New Clickbank Regulations…Are You Affected?

Should You be Worried?

So there’s been quite a buzz today around various marketing forums and blogs regarding Clickbank’s new vendor guidelines. (you can read them yourself here. )

It’s no secret I’ve had my fair share of success using Clickbank and I’ve had a few questions about these new rules so I thought I’d weigh in with my thoughts.

In short, these new regulations tell us nothing we shouldn’t have known already!

I will most likely not be making a single change to my sites because of these guidelines since they are already compliant. (although I will take a closer look at all the changes to be sure) Believe it or not, there are plenty of vendors out there who make a good and even great living on Clickbank WITHOUT using false scarcity, fake testimonials or other deceitful tactics.

Unfortunately, there are always a few “bad apples” that ruin things for the rest of us. It’s no secret that some of the crappiest “make money online” products have been pushed through Clickbank throughout the years. Clickbank was pretty much the only way some of this stuff could have been sold, as some bad offers would likely have resulted in the vendor’s merchant account getting closed down. Clickbank is an amazing service for astute marketers, but it has also been a cesspool for many products that couldn’t find a home anywhere else online.

The Age of Fine Print is Coming to an End

All sorts of offers have abused consumer trust by using deceptive continuity methods, infinite upsells, and blind offers (that were outright lies). Many of these offers at one time or another found their home on Clickbank. To Clickbank’s credit, a lot of these offers were removed and then many of these products ended up on other platforms like Plimus where they also soon found themselves banned.

Don’t get me wrong- there is nothing wrong with honest forthright continuity, well-crafted upsells or even blind copy IF it is truthful and done with tact. For example, blind offers like “this will make you thousands- it’s not Google, it’s not SEO, it’s not Facebook, etc.” are crap, and most often, the offer at hand turns out to be a total joke. “An innovative way to bring video traffic to your sites without using Youtube- you’ll disover this inside” or “my favorite tool for driving customers to sales pages cheaply (not PPC)” are copy bits with elements of blindness that I don’t think anyone feels are deceptive but they do the job of piquing curiosity.

In short, the new rules can basically be summed up as “tell the truth”. If you’ve been running your offers on any platform while breaking this cardinal rule then now is a good time change them- whether you are on Clickbank or not.

My biggest frustration is that the most flagrant offenders often run their offers from outside the US, hop from product to product using false identities and often make off with their ill-gotten loot before anyone is the wiser. I think there is a very high need for companies like Clickbank to do a better job policing their offers, and hopefully, these new rules will be the start of an era where good products on Clickbank can shake some of their previous (and somewhat deserved) negative association with many of the crappy products that were at one time sold there.

Still there are some regulations here that deserve some discussion:

Videos and testimonials containing an actual customer telling their actual story (does not require a disclaimer, but vendor must have signed documentation from the customer on hand in the event a regulatory agency would want proof that the story is a customer’s actual experience).

I do find this one a little unclear, I mean, if someone creates a video of themselves isn’t that a pretty good indication that they’re telling you their story? Maybe I don’t get this but it’s like saying. “if you have a video of an apple you will need a signed statement saying that the apple exists”. Seems redundant. Also, if someone sends you an email relating their story are they not providing de facto proof with the email? It’s like saying you need to send me a letter stating that you sent me a letter. I think there’s some problems with this.

Also, affiliates cannot pose as neutral third parties evaluating two products so they make a commission on selling one of them.

All I can really say about the above is, “THANK YOU”. The world needs about 5 million less scummy review sites where a reviewer poses as an innocent consumer who just happened to find a product. I say this also as a vendor who has had to track down idiots who have badmouthed my products with lies in an effort to slog another product. If you’re one of the MANY affiliates who have been creating “review” sites while pretending to be an average joe consumer, it’s probably time for a review with your appropriate legal representative. This is WAY too big to discuss on a blog- talk to a lawyer. Creating compliant story-style landers is a tricky subject.

As I go through this process I will update this post or make a new one as I see how Clickbank handles the new changes.

Clickbank is still wonderful to work with, and a great place for both affiliates and vendors to build a business. I think they are in a position where things can only improve.

Ultimately, the new Clickbank rules are just an extension of how you should be running your offers anyway. What do you think?