November 29, 2004
Your New Affiliate Program SUCKS!
For over 6 years I've watched new affiliate programs launch and then fail. I've talked to dozens of Affiliate Program Managers and Professional Webmasters about this issue. I've read thousand of posts on Affiliate programs and my advice is generally treated as on target and truthful. It's time to clear the slate and talk about the realities of a new Affiliate Program. Since this site does not run advertising and I'm no longer engaged in the sale of Advertising to affiliate networks, I suggest you fasten your hard disk before your read the rest of this article.
Do you have a real business plan and a long term goal!
Most of you don't so forget the launch. You aren't going to attract real producers without the necessary capital to pay your affiliates, an advertising budget, a real office, a business phone and FAX number, and a written plan. You will attract cheaters and sub standard sites in large numbers. Within hours of your launch, most of your new sign ups will be cheaters looking for a new target and or undesirable sites. Although this may seem strange to some of you, a real business should plan on operating at a loss for at least 6 months to one year.
Does your site work?
Spend the money to have it professionally designed and then recruit some knowledgeable Webmasters to test it before you launch. Your Contact Us page must include your street address, your phone numbers, and email addresses. If it doesn't have all of this data your painting yourself as a short term "fraudster" and you will fail. Your whois data must be accurate and complete. You can count on someone like me calling the phone number. Don't use a "proxy" whois. Everyone who does is a criminal and belongs in jail. Use a real domain name for your email address in whois and not a free email provider like Yahoo or Gmail. Your About Us page should be truthful and direct. Use complete real names. Many aren't and it's a trivial task to determine who is lying and who is not.
You must force your affiliates to read and approve your TOS as a condition of the sign up procedure. These TOS must be prepared by your attorney and then reviewed to insure they are effective. If you don't, all you will attract is cheaters and low quality sites. Ask for the Affiliates Social Security number or EIN number in your sign up form. Make it very difficult to change this payee data and address. Does your Admin log IPs and perform a trace to see exactly where the prospective affiliate is located and how this data compares with the Whois data for the site. Reject all affiliates who use a "Proxy" whois since you have lost your ability to audit their actions.
Each Affiliate application to join your network must be manually reviewed by a human. Your acceptance is on a site by site basis. If you don't do this then here is what will happen: Fraudster Webmaster signs up with a quality and compliant mainstream site. As soon as he gets the code, he inserts same on other sites which you would never approve. Have you anticipated your procedures for the sale of a Website. FastClick does a great job on this issue and requires the new owner to submit the site for approval. If you don't do this you will be abused. If your Affiliate can't produce sales in 6 months, then terminate the relationship and require a manual review procedure if they ever wish to join again.
Tell your prospective Affiliates the kinds of sites you may accept and the kinds of sites you won't accept. Don't mince words and be very detailed in your descriptions. Tell them this data in the sign up page and force them to read it as a condition of the Form submission. If they still try and submit their site which you clearly state your aren't interested in, ban the domain and affiliate for 6 months. If you don't do this, you will spin your weal's.
None of your shortcuts to riches will work
Inflated Alexa rankings are easy to catch. Spam in Forums or using "shills" and or associates to drum up the buzz are easy for a Forum Admin to catch. You aren't going to trick the real producers. Maybe you have a skeleton in your desk. Better plan on exactly how you will answer the question about this. Conduct yourself in a civil and respectful manner in Forums. Don't curse, don't attack your Competition, don't use street slang, always use language which is appropriate for a quality business relationship, and don't tell bold face lies and or half truths. Those of you who choose to not head this advice have and will always fail.
Additional reading
I rarely point to other sources on this issue, since so much of what has been written is utter dribble, self serving, full of lies, and not worth your time. An exception to this rule is a great article titled "Do You Cater to Flunkies?" which I strongly suggest you read.
Posted by Steve_S
Roboform: The Gator Alternative
The Gator eWallet is provided free by GAIN Publishing and is TheftWare. Hurling pops at your screen while you surf sites along with compramising your privacy.
A far better free solution is Roboform. Click here to read our review.
Posted by Steve_S
November 25, 2004
Protect the contents of your wallet or purse
The world is full of folks who would love to steal your wallet or purse and then use your credit cards, drivers license, and social security card to steal your identity and purchase good or services using your credit card. You need to take precautions.
Make copies of everything in your wallet or purse is the first step. Copy both sides of every item and then store one copy at home and another copy in your safe deposit box. Do this once per year. If you use a copy store to do this, double check that you didn't leave any copies behind and shred those. If you wallet or purse is stolen you have all the data to notify your credit card companies, your local social security office, and the state agency which issues your drivers license.
