The systematic process of comparing an affiliate program's commission rates, cookie windows, publisher experience, and program quality against direct competitors' programs. Purpose: identifies gaps that explain publisher churn, recruitment difficulty, and below-average EPC; reveals competitor weaknesses that your program can position against. Benchmarking dimensions: Commission rate (standard rate vs. competitors' standard rates); Cookie window (your window vs. competitors' windows); Publisher experience quality (onboarding email, asset library, newsletter — assessed by joining competitor programs as a publisher); Network EPC listing (some networks display per-program EPC, enabling direct comparison); Publisher community reputation (affiliate forum sentiment about competitor programs). Research methods: secondary (network directory review, competitor website review, publisher community search); primary (joining competitor programs as a legitimate publisher and documenting the full experience). Output: a competitive matrix documenting competitor program attributes across key dimensions, with gap analysis identifying where your program is above, at, or below competitive standard. Frequency: conduct a full competitive audit annually; update commission rate benchmarks semi-annually (commission rates change seasonally and in response to market conditions).
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