I was a member of the affiliate program that pays 20c per 1000 impressions. However, yesterday the websmistress closed my account for advertising on PTR sites!

She knew this before hand and recognised that they were PTR sites and said it was OK a couple of weeks ago. But I have been getting over 5000 impressions per day and I suppose because I was earning so much she decided to close my account with paying me my balance!

She cited reasons that I was ripping her off because the PTR sites were selling the impressions cheaper than what she was paying me for them and so I would make profit from it - duh! It is an affiliate program!!!

Photocartoonist.com = scam IMHO

This happens a lot with newbie sponsors, they don't understand how ptre sites work. Then when they suddnly see a near 1:1 hit ratio they freak out and accuse you of cheating.

It's one of the risks involved with dealing with newbie sponsors.

Um.... the PhotoCartoonist is NOT a SCAM!

I have been paid and I have a great working relationship with the WM.

She is very helpful and works very hard to make sure her affiliates have what they need.

I don't know exactly what happened with your account elroyf, but did you try discussing the problem with her?
And I don't mean something like, "What the h@ll happened to my account?!"

She has every right to close your account. But she should pay you what she owes.

If she doesn't, I'd say she probably is out to scam people.

Yes she did decide to discontinue allowing affiliates to advertise on ptrp sites as of Aug. 1st. She had originally had no problem with it when I joined and didn't understand why other affiliate programs did frown on incentive sites. She soon learned and decided it was in her best interest to discontinue those sites. I received a nice email explaining everything and gave us till Aug. 1st to discontinue the advertisement. And she is very nice acting.. although of course I'm disappointed in her disallowing ptrp sites but understand her position.

The site is not a scam, they pay, and if they close your account they will pay your balance. Though in this case they won't because the minimum wasn't reached.

However the webmaster's program was not well organized and ended up changing terms daily and confusing affiliates.

But thats her choice, she did nothing illegal, just was a little hasty, unsure and should've organized herself. She is paying what she owes.

A complaint about her is valid and i certainly hear you but the program is defiently not a scam though i understand how u feel because u havent reached payout and uve wasted money on advertising both used and unused.

She allowed incentives so u bought advertising, she then changed her mind overnight and your stuck with the losses

I tried discussing tis with her but she seemed determined to close my account and ban me.

I am certain it is because I was earning quite a bit - I was only putting my banners on PTR sites but the users were nto incetivised to visit or click in any - so I don't see what the program is.

First she emailed everyone about it. I replied to ask if it included me as I was not putting my banner in PTC or paid emails or anything like that. Then she banned me and closed my account for no apparent reason!

She has eventually decided to pay me a few dollars from my account. But she still has not cited clear reasons why my account was closed!


I think she was mainly annoyed that I could buy the impressions from PTR sites and she would pay me more than I bought them for so I woudl profit from this.

In the end I have many, many banner impressions and no idea what to do with them

What annoys me the most is that a couple of weeks earlier I told her what I was doing and that I didn't own a website and she complied completely!

The problems with the banner impressions that she demanded 1% clickthru or greater lol

Probably not realizing how banners work and the fact that banners dont get 1% clickthru lol

So after spending hours placing them i had to remove them, fact is not even the best banner spot would get 1% clickthru

Thats ridicolous, the only way 2 get that would 2 b place an incentive on it.

Someone perhaps shouldve told her (i tried )

She never said about a 1% click through. But I got about 0.5% click through - which is at least the standard click through on banners.

I don't know what she expected. Even the users who do click will not necessarily use the program!

Well, yes, she did change the terms.
And I don't see anything wrong with that because she stated in her email that she would pay people if they felt they couldn't find other ways to promote/advertise The Photocartoonist and no longer wanted to participate.

I think she is handling the situation quite nicely.

More than I can say for many other affiliate programs I have tried in the past.

Hi. This is Kat Caverly, The Photocartoonist.

Please read my terms of service:

http://www.photocartoonist.com/afftos.html

Elroy, I am so sorry for your frustration but I have explained this too you repeatedly.

