5 Star Affiliate Blogs

This means that affiliates who use email as a means of doing business will need to take strategic measures to make sure they do not become classified as a spammer under this new law. Here are three simple, strategic ways to help you get started with protecting your affiliate business in light of the CASL.

Great news for California affiliates! The California Governor just signed AB155 which gives California affiliate marketers a one year reprieve. The PMA did amazing work to help force this much needed change. You can read the full story at their blog. California Repeals the Affiliate Nexus Tax Law Governor Signs Legislation That Will Help 25,000 [...]

See video. After years of operating a successful comparison shopping site in California, Nick Loper recently had to shut down his business and move to another state to start over. Why? Loper was one of the affiliate marketing victims of the online sales tax law that California passed earlier this summer.

For some time now, the Federal Trade Commission has been keeping an eye on payday lending and other financial services in order to protect financially distressed consumers. In 2009, the Commission charged

http://mthink.com/revenue/blog/chris-trayhorn/five-key-points-ca%E2%80%99s-new-sales-tax/trackback/

The California bill that potentially requires Internet sites to allow users to opt-out of being tracked online is on hold for the rest of 2011 while the sponsor of the controversial bill attempts to find compromise between its supporters and opponents.

Most affiliates are too busy to pull links anyway PLUS will be scrambling to deal with the domino effect that is sure to follow from this unjust California tax law that is about to effect their business. Amazon will just continue to profit UNJUSTLY from Affiliates that don’t have time to track down and remove all the links. for God’s sake – PULL ALL YOUR AMAZON LINKS! They should not profit from your efforts after they royally screw you. SCREW THEM!

Governor Brown of California has announced he has secured enough votes to pass his budget, including the Affiliate Nexus Tax and 2 related nexus bills. The law will go into effect immediately upon signing, and he must sign before July 1st, 2011. Here’s a pic of the Amazon California Associate Program termination notice and more info.

Those within the affiliate marketing industry are reminded with increased regularity these days that the Federal Trade Commission has increased compliance investigations and lawsuits pertaining to deceptive trade practices. As the landscape of the Internet advertising and marketing world continues to evolve, guidance from the FTC will

Affiliate busted by State Attorney General re Acai. FTC sues 10 companies including VERY well known affiliate network. Assets to be frozen, will affiliates get paid? Scams don’t pay. Clean it up folks!

I’ve long warned affiliates to stay away from Gambling affiliate programs. I believe all of those companies had affiliate programs. Did they owe any of you money? Fines up to 3 BILLION and up to 30 years in prison.

The FTC is really cracking down and I for one and happy to see it! Word to the wise – check ALL your offers, not just Clickbank to ensure they aren’t breaking any of the rules and use the new Clickbank guidelines below as a template for offers and offer language you need to avoid.

Guest post… Affiliate Marketing Lawyer… Importantly, the coalition clarified the manner in which a government Do-Not-Track mechanism could interfere with targeted marketing revenues that actually support free Internet content. According to the coalition, the Council of Better Business Bureaus is expected to monitor compliance across the Internet, beginning March 31, 2011.

Acai slinging affiliates that have been promoting “Free Trial” scams may want to stay tuned for more information regarding the outcome of a Press Conference the FTC is holding Monday AM in Chicago. I wonder which company the FTC has set their sites on? I’m assume it’s one that has a pretty big affiliate program. Things like this just give the entire industry a bad name.

For the blackhatters out there that say cookie stuffing isn’t illegal and all is fair in love and affiliate marketing – I say you better take a very close look at this case! FBI investigates. CRIMINAL charges filed, in addition to the civil suit I reported on 2 years ago which is still pending.

The BP Oil Spill is a disaster that is ruining the environment and people’s lives. To try to make a buck out of people’s misfortunes this way is just unthinkable! This story is ALMOST as bad as the one I blogged about when… I swear, some people will do anything to make a buck!

The affiliate marketing industry is an ecosystem. It consists of a web of interdependent species: affiliates, merchants, networks, merchant processors, etc. Sometimes they compete, sometimes they are symbiotic. But they all rely on each other for survival.

Kennedy the developer of popular Cookie-Stuffing program – Saucekit – just pleaded guilty to Wire Fraud, which carries a possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Affiliates that bought the program are in danger of being investigated too!

The bill could have potentially sweeping impact for online marketers. I haven’t had a chance to dissect the wording of the bill and to evaluate what kind of impact it could have on affiliate marketing. If anyone is a DMA member you might want to try to get additional info or see how affiliate marketers could help.

Another new acquisition on the affiliate marketing front, points toward more growth and consolidation in our industry. MediaTrust, a New York based affiliate network that is No. 9 on Inc. 500, just announced the acquisition of Bardon Advisors, a search and affiliate marketing company