Are You Familiar with Facebook Atlas?
Since joining Wealthy Affiliate, even before actually, I have unsubscribed from quite a few self-proclaimed IM gurus. It’s something that nearly all people new to internet marketing go through before catching on that success is not as quick and easy as a lot of people claim and charge a lot of money to show their process.
However, along the way, I’ve also come across many sources of very good informational content. One of the websites that I’ve subscribed to is Mark Ling’s Affiliorama: http://www.affilorama.com
He sells a lot of things but also provides good content for free and this month I saw an interesting article titled The Future of Affiliate Commissions: Facebook Atlas Bridges the Gap between Devices by Gina Broom.
The article caught my attention because I’ve noticed a lot of mention on Wealthy Affiliate about the importance of making sure our websites have a responsive mobile theme. And it’s a good idea because more and more people use their phones to go online.
But this phenomenon brings us to the issue of Broom’s article. The growing factor of people using multiple devices to go online can cause us affiliate marketers to lose commissions. And this is how it could happen: Someone could be browsing on your website, with their smart phone, and click on one of your Amazon affiliate links but not make the purchase until the next day. No problem, right? After all, Amazon puts a cookie on their device that will remember where they linked from when they make their purchase the next day.
This is only true if they make the purchase using their smart phone. But if they use their desktop computer the next day and go directly to Amazon from it, that cookie is not there to credit your website a commission.
It’s even more problematic for those who pay for their advertising. If someone clicks through on one of your ads but doesn’t purchase until later on another device then you have paid to get someone else a sale.
Facebook commissioned a study which revealed that 60% of online adults use at least 2 devices daily while 25% use 3.
Facebook bought Atlas in 2013 to tackle this issue by tracking users across devices instead of using cookies. You can get information on their website: http://atlassolutions.com/why-atlas/cross-device-strategies/. Currently, they’re accepting customers and partners by invitation-only.
Recent Comments
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It's certainly possible to happen Laura, but in my experience if you keep content relevant and help people out, they'll take action the first time they visit your site and not do it later through another device. There's many reasons to worry, but truth be told, we'll be fine :)
I agree that it shouldn't be a major concern. It sort of caught my interest because of the recent articles I've been reading lately about making websites mobile friendly.
Most people who visit websites through Google through their mobile device will still be able to visit it. It's just going to be harder to navigate, but overall, it's not biggy in my opinion.
Yeah, but that was just the percentage of people that use 2 or 3 devices. We are all kind of lost at how high the odds are of someone actually clicking on a link with one device and then buying using another device. I kind of think VitaliyG may be correct in that it doesn't really happen often. But if this Facebook Atlas she speaks of could help catch those few lost sales, it could be worth it to us. Who knows? Always have to be thankful that someone is bringing new things to our attention. So for that, thank you.
You're welcome. :-)
I really didn't mean my relating of this article to be a source of worry for anyone--just a piece of interesting news. It's relevant enough that FB is investing in a solution, but what it means to us remains to be seen.
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Interesting info Laura, thanks for sharing. Desmond
Thanks, Desmond. :-) - Laura