Why do they do this?

Sign up and then nothing

[Essex_boy]

Why do people sign up as aff then do nothing only to come back several months later and rejoin.

Ive emailed them to ask if they are having trouble but receive no response.

beyond me, anybody?

[davewray]

Just tire kickers not willing to put in the work. Don't waste any energy worrying about it :) If they do something in the future, then great! If they don't, oh well, someone will!

Dave.

[jomaxx]

Often you have to sign up as an affiliate to see creatives than can be used, linking options, reporting capabilities, etc. I've signed up for lots more affiliate programs than I've ever promoted in any serious way.

I don't mind a follow-up, especially by phone which is a much nicer touch than an email. However I don't like being badgered (contacted repeatedly, especially by people who profess not to understand why I might turn down their offer to "advertise" on my site). As an affiliate I'm taking on pretty much all the risk, so I'll make the decisions about when and where to run affiliate links based solely on what I perceive will maximize my bottom line.

[antoine]

If its an affiliate network I usualy sign up because the affiliate network does not post the types of websites or offers that can be promoted unless you become an affiliate. Often times when I cant find this info I just move on, but sometimes curiosity gets the best of me and I sign up.

If I'm signing up for a program and I know what the product/website is, I might abandon it due to poor creatives, a confusing control panel, etc.

Lastly, I sometimes sign up and forget about it a week later. That's the problem with having 300+ websites, you forget what you are working on occasionally!

[Freeboi]

Yes, forgetting is usually one of the main factors. I sometimes see a site with a nice product, sign up as an affiliate, put it off for a day or two while I try to finish first what I was doing. But before I knew it, weeks or even months have passed by already before I remember about the site I signed up with.

[Shawn Collins]

In addition to other reasons posted, they do it within networks, because it's really easy to join a mass of programs in one shot.

It should help to be more selective in which affiliates you accept, and review the applications frequently to minimize the time between application and acceptance.

[zivkovicp]

I have done this before. It's not a regular practice of mine but sometimes you do it to see what the network has to offer. It can be really annoying when they don't post their merchants/rates until you join... so you join only to see that something is not quite the way you like it, and never return.

Sometimes though you just get sidetracked while you are in the process of adding a link to your site and then forget about it until later that year... this also happens, and it sucks. :)

I'm sure that there are also people who are just bored and do it to waste time, theirs and yours.

[oneguy]

I might do it because I'm working on a project that is later abandoned or becomes slow to develop because of other projects that get bumbed ahead.

I might also do it because the other offerings I come across later are better for some reason or another, and a program I signed up for in the beginning doesn't fit me as well as other similar ones.

As far as applications, I'd take them all if I were running a program. (and I have.) It doesn't take up much database space. If you email your entire database with an update once per month, you'll stay on their mind. I'd only kick people for doing things against my TOS (like spamming). Inactivity might just mean they are busy working on something.

I also saw a lot of permanent inactivity. There are probably lots of hopefuls out there that never get off the ground.

[Shawn Collins]

As far as applications, I'd take them all if I were running a program. (and I have.)

No concerns for how they might represent your brand? Whether they have certain attributes that indicate they may commit fraud?

[MovingOnUp]

You've motivated them enough to sign up, but not enough to put up links. Perhaps you should look into ways to motivate your inactive affiliates to become active?

Depending on what the affiliate plans on doing with your program, it can be far more involved that just adding a few links or banners to a site.

I usually sign up for any program that I hope to promote in the future. As I have time to work on new sites, new pages, or new merchants, I weigh all the various factors. How much work will it take? How much time do I have? Am I approved? What potential does it have? How much ongoing work will it require? Are there seasonal factors? Are they offering better commissions or an activation bonus?

[oneguy]

No concerns for how they might represent your brand? Whether they have certain attributes that indicate they may commit fraud?

Sure.

Those things would go in the TOS and be highlighted somewhere in the sign-up process, to avoid confusion by someone who thinks they might be ok. In any of my cases, there would only be the usual 3 or 4 things to prohibit. Fraud, pron, email spam, copyright infringement, hate sites, etc - all determined and defined by the program manager at will. Depending on the nature of the program, payments/sharing with end users would be looked at.

I definitely see your point.

With fraudsters, you really never know until sales start coming in. Presumably, fraud prevention is included in that step, and then taken a step further by no affiliate payments until merchant payments are secured. You could even lag that if you wanted.

[ronin]

I have signed up for numerous programs on networks which I genuinely intend to start promoting one day.

But, in the meantime, I have a lot more work to be done promoting other programs which I'm already working with and know to be effective.

Some programs are more effective on my site than others: if I still have work to do on programs which I know are effective, I'm less likely to take time out to figure out how to make new programs fit in with my site.

I might sign up for them nevertheless - more as a personal reminder than anything else.