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Tag Archives: disclosure
FTC Fake Bait & Disclosure
IANAL so I am not going to offer anything material to any conversations about the new FTC guidance.But this annoyed me yesterdayClickbank has required for some time (at least 2 years) that affiliates comply with FTC recommendations for WOMM. That could just be looked at as a legal "out" but it is there in writing.There is lots of noise (and some signal) over the last couple of days about the FTC, so affiliates are using it in headlines for email promotions. I opened one and the link was a Clickbank promotion, I opened a second, and it was to a genuine blog post.Here is what the person promoting an affiliate product sent
Rackspace Cloud (Mosso) Link To Us Payola
I am actually a fan of your new Cloud Servers service. There are some huge benefits in using your service that as both a marketing geek and affiliate I can highlight and potentially drive you a lot of business.However today you have just introduced a payola scheme that will make every one of my clean affiliate links look like a paid link, thus I am going to have to nofollow every single link I give you, forever.You want me to use badges like this, and in exchange will give me "Goodies" of an unspecified nature.
Powered by Rackspace Cloud HostingThe links are visible, nothing is hidden, but all the same it is effectively a paid linking scheme.Here is what they said in an email sent to customers
Powered by Rackspace Cloud HostingThe links are visible, nothing is hidden, but all the same it is effectively a paid linking scheme.Here is what they said in an email sent to customersOur New "Link-To-Us" Program We're also launching a new "Link-To-Us" program today. In essence, customers who post new links or change their old Mosso links on their websites to our new http://www.rackspacecloud.com site will receive special goodies. The more sites you post a link on, the more great stuff you will get. How cool is that? Please check out all the links here: http://www.rackspacecloud.com/linksThanks so much for being a part of the Rackspace family, and please keep the feedback coming so that we can continue to build the most complete and easy-to-use cloud platform on the web.The sad thing is this would all be unnecessary if you just made some minor changes to your affiliate program.
Posted in Google, SEO Blog, marketing Also tagged CDN, cloud servers, cloudfiles, cloudsites, content delivery network, izea, mosso, payperpost, rackspace, robert scoble Comments closed
UK Consumer Protection Unfair Trading Regulations That Might Affect Advertising, Links, Affiliates & Product Launches
Lets preface this by I am not a lawyer, and I am aware that that is a very long headline and title.
Judith at SEO Chicks was looking at the new UK Unfair Trading Regulations
Here is a link to the official guidance (PDF).
What follows are my own notes whilst reading through the document, which I thought some readers might find useful, though you should read it in full if you trade from the UK (maybe 400+ subscribers)
6 BANNED PRACTICES (SCHEDULE 1)
(7) Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, or that it will
Posted in blogging tips Also tagged advertising, affiliate marketing, consumer protection, paid links, paid reviews, product_launch_formula, si3429, unfair trading regulations Comments closed
Dear Jason Calacanis – The Good Citizen Of The Interwebs?
I honestly want to believe that you are a good internet citizen, and your attacks on search engine optimization and now affiliate marketers are honest, and without any form of prejudice.
So while you are attacking affiliate marketing, please ensure you have first of all cleared up all the problems in the paid links debate, such as what seems to be a company, where you are on the board of directors, buying links.
It is widely discussed that buying links in Wordpress themes is something that might be a signal of web spam, and the same should be true for buying links
Posted in SEO Blog, blogging tips, wordpress Also tagged affiliate marketing, blogging, jason calacanis, paid links, paid_review, SEO Blog, wordpress Comments closed
Techcrunch RSS Subscriber Payola?
Maybe I should enter these lyrics into the SEO Lyrics contest
Payola makes the world go around
The world go around
The world go around
Payola makes the world go around
It makes the world go ’round.
Posted in blog monetization, blogging tips, web 2.0 Also tagged google reader, payola, rss, RSS Reader, rss_subscribers, rss_subscription, techcrunch Comments closed
Blogging Full Disclosure Debacle – Grow Some Brass Ones
I like to keep a fairly professional and level head when I am discussing various issues on this blog but unfortunately I have just listened to the pre-recording that Shoemoney did with Rand Fiskin about full disclosure when blogging, and quite honestly whilst I empathise with some of the points both made, I think in many ways both are missing at least a few vital points.
