Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

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I was reading a thread in a marketing forum recently, and somebody asked which affiliate programs permit pay per click search engine advertising.

I replied that whenever you are in doubt, you should read the affiliate agreement, since some programs forbid PPC bidding for their trademarked name(s) and/or certain terms, and if the affiliate is caught, the agreement might stipulate that the merchant has the right to charge back, and/or disallow any and all commissions.

A number of affiliates didn’t seem to like the approach of reading the rules first. One replied, “It’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission in anything…just do it.”

The stat below confirms what I’ve been worried about as an affiliate manager, affiliates are not reading the affiliate agreements, and that can lead to legal liabilities and brand risks for the merchant.

I’d urge all affiliates to read the affiliate agreements of affiliate programs they promote.

Not only because these are terms to which you are legally agreeing, but you should know what you can and cannot do, and what you might think is totally reasonable on your part could result in forfeited commissions.

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