(Online Dating Industry Journal) Online relationship service eHarmony has made massive changes to its LinkConnector affiliate program, which creates a lose/lose situation for both affiliates and the company. Prior to this month, eHarmony ran an affiliate program which rewarded affiliates with a one time $90 payment for every time a person purchased a membership on eHarmony through an affiliate link. eHarmony has now restructured the program to be pay per lead with gender biases. Under the new program, eHarmony pays per lead based on the following formula:
| Age Group | MALE | FEMALE |
| Age Invalid (0-17) | $ - | $ - |
| Age 18-24 | $ - | $ 2.40 |
| Age 25-30 | $ 2.40 | $ 5.60 |
| Age 31-35 | $ 4.80 | $ 7.20 |
| Age Over 35 | $ 8.80 | $ 8.80 |
| No Age Given | $ - | $ - |
In many cases the company is now paying affiliates nothing for leads (i.e. males, age 18-24 and anyone who doesn't give an age) even if those leads turn into lucrative sales for eHarmony.
Furthermore, eHarmony's new change could result in a higher number of "fake profiles" being established on the service by some not-so honest affiliates looking for a quick payout. In addition, there's a question as to whether eHarmony's new pricing structure for affiliates breaks California's law on charging different amounts for males versus females . The company rewards affiliates more money for referring females than they do males.
The new pricing structure is driving some affiliates to switch to more lucrative programs, like LavaLife, which pays up to 150% per paying member depending on affiliate performance.
eHarmony's affiliate programs on other services, like Commission Junction, remain unchanged.
LinkConnector is a program that brings together publishers with advertisers that pay on a per lead or per action basis.
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