Its no secret that on most CPA networks these days you will find offer after offer that is just set up as a way to trick people out of their money using credit card card billing techniques. It used to be, merchants would think of a way to deliver a product or service that people would want and establish a long term customer. Now it seems the whole business model of these merchants is “hope they don’t read the fine print credit card re-billing” offers. The goal being to get that one expensive rebill in before the consumer cancels. Is this legal? Yes. Is it ethical and good business? I say no.
Anyone can see that this is not going to be sustainable. Eventually consumers will grow more and more angry and lawyers will step in – maybe the government. (remember “free” ringtones?) The whole house of cards will eventually collapse. Who’s going to be left holding the bag? Possibly publishers with outstanding commissions, possibly the networks themselves.
If CPA networks want to survive, it’s time they stop accepting these offers on their networks. If the networks can’t self regulate themselves, someone is bound to do it for them. The problem is, when they are making tons of money off these junk offers, no one really wants to cut them off.
As the networks keep adding more of these offers, their credibility will continue to fall. Then advertisers with real products or services will look elsewhere run their offers. So its really in all of our best interest in the long run for networks to stop accepting these offers and publishers to stop running them. There are offers out there that can and do work with the CPA model that actually provide value to a customer. Those are what will make this industry continue to grow and make us all money, not the scammy ones.
What do you guys think?
Can’t really say much because I also promote these products. However, I do see where you are coming from. The more people who have bad experiences with there CC online the less people are eventually going to use them online.
Chad, you have to be careful here. Reasonable thought and logic don’t always work in this industry
. I do have to say that I agree with you. I know of at least one company that has been shut down doing these offers, more will follow if things don’t get cleaned up fast. It isn’t really the offers (well it is), but it is more affiliates saying they are free on their landing page/blog when the order page says it isn’t. So the affiliate can take the risk while the company can claim they are legit. Somebody will be made an example of eventually.
man I definitely agree with that – reason why I read the TOS of some offers especially if it needs a CC submit. I mean I wouldnt want to promote it just because of moral issues (IMO)
Chad, it’s great to hear a publisher feel this way. I can tell you that as an advertiser who doesn’t put out these types of programs it’s extremely frustrating attempting to get distribution on affiliate networks. Typically, they want a higher CPA then our products cost because the bar is being set by these other offers which sneak recurring payments/upsells on the customer. By allowing these types of offers in the network there is a standard out there for what is expected on a CPA and even if networks take on the “better” offers with full disclosure, currently distribution is still focused on the offers which pay more. I’ve had networks suggest that I change my product offering accordingly to compete with the other sneaky offers out there; no thank you.
Mike, your example is exactly what I am talking about. You are being squeezed out by these bad offers. Thanks for your comment.
I think our industry is really shooting themselves in the foot. Its like the real estate days of 2005 right now in affiliate marketing. And we all know what happened there.
“Reasonable thought and logic don’t always work in this industry” Haha you fools! That thinking “everyone else is dong it so it must be ok” is what is keeping legitimate companies with big ad spend away from this industry.
I don’t think it will ever die. There are always sketchy people out there and the net is pretty easy to hide behind but if CPA networks want to attract those bigger players they need to do just what you said and disassociatedthemselves with these sketchy pieces of shit.
I’m living through it now. I signed up for an Acai Berry tea offer and got the product. Not the best tasting stuff but it was ok. Oddly enough I’ve never got any unsolicited phone calls on my cell phone for months and now I get 2-4/day. Also there asking if I want to refinance, update my house windows or if I’ve thought of a burial strategy for my family. WTF!
The way I tracked this was I gave the first name Keen instead of Ken. When I get calls, emails and mail they all say Keen Savage. Assholes!
Atleast I know but not I can see why they’re paying out so much on something that isn’t so expensive.
Haha….LOL. Save yourself the trouble of those crappy Acai offers and go down to your local Whole Foods to buy yourself some frozen Sambazon Acai smoothie packs for like $5.00. I don’t know where people get off on promoting Acai as some kind of miracle weight loss drug. It’s just a fruit (albeit a fruit that it very high in antioxidants). In Brazil you can buy it on the street for less than $1.00. Call me a dumbass, but I do not understand how those networks get away with promoting these things.
The problem is greed and thinking too short-term.
You bring up an excellent point. When the money is good and relatively easy, the greed piles on and sensibility goes out the window. The question is whether we can self-regulate before things blow up. History suggests that we cannot. Just look at the commercial real estate bubble in 1981 or the dot com bubble in 2000 or the residential real estate bubble in 2006.
Forced continuity offers are not new. Advertisers have used this for at least a hundred years. The most obvious examples are magazine subscriptions. The publishers get customer names and sell their list. It’s just faster now with the Internet.
But customers are not stupid. They are becoming jaded to this approach because they see it over and over again. I can only imagine that conversion rates will eventually go lower to the point of it not being profitable for affiliates who use legitimate (non-blackhat) marketing methods.
Chad did you or do you promote these “only pay for shipping” CC offers? The reason I ask is, this is what the top guys are doing and top guys always go for the big offers. Ringtones is what made shoemoney.
[...] Anyways, Chad @ CDFNetworks had this interesting post on the rebill thing: Will bad offers end CPA Networks? [...]
this is a test (without my url). just checking if it is showing up.
You can see it happening with FB ads clamping down on certain types of ads because of user complaints.
Because the FB ad platform is small, the ratio of complaints is enough for them to want to clamp down on it.
With the big 3 PPC SEs, it’s going to take some time/pain for them to actively want to do something abt it.
I would think they’re getting complaints, but it hasn’t hit a threshold yet.
I don’t buy this argument. These offers have been around before the web and will always be around as long as they are legal. Remember PT Barnum – there is a sucker born every minute.
Yes, they are perhaps unethical but the mantra has to always be “buyer beware”. Many people get burned once and never again, but there are tons of people who still have yet to be burned and more born every minute.
If you are dumb enough to think a brazilian blueberry is a cure-all then you deserve what you get. And once Acai dies out soon there will be many new snake oil offers to fall into place.
I think some good points are being made here.
Are these continuity programs that pump out high converting offers with BIG CPAs shady in the way the seek to dupe the end user? Yes, obviously.
Is it unethical? I say no.
Here’s why:
1. It’s clearly written out in the Terms and conditions, and I know no one likes to read that little box, but you can be damn sure that when I throw my credit card on the line I do. It states exactly how much you will be billed and when.
2. “If it sounds too good to be true…” What are these people thinking? The Brazilian people are so excited about their berry that they want the whole world to have it for free, or that you really can get a free iphone by giving your opinion “Is Oprah gaining weight?”
3. These offers clearly have fine print attached and it’s the responsibility of consumers to read it. The companies are charging for their products when they start to bill and there’s nothing unethical about that.
Finally, this is happening all the time in the offline world. How much crap does your credit card company, or expedia, or the phone company try to heap on you in their free trial 30 day programs?
I could foresee regulations coming into effect that force clearer disclosure about the continuity, but not outlawing it altogether.
Problem is, no one will take straight up offers anymore. I close the sale on a legitimate product offer and I am told none of the affiliates are interested in promoting it. In order to make money I have to keep closing the hot free trials and shipping only offers or I will be pushed off the horizon and won’t make any commission.
Shareasale has a lot of honest programs. IMHO