i just saw that the guy from britishbucks closed an affiliates account over at gms because the affiliate posted about his payments being late is this not illegal to do or something or can any program just close an affiliates account whenever they feel like it?
Unfortunately for the affiliate in question, yes programs can pretty much close accounts for any reason they like, of course, the fact that the program in question is owned and operated by someone with a very colorful past should have been plenty of warning for the person who's account got closed but i guess like many things in the industry, webmasters do not pay any attention until something happens to them.
Perhaps in future the person who's account was closed would actually take notice of what is posted about people on the boards, for years, before putting themselves in that position again.
Oh and just for the record, i have a line in my TOS for Condom Cash that pretty much says i can close any affiliates account for any reason i like however ive never had to use that clause yet and hope i will never have to but it is in the TOS for my protection and the protection of my business. If you actually read the terms for some of the programs you promote you'll probably find a similar clause in 99.99% of their terms of service.
Regards,
Lee
Anyone out there believe in Karma ? What goes around comes around
actually very strange practice of closing affiliate accounts for posting on boards, but Lee is right - just read the TOS of programs. Almost all of them can close your account by their own decision.
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I forget who it was but a few years back one program actually added to their TOS that their affiliates couldnt post negatively about them on the boards and that if they did, their account would be instantly terminated and all accumulated funds would be forfeited.Originally Posted by Gin
As i say, i dont recall which program it was but at the time it was a very well-known affiliate program that had been around for years.
Regards,
Lee
Oh and I just saw that recently too ... and don't remember where!
Being point specific, line-by-line, in a business agreement seems more appropriate than generic catch-all terms IMO. I would never enter into an agreement granting "If I don't like your hairstyle you're outta here" powers. Albeit, I only hold 3 affiliate agreements that I use, but each has addendum's.
just sayin ...........
For the most part i would tend to agree with you however, when it comes to affiliates, especially in the adult industry, technology simply advances to quickly for a program to be able to incorporate specifics, for example, Condom Cash launched prior to 'blogging' and 'tubes' becoming big drivers of traffic to our program, there was simply no way we could possibly incorporate anything at all to do with blog or tube traffic in to our TOS because at the time, they simply were not even thought about.
Likewise, when the whole FHG craze started a few years ago, lots of content providers didnt have anything in their sales license saying their content couldnt be used on FHGs, many tried with their new license but they found sales dropped considerably after 'adding' the new license rules, nowadays, content providers pretty much expect that their work will inevitably end up being used on FHGs by the licensee.
The clause we have in our TOS for Condom Cash states 'Either you or we may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, by giving the other party notice of termination.' and i think you will find almost every major program that has had their TOS reviewed or written by an actual attorney, will have a similar clause in them.
That pretty much says that if i wanted to, i could terminate any affiliates account on Condom Cash just because i decided i didnt like their hairstyle and there is absolutely nothing the affiliate could do about it. of course, this is taking the reason for this clause to its extreme and i highly doubt i would ever use it for such a thing but, if needed, i could terminate any affiliate i wanted, if i decided an affiliate sending traffic via tubes wasnt needed any more, i could terminate them. If i decided i no longer wanted TGPers to promote the sites, i could terminate them but, as i say, the chances of that happening are extremely slim.
Lets say in 6 months time some new adware service pops up that over-writes existing affiliates tracking code, and infects millions of PC users worldwide, i can terminate that affiliates account... To protect my and my affiliates business interests.
The unfortunate thing with the adult industry as i mentioned above is that it evolves so quickly, in terms of the type of methods affiliates and program owners consider 'acceptable' and the type of sites being used to send traffic, without such a clause in the TOS there would be no way for me to legally close an affiliates account down based on technology or methods of driving traffic that we currently dont know about, for the most part these types of clause are to protect program owners (and their existing affiliates) from that if they turn out to be 'bad'.
Regards,
Lee
I understand your stance Lee, and agree when viewing the situation from your POV. I didn't/don't mean to come across as argumentative. If I were closing volume sales for you I'd give you a call and say, "Hey Lee, let's talk about our business agreement."
That's one scenario. But yes, a generic catch-all TOS with essentially unknown affiliates is really a must. That's your only safe approach as a business owner.
ummm ... CYA comes to mind,
Regards, Larry
Oh i totally didnt take your post as argumentative at all, just wanted to expand on the reasoning why program owners need to incorporate terms like that
Likewise, i can also see things from an affiliates standpoint too, there actually are programs that i have gone to signup to but after reading their TOS have changed my mind.
There needs to be an amicable balance between program owner and affiliate and the TOS of a program is just a small aspect of that balance imho.
Regards,
Lee
I understand your points Lee, I really do. I just meant that if I'm moving your product with sound, safe, paying traffic. Then I expect a more iron clad point specific agreement between us. I'm guessing you are in agreement to that kind of biz relationship? I wouldn't expect that with 2-3 CC sales per month but 1 a day would mean a phone call to drill down on our agreement,
Oh i totally didnt take your post as argumentative at all, just wanted to expand on the reasoning why program owners need to incorporate terms like that
Regards,
Lee
yeah totally, i have a few affiliates right now on Condom Cash and Tube Tender that i have 'special' agreements with, payouts above the standard, custom tours, etc, etc... Thats something most serious program owners will work out with productive affiliates on an individual basis.
Regards,
Lee
i dont think i like the idea that a sponsor program can close a webmasters account for anything they want with or without reason it just seem s alittle shady to me to be honest but i can also see why this sort of thing will be needed with all the scammers around on the boards each and every day
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