Hello,
I know I haven't blogged in while but things have been really busy and I've been trying to reduce the time I spend working (aren't we all).
However there has been a development I have to share with the affiliate community.
For a long time now Charles Tyrwhitt, the mens clothing store known for their top quality shirts, has been a great program to join on Linkshare. I've supported them for years, listed them on Global Affiliate Programs and even set up a page to show how you can add a Charles Tyrwhitt shopfront to your site.
Charles Tyrwhitt have just de-activated my membership of the program on the grounds that I violated their PPC rules.
The rules state "No affiliate is permitted to bid on Charles Tyrwhitt brand terms, trademarks and misspellings." which is fair enough. If Charles Tyrwhitt are running PPC ads on search engines like Google they do not want to compete with their own affiliates.
The thing is, I don't run PPC campaigns, at all, for any program and having pointed this out to them.
Here's the thing. My Shopfront demo page had made a few sales and Charles Tyrwhitt clearly don't want to pay up even though the amounts are small.
Here's my advice to any serious affiliate - avoid this program, they will rip you off.
Now I should make it clear that Linkshare, who manage the program, are NOT to blame. They are merely acting for their clients. It is Charles Tyrwhitt, while excellent at making shirts who are messing up potential relationships with affiliates.
There are honest programs out there. This is one to avoid.
See you soon
George
