Looking back 2014 was a year of increased government scrutiny and compliance obligations for lead generators and online marketers, and so, for 2015, advertisers will need to ramp up compliance. Avoiding banned terms, better use of disclosures, and other web and contact center compliance enhancements – with at least some reports of 66% of website URLs containing a potential compliance violation – should be a priority for the New Year.
At least, that’s what marketing compliance company PerformLine revealed last week in its infographic titled “Compliance Trends to Watch Out for in 2015.” The infographic is part of its periodic overview of its research on websites and “contact centers” using “banned” compliance terms or missing “required” disclosures. The infographic shows that 66% of credit monitoring sites, 72% of credit card sites, and 91% of finance sites contain potential compliance violations. The company didn’t release more detailed breakdowns, but it did pinpoint certain keywords and disclosures as areas of concern.
One area that caught our attention was the identified a lack of required disclosures as one of its “Five Issues Causing Potential Violations.” As we have written previously, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has placed renewed emphasis on clear disclosures in its Dot.com Disclosures Guides, and marketers’ ability to use fine print disclosures may be going the way of the dodo. However, with high rates of non-compliance across all industries measured, it appears marketers may still be struggling with how to create clear and conspicuous online disclosures without detracting from the marketing message.Continue Reading Compliance Trends for Online Marketers