IAB Affiliate Council Meeting 30th July

[mattb811]

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The agenda for this Thursday's IAB Affiliate Council meeting is as follows:

• Launch the Ethical Merchant Charter – 10 mins
• Finalise rebate catcher guidelines and discuss timeline to launch – 10 mins
• Further discussion on voucher code regulations – 20 mins
• Discussion on transparency – 30 mins
o 3rd party “networks” and services
o Article in the Mirror
o Network/affiliate auditing
• Expo slot – 5 mins
• Ts and Cs Checklist – 5 mins
• IAB Member Survey – 10 minutes
• Any other business

As you can see it is a fairly full agenda so can I ask that everyone is there for a prompt 3pm start at the IAB's offices in Macklin Street (see IAB UK : trade association for the internet marketing industry).

Attendance is for IAB member networks and agencies as well as any merchant or affiliate that wishes to attend.

If you have anything that you would like adding to the agenda, then please drop me an email
. Whilst we may not be able to fit it on to the agenda this time round, we shall ensure that it is definitely discussed.

Thanks,

Matt

[mattb811]

Before anyone else says anything, apologies for spelling affiliate wrongly. It is still early.

[KevinEdwards]

Matt, you spelled affiliate incorrectly.

[hpops]

Just to back up what Kevin said, Matt, I believe that you have spelt the word "affiliate" incorrectly.

[Elaine]

Do wish I could attend these meetings - just a tad too far.
Something that has been worrying me lately is the thought, by some affiliates (and not just voucher code sites) that it is OK to redirect visitors, unknowingly, to similar merchants than the one advertised.

Whether they do this because the original merchant has gone bust, no longer has an affiliate programme or simply because the commission rate is higher, I think, is totally wrong - on all levels.

I'd be interested to hear what others think and whether this is something that should be addressed by the IAB.

[KevinEdwards]

Hi Elaine,

I know this is on the agenda to be discussed with regards voucher code sites but obviously is part of a wider issue.

From an Awin perspective (and I would assume other networks) we have a catch-all statement in our affiliate T&Cs that covers 'misleading' content.

I'm sure they'll be an update on the outcome of the discussion.

Thanks,

[nim-b]

Surely one of the problems with this is that there are some networks who will redirect links if the merchant leaves them?

This can either be seen as a helpful service for affiliates, or misleading for users. But it does make it a bit complicated if we go after affiliates who do the same thing.

I'm certainly concerned when affiliates knowingly redirect to competitors, especially if it is done without warning (ie just swapping links, not changing wording of them).

[KevinEdwards]

Surely one of the problems with this is that there are some networks who will redirect links if the merchant leaves them?

Agreed, so I think a discussion and clarification would be useful.

Will be interesting as the issue can be quite subjective - I guess we'll find out on Thursday!

[hpops]

Agreed, so I think a discussion and clarification would be useful.

Will be interesting as the issue can be quite subjective - I guess we'll find out on Thursday!

Yeah, this'll be fun!

[Mogga]

Closed merchants links :
All link options should be honest and clear without intending confusion for the visitor.

[loquax]

Article in the Mirror

Can anyone shed light on this part of the agenda?

[KevinEdwards]

Quote:
Article in the Mirror

Can anyone shed light on this part of the agenda?

Hi,

Matt's not in the office at the moment so I'm not certain but it may relate to an article yesterday that flagged up an ad from a network on what was considered an 'inappropriate' site for a well known merchant.

I won't go into detail in case it's not this but I'm sure Matt will confirm when he's around.

[Ben C]

I can't imagine it will be far removed from this one:

Tesco slammed for advertising on pro-hunting website and pulls promo after protests - mirror.co.uk

Even if it's not, it's well worth bringing up at the meeting.

Ben