In this case, we are talking about the statistics provided by the casino affiliate program so you can track you progress, or lack there of.
Stats will become a major part of your life. When you first start you will probably be consumed by them. Checking your stats every hour or so and wondering if they are really tracking. This will ( hopefully ) pass and after the bloom is off the rose you can go back to have a small shot at having a life. But you still need to track them. The more information they provide to you, the better you well know how you are doing. Click, downloads, conversions, deposits, fees will all become second nature. Knowledge is king and if a program has lousey stats, let them know. They may not know they do since they probably aren't promoting other casinos.
WHY SHOULD I?
Because maybe not all programs have that ‘perfect' backend software to capture everything, maybe the served was down for a week and they ‘forget' to tell you, maybe they are just plain dishonest.
OH MY…..A DISHONEST CASINO AFFILIATE PROGRAM ?
No Joe, say it ain't so. It is. In this biz as much, no, much more than, a ‘regular' business, there is theft, corruption, greed and dishonesty. Sorry if this bursts your bubble but life in the big city isn't always kind.
‘SHAVING' is a popular term for this. You send 100 visitors and your stats show 90 or less. It may very well be a technical glitch and it may not. A program may be short of cash and hurting so where are they going for the money first. The players? Don't pay them and they are all over the net trashing you. The bank? Yeah, like a bank will lend an online casino cash after the dot bomb craze, not to mention they are usually on an island somewhere. So they may, just may, shave a little from a webmaster here and there to cover this months martini bill. You don't have to stretch your imagination to far to see this happening and you wont be in this business to long before you see it happen to you.
Tough love time… You aren't dealing with the Sisters of Assisi here. This is a tough business and a CASH business so that breeds greed, and you are going to get taken sooner or later. DEAL WITH IT. It is part and parcel of this biz and it comes from all the money floating around in a totally unregulated environment.
See the big picture.
Are you making more then you are spending and getting a reasonable return on your effort? If so, don't give yourself an ulcer over who is stealing from you because more often then not, it is more than one. Consider it a cost of doing business. just like hosting, advertising, etc. Vito takes his cut before you do. If you can't hang with that, go sell Amway.