IAB, datafeeds & merchant responsibility

**Frostie** · 05-11-10

I've a question that may already be answered, in line for discussion or in force...

I am noticing an alarming number of merchants who have out of date datafeeds, which not only hacks visitors off if the product is no longer stocked, but more worryingly, are taking business away from other merchants illegitamtely.

For example...
I have a number of ECU units for specific products and sort the top 5 merchants from lowest price upwards. A number of times, the merchant who appears at the top of the list declaring the product at £9.99 is actually selling the product at £12.99 (presumably after increasing the initial price). If the datafeed was correct, the merchant wouldn't even appear on the list as there's others with the product priced lower.

What are the rules, if any, on how often a merchant MUST update their datafeed to correctly reflect the pricing of products? Legally if my site says £9.99 due to the datafeed, yet the merchants website says £12.99, then who, legally, would be to blame if any misrepresentation was apportioned?

The examples I have come across have not been 1 merchant in particular, but a number across different networks & verticals.

**paullas** · 06-11-10

so visitor goes to your site, sees something for £9.99 clicks and gets diverted to merchant and it is now £12.99 when they add to basket and put email address in then leaves because price is too high now, then couple hours later if the merchant has this capture thing then send visitor email offering discount and you ( the affiliate ) loses customer and the capture company gets the sale

think ill be giving any merchant using this a wide berth.

**confuscius** · 06-11-10

You are responsible for what you do. Simple! Although you may have a defence with a suitable legal disclaimer and with the organisation providing the information.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus...egs/oft979.pdf - every affiliate should read this!

**Frostie** · 08-11-10

OK so it is something that needs to be addressed. My concern is also with how other merchants are losing out due to "unethical" merchants...

Merchant A - has £9.99 in their feed but on their site it sells for £12.99
Merchant B - has £10.99 in their feed and sell for £10.99
Merchant C - has £11.99 in their feed and sell for £11.99

Surely Merchant B & C will be unhappy because they're possibly losing out due to invalid/out of date pricing information being held with Merchant A datafeed?

Come on IAB - what are the rules for merchants and what checks are being carried out to ensure validty of the data?

**D-Mac** · 08-11-10

Whether it's intentional or not, it's a form of ranking spamming. As a site owner you have to decide whether or not to allow it, and if not, to remove the offending merchants from your site.

**jonsp** · 08-11-10

Not just price differences but also products being in the feed then going out of stock. Even the best merchant only updates their feed once a day - what happens if he puts a good deal in his feed when it updates at 9am then it sells out by noon? Clearly he's not responsible for that - especially coming up to Christmas.

From the affiliate standpoint something in the terms along the lines of details are provided from merchant data we're not responsible for the content of external sites - please check the site before buying should cover the legal side. If price/stock differences are an issue than maybe scraping the merchant site would be the only way to ensure the most up to date data.

**Frostie** · 08-11-10

I understand, but don't agreed mate.

The data is being output by the merchant so it is them that is responsible for it. If you have 1000's of Easy Content Units, you can not phsyically check every single unit, every single product, for every single merchant, ensuring that it matches what they have on their website. Therefore I can't make an informed decisions as to whether to allow them in my ECU or not. It maybe correct pricing on the Monday, but out of date and incorrect on the Wednesday.

The IAB should have something in place (and they may well do) to ensure and price change is reflected in 24hrs within their feed. It's time to make the merchants take a bit of responsibility IMO.

**Frostie** · 08-11-10

JONSP - as I've presviously stated this is not about items going out of stock - its about pricing issues, and at that, ones that are weeks out of date. There will always be issues over out of stock, special offers etc etc and that is not what I am questioning.

Clearly he's not responsible for that - especially coming up to Christmas.

Erm.... yes he/she is! Whether its Christmas or my birthday makes no difference. The merchant IS responsible for their feed - not the network, not the agency, not the affiliates. It has legal implications!

**Mogga** · 08-11-10

Originally Posted by Frostie

The IAB should have something in place (and they may well do) to ensure and price change is reflected in 24hrs within their feed. It's time to make the merchants take a bit of responsibility IMO.

Nice idea and I know where you're coming from but some merchants have not updated their feeds since July even though they've rebranded their product range and it still shows the old range.

I think you'd have to look at the ASA side of things - if someone is deliberately misleading on price then that's wrong...

CAP - CAP Code

What does the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) Pricing Practices Guide say?

**jonsp** · 08-11-10

Originally Posted by Frostie

Erm.... yes he/she is! Whether its Christmas or my birthday makes no difference. The merchant IS responsible for their feed - not the network, not the agency, not the affiliates. It has legal implications!

Where's the legal implication? As an affiliate you're not declaring under oath Product A is available for £12.99 from Merchant B. You're saying based on the data we've been supplied - check the merchant site before you buy.

In practice on 1 site I have problems with some feeds not reflecting what's actually available on the merchant site and have concluded 2 things
1/ ask the merchant for a direct feed rather than get it via the network - usually more accurate data and 1 less point of failure.
2/ if you have a merchant that consistently shows bad data test including his deals and hoping for the best (the throw enough mud at the wall and hope some sticks approach) vs omitting his deals completely. Sometimes omitting potential bad data completely and showing less attractive deals from a more reliable merchant works better

I agree with you it's not an ideal situation but I don't agree it's up to the IAB to solve - as with anything else it's up to the affiliate to decide for himself what to do.

**Frostie** · 09-11-10

Originally Posted by Mogga

I think you'd have to look at the ASA side of things - if someone is deliberately misleading on price then that's wrong...

I'm sure its not deliberate, but if it's not address I guess it is open to abuse. Just wish the same amount of emphasis was placed on merchant matters as we see on affiliate matters.

Originally Posted by jonsp

Where's the legal implication?

Have a read of this. Once you have been threatened with similar legal issues in the past, trust me you will probably find yourself a little more wary in the future.

Originally Posted by jonsp

I don't agree it's up to the IAB to solve

Thats fine as it's you opinion, however having been in this industry for as long as I care to remember, I think it is. This is why I have raised the issue in the IAB fourm and not general discussion. I am wanting the view/response from the IAB and not the opinion of another affiliate.