IAB Affiliate Network Council (ANC) to Bring In An Affiliate Conduct Code
posted in Affiliate Marketing |
The IAB Affiliate Network Council (ANC) will draw up an affiliate code of conduct before the summer. The announcement follows this week’s appointment of David Hall, Affiliate Window head of communications, as its chairman. The ANC was set up in March last year to represent the interests of IAB members in affiliate marketing, offering advice and information. But a year on it hasn’t set up any industry best-practice guidelines. The issue of affiliate standards has been making headlines…
Do I find this bit worrying? The ANC was set up in March last year to represent the interests of IAB members in affiliate marketing
Firstly, has the ANC actually made any formal approach to affiliate community as a whole to discuss this in any detail? Well, not to my knowledge or anybody I have asked. I just find it quite bizarre that there has been no consultation with any affiliate that I know of, and/or who’s opinion I respect. Without any direct input from affiliates themselves, I don’t think whatever they decide to implement will be a viable solution. They would have to careful that they don’t the affiliate community if it progresses further.
The IAB ANC are not on the front line of affiliate marketing, whilst examining their own members list, a number of their own members could possibly be brought into question, if anyone was pedantic enough to clutch at straws or pick holes.
However, there is no point in affiliates lashing out yet, until we are fully aware of the substance of their proposals and to what their actual agenda is. Whether it be for themselves or their members to try & dictate to affiliates or on a more postive note promote the affiliate marketing industry as a real solution to be part of their members marketing mix.
Is the IAB being exploited for somebdy elses agenda? Should affiliate marketing be within the remit of the IAB.
It reminds me of the following : I clearly recall attending a meeting on Anti-Spyware measures at the IMRG a couple of years ago. Tradedoubler at the time were very defensive in favour or Adware & Spyware. The IMRG had avenues into television, and an opportunity was lost to really let the consumer know the threats that pertain to them & protecting them online. Yet, all they achieved in two years was a definition of what spyware was (a short sentence), even that wasn’t very accurate. I guess they felt that bringing the topic of spyware into the public domain would simply affect the revenue of their members, when several of their members were considered partied to spyware at the time.
On the whole, I think it illustrates that affiliates have been maybe a little slow of the mark in establishing their own Affiliate Association for a code of fair & best practice, which has lost practically all of it’s momentum from last years preliminary meeting when a statement was issued. It has been foreseeable by the affiliate community for some time that the affiliate industry maybe regulated from an outside body rather than regulating ourselves.
If all this is a genuine attempt to bring all parties closer together, then it will probably be warmly welcomed, however not without full & proper consultation with the affiliate community. I hope it doesn’t resort to being deemed as a clueless bully yielding a big stick, especially if some may feel intimidated that rules are being imposed on affiliates from less knowledgeable outsiders.
Do affiliates only have themselves to blame? Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, since generally there is a real lack of selfless attitude out there apart from the same vociferous few. People seem to get more embroiled in a silly quip remark from an irrelevant person, like those from ASOS, than the core fundamentals of affiliate marketing.
If the IAB ANC does not include the affiliate communities input, then any proposed Affiliate Association, who would have to exclude those same members by reciprocation, which in turn would further fragment the industry. A possible solution would be as single Affiliate Association, brought under the umbrella of the IAB or IMRG, embracing all parties & the likes of e-consultancy on a unified front. This would demonstrate a greater unification within the industry as long as selected affiliates were themselves were at the forefront.
A note for the ANC / IAB: An affiliates door is generally always open, but you must be prepared to actually listen & implement. Affiliates move, adjust & evolve rapidly according to the environment & cannot be caught up in any bureaucratic red tape.
Just look at how some networks are still languishing in the dark ages with their lack of innovation & protection of affiliates from corporate bullies or unfair practices. It’s the affiliates with drive & self motivation who are pioneering the creative edge, it’s affiliates who are the true Performance Marketeers in the industry.
I have held back from posting on forums for a while now, as you can lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make them drink it. What we are seeing is possibly just a precursor to an inevitable cycle of events through ignorance and not engaging in debate or acting upon it, by being quite placid in accepting what unfair rules & regulations are reluctantly thrown upon us.
The ANC IAB cannot claim to be the voice of the affiliate community & should’t proceed as so, if indeed that is their intention, but they cannot claim to represent us in any shape or form, nor infact represent the affiliate marketing industry. Please note the word “affiliate” in “affiliate marketing”. How many networks have actually signed up with this? … and is part of the agenda simply to win favour with members within the IAB or is it to truly to educate them?
But couldn’t they impose it on us as the IAB and their members are more powerful than individual affiliates?
Affiliates have more resolve in communicating their messages & opinions online to a wide & varied audience, it would be foolhardy to assume otherwise.
If anything there needs to be a merchant code of conduct, we don’t want anything lop sided as is the current situation within the indutsry. At the end of the day we can only sit back and see what they “advise” or “propose” before making any final or adverse judgement.
In my opinion NMA is not a publication that has yet grasped an accurate perception of affiliate marketing and don’t actually “Get It”. Has the IAB or NMA actually attended any affiliate G2G’s (Get Togethers) on a regular basis? Probably not, therefore reporting, opinions & rules can only be derived from a perspective of ignorance. It’s about time they came along to mix & mingle with us “grubby” affiliates on a regular basis if they are to be taken seriously. We can only sit back, await and observe what definitive impact this will have, if any.
But before any index finger is pointed at the affiliate community, remember when you point with a finger, there are always three pointing straight back at you!
Affiliate Marketing isn’t exactly rocket science, it’s about having a certain individual mindset peculiar to oneself & a matter of application.
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