Read more on Blogging Full Disclosure Debacle – Grow Some Brass Ones…
Posted in Google, blog monetization, blogging tips Also tagged disclosure policy, Google, payola, rand_fishkin, shoemoney, womm, womma, yahoo Comments closed
Letting Other People Write The LinkBait
A lot of the things I write go completely over the head of many of my readers, and in some ways that is actually a concious decision which certainly costs me a much higher readership.
Posted in SEO Blog, news Also tagged charity, linking, niche marketing, payperpost, SEO Blog, social networking, WordPress Security Comments closed
Don’t Be An Idiot
I have been tempted to comment on the “Bloggers Code of Conduct” meme since it started. Lots has been said by hundreds of people, and most of what was said was actually just as long winded and inconsequential as the original bull’s manure. The follow up seems to be him treading in it.
Posted in blogging tips Also tagged badges, blogging, blog_badges, code_of_conduct, comments_policy, dont_be_an_idiot, ethics, logos, o_reilley, privacy, terms_of_service Comments closed
WOOT Creating Twitter Splogs
If an affiliate created a blog and fed a datafeed to that blog, a large proportion of the blogosphere would regard that blog as a splog, especially if it was on blogspot.
Posted in marketing, web 2.0 Also tagged blog_spam, command_line, disclosure policy, marketing, rss, rss_spam, sms, spam, splog, twitter, webspam, web_services Comments closed
PayPerPost | Ted Murphy vs Jason Calacanis The Ultimate Showdown?
For some this will already be old news, but I feel I have to include this video just to show impartiality when discussing disclosure, paid posts and Jason Calacanis.
I first started to watch on Sunday morning, and as was typical with my connection, even at Podtech’s lowest quality setting, it was watch 10 seconds of video, wait 30 seconds for it to cache some more.
Then for some reason the stream connection broke and didn’t restart. The payer insisted that I start watching from the beginning again – no chance.
Read more on PayPerPost | Ted Murphy vs Jason Calacanis The Ultimate Showdown?…
Posted in blog monetization Also tagged jason calacanis, paid_post, payperpost, podcast, podtech, ted_murphy Comments closed
Twitter Is Unethical For Business Use
How many people are using Twitter for more than saying what they just ate or where friends can meet them? Lots of people are certainly using Twitter to express their ideas, and often link to blog posts that are related to their business, or opinion.
Twitter is thus being used for WOMM (Word of Mouth Marketing), and should be subject to the same ethics rules and recommendations as blogging. (note: I am not a lawyer)
WOMMA Should Watch Who They Quote And Especially Who They Link To!
I came across an interesting piece on the WOMMA blog that unfortunately falls well short of what you would expect from such an organisation.
As always I am not a lawyer, and this is just for entertainment purposes. I am sure WOMMA have some lawyers though, so they really should take a lot more care with what they state and how they state it.
Read more on WOMMA Should Watch Who They Quote And Especially Who They Link To!…
Posted in Projects, blogging tips Also tagged blogging, deep_linking, disclosure policy, ethics, jason calacanis, jeff_jarvis, latimes, paid reviews, pay per post, payperpost, ppp, reviews, terms_of_service, tos, womm, womma Comments closed
A List Bloggers in Crystal Palaces Shouldn’t Throw Stones
There are a number of fatal, hypocritical or naive flaws in almost every attack on paid posts by A list bloggers and it is time to show them their Achilles heel(s).
Read more on A List Bloggers in Crystal Palaces Shouldn’t Throw Stones…
Posted in blogging tips, wordpress Also tagged disclosure policy, Matt_Mullenweg, paid posts, paid reviews, pay per post, selling_links, wordpress Comments closed
Sponsored Reviews Now Live – In Depth Review
Yep this is a sponsored review, though it was something I was intending to write about anyway, to announced that Sponsored Reviews is now live and available for both advertisers and bloggers.
Posted in blog monetization, blogging tips, marketing, reviews Also tagged affiliate marketing, affiliate_program, backlinks, buzz_marketing, links, make_money, monetization, paid posts, paid reviews, payperpost, review_me, SEO Blog, sponsored reviews, website_promotion Comments closed
Is PayPerPost The Only Subject Nick Denton and Jason Calacanis Agree On?
PayPerPost’s Ted Murphy sent an email to Valleywag asking if they would be interested in doing paid posts. As would be expected the email was posted, and drew some criticism.
