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IAB Affiliate Window

Enough introspection: why external forces pose the greater threat to affiliate marketers

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By Kevin Edwards | Strategy Director

December 17, 2013 | 6 min read

Kevin Edwards, strategy director of Affiliate Window sings the praises of the IAB's Affiliate Marketing Council and discusses why they have chosen to work closely with them in 2014 and why its work is vital for the future of the affiliate sector as a whole.

The IAB’s Affiliate Marketing Council (AMC) has done a fantastic job over the past few years addressing a series of concerns and issues that risked jeopardising the budget that flows through the channel.

Recently it’s come in for some stick with certain quarters suggesting disapproval with its focus and vision. It’s a maligned and often misunderstood body that comes in for unfair amounts of criticism, largely from those who have never attended a meeting or invested time in reading the body of work produced.

With that in mind I wanted to signpost why the work is important and how it will be even more relevant in 2014 as external scrutiny of the industry heightens.

The work of the AMC can broadly be defined by several phases. The awkward initial meetings six years ago achieved little, networks too suspicious of each other to fully collaborate to produce anything meaningful. The breakthrough was the Ethical Merchant Charterthat signposted to advertisers the basics they should adhere to in running an affiliate campaign.

Looking back it’s difficult to imagine why this would have been so tricky to produce but still acts as a relevant starting point for affiliate marketers. From this point the pace of work accelerated as networks acknowledged a number of industry issues needed to be addressed.

I see this as the second stage: essentially the AMC getting its house in order. The voucher code, code of conduct was central to this but let’s not lose sight of the critical importance that the downloadable software, code of conduct and behavioural retargeting guide also play. Both have helped protect existing affiliate revenues, assimilate new technologies within the industry and ensure the UK maintains the highest levels of affiliate professionalism globally. All the documentation the AMC has produced can be accessed here.

The third stage is where we are now: responding to external forces. Whilst codes of conduct can be tweaked and should be in order to remain relevant, we have done as much internal regulation as we need to for the time being. I strongly believe recent talk of affiliate accreditation is a distraction we can ill afford. The idea of rubber stamping affiliates may seem solid on paper but is fraught with complications: it’s also an idea that has been mooted over the years and contemplated by the AMC to no avail.

Who pays for it, administers and audits it as well as ensuring it maintains the highest standards? Can it ever be something more than paying lip service to a general standard, watered down to a meaningless level in order to incorporate all activity? What about the grey areas or accidental (or intentional) breaches that will inevitably undermine it?

The huge amount of time and effort invested would be far better spent on external factors that seek to damage what we have invested years in building.

Whilst the ePrivacy Directive was a flawed and expensive diversion there can be no doubt that the affiliate industry, more than any other, built the most solid and exceptional response to any organisation looking to challenge our adherence to the law. Countless hours were expended by AMC members in forming the documentation, speaking at conferences, lobbying government and developing technical solutions.

Beyond this, we know logically that any industry that grows in size, scope and influence will come under increasing scrutiny from external bodies. This is where the AMC comes into its own and will inevitably be a core focus for 2014: all backed by the support of the IAB.

Ofgem’s Retail Market Review that made an ill-advised and confusing recommendation to outlaw cashback on utility purchases is a classic example of an external regulator bearing its weight on something it doesn’t properly understand.

Additionally we know that in 2014 the newly formed Financial Conduct Authority will be carrying out its own audit of finance comparison sites. This follows hot on the heels of moves by phone regulators and another trade body to scrutinise traffic sources that fall within the auspices of performance marketing.

The IAB and AMC will be critical in helping our industry to gain access to decision makers in the regulatory sphere. Whilst it was to no avail it supported the affiliate channel in lobbying for the cashback cause with Ofgem. It has already been flagged to us that we’ll be able to speak to the FCA at the early stages of their investigations to both educate and inform them of the performance channel.

All of this will be time consuming and potentially frustrating but is a necessary investment of time and resource in order to mitigate threats to securing future channel budgets. It’s also why the self-regulatory framework we’ve spent years building is so important, showing we’re professional marketers with the foresight to effectively administer ourselves with a uniform set of standards. That some people do so in their spare time is a testament to their commitment.

It’s for this reason that Affiliate Window will be committing its time and resource in 2014 to supporting the IAB’s AMC efforts to prove the value the affiliate industry adds, perfectly encapsulated in the Online Performance Marketing Study, the second version of which is due for release next month.

IAB Affiliate Window

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