5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Question about Disclaimers, Affiliate Disclosure Statement, Earnings Disclosure

by finman
3 replies
Hi,

I am new to Internet Marketing and I am in the process of researching what it is all about. My plan is to create niche websites that can be monetized through a combination of adsense,amazon,and clickbank.

I understand that I am required to have a privacy policy and a terms of service through the adsense program, but I am a bit unclear on a few other terms I have come across:

1. Disclaimers
2. Affiliate Disclosure Statement
3. Earnings Disclosure

Am I also required to have these three as well?

Thanks,

finman
#affiliate #disclaimers #disclosure #earnings #earnings disclosure #privacy policy #question #statement
  • Profile picture of the author jdkesler
    Yes you need 1,2 and maybe 3. The FTC decided around 2009 that blogs, other authority sites, and pretty much anyone with a website needed to declare if they had financial incentives for promoting or reviewing the products and services they linked to or posted about. IOW if you promote a product or service and you earn a commission or fee for people buying it then you have to let people know that. If you google FTC and Affiliate disclaimer you will find lots about it. You can also go to FTC.gov and find lots of info on it.

    IIRC the earnings disclosure only comes into play if you are recruiting affiliates or promoting any type of money making offer. You have to tell them what the average person earns when they sign up.

    Examples:

    If your site earns money from Google AdSense you have to have a disclaimer that states that you earn a commission from that. You don't have to tell them how much.

    Your site promotes Tony Hawk's Extreme Snowboarding Video Game and you write a rave review abou it. In the review you link to the distributor site. The distributor pays you a percentage of the sale. You have to have a disclaimer stating that you earn a commission from the sale of products reviewed or featured on your site. You don't have to disclose how much commission.

    If you are recruiting affiliates for XYZ Network Marketing Corps you have to have a disclaimer stating that you earn commissions on the sales the people you recruit make AND you have to have a disclaimer stating how much the average affiliate for XYZ Network Marketing earns.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5172274].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author absolutelee
    This can all be easily taken care of with one or two WordPress plugins, if you're using WordPress.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5172319].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
      Originally Posted by absolutelee View Post

      This can all be easily taken care of with one or two WordPress plugins, if you're using WordPress.
      Then just don't bother.

      Seriously.

      If the legal issues don't mean anything to you and this is how you approach them (and other important business matters), don't worry about your biz.

      Here's why ...

      Many of those plugins, some of which have been sold on the forum, are done by non-lawyers who have no idea what they are doing.

      The result is they could cause you more harm than not having a disclaimer at all.

      Your goal should be legal protection. Not taking care of a checklist where you have absolutely no idea if what you are putting on your website protects you - or hurts you.

      .
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5172550].message }}

Trending Topics