An article appearing in the August issue of the American Marketing Association’s print publication, Marketing News, features sage advice from LashBack CEO, Peter Wilson, as well as a handful of affiliate marketing leaders, including LashBack client, AffiliateTraction. One notable stat included is, “spending on affiliate marketing in the United States is expected to reach $4.1 billion in 2014, up from $1.6 billion in 2007, according to Forrester research.” This growth rate alone indicates that affiliate marketing budget decisions will become more important than ever for top advertisers.

Wilson states, “Try to find partners that have been around for a long time, that have a good reputation. It may not be the fastest way to make money, but it’s the way to make money to build a sustainable business in the space.”  The statement fits LashBack’s mission to help clients build long-term relationships with partners who collaborate to ensure transparency and compliance in their email marketing practices.

Also featured in the Marketing News piece are Acceleration Partners, HigherVisibility, and Paulson Management Group. View the full pdf here.

Email marketing is the most profitable channel in online advertising with a 2009 Return On Investment of $43.52 per dollar spent as reported by Direct Marketing Association. However, many advertisers under-utilize the email channel because of perceived compliance and brand protection challenges. LashBack TRUSTED Ad Networks make it possible for advertisers to know which networks can increase brand reach and profits by safely leveraging a more transparent email channel. Market Leverage, LashBack client and TRUSTED Ad Network since 2005, actively enforces CAN-SPAM Act requirements and monitors publishers to hold all parties accountable for providing consumers with the best email experience possible.

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) May 14, 2010 — LashBack, LLC, the world’s first provider of email marketing compliance data, launches Trusted Ad Networks, to recognize marketers utilizing patent-approved email compliance technology to self regulate compliance, protect brand reputation and safeguard the consumer email experience. MarketLeverage, one of the largest online “cost-per-acquisition” networks, is among the first to be listed as a LashBack TRUSTED Ad Network for its early adoption of compliance technology to protect the sustainability of the email channel. Since 2005, MarketLeverage has implemented LashBack compliance tools to enforce CAN-SPAM guidelines and improve the quality of its publisher base, building a successful online ad network that continues to safely leverage email along with multiple marketing channels.

“The compliance program at Market Leverage is crucial to protecting consumers, improving traffic quality, and sustaining long-term success. Advertisers count on Market Leverage to protect brand reputation and maintain not only compliance with federal regulations, but also with their own internal expectations,” said Michael Jenkins, CEO of MarketLeverage. “By utilizing LashBack compliance technologies, we are able to monitor publishers in real-time, provide transparency in the email marketing channel, and see the data that allows us to actively enforce our policies.”

“Proactive compliance monitoring combined with secure suppression list management solutions, routine seeding procedures, and the use of MD5 encryption are essential to preserving brand reputation in email,” said Brandon Phillips, CEO of LashBack. “Many ad networks set email compliance expectations for their affiliates, but only LashBack TRUSTED Ad Networks have the actionable data and infrastructure to enforce compliance and provide true transparency, delivering consistent results to advertisers in a sustainable way.”

As advertisers continue to look for ways to extend brand distribution, acquire new customers and find sustainable sources of revenue, ad networks that utilize the email channel safely will continue to provide results. The full list of TRUSTED Ad Networks, as well as a comprehensive collection of email compliance resources, is available on the LashBack website.

LashBack, LLC is the first and only CAN-SPAM and global email marketing compliance service, processing approximately 10,000,000 commercial emails daily. LashBack provides actionable compliance information to a diversity of email marketing clients and unsubscribe reputation data and services to leading email reputation providers, ISPs and Receivers directly and through the LashBack Unsubscribe Black List (UBL).

MarketLeverage is one of the web’s largest “Cost Per Acquisition” (CPA) networks. Market Leverage enables web Advertisers and web Publishers to harness the power of performance marketing. Since its inception as PrecisionPlay Media in 2001, MarketLeverage has delivered millions of profitable sales and leads to Advertisers through its unique network of web Publishers.

Media Contact: James O’Brien, LashBack Director of Marketing, 314-754-1795.

###

As Facebook was estimating it’s total profits from 2009 to be $635 million, over half, or $350 million of that was attributed to performance marketing, where the advertiser pays only for measurable results.