In my defense, I do not take banning affiliates lightly but if my program is abused, it is my duty to protect it.

Elroy, by his own admission today, does not have a website, which would have disqualified his application in the first place. But he had listed http://www.mikespaid4email.com in his account. When I noticed that other affiliates used this website but not Elroy, I suspended his account pending an explanation and contacted him immediately.

Then I did a full review of the use of his account:

One of the sites he was using my CPM banners on was showing three banners at a time, stacked up on top of each other. This is clear abuse. Elroy's consequent communications showed no intention on taking responsibility for these sites. So I banned him and deleted his account.

I kept records (he was owed under $5). I even gave him the benefit of the doubt after numerous threats on his part (and this posting) when he said that the site in question was scamming him.

Affiliates are responsible for their uses of my affiliate code.

I decided to pay Elroy his commissions anyway, although I will never allow such behavior again in my program. I may not completely understand how PTRE can help me promote my site but I have stats to prove that it is not successful for my site and products.

I offer CPA, CPC and CPM campaigns. Such high commissions demand the quality of my affiliates to equal the quality of my program. I have terms of service and I enforce them. I listen to my affilaites and I respond back to emails quickly.

I hate abuse as much as anyone else.

I hope this helps you all to understand.

Kat Caverly
The Photocartoonist
http://www.photocartoonist.com

I am fine with the term changing - but alledgedly she would give 2 weeks for users to change their banners etc

But then how come she cancelled my account - I am at a loss

Kat - check your records!

As soon as I signed up I emailed you saying I was owed impression from this site and that it wasn't mine!

You approved my site immediately. If you could post that email I sent you it would be much appreciated!

I am resposible for my own code. But I checked each site that the code was on and everything wwas fine - after this the site much have changed this.

I was being scammed by the site also as they were showing three impressions at a time stacked on top of each. I don't know if this is a php mistake or what. But you did not give me a chance to rectify this (which was not my fault anyway!)

I made no threat to you whatsoever!

Please tell us all what you expect for banner impressions!

Well, elroyf,

This is suddenly much clearer now.
When an affiliate program asks for YOUR WEBSITE....they are not asking for some random website owned by someone else.

It is an affiliate program....you are supposed to have your own website for that.

And showing the banners 3 at a time on the same page is clearly inflating your impression rate and/or possible clickthru rate.

Obvious abuse going on here.

Elroyf....next time you post a complaint, make sure you tell the whole story, ok?

My terms of service require a .25% CTR



Oh I probably know better how banners work than most. These same banners are getting over 3% CTR on some sites. In fact my overall stats for banner CTR are currently at 1.1% and rising.



Fair enough. I am doing something that isn't done in affiliate programs. I am paying CPM, that is for impressions NOT just for clicks. FYI more than 70% of my affiliates are not PTRE.

Yes I am making changes. I am not afraid to make changes to improve my program to correct the things that are not working.

I apologize for any inconvenience and I wish all of you PTRE and incentivized promoters the best of luck and success in your endeavors.

Kat Caverly
The Photocartoonist Affiliate Porgram

I clearly email Kat that it was not my site and I was owed impressions

Yes, there were three banners piled on top of each but I didn't know about this as it was not originally like this. I was also be scammed this way as my impressions were being inflated. I don't think it is genuine scambut just a php mistake or a code error.

I emailed her all the sites I would be advertising on and she approved everyone. She could have just removed the impressions from that particularlysite. But anyway....

Well it was 1% yesterday and a few days before that there was no amount lol.

And btw the reason u have a 1% over click rate is because people are using incentive ways, substuting the banner link with the paidlink but still keeping the banner code.

If you look into it you will fine normal banner impressions recieve a click rate no where near to 1%

i was trying 2 tell u this in my several emails i sent helping u when u asked me questions (b4 u closed my a/c)

I could explain to you how people are getting over 1% clickthru but apparently u know it all

Good day

Yes, a 1% is an absolutely ridiculous click through rate. That means, one in every 100 who visit the site will click your banner. Unfortunatey this is not true!

