The Truth About Commission Junction’s Network Information

If you have used Commission Junction, you have probably seen the network EPC numbers that they show you to illustrate the effectiveness of their affiliate programs. For instance, the below program is getting a very high network earning grade from Commission Junction.

Here is how the Network Earnings rating is calculated:

Network Earnings: The advertiser’s network earnings rating shows how the advertiser rates with other advertisers in the network based on the volume of commissions paid. Advertisers are ranked in an “apples to apples” comparison with all advertisers by taking each advertiser’s total commissions (regardless of currency), and then converting that total (if necessary) to US dollars. After each advertiser’s commission total amount has made this conversion to a common currency (USD), the rating is established. The advertiser’s EPC is then converted back to your functional currency (provided it differs from USD).

In essence, you can say that CJ’s network earnings ranking is sort of similar to gravity numbers provided to you by Clickbank (though there are some major differences). Now here is the thing. But these numbers have proven to be not effective when it comes to choosing the right affiliate program. You can log on to CJ and find the program with the highest rating and highest 3-month or 7-day EPC. That doesn’t mean you are going to make a ton of cash.

Using a bar instead of real number for network earnings simply makes the result look less accurate. In addition, unless CJ is comparing affiliate programs “apples to apples” in niches, you are not going to get real useful information from this information. The EPC numbers are also averages really. If you have a master affiliate who’s bringing 2000 sales a month for a program, then average EPC could be overstated.

The data provided by Commission Junction can be used to spot trends, but you shouldn’t make a judgement on affiliate programs by using these information only. At the end of the day, you should be always testing to increase your revenue. Your own data are the only numbers that matter at the end of the day.