Having given the boot to affiliate and potential rival Azoogle, ValueClick's Commission Junction has circulated a note to its advertisers claiming AzoogleAds is "non-compliant" with its code of conduct, writes Jeff Molander of ThoughtShapers.com. CJ claims it "has identified a series of isolated violations with Azoogle," saying "given the nature of their sub affiliate business model, Azoogle has been ineffective in their ability to perform the requested corrections."

But Azoogle has come out swinging, calling CJ's claims "disingenuous" and challenging CJ's loyalty to affiliates, Molander reports.

In a comments post at Revenews.com, AzoogleAds' Joe Speiser writes, "I felt you, our industry peers, should know the truth - the decision to terminate AzoogleAds was solely a strategic move by CJ to thwart an ever-strengthening competitor that recently launched a competitive revenue share service called M-Port (www.MPort.com)."

Speiser says his affiliates will remain loyal to the AzoogleAds network - not CJ's, and Azoogleads is "happy to compete and will be just fine without merchants within the CJ platform."