Hot Pepper Affiliate's Terms and Conditions - Under Review

[Guard Dog]

In evaluating Hot Pepper Affiliate's Terms and Conditions, we have taken note of several terms which we feel are highly predatory. The following terms are considered predatory and will be discussed with Hot Pepper for resolution:

Considered Predatory

1. The Client's banners shall be displayed at least as prominently as any other sales link on the Webmaster site, and if the Webmaster displays or makes accessible to Visitors descriptive information regarding any vendors whose banners are displayed on the Webmaster site, the Webmaster shall, subject to Hot Pepper Affiliates' prior written approval of the content thereof, include similar descriptive information regarding the Client's Casino(s).

2. For an affiliate account to be considered "active", it must have generated new, paying customers for Hot Pepper Affiliates' sponsors within the previous 90 days.

3. Please be aware that we have the right to monitor Your Site at any time to determine if you are following the terms and conditions of this Agreement and to notify you of any changes to Your Site that we feel should be made.

If an affiliate account does not meet the above requirement, an Hot Pepper Affiliates Personal Account Manager will contact that affiliate and partner with them to develop an action plan to improve performance.

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Terms that need clarification from Hot Pepper Affiliates are as follows:

Negative Carryover?: No mention of Negative Carryover in T&C's or on their website.

Minimum Payment?: No mention of Minimum Payment in T&C's nor on their website

CPA Details?: No mention of CPA Details in T&C's nor on their website

Tiered Revenue Sharing?: Tiered Revenue Sharing Statement: You shall be entitled to a referral bonus calculated as set out below, with respect to monthly Player Net Revenue generated by Visitors who arrive from other Webmasters that you refer to us directly or indirectly:
Hot Pepper Affiliates' tracking system shall be the sole method for determining the basis of the calculation of commissions and referral bonuses hereunder, and Hot Pepper Affiliates' calculations shall be binding on the Webmaster, absent manifest error. No Mention of actual percentages anywhere in T&C's nor website.

Contact will be made with Hot Pepper Affiliate's manager and this review section will remain as verification of contact, issue resolution, or terms clarification.

[Guard Dog]

Hot Pepper's Affiliate Manager, Jason, has been contacted about the terms and conditions that we are currently questioning. Jason is very willing to work with us to clarify and possibly alter the terms and conditions such that affiliates can look at the terms and feel comfortable in agreeing with the contract.

Thank You Jason for working with us on this and we hope that all Terms and Conditions can be clarified and made non-predatory!

[Hot Pepper]

Please see my reply in the Affiliate managers section of this thread.

[Guard Dog]

To see Jason's post regarding the updated Terms and Conditions, see:

http://www.affiliateguarddog.com/for...opic,35.0.html

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Thank you, Jason, for listening to our concerns and ESPECIALLY for being the first affiliate program to react so quickly to such issues. As we all know, it usually takes a very long time and intense discussions to make this change and we as affiliates should really applaud your efforts.

Great work Jason!


AffiliateGuardDog.com will evaluate the new Terms and Conditions as set by Hot Pepper Affiliates as quickly as we are able and post back the results of the changes.

Thanks again!

[Guard Dog]

Reminder: The original predatory terms are listed below as points 1, 2, and 3. These were the main terms that we felt were holding Hot Pepper Affiliates in the 'hot seat' so to speak:

1. The Client's banners shall be displayed at least as prominently as any other sales link on the Webmaster site, and if the Webmaster displays or makes accessible to Visitors descriptive information regarding any vendors whose banners are displayed on the Webmaster site, the Webmaster shall, subject to Hot Pepper Affiliates' prior written approval of the content thereof, include similar descriptive information regarding the Client's Casino(s).

2. For an affiliate account to be considered "active", it must have generated new, paying customers for Hot Pepper Affiliates' sponsors within the previous 90 days.

3. Please be aware that we have the right to monitor Your Site at any time to determine if you are following the terms and conditions of this Agreement and to notify you of any changes to Your Site that we feel should be made.

If an affiliate account does not meet the above requirement, an Hot Pepper Affiliates Personal Account Manager will contact that affiliate and partner with them to develop an action plan to improve performance.

Hot Pepper Affiliates Have Changed Their Terms and Conditions to:

FIRST CHANGE:

PREDATORY TERMS AMENDED TO: If an affiliate's account activities are deemed low, a Hot Pepper Affiliates Personal Account Manager, or any member of Hot Pepper Affiliates will contact that affiliate in order to develop an action plan together to improve performance for both the affiliate and the affiliate program. Lifetime value of the affiliate's account will not be affected.


OUR EVALUATION: That is VERY acceptable and a welcome change to their old Terms and Conditions! We especially like the last phrase: Lifetime value of the affiliate's account will not be affected.

SECOND CHANGE:

Original Term for Revenue Sharing: On Player Net Revenue in the month >> 30%

Amended Term for Revenue Sharing: On Player Net Revenue in the month >> 35%

OUR EVALUATION: Everyone loves to earn a bit more money and the 35% shows that Hot Pepper is extremely open to adding new affiliates.

THIRD CHANGE:

Original Term for Tiered Revenue Sharing: You shall be entitled to a referral bonus calculated as set out below, with respect to monthly Player Net Revenue generated by Visitors who arrive from other Webmasters that you refer to us directly or indirectly.

Amended Term for Tiered Revenue Sharing: You shall be entitled to a referral bonus of 2%, or more in specifically negotiated cases, with respect to monthly Player Net Revenue generated by Visitors who arrive from other Webmasters that you refer to us directly or indirectly. You may also choose to receive a flat fee for affiliates referred to Hot Pepper Affiliates. The flat fee will be determined by you and the affiliate manager prior to entering into any referral agreement.

OUR EVALUATION: Excellent work, Jason, in more clearly identifying tiered revenue sharing and showing the percentage that will be used for this earnings model.

FOURTH CHANGE:

Original Term for Minimum Payment: NONE PREVIOUSLY FOUND

Amended Term for Minimum Payment: A minimum of $100 in affiliate earnings is required for an affiliate payment to be made, unless otherwise negotiated before joining Hot Pepper Affiliates.

OUR EVALUATION: Once again, excellent work in clarifying your terms for your affiliates.

FIFTH CHANGE:

Original Term for Negative carryover: NONE PREVIOUSLY FOUND

Amended Term for negative carryover: Negative balances to do not carryovers from one month the next.

OUR EVALUATION: Excellent clarification on this very important issue. This is what all affiliates like to see - no negative carryover.



OUR SUMMARY:

Hot Pepper Affiliates has shown true INTEGRITY in evaluating and altering their Terms and Conditions to truly benefit all affiliates. We believe that this is truly an organization that is worthy of promotion.

Thank you Jason and thank you Hot Pepper Affiliates for working with AffiliateGuardDog.com to make a better world for affiliates!

[splinterfree]

applause to the guard dog! job well done