Change in Comp Structure plus a Reminder

We've decided to set the 'Subscription' Merchandise Type to a flat 35%, and remove tiers involved in it.

Also, we will be evaluating the compensation amounts on a quarterly basis to ensure that affiliates are being paid the appropriate value for each product. The first evaluation will be in February, and we will be looking at the lifetime values of the products sold through the affiliate program.

One thing to remember about this change: The reason WHY we changed the structure is because of the internal accounting system not being able to attribute cancels due to package migration to the appropriate source. This also meant that when a user upgraded, we couldn't credit the referring affiliate with the sale. In order to avoid affiliates being incorrectly charged back for users changing their packages, we decided to start paying on the LifeTime Value (LTV) of the product.

What does all this gobbledy-gook mean? Basically, it means that we increased the commission percentages because we knew that the sales credited to affiliates would decrease.

We've been getting a lot of questions about decreases in sales year over year and month over month. Please do not focus on sales dollars and quantity changes from before December 8 versus afterward. If you want to compare performance, look at compensation FIRST.

Let us know if you have any questions - affiliate@ancestry.com or 801-705-7850.