Should affiliates require licenses in the same way that operators do?

As you know, there has been a lot of talk lately about affiliates neglecting to follow the terms and conditions of their agreement. Subsequently, it’s not the affiliate who ends up in the most trouble, but instead the operator.

Over the past few months, I’ve been asked time after time if there is a better way to monitor affiliates. For example, there are some people who feel that affiliates should need a license to operate, just the same as the company that operates the program.

On the surface, this appears to be a good idea. It’s easy to believe that this would slow affiliates down, making them realize just how important it is to “stay within the lines.” However, in my opinion, this would cause more harm than good. It would lead to a variety of hassles and challenges – both for affiliates and operators – which could have a negative impact on the industry as a whole.

In my opinion, there’s no good reason to require affiliates to have a license. Obviously, it’s a must for operators to have a license, but this wouldn’t have the same impact on individual affiliates.

In an overall sense, self-regulating industries are better for everyone involved. That being said, there need to be processes in place for ensuring that affiliates know what they should and shouldn’t be doing. Furthermore, it’s important for operators to have a system in place for monitoring affiliate activity, thus making it possible to eliminate problems before they cause bigger issues.

With technology such as Wag.io, affiliate operators never have to concern themselves with overlooking an affiliate who’s violating the terms and conditions. The software always has one eye on this.

So, while requiring affiliates to have a license sounds like the best answer, self-regulation with more cooperation on both sides would have a greater impact.