POR Ts and Cs - Bad for merchants

[diytravel]

This is a heads up for merchants.

We were keen on the POR program but their Ts and Cs and bad for any merchants that have unique content that they want to protect.

Section 8 sub-licences reads:
You grant, to Paid on Results and our Affiliates, a revocable, non-transferable, royalty free, international sublicence to display ... copyrighted material (“Content”).

This states that merchants allow affiliates to display copyrighted content from their websites. If affiliates display a merchants unique content on their sites this will damage the merchants search engine rankings with duplicate content penalties!

Unfortunately, POR refused to modify their Ts and Cs and so all merchants are exposed to this problem.

Hope this info helps other merchants.

Regards,
Ben

[drivetowin]

Originally Posted by diytravel If affiliates display a merchants unique content on their sites this will damage the merchants search engine rankings with duplicate content penalties!

Errm, maybe, it depends how much content they copy and how much you believe duplicate content really attracts penalties - I can show you a search term where I and 9 other affiliates off of this forum occupy the top ten slots in Google - yet we all have exactly the same product description on our page.

Yes I can see its a problem if someone copied your whole site verbatim but if someone just copies product descriptions then where's the problem - if you think I'm going to rewrite product descriptions for every product just so there's no danger of duplicate content - get real...

[diytravel]

Originally Posted by kbudden Errm, maybe, it depends how much content they copy and how much you believe duplicate content really attracts penalties - I can show you a search term where I and 9 other affiliates off of this forum occupy the top ten slots in Google - yet we all have exactly the same product description on our page. Yes I can see its a problem if someone copied your whole site verbatim but if someone just copies product descriptions then where's the problem - if you think I'm going to rewrite product descriptions for every product just so there's no danger of duplicate content - get real...

The problem is not product descriptions... it is our unique reviews.

[Brendon]

So, start another site for the purposes of the aff program, and don't add any copyrighted material to that domain.....

Since you only want aff sales to that domain, it solves your problem, doesn't it?

[angelabx]

I can see the point being made.

Joining a network as a merchant should not give affiliates full licence to copy whatever they like from your site.

I think that term needs looking at.

If a merchant wants to limit affiliates to using provided creatives then that's fair enough.

[aly]

Originally Posted by angelabx If a merchant wants to limit affiliates to using provided creatives then that's fair enough.

Agreed, it's their program and they have the right to set the rules no matter if its about copywrite, bidding on their brand name, using their images or whatever.
Copying a merchants site (or part of it) is not the point of affiliate programs.

If we as affiliates don't like a particular bit in T&Cs then we don't have to become partners.


Cheers
Aly

[stevenm]

I dont think that is the intention of the T&Cs, in my view POR are just trying to ensure that affiliates can use product descriptions etc for product feeds. I would assume that POR mean for an agreed amount of content to be made available ratehr than the entirety of the website.

It says that the permission is revokable as well so I don't see where the problem is. If you don't like how it is being implemented, just revoke the permission.

Just my 2p.

Steven
--
Virtual Cards UK
http://www.virtualcards.co.uk

[jess1]

From where I sit the more stuff you are allowed to use from a merchants website the better (within reason) So long as the affiliate is not trying to pass themselves off as the merchant... thing is do you want sales or not?
At the end of the day its the merchants decision re their content and their brand but a too restrictive program will minimise the effectiveness.

Just curious why you posted "Merchants heads up" Do you suppose too many Merchants do not read the TS and Cs? And also may I enquire if you have contacted POR with your query... these things are usually kept away from a forum and I could see no beneficial reason to post if it could not be settled away from the forum. Also I am changing TS & Cs all the time with networks... if you dont like the Ts & Cs negotiate to have it reworded or removed. POR are flexible to the last and they certainly would not enforce a Term or condition that a merchant did not agree to. Do you suppose this is a good way to start your working relationship?

[paidonresults]

Originally Posted by stevenm I dont think that is the intention of the T&Cs, in my view POR are just trying to ensure that affiliates can use product descriptions etc for product feeds. I would assume that POR mean for an agreed amount of content to be made available ratehr than the entirety of the website. It says that the permission is revokable as well so I don't see where the problem is. If you don't like how it is being implemented, just revoke the permission. Just my 2p. Steven -- Virtual Cards UK http://www.virtualcards.co.uk

That's exactly it. Saves having to ask if it is ok to use every image in a product feed and so on. No Merchant has had a problem with this before, and I suspect that other Networks have something similar in place to protect themselves and Affiliates, as let’s face it. It would be a crazy situation if you had to ask for every single Affiliate if they could use an image from a Merchants site.

However, saying that, we have had Merchants in the past that add additional terms to the program, for example say they have a special image or certain section of their web site they don't want Affiliates to use, then they simply add that to the Merchants additional terms of business for Affiliates joining that program without the need to rewrite the terms. If we had to rewrite the terms of business every single time a Merchant joined we need to charge them a very high setup fee to pay for a lawyer to review each one.

So to clarify, a Merchant can add extra terms such as not allowing certain content from their website or restricting PPC activity and so on to a program without a problem. However if we feel a Merchant is too restrictive we just tell them to go away as we cannot have daft stuff like ‘you can't use our name on your website when you promote us’ and so on.

By the way, we get tons of new Merchants enquires everyday and we don't have the time to change our terms of business for every prospective Merchant that comes along, when I think off the household name Merchants on the Network who have happily accepted our terms of business without change it kind of puts it in to perspective, and remember folks, if you don't like them, don't join, go find another network that will let you do what you want, I’m sure someone will happily take your money.