December 26, 2017
Five Ways PartnerCentric Ensures Compliance and Prevents Fraud
Anyone who is new to affiliate marketing or even someone who already has an existing program typically has concerns about compliance. “How do I know that the affiliates I work with will value our partnership?” is a question I receive a lot from prospects and I completely understand the concern. The internet can be a scary place and when you trust your brand with an agency, you want to be sure they have the expertise to vet and recommend the best relationships for success.
At PartnerCentric, we have a dedicated in-house compliance team that works proactively to ensure our clients’ brands are protected and affiliates are above board with all practices. We have a unique advantage by being network-agnostic because we work across 17 different affiliate tracking solutions (networks and platforms) and many different verticals.This has allowed us to develop and implement industry best practices for compliance, and gain the know-how to employ them across a variety of scenarios. Because of this, we are able to use both manpower and technology to defend our clients from the constantly evolving tactics used by dishonorable publishers. In addition, we are regularly editing and improving our methods to prevent the next threat by taking a proactive and multi-layered approach to program monitoring. Due to the expertise gleaned by working with so many different verticals and industries, we know the various compliance challenges and nuances of each and clearly understand the technologies that work best for different industries. Below are just five ways we work to ensure compliance for our clients.
1. Trademark Monitoring
Non-compliant publishers will compete against you in your PPC campaigns, regardless of your program terms. To fight this effectively, we use industry-leading software to scan the major search engines to look for publishers using prohibited keywords in their PPC. What is prohibited will vary from client to client, but it almost always incorporates the advertiser’s trademark in some way. So far this year, we have intervened in more than 1,000 instances of trademark violations.
2. Blacklisting Fraudulent Affiliates
Anytime we come across non-compliant affiliates, we make sure that they are documented and, in certain instances, blacklisted. Our database of non-compliant affiliates has over 600 websites and tracking servers, including more than 100 blacklisted publishers. Year to date, we have also prevented more than $40,000 in fraudulent payouts for our clients. By actively keeping track of this, we can ensure that our clients only work with proven affiliates and we can protect them from any who aren’t.
3. Audits
Our team performs audits regularly to be sure that third party sites are using correct and timely content, creative and branding and are following the rules with regards to promotion. This helps build trust in your brand while ensuring consumers have the most accurate information.
4. Content Compliance
Our elevated platinum service offering includes content compliance which involves monitoring promotions on affiliate sites to ensure they are CFPB compliant (for financial clients), following set terms for limited time or exclusive promotions and are following proper brand positioning, guidelines and messaging.
5. Vetting
All of our programs require publishers to submit requests to join. We do not accept them until they have been thoroughly vetted by our compliance team. Not only must they be legitimate, they also must clearly understand the rules of engagement we have set up for our clients and abide by comprehensive terms and conditions.
When it comes to compliance, prevention is the name of the game. Our team relies on years of experience, industry know-how and proven techniques to keep your program safe and performing optimally and strategically. While we can’t rid the internet of fraudulent and unethical publishers, our compliance team works hard to guard your program from them.
Have more compliance questions or just want to chat about your program? Get in touch.