GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 41 - July 2018

COVER STORY My fellow affiliates, let’s go on a trip. Let’s visit a different universe — an affiliate-friendly universe. In this universe, affiliates trust operators and affiliate programs. Operators trust affiliates. Tracking works perfectly. Lifetime commissions means lifetime commissions. Payments are always on time. Affiliates have instant access to real-time stats. There are no wire fees. Players don’t “disappear” from an affiliate’s stats. Players get tracked seamlessly across different services and affiliates get paid accordingly. Payments are always accurate. Does this sound like the type of universe you’d like to live and work in? If it does, I have good news for you: This universe can become our reality. Before we get to exactly how we will construct this magical system in our own reality, let’s think about what’s needed to create it. Essentially, seven concepts would make up the foundation of this miracu- lous system: TRUST: Without trust, the affil- iate marketplace does not function efficiently. Affiliates need to be able to trust that their players are being tracked, that revenue is accurately recorded, that commissions are being calculated correctly, that players are not “removed” from their stats be- cause operators no longer want to pay commissions, and that lifetime commissions means lifetime commissions. INFORMATION STORAGE: There has to be a way to secure- ly store data. Payment information. Personal information. How much did a player wager? What game was he playing when it was wagered? How much time did a player spend on the device? INFORMATION TRACKING: There has to be an easy way to track a player through the system. From the moment an affiliate sends a player to an operator, the system has to be able to track that player’s every step. The same goes for affiliate- operator interactions. From commission calculations to con- tracts (more on that later) and payments, each step along the way needs to be tracked and securely stored. INFORMATION SHARING: We’re talking about extremely sensitive information here. So there needs to be a method in place to securely store, share and verify all of the vitals. CONTRACTS: When an affiliate and an affiliate program enter into an agreement, this is a contract. These contracts need to be fulfilled. Ideally, they’ll be upheld automatically and in a tamper-proof way. EASY PAYMENTS: This sounds like a no-brainer, right? But it’s not. Just think about how much time you spend chasing payments from af- filiate programs. And affiliate managers, think about how easy life would be if payments needed little to no intervention on your part. EASY, LOW-COST CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS: There is nothing easy about making cross-border payments in today’s ecosystem. It costs too much money, and it takes too long. Fortunately, there is a way to solve all these problems. We need an affiliate tracking and payments system based on blockchain technology. Most of you are familiar with blockchain technology through cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum. Blockchain tech- nology is what enables cryptocurrencies to work. And while cryptocurrencies are exciting, they only represent the tip of the blockchain iceberg. The simplest way to think about blockchain technology is to imagine a ledger. Now, in this ledger, you record a payment into your bank account. In that same ledger, the person that paid you records that same transaction as money going out of their account. Then, that transaction is verified and distributed Fortunately, there is a way to solve all these problems . We need an affiliate tracking and payments system based on blockchain technology . Illustrations by Macrovector/Shutterstock W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G 28