The Secret Shady Practices of Affiliate Marketing

You've probably heard it a hundred times...affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online.

What if I told you affiliate marketing was basically unethical or that the field is dominated by shady practices?

You disagree?

Well let's explore affiliate marketing from the merchant, affiliate and customer viewpoints.

Affiliate marketing is a revenue sharing partnership between a web merchant and one or more affiliates, where the affiliate is paid a commission for referring clicks, leads or, most often, sales to the merchant.

The affiliate signs up to the affiliate program via an online application form, receives an affiliate link, and can then promote the products and services of the web merchant via his own website, ezine, pay per click search engines or other advertising means.

The affiliate's role, then, is to introduce the potential buyer to the seller acting as a kind of middleman.

In return he is paid a commission of any sales resulting from referrals.

But haven't we always been taught to cut out the middleman where possible?

Well, yes, but in affiliate marketing the customer pays the same price regardless of whether he arrives at the web merchant's site directly or via the affiliate's link.

Or at least that's how it should be.

How does the web merchant benefit from running an affiliate program?

The main advantage to the web merchant is that via his affiliate program he can recruit a large sales team of affiliates at zero cost and make many more sales in a way that his website alone could never hope to do.

How does the affiliate benefit?

The advantages to the affiliate are that he can make money in a business where he doesn't have the upfront costs of creating his own product, and doesn't have to worry about ecommerce, bookkeeping, or customer support because that's all handled by the merchant.

How does the customer benefit?

The customer gets a solution to his problem (provided the product or service does what it says it does) that he may not have found without the affiliate's help and does not have to pay extra.

So it's a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Or at least it is in principle.

However in the real world both affiliates and affiliate program owners can be involved in some shady practices.

Shady Practice #1

Unscrupulous merchants close down programs without warning and without paying commissions or tempt new affiliates with high commissions then drop those commission rates dramatically a week later.

Affiliates - protect yourselves from this situation by selecting the affiliate program carefully.

Ask yourself these questions.

Has the site existed for more than a year? Is it clear what the site is providing and are the terms and conditions of the affiliate program explained clearly and comprehensively in simple language? Are there good online reviews of the program in websites or discussion forums? Does the program provide realtime commission stats online? Are ready-to-use affiliate marketing tools available?

Shady Practice #2

Affiliates are sometimes guilty of misleading or false advertising - making claims or promises about the product or services which are totally untrue or greatly exaggerated.

Shady Practice #3

Illegal use of logos, trademarks or other branding. This includes infringement of intellectual property rights and violation of copyrights.

Shady Practice #4

Spamming.

While legitimate affiliates are jumping through hoops to comply with the can-spam laws, the shady characters continue to find their way around it.

Shady Practice #5

Affiliate link hijacking is the replacement of your affiliate id with the hijacker's in the affiliate link.

You don't get your rightful commission - the hijacker gets it instead by buying through his own affiliate link.

It's best if you can avoid displaying your affiliate link and affiliate ID in the browser address bar.

One technique uses a zero-frame or invisible frame to make it appear you are sending visitors to a page on your website when, in fact, you are really sending them to your affiliate link.

To prevent the hijacker from viewing the web page's source code to see that you've loaded an affiliate link, use javascript encryption to scramble the page code or software to prevent the source code from being viewed.

Make no mistake about it...

In any area of human activity, particularly where there is money to be made, there will always be people who try to cheat, exploit the gullible and do harm.

The proper way to engage in affiliate marketing is to act ethically, build a relationship of trust with your prospects and customers then provide value by consistently exceeding your customers expectations.

And this applies to any business either online or offline.

Keith Rougvie is an ethical marketer. To get the free ebook "How To Pick And Promote Affiliate Programs" and other free resources, advice and recommendations visit http://www.make-money-online-website.com

