Uniregistry.
Uniregistry rolled out an affiliate program very soon after its official launch in 2014.
The program allows for the passing of one’s affiliate id through banners and links; the domains that get registered as part of this process earn referral fees for the Uniregistry account holders.
At DomainGang, we used an affiliate account when providing availability lists for Uniregistry gTLDs, through the early launch of Uniregistry gTLDs.
Although this is not something we actively do currently, the listings at the time generated thousands of visits and hundreds of clicks in total. Some sales were generated, and we can say this was an interesting experiment.
In a recent message sent to address a negative balance that occurred in recent months, Uniregistry states that commissions across affiliate accounts were audited, and balance reversals were generated.
The reason: domains deemed to be “premium” by Uniregistry do not qualify for commission sales.
“We noticed that your affiliate account has been showing sales and commissions from premium domain name purchases. As a reminder, per our Affiliate Pricing and Terms, registry defined premium new domain registrations are not eligible for a commission. In order to avoid confusion, we are no longer reporting premium domain purchases in your sales and commission reports. We performed an audit of all affiliate transactions from April 2015 to present. Any commissions earned on premium sales previously reflected in your earnings were identified and removed from your balance as an adjustment in September 2015. This is reflected as a negative earning for the month of September.”
While this is something that did not make a huge difference in our account, it is important for anyone participating in the Uniregistry affiliate system to review the terms and conditions under which they earn affiliate income from domain sales.
Strangest email I’ve ever gotten about a clawback. As if to blame me because a customer bought a premium domain name. As if I’m supposed to be responsible for tracking the sales and know which names are premium.
Secondly, premiums are most likely higher dollar and most likely higher margin, so why would they exclude them?
Maybe their registrar partners are already getting a commission and they don’t want double-dipping ?
Bad handling.