Free Ringtones? Not for Azoogle! They just agreed to pay $1,000,000 in settlement fees to the Florida Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division. Azoogle did this voluntarily and is providing assistance to the newly formed CyberFraud Task Force which is focused on fighting fraudulent Internet Marketing claims.
Affiliates, you need to be sure you are not using the word "free" in your advertising or the banners merchants give you unless the product truly is free.
Any catches or gimmicks need to be disclosed and disclosed in a very specific manner! (See posts below for details.)
The Azoogle case happened to revolve around "Free Ringtone" offers that weren't really free and involved a hidden subscription cost. However there is increasing Federal and local government scrutiny on any type of free offer that could potentially deceive consumers.
Shawn Collins has inside info on the case and explains it well, so I don't need to go into all the details. You really need to go over and read both posts IF you are an affiliate doing any type of "free" offers or if you are an affiliate network. This case is setting a precedence that everyone in the industry should be aware of.
Azoogle Settles for $1,000,000 with Florida Attorney General
New Standard for Affiliates Marketing Cell Phone Products