Ethical Affiliate Marketing – 2009
There is no argument that the Affiliate Marketing industry, as a whole, has some very passionate people behind it. The term “ethical affiliate marketing”can and does have so many interpretations at at present there are no clear guidelines or democratically elected regulatory body to take ownership in order to write the bible of best affiliate marketing practice. When I say there are no bodies out there fighting the good cause, I mean there is no democratically elected body. There are groups like IAB, The PMA Runaway Bride psp All Hat ipod
but I dont recall voting for them. Im not inferring by any means that none of them are equipped to take on the job, simply that if the industry is going to be regulated, Id kinda like to know who will be representing us and why?
Historically, ethics seem to be weighted on what ever side of the fence you happen to be sitting on. Be you an affiliate, advertiser, agency or affiliate network, who ever is the most disposable usually wins and affiliates seem to draw the short end of this straw, just an observation over nine years. How ever there have been some exceptions and to name but two, AffiliateWindow.com is not adverse to throwing out the odd advertiser who just crossed a line. I quite like PaidOnResults.com who have been ethical from day one, perhaps the reason for this can be attributed to the founders who started out as affiliates and were able to take their own experiences and ensure fair play.
What is Ethical Affiliate Marketing anyway? Is it a bunch of free range affiliates on some link building farm wandering around in fair trade t-shirts focusing on organic seo with wifi?
. Perhaps its just another buzz word which is ambiguous and open to misinterpretation? Is it about fairness across the board in the industry? Does fairness equate to best practice?Terms and conditions? Logistics? Technology? Politics? Knowledge? consumer protection? Law? Etiquette? What an Advertiser may some times interpret as fair, a publisher may some times interpret as unfair and vice versa and this is where things can get a little animated and its not always about poor communication either, some times the affiliate may know more then the Advertiser/ Merchant in terms of SEO or PPC and can spot obvious mistakes. In the same breath, some times the affiliate needs to understand that they don’t know everything about the merchants business in terms of technology, logistics, human resources, margins to mention a few. It should be noted that its not just a them against us scenario, affiliates have long been on the case of other affiliates, spyware being a good example. If a network does not take on the role as a fair arbitrator in times of conflict, then its easy to see how things can quickly deteriorate, would ethical guidelines help? A moral code of conduct? professional code of conduct? The very word “ethical” I feel maybe taking us up the wrong garden path, example what works for one may not work for all, horses for courses, so best practice could be even be non applicable in some cases. But I have to ask the question, why do we have terms and conditions, are they not mini forms of code of conduct? So where would a body like the IAB or PMA have any influence?
Where I see the need for an association, body, how ever you want to call it, Haiko De Poel jnr owner of abestweb.com said when talking about ethical affiliate marketing “..no one is breaking any laws”, Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing Vegas Affiliatesummit.com session), but but I beg to differ, there are laws being broken all the time in our industry, some small some not so small and some directly affecting the consumer even? Some examples of laws being broken, contract laws (terms and conditions), privacy laws (Affiliate Data, spamming), copyright laws, civil laws (slander, deformation of character blogs), criminal laws (fraud, theft) Another example, here is a question I threw at a random member on wickedfire.com
“in 2008 how many Advertisers absconded without paying you your commissions, how many affiliate networks have not paid you and how many affiliate networks are late in paying you”?
Ryan Kauffman of diaPartners.com replied
As far as collecting payments from advertisers/affiliate networks, 2008 treated me a lot better than years past. I don’t think I was outright “stiffed” by any networks, just a few individual lead buyers and for trivial (well not trivial, but < $1000 on an individual basis) amounts. I had one issue with a retroactive payout reduction (so yea, basically stiffed) and probably at least one late payment per month. One program failed financially and was not able to pay all they owed me, but they put forth their best effort and paid the majority.”
So what recourse, if any, do small business affiliates and merchants, arguably affiliate networks too have? It should be noted that its not just small business affiliates that can get stung but a general consensus within the industry if an Advertiser absconds or network collapses is to bite the bullet and take the hit as few have the income to line a lawyers pocket in the quest for monetary vindication. Affiliate networks of the past have absconded too, so I can see the need for a body like the PMA become the hub of legal advice and not just best practice. My only concern with the PMA is that it is US centric and could possibly alienate the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. IAB already has a foot in the door in the UK, but thats a mute point for the moment.
