The Performance Marketing Association Compliance Council has recently published an in depth white paper and guide on evaluating network compliance. Compliance plays an integral role for anyone operating any type of online marketing program today, and with ongoing legal cases being seen regularly, it is only expected to have a larger role in the future. Everything from the way banner ads are displayed to how a targeted audience is contacted must be scrutinized to ensure it is meeting legal regulations and industry standards.
According to the FTC, “You can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.” This is a clear statement which really illustrates the importance of compliance throughout the performance marketing industry.
This white paper report provides an in depth look at the state of compliance throughout the industry today, best practices for people, process and technology, and much more. In addition, this guide provides a step by step approach which will give performance marketers the information they need to help ensure they remain in compliance with all laws and regulations at all times.
The following is a brief excerpt from the report. The full report, along with other great resources, is available to all Performance Marketing Association members.
Understanding the process and policy behind a network’s compliance efforts requires digging into details, but it is essential. When affiliate networks are not held accountable, they effectively have an incentive to be non-compliant (especially with regard to email, advertiser policies, credit card fraud, lead stuffing, cookie stuffing, etc.). To help prevent that, advertisers must hold affiliate networks accountable, insist that they are compliant (by establishing policies and monitoring their practices, as discussed below) and create appropriate incentives for affiliates (such as the opportunity to do business long term, and avoiding unethical perks and the like). Understanding this is essential for advertisers to establish effective compliance programs.
The white paper was developed by the PMA Compliance Council, which is staffed by industry leaders from a variety of high-profile companies including Commission Junction, eBay Partner Network, Rakuten LinkShare and many others. Anyone involved with performance marketing in any way will find great value in this report both from its initial information, as well as to be used as a reference for working with other networks in the future.
If you are not a member of the PMA, please consider joining today
