Advertising claims by merchants have long attracted the attention of state Attorneys General (AG) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but recently these regulators have signaled a willingness to pursue advertising cases against a new target: online affiliate marketers.

Until recently, affiliates have operated anonymously and attracted little scrutiny, because they do not sell the goods/services featured in their published content. But affiliate-published pages have always been vulnerable: if they contain misleading claims about a product, or fail to disclose connections with sellers, the affiliate may face liability for deceptively driving online sales.

Recently, the FTC and AGs have stepped up scrutiny of online claims. Regulators have attacked a variety of questionable practices, from misleading product claims, to deceptive trial offers with unauthorized charges, to falsely implied celebrity/expert endorsements and fake consumer blogs.

Affiliate-created blogs, review sites and other pages have proliferated, filled with claims that drive traffic to merchants. When this content contains suspect claims or fails to disclose connections with sellers, there may be liability for deceptively inducing sales.

It is no surprise that the FTC shows increased interest in affiliates. It has long held that it is not just advertisers who are liable for deceptive advertising. Anyone who plays a promotional role, be it ad agencies or shopping channels, is liable for its role in allegedly deceptive advertising.

Now the FTC may apply this expanded liability principle to affiliates. It is revising its Endorsement Guides to clarify that both advertisers and endorsers could be liable for the endorsers’ false advertising claims, and for failing to disclose material connections between advertisers and endorsers. But it has not confronted this issue – until recently.

In May, the FTC sued affiliates who pretended to operate “MakingHomeAffordable.gov,” the official Web site of a federal program providing free mortgage assistance. The defendants purchased links on results pages when consumers searched for “making home affordable.” A sponsored link displaying the official site’s full URL appeared in the search engines’ results.

Consumers clicking on the ads were directed to sites that sell paid loan modification services. Although the FTC did not sue those Web sites, it alleged the affiliates were attempting to defraud homeowners by falsely implying through search results that visitors were being sent to the government’s Web site.

Also, state AGs have cited the role of affiliates in their latest actions against online promotions, and these may be followed by other AG and/or FTC actions against merchants, affiliates, and/or networks that either engage in deceptive advertising, or knowingly assist and facilitate it.

In addition, affiliates’ unauthorized use of celebrity and news images and marks is subjecting them (and the merchants they link) to charges of trademark infringement, false endorsement and related allegations, under state and federal law.

Now that the FTC and AGs have brought cases, affiliates should consider themselves on notice: any affiliate who engages in or assists with fraud might end up in the crosshairs of law enforcement. Affiliates must be careful to publish truthful content that is not deceptive and contains the proper disclaimers and disclosures.

Mr. Cohn, of counsel with Venable LLP in New York, advises clients on the legal and practical aspects of compliance with state and federal consumer protection regulations and industry self-regulation programs, and represents clients during investigations and enforcement actions; he can be reached at tacohn@venable.com.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 8 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/20220412/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-8
FeedFront issue 8 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/10

Direct to merchant (DTM), pay per click (PPC) advertising has been increasingly restricted lately, with major merchants like Amazon and EBay stating they will no longer allow affiliates to use the merchant site as their landing pages in PPC campaigns.

What this means to affiliates is that they will now be tasked with building their own websites and landing pages that convert. Even though many affiliates made a lot of money using DTM PPC, the technique is flawed and smart affiliates should have recognized that long ago.

First, affiliates have been paying for traffic and sending it directly to the merchant. Unfortunately, when the merchant pulls the plug, as many are now doing, those affiliates will not have any residual traffic to a website of their own.

With perfected keywords, ads and their own websites, affiliates would have been able to continue without issue and have a site with some authority and customer trust.

Second, affiliates with their own sites could have been building a mailing list to use to contact people about similar or better products. Not a spam list, but a real list built from people that were interested in the product being promoted and possibly other similar products that can be featured on the same site.

