MISTAKE: Scraping the merchant feed instead of taking the API

MISTAKE: Scraping the merchant feed instead of taking the API
We keep seeing newer aggregators bulk-scrape a merchant's on-site banners and 'sale' badges, then publish those as 'codes.' Two ways that ends: the merchant's brand team files a feed-misuse complaint with the network, or the on-site 'sale' was a price-test that vanishes — and now your page is wrong by lunchtime.
The fix: Use the official offer feed (CJ/Impact/Awin all expose one), and where there isn't a feed, get written placement permission before you republish a merchant's promo creative as your own. Sources say feed-terms enforcement tightened across two top networks this cycle.
Why it matters: A scrape-built catalog is an account-termination risk wearing a content-strategy costume.