Of that $350 million, $175 was attributed to social games like Farmville and the balance from growth in international markets. The exponential growth in the foreign markets is based in large part to “companies…. using the Facebook  advertising API to sell ads in bulk.” By using Facebook’s demographic targeting capabilities, companies are slowly realizing the promise from social media to have the ability to communicate in new ways with customers.

The projected estimate of 2009 income for Facebook is great news, as profits for the site appear to be doubling every year. In a recent article by BloggingStocks, the social networking site’s estimated value was placed at approximately $35 billion, with performance marketing income obviously a contributing factor.  With the potential for future revenue growth for Facebook, it looks as if their social data will pay off huge in the future.

Previously, LashBack highlighted a recent Colorado legislation decision to remove language taxing affiliates. Many other states have considered implementing similar taxes on marketers with state budget deficits looming. The Performance Marketing Association has excellent resources on current legislative processes and participating in grassroots campaigns to stop legislation in specific states. Here’s the status of each state as we know it:

Alabama

Advertising tax legislation has been recommended to the state legislature by Alabama’s Department of Revenue.

California

Last year, the governor issued a press release threatening to veto the budget if the affiliate tax bill was included. However, the bill has been proposed again in 2010, this time with a more positive economic result estimated.

Colorado

Language constituting a state tax on affiliate marketers has been removed from Colorado’s HB1193 Bill, a huge victory for affiliate marketing.

Connecticut

An advertising tax bill was proposed in 2009, but it never came up for debate because it was moved to the foot of the legislative calendar. The bill is not a completely dead issue however, and may come up again in this year’s calendar.

Hawaii

Advertising tax legislation died in committee in 2009 after Hawaii’s governor issued a press release expressing that she would veto the bill.

Illinois

Bill SB3353, which amends the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act was introduced in February and has been referred to committee. The legislative calendar in Illinois is year-round.

Maryland

An affiliate tax bill being considered died in committee before it went up for a vote. However, a new bill may be proposed in 2010.

Minnesota

Tax nexus legislation was being written in 2009, but died in committee.

Nevada

The Nevada governor is holding a special session to discuss a large budget deficit and expanding the tax base in the state, but a specific bill has yet to be introduced.

Oklahoma

A bill has been introduced, but has yet to gain serious political support.

Tennessee

Legislation was proposed, but never moved forward.

Virginia

The Senate Finance committee has passed bill SB660 and it will be up for debate in the Senate Tuesday, February 16.

Vermont

A bill has been introduced, but with little political support.

Thus far, state affiliate taxes have successfully passed in New York, Rhode Island and North Carolina with several more states expected to explore similar taxation.

In a post New York “Amazon tax” universe, several states have proposed analogous bills subjecting online marketers to state sales tax. This week, it appears affiliate marketers have emerged unscathed by proposed legislation in Colorado. Previously dubbed the “Amazon tax” in 2008, because of its court challenged effect on Amazon affiliates in New York state, this change in the rules makes an affiliate presence in a particular state sufficient for taxation.

Monday, online marketers in Colorado let out a sigh of relief when a last minute amendment to the state’s HB1193 bill removed language affecting affiliate marketers and changed the focus of the bill solely to the collection of use tax. Campaigning by trade associations and businesses alike helped to protect affiliate marketing jobs in the Centennial State. Prior to the amendment, longtime LashBack client Adperio was featured on Denver’s KDVR News defending the online ad industry’s livelihood. View clip.

Quite a bit of industry buzz has been generated concerning the bill, especially on Twitter trending topic #advertisingtax. Upon hearing news of the bill’s amendment, we sought Adperio Founder and CEO David Asseoff’s perspective, and he had this to say:

“The original version of HB1193 would have devastated Colorado’s affiliate marketing industry, as similar bills have done in other states. I am thrilled that Adperio, working with others in the affiliate marketing industry, implemented a grassroots approach to fighting the bill – from face-to-face meetings with lawmakers to social media outreach – which led to the bill being rewritten and references to affiliates being removed.“

At press time, the newly amended bill, sans affiliate language, was still awaiting approval in the Colorado State Senate. In the meantime, I’ll be publishing a guide for all states mulling over similar bills. A wealth of resources can currently be found on the Performance Marketing Association site.