Attrace is a decentralised affiliate marketing platform using a custom-made dedicated blockchain. It is an Ecosystem for E-commerce that enables anybody to start an agreement in online marketing with a counterparty without a middleman involved (including SaaS propositions). Attrace blockchain takes out the middleman in affiliate marketing (online adverstising where advertiser only pays publisher per sale achieved), in that way solving all problems that are restraining affiliate marketing from reaching its full potential.

At the helm of affairs at Attrace is Erwin Werring, CEO of the company. Excerpts from an interview with Erwin:

Attrace – The Story Behind

Blockchain caught Erwin’s attention when he learned about Ethereum in 2015. “It was Ethereum that made me realise that blockchain tech is not only crypto currency but can also be a tool to solve use cases as well. To be more precise, a tool to solve problems by making a middleman obsolete. Two years later Attrace was co-founded.”

Erwin observed that he had run a couple of publisher websites in the past and experienced issues with affiliate networks hence the idea of applying blockchain tech in affiliate marketing seemed an obvious use case. “In affiliate marketing a publisher website advertises a merchant product or service. Only when this results in a sale does the merchant pay the publisher a commission. It is therefore the obvious preferred online marketing model for most merchants (as you only pay per sale) and for publishers with good targeted traffic.” However, traditional affiliate marketing works via a middleman who is tracking all clicks and arranging all commission payments between end-users. This means that in affiliate marketing the middleman has full control and that causes many problems. Attrace developed a custom-made blockchain that logs the agreements between merchants and publishers and registers every individual click/lead generated by a publisher- sale or no sale.

This concept enables end-users to deal with each other directly, making tradition middlemen (incl SaaS) services not mandatory anymore. Advantages are guaranteed no more trust, transparency and tracking issues, no more data privacy issues, no more high middleman fees, no more entry barriers etc.

Evolving of Blockchain Technology

Erwin’s idea that technically, in terms of performance, consensus, and features, blockchain has evolved fast over the last 3 years, is further elaborated by his explanation that governments are also slowly catching up. “In terms of real applications and real implementation of blockchain initiatives into daily life, very significant progress has been made but no doubt we still need another 3 to 5 years before we hit critical mass in the most obvious verticals, which are in my view supply chain, certain parts of DeFi and of course online marketing.”

Future of Blockchain

Noting that blockchain still needs some time, and a proper correction in the start-up scene, before it will show its true value, Erwin added “Currently there are too many high valued intitatives that have no real use case and therefore no future. This does not contribute to the credibility of the underlying tech. But there is no doubt blockchain will be game-changing for many industries in the years to come.”

Challenges Galore 

Issues related to legislation could be a big disadvantage within the system. Erwin cited an example of how whether a proposition is a payment provider or crypto exchange. “A misunderstanding or disagreement around those questions could result in legal issues. Yet another factor is to ensure your blockchain solution has a simple and understandable UI/UX.”

Re-inventing Affiliate Marketing 

Attrace applies blockchain tech (the concept of storing information without a central authority) at the core of affiliate marketing by logging the agreements between merchants and publishers and by registering every individual click/lead generated by a publisher, sale or no sale. This makes a traditional middleman model obsolete, in that way effectively solving all problems that are constraining this industry from reaching its full potential.

It brings a complete change to the current mindset that when  engaged in online marketing there are always issues around trust, transparency, attribution, middleman with monopoly positions, data privacy issues, cookie blocking issues, etc. All those problems are solved with Attrace tech.

“After 2.5 years of development the Attrace MVP is now live, fully operational and with real traction from blue chip companies. It is now mainly about obtaining critical mass by bringing the message across, continue working on integrations and continuously improving UI/UX.”