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One Of My Affiliates Is Running Ads Claiming To Be Me

by Brian Cook
13 replies
Today I noticed that an affiliate for one of my Clickbank
products is running an ad on Yahoo Sponsored Search
which is basically claming to be me...

"xyz.com Official Site
Official Site - Special Offer - 90 Day Guarantee.
xyz.com"

Now, this is obviously not the official site... it's an
affiliate sending traffic to the affiliate page of my site
(which is slightly different than the main page).

Also, I don't offer a 90-day guarantee on this product.

I'm surprised that Yahoo Search would allow the words,
"Official Site" without verifying it via a whois search.

I value my affiliates and want them to be successful. On
the other hand, I can't have them claiming to be me and
possibly making claims that I would never make.

What do you all think... is this a potential legal problem
for me, or is it just a clever affiliate thinking outside of
the box?

Brian
#ads #affiliates #claiming #running
  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    If he's offering a refund period that neither you nor CB offer - it's a problem. When people want a refund they go to the seller, not an affiliate. Is he making a guarantee that he won't be responsible for?

    You might add a line to your affiliate terms page prohibiting advertising as "the product owner" or misrepresenting the affiliate status.

    kay
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  • Profile picture of the author monitorit
    kick his a** i would not have any of it!
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Motley
    I'd call him on it. If he messes up, its going to point back at you
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Thompson
    The affiliate can say "official site" if they are directing traffic to your site ... because that is the official site. But the 90 day guarantee should not be in the ad. That's wrong. I'd contact Yahoo.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Moffatt
    You know what I'd do. I'd let him keep running the ad. If someone asked for a refund 88 days later, I'd just give it to them.

    I see no sense in turning down free money/traffic.

    If it were anything derogatory I'd want it removed. I'd just kindly ask him to switch it to 60 days instead. All in all, it's a fairly decent problem to have. Worst case scenario is you extend the refund period by 30 days for a couple people.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
      Originally Posted by Jason Moffatt View Post

      You know what I'd do. I'd let him keep running the ad. If someone asked for a refund 88 days later, I'd just give it to them.

      I see no sense in turning down free money/traffic.

      If it were anything derogatory I'd want it removed. I'd just kindly ask him to switch it to 60 days instead. All in all, it's a fairly decent problem to have. Worst case scenario is you extend the refund period by 30 days for a couple people.
      I would have to agree with Jason on this one but I would also inform the
      affiliate that they will need to change the refund time frame before placing
      any other future ads.

      Have a Great Day!
      Michael
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      • Profile picture of the author Brian Cook
        Thanks everyone for your comments so far!

        My gut feeling at this time is that I'm okay with the
        ad in general, but I would like the "90-day guarantee"
        part to be corrected.

        I would prefer to contact the affiliate (vs. Yahoo)
        and ask him/her to make the change, but I'm not sure
        how to do this... unless Clickbank has a feature I'm not
        aware of, there is no way to contact an affiliate?

        Brian
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        • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
          Brian,

          Get the affiliates Id by going through his/her sales process if needed and
          forward it in an email to CB telling them that you believe that your affiliate
          may have made a mistake about the Time frame of the Guarantee period.

          Ask them to inform him of the mistake and to please correct it.

          Never tried this before but it may just work???

          I would stress that you're not upset but are just trying to help your
          affiliate remain with in CB's policy.

          Hope that Helps,
          Have a Great Day!
          Michael
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          • Profile picture of the author Brian Cook
            Thanks Michael,

            I'll give that a try

            Brian

            Originally Posted by Michael Mayo View Post

            Brian,

            Get the affiliates Id by going through his/her sales process if needed and
            forward it in an email to CB telling them that you believe that your affiliate
            may have made a mistake about the Time frame of the Guarantee period.

            Ask them to inform him of the mistake and to please correct it.

            Never tried this before but it may just work???

            I would stress that you're not upset but are just trying to help your
            affiliate remain with in CB's policy.

            Hope that Helps,
            Have a Great Day!
            Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    As a ppc guy, I can to you it's not clever - just the opposite in fact.

    And yes - I would be concerned. He's advertising a guarantee that is not true. Unless he's linking to his own site first and somehow personaly guaranteeing it hiself - in which case he's now got the fraud issue to deal with saying his site is the official site.
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    -Jason

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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    I uderstand What j'mo is saying - but I would nip it in the bud if possible and try to keep a clean program for your affilaites. I do ppc, and I don't enjoy competing against guys who lie in their ads.
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    -Jason

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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    Originally Posted by NathanFalkner View Post

    - - -
    8. What is the policy for returns requested after 60 days?

    Customers requesting a return after 60 days will be directed to
    the vendor for technical support. Vendors may request a return,
    on behalf of customers, of any purchase up to 90 days after the
    date of the ClickBank customer's purchase.
    - - -
    Source: FAQ Returns - ClickBank
    That just means that CB will give the option to the vendor and pass on the request.. it doesn't mean that there is a 90 day return policy.

    maybe the OP should go ahead and change his policy to 90 days though...

    As an affiliate who uses ppc, I just don't like it when vendors turn a blind eye to affiliates who lie/cheat, as it leaves the legit folks in a bad position.

    I was make around $200 a day in sales for a CB vendor when I ran across some ppc affiliates pulling stuff much worse then this. The vendor didn't care - so I quit promoting the product. The cheaters? they come and go, whereas I would have happily kept on promoting for them. They lost 6k a month in sales from me alone.
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    -Jason

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  • Profile picture of the author JasonGiorgini
    Hey Brian,

    I guess it all boils down to, how many sales is this affiliate making. As far as the return policy goes, if you have a good product, you won't have to ever worry about issuing a return. Most people that return products do so rather quickly from my experience. Within 7 to 30 day mark.

    If his actions are bothering you so greatly, I would suggest as others have said, contacting clickbank, but personally I would only due so, if this was affecting sales, or I was receiving a high rate of returns from this individual affiliate.

    John
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