How Not To Violate Your Affiliate Program Terms After the TCPA Update

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No one really knows how much affiliates earn exactly, but it’s pretty clear that a paradigm shift is coming: the TCPA update, an FCC-inspired revision of the consent policy that requires one-to-one consent for marketing communications. In other words, you must obtain individual consent for every company you promote; the more companies, the more consent permissions.

But this also gives you a chance. Affiliates who can better align their lead generation strategies with the new consent requirement will get a head start in 2025 and forward. Come January 27, 2025, you will have to receive individual consent for every advertiser.

via GIPHY

Sounds scary, but market shifts are also the times of opportunity.

So let me remind you of the common affiliate program violations first and then explain what compliance changes the FCC update will bring to the table.

What Is Affiliate Program Violation?

An affiliate program is, in fact, a cooperation agreement between a party that generates traffic – known as an affiliate or publisher – and a party that converts this traffic into sales (known as an advertiser or merchant). This agreement may be quite complex or very straightforward, but what remains the same is that neither the advertiser nor the affiliate is allowed to violate it.

For example, advertisers may prohibit affiliates from using branded keywords in paid advertising. If, however, the affiliate still runs a PPC campaign using branded keywords – say, Progressive auto insurance – they may lose access to the program, be forced to forfeit unpaid commissions, or even face legal action.

How Can Affiliate Program Violation Affect the Affiliate?

The consequences for violating the terms and conditions of an affiliate program range from warning and probation to account suspension, blacklisting across affiliate networks, and legal action. The actual consequences vary by the state, the network, and – most importantly – the agreement itself, but it’s pretty clear that malpractices won’t go unnoticed.

The 5 Most Common Affiliate Program Violations

Trademark Bidding	Bidding on your advertiser’s branded keywords in PPC campaigns means competing with these advertisers, which makes no sense. Trademark bidding is forbidden by most, if not all, advertisers who run paid campaigns.
Cookie Stuffing	Cookie stuffing is when an affiliate places a tracking cookie on the user’s browser without their consent to receive the commission on the sale they didn’t generate. Cookie stuffing is forbidden across the board and usually results in expulsion from the network.
Fake Leads or Clicks	Submitting fake leads, clicks, or any other paid actions – for example, filling out the form yourself from different IPs – is arguably the most severe affiliate program violation, potentially causing legal consequences and surely account suspension.
Non-Disclosure	Disclosing the nature of your advertising is a must in all jurisdictions: customers must know about your financial interest in promoting this or that company or product. The disclosure must be clear and conspicuous.
Prohibited Traffic	Since advertisers are interested in sales, not leads, they usually set strict requirements on the accepted traffic. Many affiliate programs do not accept traffic from gambling and adult websites and sometimes even social media.

Of course, there are more potential affiliate program violations than indicated in the table. Affiliate programs are written by advertisers, so they are free to include any limitations that allow them to drive the desired traffic.

Affiliate Program Violations and the TCPA Update

There’s no doubt the upcoming TCPA update will affect affiliates big time, making bulk lead generation harder while increasing the price for qualified leads. Whether this will eventually grow your bottom line, though, largely depends on how well you can adapt to the change.

Here is how the TCPA update will affect affiliates:

One-to-One Consent	You will have to obtain prior written consent for every business you promote. For example, you can do it by listing relevant advertisers on the lead generation form with checkboxes so the lead can select the brand and the marketing materials they are willing to receive.
Contextual Connection	The language of the consent must be topically and logically related to the marketing materials provided to the lead. For example, if the lead opts in for auto insurance messages, you cannot send them mortgage or home services offers.
Do-Not-Call Registry	Under the new rule, the DNC list protections will cover text messages, which means you will not be able to send marketing messages to phone numbers registered with the DNC unless the user has explicitly agreed to receive such messages.
Consent Revoke	Under the new rule, consumers can revoke their consent via sending an email, text message, or making a phone call to the advertiser. In turn, the advertiser has 10 days to stop sending marketing messages.

Here are potential affiliate program violations to be aware of:

Using General Consent Forms	Not only must the affiliate obtain one-to-one consent for every promoted business, but they must also display the name and logo of this business and allow the user to select what type of marketing messages they consent to.Using old generalized consent forms will surely violate your affiliate marketing program rules, but you still have around half a year to switch to one-to-one consent forms and technologies.
Irrelevant Topics	Sending marketing materials unrelated to the obtained consent would be an affiliate program violation. When requesting consent, you must allow them to choose the type of messages they want to receive.
Violating the DNC Registry	Sending unsolicited marketing messages to phone numbers from the DNC registry would be a major affiliate program violation, potentially resulting in heavy fines and legal action.
Delayed Consent Revocation	Failing to respect the consumer’s opt-out request on time would be an affiliate program violation, leading to fines.

