danhughes

Clickbooth just sent me an email containing this new policy.

Clickbooth Publisher Affiliate Network and CPA Network

I understand completely that work needs to be done to reign in bogus blogs and review sites, but this is just crazy.

This new policy is going to require:

1) - Affiliates must have a Government Issued ID on file for each person who gives you a testimonial.

2) - If you are comparing your product with a competitor you will require the competitors written approval if you want to use their name.

3) - You may not create web sites that contain fewer that 3 products.

4) - You must collect / maintain and verify the IP address of any person leaving a customer review.

5) You must put an asterisk next to any image that requires a disclaimer or that you are being paid to sell.

So pretty much an Affiliate now has two choices.... Try and pull off this needless bureaucracy that is not even required by the FTC or any other body that I am aware of .... Or drop Clickbooth...

I suppose option 3 would be to go blackhat.

That is really why I have such a problem with short-sighted polices like this.
Someone who is committing fraud does not care what the rules are. All they care about it not getting caught.

Legitimate Affiliates want very much to abide by the rules and they are the ones who will be penalized by this.

I just don't see how anyone is going to be able to pull this off. Even if an Affiliate *thinks* they have and gets audited, they are going to be at the mercy of the Clickbooth paid auditor who may well hold their commissions hostage.

Clickbooth - I would *love* for you to respond to this and explain the thinking behind it.

I wonder how much extra revenue they will generate by not paying "non-compliant" Affiliates over this?

Randy Bheites

They'll rescind it as soon as they feel the bite from the loss of "superaffiliate" revenues, since a LOT of money is made using "iffy" review and blog sites.

These guys are small as networks go, and their offers can be found in lots of other networks. Don't think they thought it through all the way, or they are reacting to some other pressure we can't see.

iplusgold

Yeah thats pretty rediculous...can you imagine the email:

..."hey thanks for that great testimonial that you just emailed me...by the way can you send me a copy of your drivers license and passport?"

Man with the amount of identity theft thats going around, who in their right mind is going to scan thier ID and send it to someone that they purchased a product from, just so that the seller cna get the benefit of a testimonial. I woudlnt!

Clickbooth clearly are either insane or have decided to kill their own business.

jiht76

This would be really absurd

Yes, I'm a Google Advertising Professional
I am the Co-creator of PPCMatic.com - Google Adwords Campaigns Creator Tool

bsmith

Clickbooth may be the first to do this but they won't be the last. All USA-based CPA networks will soon have these rules unless the FTC changes direction.

The sad thing is that honest marketers, with truthful sites, will also have to jump through hoops thanks to the scammers. Here's one link to see the writing on the wall:

FTC Targets Viral Marketing With New Regulations | Internet Marketing News

Other reports I've seen today include the stuff Clickbooth is requiring (got a testimonial on your site? -- better be prepared to prove it is real -- not to the FTC -- to the company you're advertsing because *they* will be held responsible if *you* lie, etc.).

Burdensome if it passes...but it may also be effective...

remodeler

Has to be a late April fools joke.

No way is anyone going to send a copy of their personal info. The rest of those rules are just as assinine. Has to be more to it that they haven't come out with yet. If not, you can pretty much stick a fork in Clickbooth.

MicahF7

I guess they don't realize how many hundreds of other cpa networks there are fighting for the business.

It probably has something to do with this... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512457,00.html



Thanks,


Micah Rush

tshipp

April Fools....This is one cruel joke to their affiliates.

Tony

Vision without action is a daydream...Action without vision is a nightmare.

Doug English

While I agree this new policy might be a bit over the top, go read many of the recent threads in this subforum from a merchants/advertisers point of view and tell me if you wouldn't consider the same type of policy?

How many threads here are about hiding your referring urls, asking others to call the CPA networks on your behalf, how to 'get away with blackhat methods', etc.

I know this Clickbooth policy isn't really the same as those issues, but it all comes down to marketing with honesty and integrity. I've almost given up on this subforum because honest marketing doesn't even seem to exist anymore, so whats the difference?

If you constantly bite the hand that feeds you, you can't really blame them when they pull it away.

Randy Bheites

No, it all comes down to money.

Clickbooth and its advertisers need the traffic affiliates bring in, that is their business model. If they put too many constraints on affiliates, they, as independent contractors, will go elswhere that does not make them work as hard.

Water always flows downhill. A good network manages the flow to their advantage.

Jeremy Kelsall

Well, if you think about it....

If you are an affiliate promoting one of these CPA offers chances are good that you have NOT received any testimonials whatsoever. Any testimonials that you put up on your review site more than likely are probably bull**** and not true...

The FTC has announced that it is going to start cracking down on these fake claims and testimonials...I don't imagine that it will be long before some of the other CPA companies follow suit...