Code of Best Practice

• Using 'Click to Reveal' when there is no valid or current code present is not permitted of affiliate publishers including using 'Click to Reveal' to show any deals/offers/sales instead of vouchers.

• Voucher code affiliate publishers must clearly detail the voucher offer that will be revealed by the click.

• A valid code is defined as a code that has been legitimately issued by a merchant for your use online. This code will have an activation date and where necessary a deactivation date.

• Voucher code directories must contain clear categorization and separation between deals/offers/sales and discount codes.

FAQ’s

Do these changes come into force as of 1st Jan with affiliates then given time to change or are affiliate sites expected to be compliant on 01/01/09?

The code will come into affect on January 1st 2009 and affiliates will be expected to have become compliant by that time

What is a “valid voucher code”?

A valid code is defined as a code that has been legitimately issued by a merchant for your use online. This code will have an activation date and where necessary a deactivation date.

What about affiliates with blogs where voucher codes are offered amongst many other ‘offers’ of various sorts, sales etc. They’re not improperly describing any of the offers, and I wouldn’t want them removed from our clients campaigns.

As long as they are not using “click to reveal” where there is no valid voucher code then this is fine. Offers/Sales etc. need to be clearly labelled as such and not mislead the user to click believing they will receive a voucher code. In such a situation re-labelling the link “click to reveal site” is perfectly acceptable.

What are the consequences if a site does not adhering to these rues?

The site will receive a warning from their network to change the site. If this is not followed within 7 days a further warning will be sent which if ignored again will result in the publisher being reported as breaking these rules and suspension from the signed up networks.

IAB Press Release - Affiliate council launches code of best practice (30k)