see reply from your group, that I am not telling the true.
    In our forums I have seen from your group enough of blackmailing, so I know what to expect.

    Please tell to Katrin, Fred, Fred’s wife (she got the commission), Al, Pascal, and many others from your group, that I wish them just the best and I hope, that their business will grow.

  17. Hi Viktor,

    are you able now to tell a few example customers in EU who use it? I asked it already once before. That time you was’nt able to prove that your many “EU customers” using it free of risks. Please tell us examples. I bet your answer will be that your customers won’t known by name (-;

  18. Ok – when I’ll find some (because you’re not able to tell – as I guessed already) we’ll test them if they met EU law and post the results here later.

  19. Mmhh ….. one more argument Viktor ….. can it be that some more of your “happy german customers” prefer a refund? I made a screen of it ….. before you delete postings ….. sometimes pictures say so much more than any words …..

  20. Well – about meanings of “happy customers” we won’t miss to show screen of some postings how endless happy EU customers are with “Quality” Unit. But for me I think meanings of really happy customers are very different to this:

    Happy Customers?

  21. It was wise to make a screen. Because Viktor is always fast in deleting postimgs that is not about his meaning of “truth”.

    And also in this case it seems that he hurried to delete postings of such “happy customers”.

    As I saw a few minutes ago these postings have been erased already. Well Viktor – are you really serious in the situation to give any statements about who’s telling the truth?

    I just can recommend to stay far away from the “truth” you try to make readers believe in your comments.

    I think the most of readers can see the real facts very clearly already and are able separate the truth of your customers from your fairytales.

    You better start progressing your “EU useless” software the way making it usable.

    So why you keep on wasting your time with posting “cosmetic lies”?

    You cannot protect your company against “very happy (EU) customers” with versions of faulty, buggy affiliate software you’re not willing to work out really bad issues.

    Is this really so difficult for you to understand this truth? For me I find the way of blocking progresses it’s really unbelievable and arrogant.

    May your law will meet you also one day by using your scripts yourself. Perhaps you had just a little luck until now, because Slovakia isn’t that strict and fast in law and order like i.e. Germany.

  22. Yes, Fred, your wife should be happy, she received commission also for refunded order. 🙂

    I think I will stop posting here, because Geno will not be happy about using his blog for communication between you and us. If you have any comments, please feel free to write email directly to our support.

    Thank you.

  23. Viktor – one more time you went wrong and starting making yourself implausible in public.

    1. This is not a private communication between us. This is a reporting about an useless affiliate software for EU countries. We tested and know know the missing of requirements in it making it usable without risks by meeting EU laws. And even you gave your best to erase each trace when facts have been posted in your “support” forums – we still have enough screenshots of it to prove what you try to make believe readers here as it’s nothing.

    2. Your suggestions to write about directly to your support would make it just easier for you to ignore “happy customers” and hiding hiding facts to public. We all know that’s why you would prefer doing it that way. Dream on Viktor (-;

    3. I have no wife and I don’t know where you’ve got this idea/information from?! Also I cannot realize in a healthy way what you try to tell readers about a wife I never had and knew before you said it’s “real”. Maybe your daydreams are a little bit to intensive.

    4. You’re absolutely right in meaning of stop posting here. Many of your customers can sing songs of it that trying discussing and cooperating with you is like talking, praying and beg to a wall of self praising ignorance.

    Goodbye Viktor – we’ll keep you as like as your funny useless software, but especially your useless comments and arguments in remembrance forever.

    Have nice dreams. Bye.

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