2Key Network is revolutionizing referral links with an innovative new blockchain solution

Table of Contents

• The problem with ‘traditional’ affiliate links*
• Paving the Way for Full Web 2.0-Web 3.0 Interoperability
• The 2Key Token
• Concluding Thoughts 

The Layer 2 Ethereum protocol, 2Key Network, is turning the marketing industry upside down with an innovative solution which purports to unlock the full potential of organic reach, and one which transforms regular links into referral SmartLinks.

Using breakthrough cryptography, the 2Key team has been working diligently since 2017 to bring SmartLinks mainstream to solve what they deem as a huge problem for online companies. Given how 88% of marketers use referral marketing software, 2Key’s crypto-orientated solution appears to have a huge potential, especially since the majority of online businesses are heavily reliant upon referral links. This combination therefore provides a hugely interesting value proposition for marketers who are constantly looking at new ways to increase referral traffic. So the question that must be asked, is how does the 2Key Network make this possible?

The problem with ‘traditional’ affiliate links*

As already mentioned, online businesses are highly reliant on affiliate marketing, and this has prompted marketers to continuously find new ways in maximising their referral traffic due to the ever ongoing market competition. However, many marketers are increasingly experiencing several challenges that are holding their referral marketing back, and fake referral link clicks rank amongst the most problematic.

Affiliate click fraud is silently draining merchants’ advertising budgets and diverting web traffic, and what’s more, this form of traffic fraud is relatively easy to carry out and conceal. This has traditionally been committed by ‘microworkers’ who are paid on the penny to click ads or referral links, and fake clicks are now increasingly being done with the use of automated click bots. Furthermore, dubious marketing agencies who are contracted to generate traffic have little tracking accountability by their contractors, and the financial drain of this dishonest practice is significant. 

According to a Financial Times report, fake clicks on online ads cost companies tens of billions a year, and because each fake click is charged by the advertisement’s host, ad budgets are significantly drained. Should this trend continue, cost-per-click advertising may very well lose its reputation as an effective marketing tool. 

There is also the incentive problem to consider. 

Seeing how the vast majority of online companies use referral links of some shape or form, marketers have been increasingly struggling to galvanise excitement amongst affiliates as many referral links are both uninspiring and financially not worth the time. Furthermore, the time spent on managing affiliate programs has also put a big drain on their time and resources. 

The 2Key Network solves both problems, and is also enhancing the reputation of both brands and users alike through its innovative reputation scoring method. 

Paving the Way for Full Web 2.0-Web 3.0 Interoperability

In response to the lacking functionality and incentives found within the traditional referral link model, the 2Key Network team has created a cryptographically powered technology called SmartLinks which allows people to transform any URL link into a SmartLink which encompasses superior tracking and incentive benefits than the former.

SmartLinks revolutionises the existing referral link model by allowing a person to track when and where a link has been shared through an embedded smart contract, and these smart contracts can be set up in such a way that when the link is clicked through and the desired action is undertaken (eg a revenue-creating action), the proceeds can be appropriately dispersed to those who shared the link. This automatically solves the issues of click fraud, fake conversion data and untracked conversions from link shares. But what is perhaps even more exciting is 2Key’s Reputation Mining model. 

The Reputation Mining model ensures that transparent and high quality actions are rewarded accordingly, whilst dishonest ones are penalized. Over the coming decade, up to 120 million 2Key tokens (20% of 2key network’s total token supply) are set to be distributed to 2key network users based on their accumulated reputation.

However, as is the case with many new technologies, there is always the concern with ease of use and applicability. Not with the 2Key Network. 

The 2Key Network now offers a key into Web 3.0, and the beauty of SmartLinks is that 2Key users don’t even need to know about Web 3.0 to benefit from what it has to offer. Furthermore, the 2Key interface appears very similar to the interfaces that marketers and companies already use, and in this way, Web 3.0 becomes just as simple as Web 2.0. So when a user clicks on a smart link, their browser becomes a node with a non-custodial wallet, and whenever the referral link is shared through that node, the sharing node gets rewarded. Therefore, the 2Key Network not only is bringing superior functionality and transparency to referral links, but also removing the barrier of entry into the crypto space.

The 2Key Token

The fuel powering the 2Key Network comes in the form of the 2Key Token, which alongside acting as a participation token, also acts as an additional incentive for users. As of right now, 2Key Tokens are available on a mixture of both centralised and decentralised exchanges, but in order to earn fees from trades, Uniswap is the recommended destination.  

The 2Key token currently has two liquidity pools on Uniswap:

ETH-2KEY

DAI-2KEY

In order to earn fees from trades, 2Key holders can do so by adding to each of these liquidity  pools, and the higher the portion of the liquidity pool one contributes, the more they collect in fees. The fees paid out are determined by the ratio of ones added liquidity against the amount added by others in the pool, minus a 0.3% per-transaction fee. The interest accrued therefore not only incentivises more people to use SmartLinks, but also provides them with another source of income apart from just trading. 

In addition to this, Tokens will also bring a better return-on-investment to companies in the form of more successful pay-per-click campaigns, whilst the 2Keys ‘smart referral system will also greatly reduce the risk of fraudulent activity in pay-per-click campaigns. 2Key Network also uses AI to score users’ referral performance, rewarding those who send the most effective referrals with 2Key tokens and providing less to spammers. Less spam and more substance is encouraged and incentivised for all participants in this new process.

This reward split model therefore incentivises ALL participants by empowering them to benefit from their honest contribution to marketing campaigns. 

Concluding Thoughts 

There’s currently a very serious problem within the referral marketing industry, and the importance cannot be understated due to referral links being essential for the long-term success of many online businesses. The problem, however, is that the model clearly is at fault from both a functionality and incentive perspective, resulting in the loss of exorbitant amounts of money, and also fails to tap into the advantages found within more gamified models. For this reason, the 2Key Network is indeed offering a tangible solution which has the potential to bring more transparency, traffic and sales for online merchants, whilst also rewarding users proportionately for their efforts. 

The referral marketing space is not going to disappear anytime soon, but with the right implementation, the solution to the industry’s problems may just lie with 2Key.

Expect to hear more about the SmartLink solution going forward.