Mobile Affiliate Marketing Best Practice Guidelines

Yesterday (on April 27, 2010) the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has published version 5.0 of its “U.S. Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services” [more here]. This fairly voluminous document (139 pages long; full text in PDF here) prescribes industry standards for mobile messaging (SMS and MMS), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), other things, and, of course, the mobile web, with a new section dedicated to affiliate marketing for premium rate programs (pp. 29-30). The aim of these CBP guidelines is to protect “the consumer experience” by providing “the industry-standard reference that every member of the mobile marketing ecosystem” could turns to.

Mobile Marketing AssociationThe guidelines for affiliate marketing are fairly generic, and what has already become common sense in traditional/Internet affiliate marketing. To ensure “that advertising of mobile products and services offered via Affiliate Marketing is clear and accurate” MMA prescribes compliance with the CAN-SPAM act, as well as disallows (a) purchase flow, (b) requests for MIN/PINs, (c) content inappropriate/unapproved by individual carriers, (d) inappropriate use of the word “free”, and (e) use of carrier logos/names when advertising services which are not supported by these carriers.

Again, the full document may be reviewed in PDF here.

1 thought on “Mobile Affiliate Marketing Best Practice Guidelines”

  1. Great to see you post this.

    I have been doing mobile for months and was shocked to see a number of companies at ad:Tech openly violating these standards and encouraging others too.

    I dont know out of ignorance or greed.

    Thank You for informing your readers. I hope they take this seriously BEFORE they create the next CAN-SPAM of mobile

    IMV

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