In the latest of a string of government crackdowns in the online lead generation space, the recent Federal Trade Commission settlement with AdTeractive is yet another "caution flag" for online lead
generation advertisers and publishers alike. While we wait for the agreement between the FTC and ValueClick and sit on the heels of Azoogle's $1 million "penalty" by the Florida Attorney
General, we've got some tough decisions to make as an industry.
Should we let the government be the watchdog of our industry, or should we put more robust measures in place to
self-regulate? I think the answer is a no-brainer: We should self-regulate. The current spotlight on "best practices" is great, but I think it's time we apply some peer pressure and begin the
process of regulating ourselves.
Let me be very clear that I do not condone in any fashion either SPAM email advertising or the deceptive tactics that have long been utilized in
the dark corners of the online direct marketing world. My professional career started at Yesmail in the late 1990s when we were known as "The Permission Email Network." There was no CAN SPAM law to
regulate us; we were just honest marketers and businesspeople and that was enough. We were goody goodies. What I am suggesting is there may somewhere be a silver lining of qualified
traffic and actual interested consumers, and if we all learn to "play nice in the sandbox," we can still have the opportunity to advertise to them through legitimate tactics and relevant
marketing messages. I feel like I am talking to my 11-year old when I say marketing to consumers is not our right; it should be treated as a privilege.
It is no longer good enough
to hold oneself accountable for doing the right things. As an industry of lead generation advertisers, agencies and publishers, we need to do what is right for the industry. We all have
too much at stake.
I have long since thought the "free gift" models were not sustainable. Much to my disbelief, there are people -- literally millions of people -- who do respond
to these types of direct marketing tactics and incentives. Successful offers, messaging, and all direct response strategies vary based on the audience and offer. We all know that. We
live in this world and there are strategies unique to this type of audience that, if conducted legitimately, may actually yield positive results and provide value for all.
What
can we do before the industry becomes completely regulated and throws out the baby with the bathwater? Is the suggestion to start regulating ourselves naïve? No, I think with the
leadership of well-respected and established online groups like OLGA and the IAB, we are in a position to make this a reality so that consumers, advertisers and media publishers are protected in this
space. The Electronic Retailing Association launched something it calls ESRP (Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program) in 2005, primarily in an effort to help clean up some of the egregious
behavior of some marketers in the infomercial space. What the group did was very nifty and responsible, in my opinion. The program has been a big success and has yielded the result to
prove it (see http://www.retailing.org/new_site/govaffairs/self_reg.htm ). Incidentally, this program has already started
to be leveraged within the online marketing industry, so I'm not the only one thinking about this topic.
The time is now.