Performance Marketing Insider

Performance Marketing Insider has been covering the case of Shawn Hogan and Brian Dunning since the case was first launched a few years ago.  Every step of the way his supporters have come out saying that he wasn’t guilty, that he was set up. Now, as you may have read in PMI, both Shawn Hogan [...]

Automated traffic through bots has been a part of the Internet almost since its inception, but until recently mobile sites were largely left alone. A new report from Solve Media found that approximately 29% of traffic to mobile sites was considered suspicious and 14% of it was confirmed to be coming from bots. This is [...]

If you are looking for about anything illegal, the internet has made it much easier to find. While Silk Road, a service that can only be found through a complex system of Tor Servers, was the first of it’s kind many other services have popped up. Services like “BuyItNow” and “RAMP” are trying to compete [...]

The FTC has been in the news lately in the performance marketing industry, but it turns out there is one industry that is really receiving a lot of complaints: the dating industry. According to a recent Freedom of Information Act request, it seems that in the last few years thousands and consumers have received thousands [...]

Updates to the Federal Trade Commission’s guidance document, Dot Com Disclosures, have been anticipated for almost two years.  After receiving substantial written feedback and in response to the increasing use of both social media-based marketing and smartphones with smaller screens,  the Commission has now issued updated guidelines entitled .Com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in [...]

There are many conceivable ways to avoid a federal or state regulator’s spotlight.  What is somewhat confounding is that so many seem utterly disinterested in employing any of them.
Deliberate compliance-monitoring is one way to avoid undesired attention from regulators.  Actually, it is THE way.
Each word in your creative content, in context, and the net-effect it [...]

On March 4th, 2013, in the matter of Bank v. American Home Shield Corp., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that California’s law barring commercial email advertisements that contain materially deceptive subject lines applies to parties who advertise in the emails, not just those who send them.
In addressing defendant [...]

Well, it seems that ancient history has come back to attack Google, probably only because Google has reached the top as far as digital marketing goes. TechCrunch recently published an article detailing a new controversy, or rather an attempt at creating controversy regarding Google’s Gmail marketing tactics. It is, as some would expect, Microsoft that [...]

The Federal Trade Commission and numerous state Attorneys’ General continue to actively police deceptive health-related marketing claims, including those relating to weight loss products.  Marketers in the know evaluate products and related data first, and then create advertising copy to reflect what the product has actually been proven to do.
Make no mistake about it, there is [...]

One of the most well-known abbreviations thrown around the web among digital marketers and online businesses is FTC. It seems that almost daily there is a new legal case between some company and the FTC, and the commission more often than not seems to come out on the better side of things. Such is the [...]

On appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed an award of damages to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) for appellants’ (“Defendants”) deceptive marketing practices.  The ruling is particularly interesting in that the Eleventh Circuit rejected Defendants’ argument that [...]

A federal judge in New York has held that Texas Hold ‘Em poker is a game of skill and not illegal gambling under federal law.  This is the first time a federal court has held that poker is not gambling under the Illegal Gambling Business Act (the “IGBA”).
The issue of whether poker is a game [...]

Even the very best business law attorney may not be able to assist a company to enforce a poorly drafted agreement.
The litmus test for the enforceability of a business contract often manifests itself in the form of litigation and judicial resolution of specific terms.  However, at this point, valuable rights are potentially subject to limitation [...]

Earlier this month, Hewlett-Packard and its public relations company received a pass from the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly providing bloggers with $50 gift certificates for themselves and $50 gift cards for their readers in exchange for positive reviews regarding the company’s “Inkology” product.
The Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising are applicable [...]