I think it is more like 1 in 500 or better

All I can say is that I am learning what she does and does not expect with regard to promotion of her site.

I think she's doing a great job and trying to explain it to us as she finds out herself what this PTR world is all about.

I totally agree. But I don't think she is doing a great job. In the two a so weeks I have been a member she has:

Changed the banner code with a further change pending.
Reduced here rates from 20c to 50c CPM
Changed her terms.
Suddenly removed PTR site advertising.
Given two weeks to remove this and then not.


This is not "great". This is not professional. Personally I don't see what is wrong with PTR sites for banner impressions.

As I see it, most of her affiliates were not PTR people like us.

Someone brought her program into the PTR world and
suddenly there was a bunch of us flooding her program, using a method of advertising she had not previously had to deal with...at least not too much.

Most of her affiliates were probably people with E-zines and their own websites and most of their traffic was probably tageted.

So of course changes are necessary now. Her whole affiliate base is changing.

I know that if I bring traffic she sees as useless, I expect her to remove those hits/impressions, etc.....
I want her proram to be around for a long time...I don't want her to go broke because we each have a way to generate thousands of hits a day.

Many people may not agree with the way she has gone about making these changes, but I hope you can see that those changes ARE necessary.

Sorry you are incorrect.



First that is abuse and that is one of the reasons why I no longer allow new PTRE affiliates. And second my overall CTR has INCREASED as I am eliminating the abusers and only allowing sites that meet my terms of service.



Your advice is one of the reasons I continued to offer the PTRE, for the record. It takes time to get all of the information and crunch all of the numbers but you were not right. PTRE sites donot work with my program. Certain sites, like cartoon sites, have CTR over 3%. Other humor sites have CTR over 1%. I only require .25% to stay in my program.

There are a number of things that are being said in this thread without basis. I continue to get harrassed by email as well. How does that help you folks and the PTRE community as a whole?

Kat Caverly

Yes but ok you said 1% in an email to me, you said: Please only place my banners in a place that will recieve 1% or greater. Perhaps u check ur old mails if u want, doesnt matter now anyway

I guess that was before u changed the amount again or something.

Anyway good luck with your program as it is now

bye bye

Well, changes HAVE been made and changes WILL probably be made in the future....just like with ANY company, online or offline.

The best thing we can do is try to adapt and make HELPFUL suggestions to make the program the best it can be.

I'm sure Kat will do whatever she needs to do to ensure the longevity of her program.
Repeating ourselves over and over in here won't help (of course everyone is entitled to their opinion).
I am happy with the program.
I don't run it so I if I want to stay in it, I will do what is required.

I am done

Just for the record kat told me:

I could advertise at other websites as long as i emailed her and told her (not for approval just to let her know).
Which i did on many many occasions

So realize that people followed the rules by advertising outside of their listed site under her approval

I suppose that is between you and Kat.

Just like any conversations I had with her are between me and Kat

And the same with anyone else.

edited to add; OK....now I am really done

After getting a personal email saying something along the lines of:

'I just want my site to get out there and exposed in any shape or form'

She has changed very much.

Its like now that we have done our jobs as affiliates and got her site out of there (personally ive reached tens of thousands of people), its like ok my sites out there to heck with you sort of thing

Well Kat , You didn't respond to me and I just tried to log in and can't . If I remember correctly ( I can check ) I had referred another affiliate as well .

BTW , I own 2 sites . 1 ptre and 1 affiliate resource site . You wrote me



Though I didn't think this was fair as you made an offer and I merely accepted that offer , ( a meeting of the minds in contracts ) I responded for your further consideration .....



To let you know I could give more bang for your buck . That was aound the 13th . Heard nothing back . If you notice , the banners are still on looters ( and my ref link has never been on rewards -- awaiting your approval ) but up until now I have yet been waiting for your quick response .

I didn't violate any of your TOS and I promote both looters and rewards often .