Scandal
Read more on Is PayPerPost The Only Subject Nick Denton and Jason Calacanis Agree On?…
Posted in blog monetization Also tagged disclosure policy, disclosurepolicy, jason calacanis, nick_denton, pay per post, payperpost, valleywag Comments closed
Clickbank Require Disclosure – A-List Bloggers Totally Missed the Point In December
I am not sure how long this has been in the rules at Clickbank, as Clickbank currently block archive.org – that being said I am sure it would have been brought up by someone during the last few months in discussions regarding various paid review services such as PayPerPost, ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews.
Read more on Clickbank Require Disclosure – A-List Bloggers Totally Missed the Point In December…
Posted in blog monetization, marketing, news Also tagged affiliate marketing, clickbank, clickbank_rules, clickbank_terms, ftc, law, legal, news, womm Comments closed
Disclosure Policy Feedburner Feedflare
For many people, my Disclosure Policy Plugin was looked on as overkill. It seemed all they really wanted was an overall disclosure policy on their site, and to use a link in their sidebar.
Adding something to their feed content was generally looked on as a good idea, but all the additional functionality wasn’t really required.
Posted in Projects Also tagged feedburner, feedflare, payperpost, ppp, reviewme, sponsored reviews Comments closed
V7N | Adsense – Ethics and Money
Lots of controversy over V7N and their new contextual links program.
- Darren questions the ethics
- Matt Cutts has “Laid into Them“
- Graywolf Delves in Deep (read my comments there btw and the ones by Jeremy Zawodny)
Posted in Google, SEO Blog, blog monetization Also tagged bloggers, blogging, blogs, contextual_links, disclosure policy, ftc, Google, google_adsense, money, paid links, paid reviews, SEO Blog, traffic, v7n, womm Comments closed
Google Requiring Affiliates Not to Declare? FTC | WOMMA
I watched this video last night… slept on it, and listened to it again today.
This video was originally posted on the Google Adsense blog, and the presenter is Laura from Adsense Support.
Now I should point out that Google have been very clear in their wording with all the recent correspondence relating to Adsense changes, which in some ways makes this even more extraordinary.
The interesting bit in regard to financial declarations starts 1min:30 from the start.
It should be noted that this wasn't recorded live, as you can see from the out-takes at the end, is in response to
Posted in Google, blog monetization Also tagged adsense_referral_buttons, affiliate marketing, disclosure policy, ftc, Google, google_adsense, law, legal, news, policy, rules, womm, womma Comments closed
How to Make Corrections When Blogging
Sometimes you make a mistake when blogging and get the facts wrong. How do you follow up with a correction?
I don’t know the exact terminology that press guidelines or rules use, but generally it is something like
Posted in blogging tips, plugins, wordpress Also tagged blogging, blogging tips, corrections, ethics, plugin, podcast, wordpess_plugin, wordpress, wordpress_podcast Comments closed
UK & Euro Laws Apply to US Businesses?
It is taken as fact that a UK online business has to comply with US FTC regulations if that UK company is doing business with the US.
Surely if you are a US company, doing business with the UK, you should have to comply with UK regulations.
Posted in Uncategorized, marketing Also tagged ftc, internet marketing, online_business, paypal, si3429 Comments closed
UK Internet Marketing Castrated | SI (3429 of 2006)
I regret to inform you that this is serious news, and if you run your business from the UK, and have a website, this probably affects you.
It affects you even more, and places you at a serious competitive disadvantage, if you are involved with Niche or Internet Marketing, in topics you don’t want your competitors knowing about, especially if click-fraud attacks are a danger.
Read more on UK Internet Marketing Castrated | SI (3429 of 2006)…
Posted in marketing, vre Also tagged compliance, feedburner, law, online, si3429, UK_law Comments closed
FTC | Word of Mouth and Affiliates
I was honestly so caught up in other things over the last 36 hours, I totally missed this and it is highly relevant to my Disclosure Policy Plugin.
I am not a lawyer, thus any interpretation of the situation I am going to leave in the hands of lawyers who I have a great deal of respect for, and who themselves are involved in the internet marketing field.
Posted in Projects, marketing, plugins Also tagged affiliate, affiliate marketing, amazon, clickbank, Commission_Junction, disclosure policy, Ebay, ftc, Google, Linkshare, pay per post, techcrunch, word_of_mouth Comments closed
How To Get An Authority Link To Your Affiliate Review
Erik Ortega is going to get a link from me for TriFilliate PayDay as he left a comment with a link to his review.
The reasons why I am mentioning this?
Read more on How To Get An Authority Link To Your Affiliate Review…