Compliance
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      Affiliate Code of Conduct

      The Commission Factory Code of Conduct provides additional rules and guidelines to help publishers deliver high quality performance for advertisers in the Commission Factory Network (part of the Awin Group).

      Introduction 

      The Commission Factory Code of Conduct applies to all Affiliates in the Commission Factory Network that deliver web traffic and consumers to Advertisers. 

      The Code sees to achieve the following overriding objectives : 

      Confidence  

      Maintain consumer confidence in the regulation of online advertising and tracking technologies

      Fairness 

      Ensure fair dealings amongst Affiliates and Advertisers 

      Compliance 

      Ensuring commitment to internationally recognised social standards and, in particular, the positions set out in the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act

       

      The Code includes practical guidance on how to comply. Affiliates must follow this guidance in order to comply with the Code, but following the guidance does not guarantee compliance with the Code. 

      Affiliates must decide for themselves which measures to take in order to comply with the Code. Therefore, complying with the Code may require Affiliates to take measures in addition to the measures described as guidance. 

      This Code reflects Commission Factory’s expectations regarding general affiliate marketing. Additional expectations may apply to specific regions, industries and activities and are outlined in their respective Codes of Conduct and Best Practise Documents. 

      Namely these are: 

      Furthermore, the ethical standards for suppliers shall be observed in accordance with Awin`s Supplier Code of Conduct (here) as may be amended or updated by Awin at its discretion on notice to the affiliate.

      Monitoring Enforcement 

      The Commission Factory and Awin Partner Compliance Teams cooperate with account managers, advertisers, Affiliates and third party suppliers to effectively monitor behaviour in the network and enforce compliance with this Code and our Terms and Conditions.

      While we strive for a collaborative approach to resolving questions around activities, non-compliant activities will face sanctions ranging from warnings and forfeiture of commissions up to account suspensions, account terminations and network bans.

      Rules and Guidance 

      Rule 1 

      Affiliates proactively disclose all promotional activities and obtain advertiser approval for their activities. 

      Guidance 

      1. Affiliates use the affiliate Profile Page to disclose their activities. 
      2. Affiliates that engage in activities outside of their registered promotional spaces explicitly disclose this activity to the Advertisers. 

      Rule 2 

      Affiliates do not negatively impact Advertiser page performance, functionality, or availability. 

      Guidance 

      1. Delivered traffic does not exceed reasonable expectations of delivered traffic volumes. 
      2. Where advertisers report interference or negative impact the affiliate ceases the activity immediately.
      3. Affiliates do not employ techniques that change the design or interfere with the functionality of an advertiser page without explicit advertiser permission. 

      Rule 3 

      Affiliates accurately represent locations of business residence. 

      Guidance 

      1. On request Affiliates supply additional documents to verify their business location and residence of company shareholders. 

      Rule 4 

      Affiliates only employ downloadable software that meets applicable standards. 

      Guidance 

      1. Any downloadable software employed by a affiliate complies with the IAB Code of Conduct for downloadable software: https://www.iabuk.com/standards-guidelines/downloadable-software-code-conduct. 
      2. Affiliates supply software for review by Commission Factory compliance prior to usage for Advertisers. 
      3. Affiliates only use downloadable software with express permission from the Advertisers. 

      Rule 5 

      Affiliates do not engage with “Spam” Activities. 

      Guidance 

      1. Affiliates do not use third party platforms or social media presences for advertising purposes without permission of the owner of the space. 

      Rule 6 

      Affiliates do not publish or permit the publication of any content which is likely to bring into disrepute affiliate marketing, any Advertisers or any of that Advertiser's respective licensors or licensees 

      Guidance 

      1. Affiliates ensure effective moderation of any user generated content it permits to be published.
      2.  Affiliates immediately respond to any communication issued by any Advertiser, or any of that Advertiser's respective licensors or licensees, which concerns content likely to be considered defamatory.
      3. Affiliates never consider the following examples of content appropriate:
         - Obscene or pornographic content 
        - Libellous and defamatory content 
        - Content infringing on intellectual property rights 
        - Discriminatory content, especially based on race, nationality, sexual identity, disability, religion or age 
        - Violent content or content inciting violence 
        - Content in violation of applicable law 

      Rule 7 

      Affiliates only engage in Paid Search Marketing in accordance with applicable laws and standards. 

