Thanks for visiting the Affiliate Tip blog. Subscribe to my RSS feed or enter your e-mail on the top right to get updates by e-mail.
Ben Edelman, assistant professor at the Harvard Business School and spyware researcher, has published updates to his work.
Nearly three years ago, Ben explained how software from Zango (then called 180solutions) could rip off merchants by claiming commission on organic traffic.
When users simply type in a site’s address and make a purchase, merchants shouldn’t have to pay an affiliate commission. But Zango’s software monitors what web sites users visit, and when it sees users browse a targeted merchant, Zango often pops open an affiliate link to that merchant. If a user then makes a purchase, the merchant pays the affiliate a commission — even though the affiliate did nothing whatsoever to facilitate or encourage the sale.
Ben’s article, Spyware Still Cheating Merchants and Legitimate Affiliates, explains how some of the largest advertisers continue to be targeted, and three resulting harms: wasting merchants’ money, reducing commissions paid to legitimate affiliates, and helping to support spyware vendors and their partners.
Ben also announced the Automatic Spyware Advertising Tester, which he has been using to find bad affiliates.
In addition to sleuthing out the dirty affiliates, the “AutoTester” can also detect other misdeeds, such as click fraud and cookie-stuffing.
Visit http://www.benedelman.org/ for more details on Ben’s research.
Add New Comment
Viewing 2 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment
Trackbacks
(Trackback URL)