A systematic review of affiliate publisher activity and content for adherence to program policies, FTC disclosure requirements, and applicable regulatory standards. Compliance audits are distinct from performance audits — compliance audits assess whether publishers are following program rules, while performance audits assess whether publishers are driving results. Audit components: FTC disclosure compliance: review of top publisher content for presence, placement, and clarity of affiliate disclosure language; trademark compliance: check for publisher paid search bidding on brand trademark keywords; content review: review of publisher content for accuracy of product claims and absence of prohibited content adjacency; link audit: verify that publisher affiliate links are correctly implemented and not using prohibited methods (cookie stuffing, forced redirect). Audit cadence: quarterly audit of top 20-30 publishers (highest reach, highest brand exposure); annual spot audit of mid-tier publishers; immediate audit triggered by: customer complaint about publisher content; discovery of specific compliance concern; new publisher reaching Tier 1 status. Documentation requirements: maintain audit records including publisher name, content reviewed, date of audit, compliance status, any violations found, notifications sent, corrections verified; audit documentation is important if compliance enforcement is ever challenged or if regulatory inquiry requires evidence of compliance monitoring efforts. Common violations found in compliance audits: missing FTC disclosure on new content pieces; outdated product information (unchanged since product specifications changed); affiliate links to discontinued products that generate 404 errors; in rare cases, trademark bidding discovered through paid search monitoring conducted during the audit.
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