Iframe affiliate banners

Webmaster Discussion
#1

I have been seeing more affiliate programs offering video “iframe” banners and wonder how effective these are for people? Is it worthwhile for us to create some and would people use them? Thanks for any feedback!

#2

There’s positives and negatives with them. I definitely hesitate in using them because it ultimately hands over some control over your site to someone else, they could potentially inject malware through it. The biggest issue though is that iframes are not really mobile friendly and does not adapt to the viewport / browser size. However they are easy to use and means the affiliate don’t have to update with new banners since this can be done by the sponsor directly.

#3

Thank you, great feedback Bjorn. The compatibility issues were something that our Programmers mentioned as an issue. I guess it can’t hurt to offer them and let the affiliates decide, but I would totally understand if affiliates didn’t want to use them. I do think it could be useful as a program manager to be able to switch out banners for affiliates and better monitor their clicks and impressions and try to improve conversions for them.

#4

If these require editing the WordPress script, there will be affiliates that won’t, or can’t, do it. Or are these inserted like a drop and drag item?

#5

I am not a fan for many reasons but here is a quick list:

  1. the clicks do not track via our adserver, so we have no idea about consumer response/interest.
  2. no control over the contents
  3. graphics tend to be very poor, pixelated and I wonder if that is a function of the iframe, server or designer or a combination of the three.

When it was more likely that I had a decent relationship with the rep/buyer at the company, I’d accept iframe banners because I could trust them to be honest about CTR and ROI since we fly blind if we use them. Now, reps change too much and I no longer have the confidence to work with companies without transparency.

#6

I’m not using them either, because of the control (or actually lack of control) issue. I have tested some in the past and most of those iframes also slowed down my sites.

#7

Thank you for your feedback everyone! It doesn’t really sound like anything to focus a lot of time on since most people aren’t using them.

#8

Hello, they as affective like any other promo tool. As long it’s well. done from marketing’s point of view, it will make sales.

At SeeMyBucks we have some pretty useful Geo-Locator-Thumbnails that makes a lot of sales. It’s easy to setup, looks good and gets a lot of clicks from surfers. We also have an iframe with a map with thumbs on it, looks really good. If you are interested, take a look here > SeeMyBucks > Tools

I’m always around if you have questions.
skype: seemybucks

#9

I do use them with sponsors I can trust and have a good relationship with. Keeping the ads fresh is always a chore I can use help with and Iframes can save a lot of time. I even use them on some of the galleries I make. It isn’t a deal breaker for me - just a nice little plus. I would rather see more affiliate content than fancy iframes, though.