For years, affiliate marketing has built a reputation as a performance channel that delivers clicks and sales, rewards value and gives advertisers confidence in how their investment is spent.
But maintaining the trust that those budgets are based on requires transparency and a commitment to stamp out non-compliance; activity that risks diminishing brand confidence in the channel.
Today, the APMA is launching its new Compliance Reporting Portal alongside a members-only Compliance Reporting Log, providing the industry with a formal way to report serious alleged misconduct.
The portal is open to both members and non-members, while the Compliance Reporting Log is available exclusively to APMA members.
Why now?
Last year the APMA’s Voice of the Affiliate Nation 2025 report identified that while brands and agencies had a high level of overall confidence in affiliate traffic, only 11% of brands and 15% of agencies said they had complete confidence in it. While negative sentiment remains relatively low, it is clear that most advertisers believe there is still room to strengthen transparency and oversight.
When we dug deeper into the issues identified, the following emerged:
- Transparency in subnetwork traffic (67% of brands; 76% of agencies)
- PPC brand bidding (40% and 48%)
- PPC ad hijacking (35% and 42%)
- Fake voucher codes (30% and 44%)
- Click injection and attribution manipulation (29% and 42%)
- Breaches of programme terms (28% and 37%)
As the APMA has consistently argued, an industry that owns its shortcomings, exposes them to sunlight and shows proactivity in solving them, is one that brands will take seriously.
What does the portal do?
The Compliance Reporting Portal enables anyone to submit evidence relating to serious alleged misconduct, suspected fraud or significant breaches of industry standards.
Reports are reviewed by the APMA to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to include them within the Compliance Reporting Log. The APMA does not investigate allegations, determine liability or act as a regulator. However, the APMA will share information with paying members and brands who can take their own actions based on the supplied information.
Inclusion within the register should not be interpreted as a finding of wrongdoing.
Raising standards together
We hope the Portal will be embraced by the industry and used consistently. The more submissions we receive, the more we can spot trends and know which issues need to be tackled next to improve overall standards.
The Compliance Reporting Portal is intended to help protect the integrity of the channel by giving the industry a practical way to identify recurring issues, share intelligence and encourage higher standards across affiliate and partner marketing.
