signupdamnit

"Proven" is a tough one. Exactly what does that mean? But in my experience look towards the top and you'll see quite a few. Any programmer will tell you that almost anything is possible. You could set it to simply discard a % of clicks and sales or you might do something more complex such as shave off 80% of all growth (from an average past baseline) so it might appear to the affiliate that their traffic and sales levels are about the same over time when they have actually been rising a much greater level than shown (a very clever trick). Or perhaps you might set a minimum conversion ratio. The affiliate could really be doing 1:300 but the program is set up to never allow the affiliate to be shown ratios better than 1:1000. The extra sales are pocketed and the affiliate just thinks his traffic is average when it's actually much better. Also don't assume that everyone is treated the same. That rep checking you out for fraud when you sign up just as well could also be deciding what to set the shave factor to. Think about it. What better way to be selective about it?

Most people who are relatively sure aren't going to come out and say it on the boards (especially not here) because they don't want to risk all the drama. But hit up a few close webmaster friends in private and ask candidly and you might be surprised. Some will be misunderstandings or bullshit but others will be real.

Btw, someone good with numbers and familiar with techniques could conceivable reverse engineer (in addition to simple test signups) any shaving algorithm. It's not something that is impossible to detect but it seldom is. There have been whitepapers on the subject in the past.