Six Month Follow-Up Study Reveals Many Marketers and Lead Sellers getting better but still room for improvement.
March 24, 2014: Continuing its mission to help marketers protect their brands through verifiable compliance monitoring and discovery technologies, PerformLine announced today the results of their follow-up study done using the PerformMatchTM platform to analyze compliance with TCPA rules over a wide sampling
of sites.
Phase-two of the PerformLine study found that 46% of the webpages that captured contact information failed to meet one or more of the rules from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that went into effect last fall. The TCPA regulations that took effect on October 16, 2013 require marketers to get prior express written consent from consumers and each request must have a “clear and conspicuous disclosure” alerting the consumer that they will receive future calls via an automated dialing system or “auto dialer.”
The March study found that, in aggregate, 54% of pages reviewed were in compliance with the TCPA rules. Other data shows:
- 30% of pages failed because of either disclaimer issues (disclaimer was missing or incorrect) or there was no option for express written consent
- 16% of pages failed for having both disclaimer issues (disclaimer was missing or incorrect) or there was no option for express written consent
This study was a follow-up to the first TCPA Study done by PerformLine done in October 2013. A comparison of the October and March studies’ data reveals:
- The number of pages passing the TCPA checks increased 253% from October to March
The study also does a 6-month comparison of the reasons pages did not pass, as well as a comparison of those who actively monitor for TCPA compliance on their webpages versus those don’t.
The study was done using data discovered by the PerformMatch web crawler, KrakenTM, which uncovered an array of lead generation sites (including those in consumer finance, higher education, insurance, etc.) and the pages on those sites requesting consumer contact information. A significant sampling of webpages, taken from the Kraken database which includes of millions of URLs and over 20 billion compliance observations, was used as the basis for the calculations. The PerformMatch TCPA Toolkit then analyzed and graded every request for information page for compliance with the TCPA’s express written consent and disclosure rules as defined by the FCC.

“This study, done 6 months after the first, shows that marketers have made progress in complying with the TCPA regulations, but still have work to do,” stated Alex Baydin, CEO and Founder of PerformLine. “With 46% of request for information pages still not in compliance with the FCC regulations, marketers must work harder to find and remediate non-compliant pages and partners to avoid being involved in a costly TCPA lawsuit.”
According to a January 2014 report from WebRecon, Telephone Consumer Protection Act filings grew from 160 last year to 208 in January 2014—a 30 percent increase. Under the TCPA, consumers can bring about class action lawsuits and state attorney generals can also bring suit against marketers that violate TCPA rules. The TCPA provides for damages ranging from $500.00 to $1,500.00 per unsolicited call/message.
To mitigate the risk of litigation, the PerformMatch TCPA Toolkit gives marketers the ability to take a proactive approach to TCPA compliance by finding, documenting and remediating potential problems. The platform also documents consent and disclosure with a screenshot and stores the image for up to 5 years. PerformLine clients are also able to leverage the proprietary tools of the PerformMatch SaaS platform to ensure that any direct advertising, affiliate advertising and call center activites done on their behalf are compliant.
To read the full study, please visit: performline.com/about-us/research-reports
Companies interested in learning their TPCA score from the PerformLine survey are welcome to contact PerformLine via email at sales(at)performline(dot)com to get a clear picture of their current compliance versus TCPA rules and where there may be exposure risks.
Companies can also learn more about the TCPA toolset for PerformMatchTM or any of the other elements of our suite of compliance services by visiting www.performline.com.
About PerformLine
PerformLine develops and delivers the most advanced compliance monitoring services for marketers. Leading companies looking to optimize their businesses choose the PerformMatch™ SaaS platform to discover, monitor and enforce regulatory and brand compliance. The PerformMatch platform provides the most comprehensive solution for regulatory marketing oversight in a single platform, always on, always monitoring. PerformLine, Inc. is headquartered in Morristown, N.J. For more information about PerformLine and the PerformMatch compliance platform, visit performline.com or email sales(at)performline(dot)com.