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Federal Court rules in favour of Amazon: debt for unfair advertising practices remains a grey zone for brands


Table of content

The disputable case of Amazon and Bett1

What does it cruel for the associate marketing industry?

A significant game-changing case at the German Federal Court of fairness is won by ePrivacy associate UNVERZAGT leaving many brands wondering what to do.

In a landmark selection, the German Federal Court of fairness has impacted the entire affiliate marketing industry: In case of unfair advertising practices, online merchants and affiliate marketing network operators cannot be held responsible for the actions of their affiliate partners (i.e. participating publishers).

This issue has been the subject of years of dispute among German courts with significant implications for online advertising. German Federal Court of fairness selection has now resolved t. ePrivacy’s associate law firm UNVERZAGT defended Amazon’s affiliate network against mattress manufacturer Bett1, which sought to hold Amazon liable for unfair advertising practices.

The disputable case of Amazon and Bett1

Amazon uses advertising links on associate sites to attract potential buyers to its products. Even if questionable partners provide problematic content on their websites, the online mail-order corporation cannot be held responsible. The Federal Court of fairness (BGH) in Karlsruhe ruled that the prerequisites for debt were not met.

In this particular case, the suing event Bett1, was bothered that such referral links can also be found in fake test reports and provide unserious product tips such as a questionable mattress ranking, in which the corporation’s product and the brand name have been mentioned.

Bett1.de is not suing Amazon for the first period but was unsuccessful before several higher regional courts. The highest civil judges were also rather skeptical during the hearing as to whether the conditions for Amazon’s debt were met. The partners are not obliged to set links to Amazon, but are also allowed to participate in other associate programs and also negatively discuss linked products. However, the partners themselves are responsible for lawful operation. The lawyer for the online retailer before the BGH said that there were no options for instructions or content-related specifications. Now Bett1.de can only receive action against person site operators.

What does it cruel for the associate marketing industry?

Correct consent management continues to be the focus of the supervisory authorities, causing corresponding debt risks

Until this case, affiliate marketers were considered data controllers under the GDPR. It means affiliate marketers should have control over how personal data is used as well as how the data is handled.

As a outcome of the case, a deeper separation between these two roles is made by determining who processes data to achieve a sure objective and who does not. Affiliate marketers must now make sure that they comply with the GDPR in addition to compiling their affiliate marketing content with lawful operation information; this (partial) responsibility now falls on advertisers and brands.

Keeping track of further cases is an significant part of Admitad’s commitment to transparency, fairness, and measurement.

Read more about this particular case on the debt of advertising networks or merchants for any third-event content.



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