😡 Walmart's Content Heist

I know that most people who were doing affiliate sites have been clapped by HCU.

But if you’re like me, then you still have some sites earning from other traffic sources.

You may even be using the Walmart affiliate program, like me.

Well…ya might wanna stop that.

Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife

I noticed that I got an email from the Walmart affiliate program about some updates to their operating agreement.

Normally I just skim these to make sure that nothing shady is going on. And usually it’s just boring legal bullshit.

But the first thing on the list of updates stopped me from just skimming things cause I knew that it meant something shady was about to be going down.

The first update reads: “We’ve added a new dispute resolution provision which requires arbitration for any disputes related to the Program or the Agreement”

There’s never a good reason for a company to add this to an operating agreement cause it means they know that they’re about to do you wrong and they’d lose in court.

Arbitration as a requirement for dispute resolution in instances like this is mostly bullshit. Amazon had one when we sued them and won.

And we did zero arbitration.

Anyways, it didn’t take long in the list of updates to see what Walmart has done that could get them sued.

And this one is a doozy.

I love how it starts out with obvious intellectual property stuff before it starts the shady shit -

Section 10 - Clarifies that you own the Content you create for the Program, except for any Walmart IP or materials provided by Walmart, and that you grant Walmart a royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, sublicensable and transferable license to use, distribute, publish or reproduce your Content, including your likeness and any other indicia of your identity used in the Content without further approval, or notifying or compensating you.

Let me point out the shady part again -

…you grant Walmart a royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, sublicensable and transferable license to use, distribute, publish or reproduce your Content, including your likeness and any other indicia of your identity used in the Content without further approval, or notifying or compensating you.

What a bunch of bastards.

And of course, the email ends with “By continuing to participate in the Program and use Qualifying Links, you are expressing your consent and agreement to the updated Walmart Operating Agreement for Affiliate Network.”

Coming up…

More on what I’m working on and how it’s going.

Stay awesome,

Shawna

P.S. If you’re looking for high level discussions or tips on things like local SEO and Rank & Rent, I highly recommend Jacky Chou’s Advise community. I’ve been in it for several months and there’s tons of value in it, including a SOP for local SEO.

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