Dont get offended, I was not speaking directly to
you. I was speaking to the horrible companies who
are stealing not only my affiliate commissions,
but yours too!
We call it "spyware." Spyware specializes in
invading a consumers computer through unethical
means and then literally replacing YOUR affiliate
ID with their own! It is almost as if you never
even existed!
Not only that, they even steal your future affiliate
commissions by making sure that all future IDs are
automatically replaced with their own.
Even more, they can make it so that if the consumer
goes to a website, a pop-up for a competing website
(with their own affiliate ID) pops up and makes it
impossible for you to get a sale.
As you likely agree, this is a major problem and it
gets bigger and bigger every day. The more we fight
back, the slicker these companies get.
How much are they really stealing?
--------------------------------------
Would you believe that studies have shown that
these companies could be stealing more than 50%
of your affiliate commissions! Some studies have
shown that it may even be higher, but 50% has
been a repeated number in more than a few studies.
That means, as an affiliate marketer, you could
potentially be making twice the money you are
making now.
How does Spyware work?
-----------------------------
Spyware is basically a program that consumers
will download onto their computer. They usually
get it "along" with another program that they
download for free. Spyware companies develop
freebies for consumers to download so they can
invade their computers.
Then, the software pretty much takes over the
consumers computer. The software can replace
affiliate IDs, create new cookies, make pop-ups
appear and even steal passwords or other private
information.
In other words, spyware companies are also the
masters of viral marketing they spread their
disease via freebie information and programs that
unsuspecting consumers download.
Who pays the price? You and I.
What is being done to stop it?
--------------------------------
In all honesty, not much. It is not because no one
cares, but more because the more we try to stop it,
the more technical these companies get. As always,
human eyes are being required to track down and
stop these companies.
Affiliate managers and companies are becoming far
more active in monitoring their affiliates to catch
spyware. Affiliates are also becoming a bit more
vigilant in reporting these companies (although
not near enough).
There has been a moving trend towards software
products that block these spyware agents. Consumers
are slowly becoming more aggressive in trying to
stop their computers from being invaded (they are
tired of pop-ups).
How you can help in the fight against spyware?
-------------------------------------------------
The biggest area we need to work on is by applying
pressure to affiliate networks like LinkShare and
Commission Junction to be far more active. Although
these companies have strictly stated that they will
immediately shut down spyware companies, more
and more cases always seem to slip through.
You cannot really blame them, since the more
affiliate sales, the more money they make. But,
if enough genuine affiliates apply pressure,
these companies will be forced to be even stricter.
Do not get me wrong, they ARE starting to become a
lot more active.
In all honesty, the next thing you can do, short
of designing a break-through program to stop this
problem, is to be more careful and report more
actively. Any time you see an uninvited pop-up on
your computer that has an affiliate ID in the link
you can be 98% sure that it is spyware.
Take the time to report it!
Other than that, for now, being educated about
spyware is enough spread the word and make sure
more affiliates know.
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I only hope that you start spreading the word, the
more people that know, the easier it is to fight
back!
[[sig.]]
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P.S. Pass this along to as many people as you can
Mansionprofits
1818 E. Houston Ave.
Fresno
Ca. 93720
United States
