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FTC ruling and CPA

by ex9to5guy
8 replies
How will the new FTC rules affect CPA? Is CPA dead?
#cpa #ftc #ruling
  • Profile picture of the author dpowermedia
    Dead? lol. No, not at all. This is just another systematic clean up of deceptive practices. Has happened several times in the past 10 years of online advertising, and will happen again as fraudulent promoting merits it.

    This reminds me of the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003. Everyone ran around screaming that Email Marketing was dead.
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    • Profile picture of the author Catalyst eMarketing
      I agree with dpowermedia. So many things have happened where chicken littles cried "affiliate marketing is dead". But it's never really hurt too much. Certain things have tightened up and often for good reasons, but these new FTC guidelines won't kill CPA. (Except maybe the flogs and fake news sites that are total scams anyway)

      You just have to be smart about your marketing, be honest about it and disclose.

      Disclosure doesn't need to be a negative thing either. You can actually turn it into a positive.

      READ THIS!
      How to Turn Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Into a Selling Point
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    • Profile picture of the author PPV Guru
      Originally Posted by dpowermedia View Post

      Dead? lol. No, not at all. This is just another systematic clean up of deceptive practices. Has happened several times in the past 10 years of online advertising, and will happen again as fraudulent promoting merits it.

      This reminds me of the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003. Everyone ran around screaming that Email Marketing was dead.
      True. It will never die, there's too much money for the government to tax from it. Only thing will change is accountability. We'll have to explain to the customer a lot more on the "realistic" side of the sales pitch.

      So, just simply slapping a "results not typical" disclaimer under or around a testimonial won't be enough anymore. You'd have to explain further, like "results not typical. Only 4 out of 10 people actually make money with this program and, out of the remaining 40% who does make money, only half of them make enough to double or triple their profits" or something to that effect.

      The FTC just wants people to be honest now and not do everything it takes to get a sale.
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    • Profile picture of the author qualityin
      Originally Posted by dpowermedia View Post

      Dead? lol. No, not at all. This is just another systematic clean up of deceptive practices. Has happened several times in the past 10 years of online advertising, and will happen again as fraudulent promoting merits it.

      This reminds me of the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003. Everyone ran around screaming that Email Marketing was dead.
      yes I 100 % agree. Nothing is going to be dead because such kind of rules are must because a lot of fraudulent activities are out there. As the internet technology is getting grow, every one is jumping on it. FTC policy should come with CAN-SPAM Act.
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  • Profile picture of the author Noel2010
    Agree with the above points. We are still getting junk mail and we will still be able to promote CPA.
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    • Profile picture of the author Robyn8243
      Despite the recent FTC rulings, I continue to see the same totally fraudulent Flogs and fake news sites. I doubt that those marketers who engage in the most blatant fraud in their promotions will stop until/unless they are actually caught and arrested.

      I posted a while back in the main forum that all affiliates should be concerned by those engaged in blatant fraud because the FTC would end up stepping in with regulations that were more likely to affect legitimate marketers, while the biggest perpetrators of fraud could care less.

      I think the biggest impact of the FTC will be that networks will start being more accountable, and will not be as willing to do the wink/wink-nod/nod dance with some of the sites being used by their affiliates.

      From a practical standpoint, the FTC rulings will make it easier for the FTC to prosecute people without having to prove bad intent...just violation of the rules. It makes it important that people take the time to make sure that their sites comply with current rules.

      CPA itself is here to stay. Lead generation is a valid business that has been around since long before the internet.

      Robyn
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      • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
        Originally Posted by Robyn8243 View Post

        Despite the recent FTC rulings, I continue to see the same totally fraudulent Flogs and fake news sites. I doubt that those marketers who engage in the most blatant fraud in their promotions will stop until/unless they are actually caught and arrested.
        Not everyone has to follow what the FTC says. Only US citizens, that's why they're still out there in full force. Until governments in other countries get enough complaints, they're not going to do anything. This is only a US issue, doesn't apply to other countries at all.

        Originally Posted by Robyn8243 View Post

        I think the biggest impact of the FTC will be that networks will start being more accountable, and will not be as willing to do the wink/wink-nod/nod dance with some of the sites being used by their affiliates.
        Networks have a hard enough time keeping the current fraud out without having to deal with this too. Plus you read and hear so much about "how important it is to hide your landing pages". It's not a network issue, it's an affiliate issue. If affiliates lie and commit fraud, all the network can do is ban them and withhold their payments. Then those same fraudulent affiliates make stupid posts on forums about how "network abc screwed me!". When in reality they were the ones who cheated and got caught.

        If you don't own a network, you have no idea how much time is spent just dealing with monitoring potentially fraudulent accounts, (ie the ones who hide everything) and then dealing with the fraud when it's caught. You can hide landing pages all you like, but merchants go by one thing, conversions and if you're doing something fraudulent, the merchant will know even if you're hiding landing pages.

        Originally Posted by Robyn8243 View Post

        From a practical standpoint, the FTC rulings will make it easier for the FTC to prosecute people without having to prove bad intent...just violation of the rules. It makes it important that people take the time to make sure that their sites comply with current rules.

        CPA itself is here to stay. Lead generation is a valid business that has been around since long before the internet.

        Robyn
        I do agree with that. These new rules are just that. But no single country rules the internet so even though the FTC has set precedence, no other countries have followed suit.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Reilly
    I got an email the other day from a friend about the new ruling, another friend does the review sites and stuff, his simple answer was, its got nothing to do with him, my thought was maybe it doesnt have anything to do with him, but if i goto a site now and start seeing more openess with people selling, im probably more likely to buy from then than someone doing a review and cooking my computer.

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