Here is a little news item that will be highly interesting for Clickbank affiliates. For some time there has been discussion on whether it is a breach of the Clickbank terms to offer additional bonuses as an affiliate for someone to purchase an item through your affiliate link.
Concern was so great that some products designed to automate the bonus process for Clickbank affiliates were pulled off the market by their developers, just in case it was looked on as breaking the rules.
Discussion on forums is just that… talk. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is Clickbank’s opinion, and rules on this subject. Thus Harvey Segal decided to approach Clickbank for an official statement.
A few minutes ago Harvey made the following post in a thread on his Clickbank Success Forum.
Official
Affiliates may offer bonuses that are not cash or cash equivalents if
they adhere to the following:1) Affiliate must state clearly and prominently that the bonus offer is
not the responsibility of ClickBank or of the seller of the primary
product.2) Affiliate must state clearly and prominently that ClickBank will not
honor any refund requests that are based on non- delivery, quality, or
functionality of the bonus materials.3) Affiliate must provide their own direct contact information (email
address, etc.) and state clearly that any issues regarding bonus
delivery, bonus functionality, or bonus quality must be addressed with
the affiliate, not with ClickBank or the seller.ClickBank Note:
It is not posted on the website yet, but our security team will be
using this policy from here on out unless we experience any additional
problems from affiliate bonuses.
Obviously this post has been made by Harvey, and not directly by Clickbank, but it is my belief it originated from Clickbank themselves. There is a chance the wording might change before it appears within the Clickbank rules or on their “news” pages within the Clickbank site.
I suggest people make some changes to their affiliate landing pages pronto. I am not sure how this will affect people using Affiliate Project X tactics. My own gut feeling is being honest with customer is generally better, and if you suggest you are placing the disclaimer to follow Clickbank rules, it might even help conversions just because customers might gain some sense of additional trust that there are rules for the way you are offering bonuses.
The tactics of projectx are very valid, and are becoming increasingly popular, and might even be increasing sales and conversion rates for Clickbank products. There is always a good reason why rules are changed for the better, and I applaud both Harvey’s efforts to get a straight answer, and Clickbank for giving one that is workable.
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[...] wording is clearly aimed at monetary bonuses as we expected the clarification in Clickbank rules from back in November to contain. Many Clickbank affiliates are still offering cash incentives as [...]