Rewards and incentive programs are the often the target of criticism by the affiliate marketing community. Many of the companies in this space use tactics that rob honest affiliates of their rightful commissions. Recent events point to a decline in the health of the incentive marketing model. MyPoints was just sold for $60 Million less than United Airlines originally paid for it. Today Clickz reports that Experian is closing MetaReward, eliminating all incentive programs and laying off 50 employees. Adotas speculates that it could be due in part to “recent legal action by the New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer against rival Gratis.” I wonder if eBates and some of the other incentive sites are feeling the pinch???

Clickz reports : Experian Swears Off Incentive Marketing, Lays Off 50 “The incentive marketing space originally attracted high volumes of consumer traffic, which provided an opportunity for us to offer advertising and marketing services to clients,” she said. “Over the past year, the effectiveness of incentive marketing has eroded and volumes have dropped. We decided the best move would be to exit the incentive marketing space.”

“Another incentive/loyalty marketing play, MyPoints, was recently sold by its parent United Airlines (UAL) to United Online for $56 million. UAL originally paid $116 million for the business, and the drop in price supports Experian’s contention that incentive marketing is a shrinking business.“