The Affiliate Link Disclosure Manifesto

There was a kerfuffle a few months back about the use of affiliate links in Twitter. Scott Jangro posted about his foray into Twitter affiliate links and the accompanying self-loathing at the time with Damn Marketers. Affiliate Links in Twitter.

That was the latest in an ongoing war on the Interwebs about affiliate link disclosure.

The debate started back up when Jeremiah Owyang shared his opinion of affiliate links in Twitter. My knee-jerk reaction was to say Jeremiah was clueless on the issue (i.e. he disagreed with me).

We had a nice chat since then, and his post on affiliate link disclosure has been a living document with many perspectives represented. It’s a good record of the exchange throughout the industry.

Last week, Patricio Robles of Econsultancy chimed in with the declaration: “First, let’s get the obvious out of the way: when affiliate links are used, disclosure is always a must.”

News to me.

Moving along, Lisa Barone asked, “Are Affiliate Links Unethical Without Disclosure?,” and I agree with her perspective.

If you feel the need to disclose that [!THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK!], then I’m worried for you and the reputation you must have with your community. Because it clearly needs work.

Personally, I choose to act transparently so that my links speak for themselves. I think it’s pretty well established that I wouldn’t vouch for something I didn’t believe in and that when it’s a choice of “being truthful” or “not burning bridges”…I often have to invest in a new boat.

A big debate followed in her blog comments.

And then Linda Buquet and Adotas joined the fray this week with their takes on affiliate link disclosure.

So here is my take on affiliate links in blogs, Twitter, or any other venue – disclosure is not necessary. Subscribe, follow, friend, etc. sources your trust. If you think somebody is playing games and you are unsure about them, just move on.

Here’s the reality… we are all peddling in some sort of currency or other. This currency comes in the form of cash money or a higher industry profile or consulting work or exposure for a company or a pat on the back or whatever.

Not to mention, I haven’t seen a workable example of disclosure within a Tweet or blog post – just clumsy interrupters like hashtags or a parenthetical alert like (aff).

So for the nattering nabobs of negativism, when it comes to affiliate links I have a proposal. How about everybody always disclose all of their motives in Tweets, blog posts, etc?

Some other things I might start disclosing on Twitter in the form of hashtags:

• Twitpic of something I think is funny: #LOL
• Use of hyperbole: #HYPERBOLE
• Reference to company I own: #BRANDING
• Rhetorical question: #RHETORICAL
• Trash talk to sports rivals: #TRASHTALK
• ReTweet of a friend’s Tweet: #FRIENDRT
• ReTweet of a business Tweet: #BIZRT
• Link to blog post with many affiliate links: #$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
• Referring to a former Affiliate Summit keynote for subliminal branding: #SUBLIME
• Complaint to a company: #GRIPE
• Sarcastic @ reply: #SARCASM
• Entering a contest: #CONTEST
• Apology for mis-identifying a bear:#MEACULPA
• Bragging about eating lobster: #BRAG
• Annoying inside joke: #INSIDEJOKE
• Insincere reply to a grating @ reply: #INSINCERE
• Cranky before a long flight: #CRANKY

Did I miss anything?

By the way, I put up an affiliate link disclosure on my blog (with a link in the header) quite some time ago, and nobody – literally nobody – ever goes to that page.