The industry at present has a habit of just letting things slide or putting it’s head in the sand and hope it all goes away, this alone makes me think that we do need some kind of industry regulation, as you can probably guess, but my dilemma is, Im just not sure of the people who want to put them selves forward for the job, that little voice in my head wants to know if the people truly care about our industry and care about the people who operate within our idustry or is there a hidden agenda? I also worry that any body/organisation will marginalise the majority of people who really do make up the core of affiliate marketing on a global scale and I am talking about paid subscriptions, if subscriptions must be paid then let the annual fees be based on a sliding scale of income, don’t let money be a barrier to entry for anyone.
One thing I know for sure the term “ethical” in the context of affiliate marketing is nothing less then ambiguous and the race/competition is gathering momentum in terms of which splinter group thinks it has the clout, the support for throwing out best practice polices. I have no doubts that all the groups have nothing but the best intentions, but herding cats spring to mind (Thank you Dale)
“We” in the industry also has different meanings to different people. Who is “we” the cliques who pat each other on the back and give each other awards in order to control a proportion of the sector, the old boys network? “we” as in an established body who claims to have “our” best interests at heart,? “we” the affiliate network who just simply claim “we are ethical” and feel this is all they have to do. Are these the people “we” want to place our trust in their hands? But the old boys network does have its advantages too in the sense that they already have some clout so maybe this is the route to go but already I see too much politics and politics is one sure way to prevent the wheels from moving forward.
The heart of the matter I feel, lies in the mistrust and paranoia that seems to be endemic in our industry. I feel fear is possibly one of the biggest barriers to ethical affiliate marketing, the fear of losing control, fear of competition, fear of our own ignorance, fear of loss of earnings, fear of changes, fear that one day we will be toppled from our prestigious positions of authority in forums, blogs, social networks , fear that our influence becomes null and void as a louder voice takes over, fear seems to go hand in hand when turning a blind eye on some dubious business practice in order to maintain ones own status, financial position and is still all too common to bury ones head in the sand and just follow the crowd.
I think ethical affiliate marketing is about being fair of course, but I think a good place to start is looking in our own back yards and taking responsibility for our own actions. I don’t think affiliates need to be told how to conduct business, the majority of affiliates already practice ethical affiliate marketing, the stats tell us this. Its only ever been a few rogue affiliates that have upset the cart, they are dealt with fairly swiftly these days.
So do we need a body to champion ethical affiliate marketing? Should it be the PMA, IAB, both or none? It’s not my call to make, its yours, I already practice ethical affiliate marketing but long for the day when I see a giant body scoop up a little dude and say, lets go get the money you earned. For me its always been about fairness and the group / body who can provide real help and advice, legal and otherwise, who have no hidden agendas, who were voted for by the industry at large to represent us, who dont belong to a clique, who really do have our industry at heart, they get my vote, support and loyalty, what ever happened to the term loyalty marketing btw? It is about education and not just about the rules but learning about each other in order to build bridges to get a collective understanding. Which is why we have things like the affiliate census, who are the affiliates?
Lastly, I am in two minds about getting rid of the term Affiliate Marketing and swapping it for Performance marketing, there is a move in the industry to re-brand and try to shake off some of that bad press we some times get. I would argue that the change is a little premature considering we still have the same challenges that we always have had, so how does just changing a sweet wrapper on a candy bar change the actual candy bar?
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Comments
Jessica you put what I have been thinking for so long into words. I agree your with comments.
Affiliate marketing or performance marketing is just in its infancy and our generation is experiencing all the difficulties and obstacles to reach to the good and fair. If we keep on working together and never stop talking and discussing, we will definitely reach out the glorious days.
Respect and mutual understanding are the keywords. All the players in the industry go hand in hand and trust each other. Otherwise paranoiac attitudes will result in negative outcomes that are hard to cure.
I strongly believe in PMA and people behind PMA. If we can start from one point, the rest will come easily.
Now there is a new term spread around as “Ethonomics” it is a way of saying “Ethical Economics”. Ethical issues are more important than any time even in economics. We are not alone.:)
Good article Jessica,
Affiliate Marketing is going on an all time toss. Big companies are using technology to steal from smaller affiliates and ignorant merchants, which is resulting into the death of small affiliates. The little guy is left to just deliver traffic and the rewards are taken away by the unscrupulous affiliate marketing company and the affiliate marketing network. We all NEED TO educate the merchants we promote. AM Networks won’t care much about whats going on because no matter who brings traffic or sales, they are always going to earn their share. It is affiliates who need to stand out and educate merchants to allow only ethical affiliate marketers.
- Ronaldo