Affiliate directories

Which are up-to-date?

[Umbra]

Which affiliate directory sites are still up to date? Most of the directories out there seem to be stale, and they never seem to list the major players. Does anybody bother with affiliate directories anymore?

[mfishy]

Not really.

Refer-it is somewhat more up to date than others. It's run by one person from Internet.com though. Actually, all the directories are pretty much "one man shows"

I would search google and Overture for the keywords you are targetting and see what merchants the top players are sending their traffic to.

[adfree]

Also: ask these questions as you find your targeted merchants:

- are there additional performance incentives
- what are the payment options and frequency
- can I build a multi-tier downline with the program
- can we talk about commission increase later
- wrap up of their affiliate program history if they give it to you (good ones do)

The way they react will answer more than anything else.

There are tons of really reliable merchants out there. Just recently I built a web site for someone who really impressed me with speedy payments and reliability.

Showing them the page (without asking for anything) they sent me an e-mail minutes later to announce that they have just increased my commission to 40% from 20%. They run a multi-tier program too, so guess what card I am playing right now...

Now THAT's a partner!

Cheers, Jens

[Fruit and Veg]

It's your lucky day. I've just finished submitting to a whole load from scratch, and you're not wrong, most of them are pants.

Here's a list of all the ones I successfully submitted to (NB. some may not be in your marketplace);

webmarketingwatch.com
affiliate-programs-directory.com/
affiliateguide.com
ecommerce.about.com/cs/affiliateprograms/index.htm
www.refer-it.com/main.cfm?screen=merchants&header=merchant
affiliateknowledge.com
paymeup.com
esponsors.ws
affiliates4u.co.uk
affiliatefirst.com
recurring-commissions.com
affiliate-programs-guide.com
affiliate-scheme.co.uk
home-business-directory.com
affiliatemanager.net
affiliate.ru/
affiliatesdirectory.com
webmastershelpcenter.net
adbility.com

None of them are paid, and none of them required a reciprocal link. However, some only allowed submission via email.

If anyone knows anymore, then let us know.

[jimbeetle]

Allan Gardyne's associateprograms.com adds new listings serveral times per week. Dig down to the 'New programs' links.

[ascreen]

As I see it, the biggest problem with affiliate directories is that they are either too large or too small. A truly comprehensive directory such as refer-it is forced to standardize the description of each program to handle the volume of active affiliate programs. It's helpful when you first begin looking at an program to know how many tiers and return days you can expect, but there's a point at which you'd like to read the actual good and bad experiences of people who have been in the program.

The few sites that attempt to include enough information on a program to be useful, simply can't cover a large enough volume of programs to truly be considered a "directory".

I do like the trend I've seen of affiliate directories having visitors include their reviews of the programs (much like Amazon's product review process). As yet, though, no directory that I've seen has been able to draw enough visitors interested in posting their opinions to really make this idea take off.

[Fruit and Veg]

One problem is, if I find a great program that pays really well, has great marketing material, fast customer service, and easy terms to rank well for in the search engines - I'm going to keep my mouth well and truly shut so I can spend all the commission money on Thai massages and David Hasselhoff concert tickets...

...oops, I've already said too much.

Quick, look over there!