5 Star Affiliate Blogs

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

Now that the initial scare about the new FTC Guidelines is behind us, I see more and more affiliate marketers using disclosures creatively and to their advantage. Some smart marketers are even making the art of self disclosure fun! If you are still wondering how to leverage

In spite of the fact that Colorado affiliates were able to get affiliate nexus language removed from HB 10-1193, Amazon still sent termination letters to thousands of Colorado affiliates, informing them they are being dropped today without notice. What is really crazy about this is

After checking OfferVault to see how prevalent Free Credit Report offers are in the CPA affiliate world, (76) I decided I had better post a warning about a very blatant new FTC disclosure. This will probably kill conversions dead in their tracks.

In an unprecedented move, Drs Foster and Smith is dropping their affiliate program across the board due to the moving target of the ever-growing patchwork quilt of state legislatures that are considering nexus legislation relative to affiliate marketing and sales tax.

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! Cookie stuffing is NOT an acceptable practice and is prohibited by most affiliate programs

The political momentum in Colorado coupled with the looming and fast paced deadlines for voting on House Bill 1193 is threatening to decimate the affiliate marketing community in the Rocky Mountain State.

Affiliates that promote rebills (free trial offers) need to read the guidelines below, so you can be sure offers are compliant. Or you could have the offer cut off with the advertiser unable to pay commissions or get in trouble with the FTC

WARNING COLORADO affiliates – hearing this week! Other states that have proposed legislation too, see below. The PMA, Affiliate Advocacy and AbestWeb are doing a really great job of

Important affiliate marketing info. The podcast special quests are Rich Cleland from the FTC and Tom Cohn a practicing attorney who was previously with the FTC. Moderated by Lisa Picarille.

Wells Fargo pulled out of the entire industry… This trend will continue if the industry a doesnt clean up its act. More banks will follow suit. Offers which hide the terms and dont respond to customer service calls will eventually be shut down.

The president of the The Fraud Practice said jokingly at the Performance Marketing Leadership Summit this November “Fraud is the second oldest business known to man.” As hard as affiliate networks try to improve measures to improve the quality of their publishers, there are some that will always sneak through.

I hope by now everyone is up to speed on the FTC’s new disclosure guidelines for bloggers and affiliates. Do you have a disclosure policy prominently displayed on your blog or site? Have you gone over any review copy and testimonials you have posted with a fine tooth comb to be sure they’re compliant with the new FTC guidelines?

How do you solve a problem like affiliate fraud? This is a monumental question, one that has been around as long as affiliate marketing, and one that now threatens the very future of our industry. This is also the topic of Thurdsay’s episode of Affiliate Marketing Insider.

Below you’ll find info about a FREE webinar tonight with an attorney regarding FTC guideline issues, 2 disclosure policy generators that may be helpful and 6 video made by the FTC to answer common questions.

I wanted to report today on several new initiatives that are being undertaken in an attempt to fight affiliate fraud. Yesterday a Performance Marketing Leadership Summit was held and the focus was on Affiliate Fraud Prevention and Affiliate Screening.

The blog post suggested a marketing ploy that is dangerous, unethical and illegal. He suggested affiliates try to sell various herbal products by saying they will ‘prevent’ the swine flu. The FDA and FTC are cracking down and asking the public to report this fraud.

That $11,000 FTC fine is not true. The interview also discusses how disclosure needs to be made and how enforcement will be handled. Also handy Disclosure Policy Generator.

Today the FTC released the revised guidelines. There are two primary areas that affect affiliates who use testimonials or review products. I’m especially concerned with the reviews and endorsements issue.

Since it passed in 2008, the New York statute has decimated the income of thousands of affiliate advertisers in the state as several large Internet retailers have terminated all affiliate agreements to avoid imposition of use tax collection responsibilities.