SimonHarrison

Dear Publishers,

For several years now, the Azoogle Network (AZN) has prided itself on being an industry leader in online marketing compliance, often taking a far more conservative approach than most in our overall marketing standards and investing millions of dollars into compliance tools and resources, both human and technical. The events of the last 48 hours, highlighted below, underscore the reasons why we have taken this approach and been so steadfast in how we advise you, our valued affiliates, each and every day.

The Illinois State Attorney General’s Office, Oprah Winfrey, and Dr. Oz have filed a number of suits in the past day which may affect your business. The lawsuits send a clear message that using deceptive ad content, e.g., fake celebrity endorsements, not disclosing the price and re-bill terms, using fake blogs, etc., will not be tolerated. Please read the following for more information:

The Illinois State AG has filed actions against three parties for deceptive advertising practices in the marketing of acai berry products and other dietary supplements. Please keep in mind that the regulators are choosing to directly pursue affiliate marketers for their marketing practices. The full text of the press release can be found here: Illinois Attorney General - MADIGAN FILES LAWSUITS AGAINST ACAI BERRY COMPANIES.


Dr. Oz and Oprah Winfrey have also filed a lawsuit in New York for copyright and trademark infringement against approximately 50 companies, including advertisers, suppliers, ad networks, and affiliates. To put it bluntly, they are very unhappy of their celebrity status being used to market dietary supplements and cosmetics, without their permission. They have specifically listed hundreds of affiliate sites they want discontinued immediately, because the URLs use their name or the sites claim endorsements from Oprah/Dr. Oz. The full story can be found here: Oprah, Dr. Oz sue over false endorsements - Celebrities- msnbc.com

Finally, keep our guidelines in mind when you are creating your ad content. An advertisement or affiliate:

Must not use falsified consumer testimonials or postings.

If any testimonials/photos/first person accounts/etc. are used, appropriate documentation must be submitted to AZN. Talk to your network manager for more information.


Must not use photos of celebrities or falsified endorsements.

Must not use altered pictures and represent that those pictures are of actual consumers.

Must not use fake blogs or fake news sites to promote content.

Must not use of the word “FREE” on anything that is not completely free. ‘Free’, ‘Try it Free’, ‘Free Sample’, etc. are not acceptable.

Must not have a “comments” section without a “reply” or “post” option.
We hope that this information has been helpful to you. Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to your Affiliate Manager, or me, directly.

Mitch Richler
Senior Vice President of Distribution

Jeremy Kelsall

......And the game changes again for many people

SimonHarrison

I wonder how long the networks will hold out, I suspect the big players will all have to send out a similar letter and soon, whether they allow a few key affiliates to continue until the bitter end is hard to determine .

One suspect as always that advertisers will become more crafty be based off shore in legal wonderlands where they can escape prosecution, but ultimately they have to a network to run the offer.

It may be we see some smaller networks spring up in alternative locations globally to get around the legal issues.

This will hit the big legit networks the hardest, they simply can't carry on regardless, too much to lose.

Dave Ward

I am only surprised it has taken this long to be honest.

You can be sure the mighty Goog are watching too.

SimonHarrison

I more surprised every single Google based CPA offer hasn't been removed from every Google index there is and their spiders sent out to track down and destroy any flog with em on.

Let's catch up Monday Dave, off this weekend doing kid friendly stuff but should be more focussed Monday.

All the best.
SH.

Dave Ward

Sure Steve, catch you next week.
Have a good weekend

SimonHarrison

I don't mind a level of incognito, but I'm telling ya, I'm not Steve.

I'm Spartacus...

Zach Booker

This is something to keep an eye on but again it's not the end of the world.

The thing is that some networks have seen this coming. (Who hasn't?)

Dealing with these new networks is never a good idea; I realize everyone starts small but you need to start sticking with the guys with the cash flow and the smarts.

I love Copeac, even with their messed up sub-id tracking, according to the CEO their isn't a whole lot to worry about if you were pimping Copeac offers. (At least the exclusive ones.)

Due to the lack of solid information people are going crazy thinking their going to get sued. That's not the case.

Within a month things will be back to normal and at the very most we'll just not be aloud to say "One day I came home and turned on Oprah; and she told me to buy Acai Berry Max 3000 2.0."

Zach

MicahF7

I wish this would have happened much sooner and all these bogus advertisers and affiliates did not have such a big window of opportunity to nearly wreck the market.

This is a GREAT thing though.... This business really needs to get back on the right track and on the right level of business practices and it will be WAY better and WAY more profitable in the long run for everyone... And probably more then we realize.


This is great.

Thanks

Micah Rush

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glchandler

I received the same notice from Market Health via email and am happy to see this type of marketing coming to an end.

Maybe I will never make the millions claimed by others but I still will not entice others to buy something in a manner that I myself would not appreciate being marketed to in same manner.

Do unto others as you would like to be "done" to is still a safe and satisfactory manner in which to live and market!!

There is never a BAD time to help those living with lousy kidneys!
http://funds.gofundme.com/1oh40

Saj Gupta

It's just not on Google, but on other se as well. In yahoo mail I can't begin to tell you how many times the flogs as well as oprah and Dr oz ads show up.. someone is buying a million impressions a day and making tons of money.

First Time Ever, Get All My WSO's for 100% Free

Wax

sranju72, I've seen them in AOL mail as well. They seriously took over the internet, just like the Google pays me 5k a month and Evony ads are right now.

EDIT: Forgot whiter teeth and Obama urges moms to go back to school.

tmedocianis

Fake news is still around also just check out News13Direct.com. Somebody likes trademark infringement.

ChrisBa

I don't think anyone didn't see this coming, but from what I've heard even more of a sheet storm is coming for this

JayInOrlando

ChrisBa- Do tell?

Cash37

Complain or get in the game.

SimonHarrison

Yep, the point of course is that Google have a vested interest in removing scam offers that use their company as the focal point.

Yahoo / MSN etc are far less concerned, if at all with protecting Google's name.

Uncle Dimitry

in few words then just ask: "don't cheat visitors"

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Dave Ward

Sorry Spartacus... you would think the big bloody name on the left in blue would help me get it right wouldn't you .