Third, affiliates that perform well utilizing pay per click ads in the search engines have unique skills that many other marketers don’t have. Leveraging those skills to build traffic to their own websites provides them with an opportunity to increase their own authority and credibility with shoppers. Building their email list should take them to new levels that they weren’t aware they could achieve.

If you’re not great at building websites and landing pages, I recommend partnering with someone who is, or utilizing sites such as Elance.com to outsource the portions you can’t do yourself. In the ever-changing affiliate and online marketing landscape, the more you are able to utilize your skills and adapt to new requirements, the more successful you will be.

Deborah Carney (TeamLoxly.com) is an Affiliate Manager and Consultant that also hosts a podcast on Geekcast.fm to teach affiliates the ABCs of getting started (AffiliateABCs).

Download the entire FeedFront issue 7 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/17376069/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-7
FeedFront issue 7 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/08

Facebook’s Terms of Use state you can only have one account and it must be in your actual name, not your business name. However, there is a place set aside to represent and promote businesses called Facebook “Fan” Pages (“Pages”).

The Pages feature is somewhat obscured; scroll down to the foot of any Facebook.com web page and click on “Advertising.”

Here are ten suggestions for promoting your Facebook Page (much of which can be delegated to a trusty assistant/team):

1. Choose a Facebook Username.
Since Saturday, June 13, Facebook has offered usernames on a first-come, first-serve basis for profiles and the Facebook Pages. Details at www.facebook.com/username/.

2. Talk about your Page on Twitter.
Tweet about your Page URL regularly. Preferably not just, “Check out my Facebook Page [insert link].” Rather, offer something enticing like “New Affiliate Marketing White Paper just loaded at my Facebook fan page [insert link].”

3. Create content just for Fans.
Add content to your Page for your Fans they cannot get anywhere else, e.g. videos, tips, special gifts, discussion threads, coupons, etc. (Of course, this content could be repurposed later. You might want to give your fans first dibs though).

4. Conduct weekly drawings.
Run a weekly (or even daily) prize drawing where you draw a Fan’s name at random for a special prize, ideally connected to your business product/service.

5. Play hide ‘n’ seek.
“Hide” something on your Page and encourage your Fans to find it. e.g. a special link, or discount code. Have them tweet their answer to you. The first “x” gets a prize.

6. Promote regular contests.
People love contests and video is real easy to create from computer webcams right onto Facebook. Create a photo and/or video contest. Have your Fans upload their photos/videos to your Fan Page. (Each activity your fans do creates a feed item for more visibility for you).

7. Provide a place for interaction.
Start a thread on your Discussion Board that allows your fans to promote and/or network with one another. For example, invite your fans to submit their own (and/or their favorite) blogs and Twitter IDs.

8. Acknowledge fans.
When new Fans write on your Page Wall, respond by writing back on their Profile wall. (This helps create visibility for both you and your Fans). Also, look for your fans on Twitter and send them an @ message.

9. Send email broadcasts.
Send an email blast to your regular opt-in list inviting them to join your new Facebook Page. Consider offering an incentive to do so. Also, include an invitation to join your Page on your email signature file.

10. Test Social Ads.
Promote your Page with Social Ads. Every time someone becomes your Fan their name and photo may appear alongside your ad. There’s a reason Facebook combines Pages with Social Ads under Advertising. Experiment with a weekly/monthly budget and see what happens.

Mari Smith is a social media consultant, speaker and trainer, and she blogs at http://marismith.com and http://www.whyfacebook.com

Download the entire FeedFront issue 7 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/17376069/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-7
FeedFront issue 7 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/08

FeedFront Magazine currently offers the following options for advertising:

• Outside Back Cover Page for one issue – $10,000
• Inside Front Cover Page for one issue – $8,000
• Inside Back Cover Page for one issue – $8,000
• Full Page for one issue – $5,000
• Half Page for one issue – $3,000

In the future, we will offer other advertising opportunities, such as classifieds and quarter pages.

See http://feedfront.com/advertising/ for the latest information.