The Awin Gold Standard has been developed to identify advertisers that run a best-in-class affiliate programme based on a defined set of criteria.
As well as providing transparency to publishers, the Awin Gold Standard is designed to encourage positive changes within the space, such as faster payments and robust tracking setups. Especially in these uncertain times, Awin has always strived to provide transparency and protection for its publisher base. The launch of this new accreditation underlines the networks ambition to make this is a top priority in 2021.
The Awin Gold Standard consists of five set criteria that advertisers need to adhere to in order to become accredited. These criteria are designed to provide the best possible experience for publishers, and for advertisers to offer a complete affiliate programme for their partners.
The criteria include:
- Accelerated Payments
The Advertiser programme must offer Accelerated Payments and be on Awin's Green Payment Status. This means that approved commissions will be paid to publishers directly with their next payment. - Transaction Validations
The advertiser must have auto-validation enabled or make sure all transactions are validated within their contracted period, so publishers are rewarded for their contributions and paid (in line with accelerated payments) for the transactions they help generate. - Optimal Tracking
The advertiser must use Awin’s optimal tracking solution to protect against browser privacy restrictions. - Fair Commission Structure
The advertiser must award commissions for all legitimate, confirmed transactions. This means there should be no zero value commission groups, products, or customer categories. - Transparent De-duplication
The advertiser’s de-duping policy must adhere to the Awin best practice guidelines and they must publish the details on their profile for full transparency.
Once advertisers adhere to the above criteria they will be eligible to apply for the Awin Gold Standard and be awarded with a badge that will signal their accreditation within the user interface. All Awin Gold standard advertisers will be clearly visible, giving publishers the transparency they need in order to work with their chosen affiliate programmes.
Commenting on the news, Awin’s Client Services Director Dawn Quigg says:
"We’re delighted to launch the Awin Gold Standard. This brand new accreditation scheme really seeks to drive better quality standards across our advertiser programmes, and offer the transparency publishers so require across a number of important areas. This is just the first step in improving standards, and we’re here to work with advertisers to make the necessary changes and give publishers more visibility on the things that matter."
For more information and a first glance of the advertisers that are Gold Standard certified, take a look here.
To apply for the Gold Standard or learn more about the accreditation, please contact us here.
