Advertising & certification fees should not be related. They should be kept separate and I agree with Simmo that the forum should have the freedom of taking any number of advertisers.
AGD’s certification is a good starting point but we need to understand the depth of Ted’s suggestion. Since we are discussing this topic we might as well discuss the parameters of a full certification. The affiliate program audit goes hand in hand with the audit of the product offering (software, games, payout, treatment of players etc. from a player’s point of view). One can argue that this can be covered in the profitability of the affiliate program, but it would be good to have it done independently. Ensuring compliance on an ongoing basis, providing arbitration combined with the initial cost of audit, would definitely cost money.
Let’s hear some ideas from members on the parameters they would like a program to be certified. I think this is the basic objective of Dom’s thread.