Absolute Poker - Bonus Code Joke

[Poker Coach]

I've been promoting Absolute Poker recently using a bonus code. They advertise on their site their own bonus codes (AP250 for new players or AP750 for US players). Why in the world would anybody use my bonus code when they can use one of Absolute's?

I know that I am losing players because of this. Does this not defeat the whole concept of the bonus code (ie. it is meant for tracking) and when the site is blatantly publishing their own code the player is choosing to use the code on the site as opposed to that of the affiliate.

I am not impressed.

[mikebrad]

I would tend to disagree with what you are saying. I believe that true affiliate marketing comes from creating business, not simply capitalizing on someone else's marketing. If someone comes to your site looking for a bonus code, you haven't marketed anything. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to rank in the search engines for terms like "abc poker bonus code" but the true talent lies in generating business for the company, not the company generating business for you.

just my opinion

[stillshadow]

Coach, if you have sent a player to Absolute through your link then they should still be tracked to you even if they use their bonus code. You aren't competing with the actual site for getting a player tracked to you - only other affiliates.

[Poker Coach]

I had issues in the beginning with the link tracking for Absolute so I also went to the Bonus Codes as a double verification. Their cookies system used to only capture players that were using Internet Explorer. I'm not sure if they have since improved this. Anyhow I just recently had a player signup who told me he joined through my link but didn't use my bonus code because he used AP750 instead and Absolute is not giving me credit for him despite the player confirming the situation.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by mikebrad

I would tend to disagree with what you are saying. I believe that true affiliate marketing comes from creating business, not simply capitalizing on someone else's marketing. If someone comes to your site looking for a bonus code, you haven't marketed anything. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to rank in the search engines for terms like "abc poker bonus code" but the true talent lies in generating business for the company, not the company generating business for you.

just my opinion

I definetly agree with this. As long as the player is still being tracked to you by going through your link, who cares what bonus code they use.