Glossary · Law and compliance
Black hat— what it means in affiliate marketing
Promotion methods that break platform rules outright and risk bans or legal action.
The label is descriptive, not moral: it says the method violates someone's terms. It usually also says the asset running it is disposable.
Related terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| White hat | Marketing that complies with the law and with platform rules as written. |
| Grey hat | Methods in the gap between permitted and banned — not written into the rules, not defensible if read strictly. |
| Cloaking | Serving one page to the ad platform or search crawler and a different page to the user who clicks. |
Entry updated 21 July 2026. All 276 terms in one page.
