Creative Approval -- OR, Advertisers Stealing Your Ads!

Rooby

Rooby

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Nov 30, 2008
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So when an advertiser/network demands they approve your creatives before you can run an offer, what's the deal? Obviously I don't want to give up the exact ad because they'll steal it, but I don't want to show them something similar only to have them deny payment because the T+C says they need to approve it and they didn't approve that EXACT ad.

What Would YOU Do?
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I've done it in the past (for more legitimate products), and I can hardly blame them. Look at what happened to diet products. Some advertisers are more into having their brand have a clean(er) image.

Let me tell you something. If an advertiser wanted to get your creatives, and your ads, they could. Granted it'd be a bit harder and take longer, but they could still do it and try and not pay you. So I say it's a horse a dozen, and really depends on the AM, Network, and Advertiser.

I'm not recommend you do it, just saying.
 
I'd say if it's a rebill it's probably not worth handing up, whereas if it's a CPL offer or something else then there may be legitimate reasons for them requesting your creatives. The advertiser may require approval on creatives before they are ran for example.
 
Anything brand related, advertisers that have dealt with incent, or advertisers that have been burned often require it.

Anyone that comes from the DR world where they are advertising on TV, Radio etc is going to want to make sure that things are verified. Just part of that world.
 
Yeah I have a problem with this especially when the company has its own marketing managers for the exact places you are advertising (i.e. adwords, facebook, etc).

If you we're a marketing manager working for these companies and saw an ad that was doing really well from an affiliate and that wasn't against any rules wouldn't you just steal it? I would.
 
i’m running an offer that splits traffic between three major networks. only one network says they need to see social media creatives in the terms. to me this seems BS since none of the other networks require it for the exact same offer. plus with social media you need to switch up creatives so often, it isn’t even realistic.

so far i’ve sent them a modest amount of traffic, testing and hoping to slip under the radar for now however i’m concerned that the network may have a reason to screw me in the future. it is highly possible the network is fishing for creatives, however there is no way to be certain since the offer is very PG-13 and the advertiser may legitimately want to see it.

hopefully you can get by with one set of creatives (8-10 ads) just to show them you aren’t making inappropriate ads??
 
Actually, unless you specifically assign the copyright for an ad you created, you retain the copyright. Even though the ad features someone else's product, you own the copy and layout. So if they rip it off, you can issue a cease and desist, sue for damages... or negotiate a fee. (Of course, you'll have to be able to prove your ad came first.) Back when I owned an ad agency, I had to resort to this tactic a few times. Yes, it's a pain. But usually a single letter from an attorney will do as most are not aware of the copyright issue.

As someone at an ad network, I will say that we have a number of advertisers who ask to review ads - not to steal - but to assure their brand is presented the way they want and/or the ad is in legal compliance. It's all too easy to drop terms to goose response... and then get busted for it later.
 
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