      Guidance 

      1. Affiliates abide by paid search expectations disclosed in respective advertiser profiles. 
      2. Affiliates do not use terms infringing on third party brands in their paid search activities. 
      3. Affiliates consider applicable all laws from their home country, the country of residence of the Advertiser as well as the country of the targeted customers. 
      4. Affiliates notify and provide proof to Commission Factory of any agreements with an Advertiser regarding any exclusivity or other arrangements regarding the use of specific terms, including branding, within paid search activities. 

      Rule 8 

      Affiliates do not mislead consumers in their advertising activities. 

      Guidance 

      1. Any information Affiliates provide to consumers is accurate and current. 
      2. Affiliates hold all relevant licenses and registrations regarding their products. Examples of their activities commonly requiring specific licenses and registrations are financial services and health care services. 
      3. Affiliates do not impact the consumer's browsing experience in an unexpected or malicious manner. 

      Rule 9 

      Affiliates provide transparency about traffic sources and the environment that ads are displayed in.

      Guidance 

      1. Affiliates use HTTP referrers that denote the actual content page that an ad was displayed in relation to. 
      2. Affiliates do not engage in activities and techniques that misrepresent traffic sources. 

      Rule 10 

      Affiliates do not misuse tracking links and Advertiser Material 

      Guidance 

      1. Affiliates only initiate tracking via a tracking link used for click tracking if the user voluntarily and intentionally interacted with the ad media or tracking link. 
      2. Affiliates only initiate tracking for a specific advertiser if the consumer interacted directly with the ad media for this advertiser. 
      3. If an agreement with an Advertiser allows non-standard use of tracking links and Advertiser Material Affiliates provide Commission Factory with the written confirmation of this agreement on request.

      Rule 11 

      Affiliates who are Subnetworks commit to a high standard of quality, transparency and cooperation and will be held responsible for their SubAffiliates’ activities. Please refer to the Subnetwork Code of Conduct for elaboration. Subnetworks shall comply with the Subnetwork Code of Conduct at all times.

      Guidance  

      1. Sub-Networks will be solely held responsible for the promotional actions or omissions of their sub-Affiliates, as if those actions or omissions were their own. Any violation of any of the rules of this Code of Conduct or Commission Factory Standard Terms for Affiliates committed by a sub-affiliate shall be treated as a violation committed by the corresponding Sub-Network.
      2. Subnetwork quality teams must provide their compliance and fraud mitigation processes to Awin to be reviewed periodically and recommendations to be provided. They must provide a direct point of contact for compliance issues and be open and cooperative to all communication from Awin or Advertisers.
      3. When reporting traffic and sales back to the Commission Factory network, Sub-Networks must use the Unique ID Parameter to identify the sub-affiliate and the domain, to inform Commission Factory of the sub-affiliate URL that drove the sale. 
      4. Commission Factory will have absolute discretion over any sub-affiliate promoting advertisers via a Sub-Network and reserves the right to suspend or block individual sub-Affiliates from promoting Commission Factory’s advertisers. Commission Factory will periodically provide the Subnetwork with the updated list of previously banned URLs from the Commission Factory Network and must ensure these URLs do not have the ability to promote Commission Factory or Awin Advertisers via their Subnetwork.
      5. No Subnetworks are allowed to work as SubAffiliates of your Subnetwork. Violation of this will result in immediate sanction of the Subnetwork.

      Rule 12 

      Affiliates cooperate fully in the resolution of issues and disputes.

      Guidance  

      1. Affiliates respond to requests for information by Commission Factory in a timely, accurate and exhaustive manner. 
      2. Affiliates ceases an activity immediately if requested to do so by Commission Factory or an Advertiser. 

      Rule 13 

      Affiliates comply with the spirit of this Code of Conduct.

      Guidance 

      1. Affiliates observe the ethical standards for suppliers in accordance with Awin`s Supplier Code of Conduct.

      2. Affiliates realise this Code of Conduct is not exhaustive and they do not breach the spirit of the Code of Conduct.