Shave

RichAds Team
Jul 14, 2024
2 min

Shave or shaving in affiliate marketing

Shave (from English “shave” – “to shave”, “to cut off”) is an intentional reduction of the volume of traffic and leads from the partner or advert. Shaving in CPA networks is rare. Such partners would not live long. Advertisers also try to be honest: good arbitrageurs are in short supply, they should not be offended.

Who cuts the traffic?

Young partners: the network is trying to cash in on everything, so it also saves on payments to webmasters.
“New” adverts: a novice advertiser hasn’t fully figured out the partner network and has set up the CRM incorrectly.
Unfair ads: deliberately do not register orders in the CPA or do not provide information about the sales scheme.

Push ads traffic shaving in CPA networks is rare. Such partners would not live long. Advertisers also try to be honest: good arbitrageurs are in short supply, they should not be offended.

So is there really a problem? Yes. But most of the time, the reason for approval delays is not in shaving.

How to notice traffic shaving

1. Familiarize yourself with open statistics

Before starting a campaign, analyze the conversion rate (CR) and the approval rate (AR). Abrupt jumps of CR are permissible, it all depends on the vertical. But the jumps of AR are alarming.

Compare data for similar offers from several partners. If you notice a big difference, for example, AR of 50% in one affiliate program and 15% in another, be careful with the advertiser. They pass small amounts of traffic, and this is shaving.

2. Read the reviews

In the community of webmasters, you will receive recommendations from proven partners where the risks of getting shaved are minimal. The more negative reviews there are about the partner, the more cautious you should be.

3. Buy the product

If you have a budget, and the ad product is inexpensive, make a test purchase. Just make sure you do not forget to set up a VPN for the GEO offer.

During the day, information about the test purchase should appear in the statistics.

4. Partner support

Honest CPA networks control approval delays. A sharp decline in AR can be caused not only by shaving but also by technical problems with the advert.

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