3 Important Affiliate Marketing News of the Week of March 15, 2013

I realize that the week isn’t over yet, but the chances of anything more significant than the below three happening in the remaining hours of the working day are slim enough for me to highlight these three as the most notable news of the week (note that the below order is merely chronological):

1. FTC Releases .com Disclosures Requirements

It’s been some time since I’ve written about the Federal Trade Commission and mandatory affiliate link disclosures; but this week’s big news is that the FTC has released a new 53-pages guide on making “effective disclosures in digital advertising”.

Affiliates Take Note: New FTC Disclosure Guidelines bit.ly/ZKtOyF

— Tricia Meyer (@sunshinetricia) March 14, 2013

Hat tip to Tricia Meyer for bringing everyone’s attention to this important news via her above-referenced Tweet and the corresponding blog post. See also this CopyPress post on the topic.

2. Affiliate Nexus Tax Defeated in Utah

Utah was one of the newer states to consider passing the affiliate nexus tax legislation. The Performance Marketing Association has sent a strong letter to Gov Herbert, pointing out the unconstitutionality of the law, and the “tax bill died on the House floor late last night” [more here].

Yes!Great news in Utah!thepma.org/utah-affiliate…

— PMA (@pmassociation) March 15, 2013

Thanks to Rebecca Madigan and PMA’s attorneys for this.

3. New Yahoo Toolbar Acting as Coupon Affiliate

Apparently, there is a new Yahoo toolbar which is “operating as a coupon affiliate, inserting affiliate links on merchant websites” [details here].

The new Yahoo toolbar for Firefox seems to be functioning as a coupon affiliate. Adding value, @eprussakov?ow.ly/iXeqV

— BrandVerity (@brandverity) March 15, 2013

Thank you, BrandVerity for bringing this one up to my attention.