I'll remove the banners and affiliate link from the new loot section asap .

lexiekinz, I try to answer every email and I send out rejection letters. I am sorry but I cannot identify you from your member name here.

I have not accepted any new PTRE sites since the beginning of July. And I personally areview all applications. Your application was most likely rejected but I am surprised that you didn't receive that notice from me. I guess I am human.

LOL, pardon me for laugning, but that is just the lamest excuse I've ever heard.

I've give up joining these type of site, because you spend tons on advertising and when you reach cashout, you always get these type of "You can't use GPTR sites" excuses.

Isn't it funny they don't say that when you're pulling all the traffic in?

And nowhere on the photocartoonist site does it say PTR sites are not allowed. I sure as heck wouldn't have wasted my time filling out the application had I known that in the first place, as I have 2 PTR sites and an currently inactive non-PTR called suzysbraintransplant.com (which is what I think I need for having 2 sites anyway).

I understand changing TOS, truly I do. However, I do not understand that it is not clear on the site itself that she no longer accepts PTR sites--it would not take much time or effort to edit the HTML to reflect that.

The fact is my terms of service ARE on my site.

http://www.photocartoonist.com/afftos.html

And they are required reading to accept the terms of the affiliate agreement. I don't want to waste anyone's time, including my own.

But don't think that I haven't been listening to everything that is being said here and by my current affiliates who run PTRE programs or use them.

I am launching a CPA campaign, which could be made available to you folks but you will not be able to use the CPM banners or the PPC text links. I have upgraded the MYAP software and am in the process of integrating various modules to be able to offer additional campaigns.

If you are still one of my affiliates, I will be contacting you directly with the new offer. I think this is a better option; instead of just paying you for July and deleting your account in August.

Kat Caverly
The Photocartoonist
kat@photocartoonist.com

roley is asking where these terms can be found on the site?

Where are they located? You cant just have a link without having it linked somewhere is what she is saying which is why she is asking where the terms link can be found?

Thanx

Click on the "affiliate" llink, then to "signup", there's a link to the TOS there.... but you're right, it's not linked from the main page.

If you click the link provided above: http://www.photocartoonist.com/afftos.html


It takes you directly to the TOS page. You don't have to LOOK for anything. It 's right there.

Also, when you sign up to be an affiliate and you click the "click here to sign up" button/link you are taken directly to the Terms Page.....BEFORE you even get to the signing up part.

Why does it matter if it is linked from the main page? The only reason you need to know about the affiliate terms is if you are signing up. You see the terms when you go to sign up...if you don't like them...you don't continue on to the sign up page.

You are missing the point? I was asking from the point of view on a new person signing up and whether they can find the terms of service easily. As in there is no point having a page if it isnt linked on the main page anywhere

It isnt listed on the frontpage which makes it a bit viable but it is on the signup page - the question was do people signing up know the terms - are they available anywhere? That part is okay because members see them before signing up

And do current members have a place where they can view the terms? Not really because they are on the signup page? Or are they elsewhere?

As i say it is customary to have terms located on the front page to avoid any formal complaints etc.

Yes, there are links to the TOS and the Affiliate Agreement in the members area.

thanx ekelly

There is a lot of misinformation about me and my program in this thread. I would like to request that the Forum Administrator intervene at this point.

Does this really serve this community?

Kat Caverly
The Photocartoonist Affiliate Program
kat@photocartooonist.com

I've learned a lot from reading this thread, among other things I found out I wasn't the only one who was denied and didn't get the rejection letter. I'm happy I didn't waste to much time advertising the site. Thanks for the information it really helped clear things up for me.

well same happened to me as well
i dont want to go in details but i m in loss as i bought lots of banner impresisons and some paid to click as well

well whatever i have no complaint against her

its her program and she can run it whatever way she want

by the way i want to tell her that she wrote in this thread in beginning:




then i went to your tos and it showed:


i think you should read your own tos once?

i was deleted and not offered a reasonable answer as to why i got deleted...

but like i m gr8 says, it's her program so she can run it any way she likes