What you need to know about what WebClicks consider affiliate fraud, and how it is sanctioned.
While we at WebClicks applaud all the hard work and ingenuity of our affiliates, it’s essential to maintain high ethical and legal standards for the sake of your reputation, the reputations of the brands you’re advertising for through WebClicks, and our own.
Here’s an overview of some of the things which are banned and why:
Illegal phone and SMS promotion
While we allow phone and SMS advertising, it’s imperative you stick to the local rules and recommendations. Any form of telemarketing must abide by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) in the US and similar legislation in many other countries. This explicitly prohibits contacting anyone who hasn’t given their express consent to receiving telemarketing calls. This includes the use of automated dialling systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages, SMS text messages, and faxes.
Illegal email promotion
We realize that email promotion is a powerful tool for affiliate marketers. However, like telemarketing, it must abide by certain legal restrictions and ethical recommendations. Every form of email promotion must comply with the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 in the US and similar laws in other countries. This requires that any promotional emails are sent only to those who have granted their explicit permission via a double opt-in process. And this opt-in process should never include pre-checked boxes which sign people up to mailing lists by default. You should also send a confirmation email after someone has signed up to verify that they’re willing to receive promotional content from you. Also, you should never, under any circumstances, purchase mailing lists, as it will inevitably result in reputational damage and, potentially, legal sanctions.
Misrepresentation
Any form of misrepresentation is strictly prohibited and will result in the immediate cancellation of the affiliate’s account and nonpayment of any unreleased funds.
Misrepresentation also includes any form of social engineering. This includes any attempt to impersonate a brand or other individual, such as a bank or courier. Other offences include pretending people have won prizes or have money waiting in an online account. At best, these are common spam tactics. At worst, they’re dangerous phishing scams, for which WebClicks reserves the right to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
Using calamities and disasters to sell products
It is an unfortunate truth that some people are quick to use national and international disasters to sell products. This is explicitly against our terms.
Capitalizing on international or national calamities always has been and always will be against our terms of use. But it’s something we must draw special attention to with Covid-19 spreading rapidly around the world. We’ve already read in the newspaper about affiliates trying to use the pandemic to their advantage by targeting keywords such as coronavirus, or pretending their products offer direct health benefits or reduce the risks of contracting the illness. This will not be tolerated on our network under any circumstances.
Terms and Conditions
We ask that all affiliates read the full TOS (Terms of Service) on our website located at the link below, and familiarize themselves with what is allowed, and what is not allowed, on our network.
Thank you for reading.