New FTC Rules Launch Today!

[tgrob]

Yea, I know, its been a while since I last posted, but there comes a time where one has to just stop researching and reading to go out and perform. Basically, it was time to just take action and start the building process. With that being said...

Who wants to summarize what needs to be changed with our current affiliate ways to not risk punishment of losing all our efforts. The FTC is definitely not something I want to mess with.
Here is the most concise list I could find:
http://www.trafficandconversion.com/...you-must-know/

It was written at the bottom of that link:
"All us marketers need to do a better job of becoming transparent in our marketing. That means promoting typical results, not our best results. That means being clear about our relationships with our endorsers, and the people we endorse. And it means having a better, closer relationship with our customers. After all, if they don’t trust us, they won’t be buying from us."


The bar is now raised.



Does this mean we have to out ourselves within the author pages of our articles? Or can we just send them to a squeeze/landing page that we possess and only have the fact that "we are an affiliate of this program, blah blah blah" on the site.

[stewmath]

screw them. lol

[bluffspot]

ya know... I don't wanna freak anyone out... but if you put a little thought in how better to monitor affiliates and what they do, wouldn't you plant a spy in their organizations... or forums...

[tgrob]

devious. devious indeed.

[Blackman]

You don't really need to worry about this, unless you are doing some shady/blackhat stuff...

[Ganceann]

My most successful CB affiliate site has an about form that starts like this:

This site is an affiliate site offering the (the about us page = the disclosure page on it). It was 18 months or so ago I done that site.

I am about to put up a new disclosure for numerous sites (existing and future) - also combining it with the privacy policy. This is the planned text:

Disclosure:

Some Links, recommendations and advertisements on this site may or may not directly or indirectly lead to compensation for me or a future blog owner.

When a direct link is used for a product review it is likely an affiliate link that will lead to direct compensation. However, some links will lead to sites that offer products or services where I do not receive any direct compensation.

As a visitor to this site it is better for me if you are a regular reader of the blog than disappearing through a link to another site. You can bookmark this blog for future reference and if unclear about any products or services you were recommended elsewhere, you can contact me and I will give my opinion directly.

[lifechampion23]

Good info!

[Ganceann]

Also just like to point out a high profile site that has been doing disclosure for a while... people in the UK will most likely know about it:

Best Bank Accounts: Free £100 or year's 0% overdraft...

Just scroll down to the bottom of the content in the All the Contacts Section - disclosure is there stating that links with * are affiliate links.

It hasn't hampered him from making a decent income (or company income) - this link is how the site is financed... a detailed disclosure if you like:
How this site is financed...