Like you, I am concerned with tracking. I’ve done it every day, for years. I know my segmentation, I know my paths, I know my metrics. I know exactly where my traffic comes from, how much it costs, and where it exits. We’re on the same page with regard to the need to track.

My point is that there is an information asymmetry. You can’t tell exactly what payout you’re getting from Chitika until they actually pay you. The figures provided on a daily basis are ballpark, and Chitika have made a point of saying that the actual payout is dependent on various factors between themselves and their suppliers, which means that you, me, Darren, and anyone else on the outside have no way of knowing in advance how big the ballpark is. It would be simple if geo-targeting was the only factor, but that isn’t the case.

Personally, I’m giving Chitika the benefit of the doubt until I see the November figures and compare those figures with my own data. I like the program and certianly hope it succeeds.

I, like many others, would like to see better reporting on their side.

I understand your point – it’s just like the stock market. Who cares if your stock is up 25 points today if you don’t sell because tomorrow you could give it all back in losses.

But the “head in the sand” approach just doens’t fly. I’m sure you check Chitika’s reports more than once a month right? If so, you do care about day-to-day earnings and reports.

And personally, there is no difference in the long-run between optimizing income and managing your site. I use Analytics, Sitemaps, Chitika, AdWords and other tools from my host to manage the day-to-day tweaking I do on the site.

I have been paid out by Chitika so I don’t see it as an affiliate program (like AllAdvantage back in the day) which just never paid out.

What I am currently trying to accomplish doesn’t really have Chitika as my cornerstone of income, however.

Untrue.

Potential payout is *not* your actual payout. Profit can only be determined when you have the audited details and past performance is no measure of future earnings. The audited details can be affected by various factors, not just geo-targeting.

I like the Chitika system. I’ve had very good results from them, thus far. However, I’ve been in the affiliate marketing game a long time, and I’ve been burned before. Ask any old-hand: the only money that counts is the cleared funds in your bank account.

I believe the phrase “don’t count your chickens until they are hatched” is apt here.

That’s untrue.

With daily figures removing any clicks coming from unsupported countries, you can more quickly respond to what content is creating these invalid clicks. Personally, getting these daily updates with theuse of SIDs has greatly increased my potential payout by over 100% in the last few days. I was able to more quickly react to traffic trends, modify my content and submit stories to other sites driving valid traffic to my site instead.

To say that the final payout is all that matters is probably the most shortsighted approach to creating a high paying, successful blog. Tweaking your site to match traffic and reading trends to increase your payout is the only way to ever make your blog/site grow.

The only true measure of Chitika’s worth to the publisher, however, is the final payout.

Note this: “The final revenues are calculated after the audit process that takes into consideration factors like click fraud, merchant feedback, merchant chargebacks, etc”

Various factors can still affect your payout.

I await the November figures with interest….

–An avid Internet browser