There’s no way around it: as an affiliate, you should rebuild your lead generation strategies to meet the new market realities. But, as I’ve mentioned above, the coming FCC update is also a time of opportunity, when those adopting new consent routines get ahead of the curve.

Handle the TCPA Update with Phonexa’s Consent Branches

As you generate more traffic, it becomes even more essential to be able to provide all these leads with a one-to-one consent request containing relevant brands. You cannot do it manually for every customer, so Phonexa solves the problem with its Consent Branches.

Consent Branches is Phonexa’s proprietary technology that allows affiliates to collect one-to-one consent for the chosen brands before you – or the advertiser – contact them.

➥ Consent Branches ensure full transparency for affiliates, advertisers, and the affiliate network that mediates the process while not burdening leads with inconvenient questions or unnecessary steps. As a user with Phonexa, you can enable Consent Branches via our API or form builder.

The Old and New TCPA Compliance Solutions with Phonexa

General Consent	Within the general consent model, all leads receive one and the same consent request that covers all partner brands. This strategy still works in 2024, but it may not be viable after 27 January 2025. Besides, general consent reduces the lead quality.
One-To-One Consent	The one-to-one consent strategy provides a tailored list of brands your leads might want to establish contact with. This strategy complies with the upcoming TCPA regulations and significantly increases lead quality.

How Phonexa’s Consent Branches Ensure TCPA-Compliant Affiliate Marketing

Most affiliates want a ready-made consent management solution that won’t force them to juggle reports and systems, so we’ve built a system that ensures TCPA compliance and always stays updated to prevent compliance loopholes and lapses.

Here’s how Phonexa Lead Market Works with Consent Branches:

Step 1 – Affiliate Provide Essential (Yet Not Full) Lead Data

To connect your leads to a matching advertiser, you provide partial lead data to the system – the so-called non-PII ping that includes some general data on the customer; for example, their state, device, and age group.  Non-PII pings allow you to connect the right lead to the right advertiser while not giving them the ability to identify the lead and contact them outside the system.

Step 2 – The Lead Receives an Individual Consent Request

When the system finds matches – for example, a lead A is potentially a good fit for companies B, C, and D – the lead receives one-to-one consent for every company in question (B, C, and D). This is done automatically and instantly and is usually presented as checkboxes.

That said, the consent request isn’t limited to the names of the advertisers offered – it also contains their logo and permission details, including whether these companies are asking for consent to send SMS messages, make AI calls, or send emails.

Step 3 – Once the Lead Grants Consent, They Are Sold to the Advertiser

Once the lead grants consent to one or several advertisers, the lead is sold to the chosen advertisers. The system automatically sends the rest of the data – for example, the phone number – to the advertisers so they can contact this lead.

Get Your Compliance-Ready Affiliate Marketing Toolkit with Phonexa

Whether you generate traffic for sale or your own business, Phonexa grants you a comprehensive affiliate and performance marketing toolkit that covers it all from top to bottom and guarantees TCPA compliance in 2025 and beyond.

Not only will you be on the safe side, but you will also be able to advertise the brands and products most effectively without wasting time on design. Likewise, you will get access to one of the largest pools of advertisers, selling leads in bulk at the best market price.

 

Here are the eight proprietary solutions you get at a single price starting at $100 a month (online price calculator):

Get your all-in-one performance marketing software suite now, or book a demo to learn more about Phonexa.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an upcoming FCC TCPA update?

The TCPA update on 27 January 2025 will make one-to-one consent mandatory for robotic calls and marketing messages (SMS and text messages). Affiliates will have to request individual consent for every advertiser they promote.

How does the new FCC one-to-one consent rule affect affiliate marketers?

The TCPA update will surely decrease the volume of leads you can generate while increasing their price. Whether this results in gains or losses will likely depend on the quality of your consent management.

What are the penalties for affiliate program violations?

Affiliate program violation penalties vary by state and violation itself, from being warned to being excluded from the affiliate program to facing legal consequences.

Should I implement one-to-one consent now, or do I have time until January 2025?

The FCC update is scheduled to come into force on January 27, 2025, so you still have plenty of time to adapt your lead generation strategies to the new one-to-one consent rules. However, the earlier you take action, the smoother the transition will be.