Voucher site Groupon has finally delivered commission to a number of publishers after stern action from its affiliate programme’s supporting network.

We understand the company was served a suspension notice by the entire zanox group following evidence of a backlog of missing payments owed to affiliates. 

Publishers had admitted feelings of worry following this, being under the impression that Groupon could start afresh under a new network without paying up. 

A representative from Affiliate Window – the UK-headquartered network forming part of the zanox group – has responded to PerformanceIN to say that Groupon’s suspension notice was received but then retracted within 24 hours of a payment being made.

A page hosted by Affiliate Window listing terms and conditions of the Groupon programme is also back online following a short period of absence.

Groupon faces dispute

On Groupon’s own site, its affiliate programme’s supporting network for several parts of Europe is zanox, in Germany, France, Sweden and Italy among others.  

In the UK, it’s listed as Affiliate Window and OMG, the second of which recently rebranded to Optimise.

When contacted by PerformanceIN, a representative from Optimise said the entry in question was out of date and that the company had nothing to do with Groupon’s affiliate programme since its closure on the network in 2012.

While Affiliate Window refused to comment on the events leading up to the end of last month, when some publishers reported that owings had been received, it’s thought the potential loss of earnings went into tens of thousands of pounds.

Case dropped

PerformanceIN discovered on Monday (August 3) that Groupon’s merchant profile on the Affiliate Window site had been removed amid rumours suggesting as much. 

This may have been during the notice period, where tracking for existing links is typically left on despite warning of the programme’s potential closure.

Given that Groupon is back up and running on Affiliate Window and with publishers confirming that overdue payments have been made, it seems that an agreement with zanox has been struck, much to the delight of the site owners involved.

The exact number of affiliates that had been awaiting payment remains unknown.

Groupon branches out

In the US, the Chicago-headquartered Groupon is coming on leaps and bounds, launching a food delivery network only last week and, through its coupon business, aggressively targeting shoppers in the mobile space.

The company grew revenue in the first quarter of this year to $750.5 million, up 2.9% from 2014. 

As far as Europe is concerned, the company focuses on having its discounting wing drive sales for merchants while building its own user base via affiliate partnerships and other methods.

Information on the Groupon Affiliates page promises to trade promotion of the company for “cold, hard cash” on websites following an approval process which lasts for approximately 24 hours.

However, the reports of missed payments may be tarnishing the company’s reputation among the people Groupon, as an affiliate, should still consider itself to be among. 

In response to PerformanceIN’s request for comment, a Groupon spokesperson said the company “deeply values the relationships we have with our network of affiliates”.

The group refused to share any additional information relating to its contracts with partners for “commercial reasons”.