---

Google News Updated : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:51:55 GMT Romo Out For a Month - Washington Post Boston Globe Romo Out For a Month Washington Post - 5 hours ago The Dallas Cowboys will be without quarterback Tony Romo for as long as a month because of a broken finger on his throwing hand. Romo suffered a broken right pinkie on the first play of overtime of the Cowboys' loss Sunday at Arizona, according to a ... Romo sidelined with broken finger Sports Network Cowboys' Romo has broken finger, may miss 4 weeks The Associated Press FOXSports.com - Los Angeles Times - Dallas Morning News - WFAA all 692 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:10:26 GMT Caffeine Consumption Doesn't Raise Overall Breast Cancer Risk - Washington Post Telegraph.co.uk Caffeine Consumption Doesn't Raise Overall Breast Cancer Risk Washington Post - 1 hour ago By Alan Mozes MONDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking coffee or consuming other caffeine-laden foods does not appear to boost breast cancer risk, new research indicates. Caffeine, Breast Cancer Link Minimal WebMD Caffeine 'can increase breast cancer risk' Telegraph.co.uk Science Daily (press release) - MedPage Today - ABC7Chicago.com - Reuters India all 63 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:00:13 GMT North Korea Reopens Yongbyon Nuclear Reactor to UN Inspectors - Bloomberg Calgary Herald North Korea Reopens Yongbyon Nuclear Reactor to UN Inspectors Bloomberg - 2 hours ago By Bill Varner Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency was given access today to North Korea's plutonium- producing plant at Yongbyon, a reaction to the US decision to remove the nation from its list of states sponsoring ... NKorea grants UN nuclear watchdog access to Yongbyon: IAEA AFP North Korea allows back nuclear inspectors Christian Science Monitor BBC News - Reuters - United Press International - guardian.co.uk all 3,791 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:38:19 GMT Britain withdraws terror detention law after defeat - AFP Telegraph.co.uk Britain withdraws terror detention law after defeat AFP - 50 minutes ago LONDON (AFP) - The British government on Monday withdrew a plan to extend the time suspected violent extremists can be held without charge after the House of Lords voted against it. House of Lords deals fatal blow to 42-day terror detention plans Times Online Ministers drop 42-day detention BBC News Xinhua - Telegraph.co.uk - Scotsman - ABC Online all 559 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:01:32 GMT Palin: We can't let 'leftist groups…steal this election' - CNN Political Ticker Seattle Post Intelligencer Palin: We can't let 'leftist groups…steal this election' CNN Political Ticker - 1 hour ago “The truth is that far-left groups in this country will do anything to help the Obama-Biden Democrats win the White House and maintain their majorities in Congress,” Alaska Gov. Voter registration boom favors Obama Washington Post NC elections broad probes ACORN forms AZ Central.com WJHG-TV - Boston Herald - WJRT - ABC News all 1,325 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:39:24 GMT Rangers Prospect Cherepanov Dies After Collapsing During Game - New York Times New York Times Rangers Prospect Cherepanov Dies After Collapsing During Game New York Times - 1 hour ago By Stu Hackel Nineteen-year-old Russian forward Alexei Cherepanov, who was a Rangers first-round draft choice in 2007 and considered one of the organization’s top prospects, died on Monday after collapsing near the end of a game between his KHL team ... Cherepanov collapses on bench during game, dies at 19 ESPN Rangers prospect dies during game in Russia The Associated Press FOXSports.com - Sports Network - Los Angeles Times - Washington Post all 202 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:37:16 GMT Stocks Soar on Wall Street as Markets Bounce Back from Worst Rout ... - Voice of America China Daily Stocks Soar on Wall Street as Markets Bounce Back from Worst Rout ... Voice of America - 42 minutes ago By Barry Wood The Dow Jones Industrial Average Monday registered its biggest daily point gain ever, gaining 936 points or 11 percent. Wall Street explodes, marks biggest 1-day gain Inland Empire News Dow Surges On Global Bailout Plans NPR Las Vegas Review - Journal - International Herald Tribune - The Associated Press - xchange Magazine all 2,959 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:09:50 GMT Affiliate Data Feeds Amazon Associate Software

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Affiliate Programs ? The Fast Track to Wealth

Remember the day when you made the ultimate decision to... Read More

Affiliate Surprise

I can't believe it! I open up my mail today,... Read More

10 Things WalMart Teaches About Affiliate Marketing

We already know about wal mart because of their ads... Read More

Dont Make This Mistake...New Affiliate

Joining more than 2 programs at a time is something... Read More

Successful Free Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs are the latest money making tools available on... Read More

Free Keyword Research Tools Are Not As Effective as Wordtracker

One of the most unanswered questions online today is, how... Read More

How Affiliates Can Have Their Own Radio Show...

Before we start, I want to ask you one simple... Read More

Using Google AdWords For Affiliate Selling

While many people may have you believe otherwise, selling online... Read More

8 Ways To Increase Your Affiliate Commission

Here are 8 easy ways to boost your affiliate income:1)... Read More

Choosing the Right Affiliate Program

Requesting information on an affiliate program is an open invitation... Read More

How to Create Multiple Streams of Income, Part 1

You've must have read the phrase "multiple streams of income"... Read More

How to Start Your Own Affiliate Program ? Internet Marketing

This is how most entrepreneurs become filthy stinking rich! EVEN... Read More

9 Ways to Catapult Your Affiliate Marketing Career

Affiliate marketing involves the promotion of a website by a... Read More

Become An Affiliate Champion: 10 Tips

Affiliates programs are one of the easiest ways to make... Read More

9 Steps to Success in Affiliate Marketing

1.Join an Affiliate Program: Join programs that interest you personally.... Read More

Want to Increase Your Affiliate Commissions?

Do you participate in chat rooms and message boards related... Read More

High Earning Affiliate Is It Possible?

Affiliate Program have exploded on the internet. Thousand of people... Read More

Choosing the Best Affiliate Program - What You Absolutely Must Know

Choosing the best affiliate program means that you are aware... Read More

Pros and Cons of Third Party Online Affiliate Networks

Online affiliate marketing has taken the internet by storm and... Read More

22 Questions to Ask Before You Use Any Shopping Cart System

Many seasoned professional speakers agree that you can make more... Read More

How To Build Website - Seven Steps For Building Optimized Websites For Affiliate Programs

The web has developed in such a mass marketing arena,... Read More

Affiliate Marketing ? My Best Decision

When I decided to quit my job and start an... Read More

Starting an Online Business - Affiliate Programs Make it Easy

If you have been longing to start a business online... Read More

Heres Why Affiliate Marketing Is So Lucrative

There are people who think of the world as a... Read More

Why Start An Affiliate Program?

As any business owner knows advertising can be a very... Read More