Affiliate Teacher

Last week it was announced that independent digital agency i-level had unfortunately entered administration. Step forward a week and it has subsequently slipped into liquidation. The decision followed a seemingly tough year for the 10 year old agency who cited cash flow problems and lack of new funding as the major causes for the collapse of the company. The news will come as big shock to many as the company was deemed to be the largest of its kind in the country with an estimated 40% year-on-year growth over the last couple of years. Almost 90 employees have been made redundant and media owners including Google and Microsoft are set to make big losses following the news.

Of course, the worry is that this will have repercussions for the affiliate marketing industry. The agency managed a string of high profile clients and looked after a variety of affiliate programs, including, Next, Specsavers and Lovefilm.

Affiliates may be concerned about commissions already earned from programs, as well as whether they can proceed to advertise these merchants. However, according to reports, i-level’s largest clients have been temporarily placed under alternative media agencies. This means it should have little effect on affiliates  and publishers can continue to promote merchants as usual.