The following is what Stu McLaren had to say in response the the question, What is wrong with affiliate marketing and how can it be improved?
I think the thing that is wrong with affiliate marketing is the focus.
Both the advertiser and the affiliate manager are constantly focused on the transaction instead of the relationship with the customer.
There needs to be a way where both the manager and the advertiser can continually build a relationship with the market, but there aren’t any tools to build a relationship, and this is why it becomes so difficult.