If you are traveling, leave one set of the copies in your Hotel safe, one copy at home, and another copy with a trusted friend. Men should carry their wallet in their front pocket and not your rear pocket. Ladies should wrap their purse around your neck so it sits in front of your body and not dangling out to the side. Traveling to certain countries may also require you to ware a money belt. Think of this device as a mini pocket which is strapped to your body and sits underneath your clothing. After a few hours of use, you won't even notice it.
Posted by Steve_S
November 21, 2004
Google Sues AdSense Affiliate For Click Fraud
It's about time! Publishers have been cheating this affiliate program since the day it launched. Capitalizing on the inexperience of Google, a poorly drafted Terms and Conditions, and their reluctancy to play hard ball.
This action was filed in the San Clara County Superior Court on November 15, 2004. Click here to read the court summary in a new window. Naturally, the defendants in this case are assumed innocent until proven guilty however their is another troubling aspect to this action. Google already paid Auction Expert International L.L.C. and it's principals named Sergio Morfin and Alexei Leonov. Why? Where was the audit? Did Google actually think that Fraudsters return funds?
Let's hope that this action is the first of many more to come and that Google also eliminates many of the top rankings for some of the "cheater tools" from their very own Search Engine.
Posted by Steve_S
November 19, 2004
Watch a video of Spyware infecting a system
Infecting computers with silent and or "trickery based" permission
systems is sometimes hard to explain to folks. Ben Edelman has posted a video of these actions on his site.
His video documents the following firms who produce this software which was silently installed on a Windows XP system:
"180solutions, BlazeFind, BookedSpace, CashBack by BargainBuddy, ClickSpring, CoolWebSearch, DyFuca, Hoost, IBIS Toolbar, ISTbar, Power Scan, SideFind, TIB Browser, WebRebates (a TopMoxie distributor), WinAD, and WindUpdates. (All programs are as detected by Ad-Aware.)"
I decided to take a look at the 180solutions privacy page in an effort to determine who is telling the truth and who is either lying and or complicit in this morally and ethically repugnant behavior.
You be the judge from their privacy page copy:
"Our programs are only downloaded with user consent and opt-in."
"We do not display non-permission-based advertising such as banner ads or pop-ups. All of the sponsor websites served by 180solutions are easily closable browser windows clearly identified as “Brought to you by the Zango Search Assistant” or “Brought to you by the 180search Assistant.”
"All 180solutions’ third-party distributors are required to clearly label that our programs are bundled with their products and to provide consumers with the option to agree to the licensing agreement before they install it. We police distributors to ensure our disclosure rules are adhered to and we
prohibit “drive-by” or “silent” installations. Our code of conduct requires that the user is fully aware of and agrees to our End User License Agreement (EULA). "
Take special note of the 2 graphic images at the very bottom of the page and arrive at your own conclusions. Ben Edelman has also written about the cookie-stuffing actions of 180solutions,which effectively steals commissions from Webmasters.
Posted by Steve_S
November 18, 2004
Email that enhances your image and produces results
The Internet has produced a significant number of Webmasters who can't send an effective Email. They often fail to effectively communicate and permanently taint their image. Then they wonder why: no one answers their Email, their ISP yanks their connection, their Host tells them to leave, their employer fires them, or no one wants them in their Affiliate Program.
I'm not talking about Email sent to your real world friends and or relatives. Consider a few examples that never work:
Subject: adv
DUDE!
How much?
Subject: You and your site can (expletive deleted)
I think you (expletive deleted)
Subject: help me!
No workie
An effective and business like Email has 4 parts which always enhance your image and produce meaningful results:
1. Subject: Make it detailed and very descriptive. Remember, a lot of folks run Spam filters and only scan Email before they trash it.
The actual Email:
Begin with a polite salutation like:
2. Hello or Hello Jim or Hi Mark or Judy,
3. Insert the details of your issue. If your Email is critical then start with a positive and then get to the real issue like this:
Thank you for some of your participation. Unfortunately, your ......
4. Close the Email in a positive fashion and insure that it also contains your signature, site url, and any other contact data. Like this:
Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter.
Regards,
FunkDuck
www.duckie.com
Some additional tips: don't send Email when you are mad. Walk away, wait until you calm down and then carefully compose your Email. Don't use profanity, slang, threats, or abbreviations like BTW. Assume that your Email may be used as evidence in a trial so never say anything in writing you wouldn't want third parties to read. Including but not limited to a jury or judge.
Posted by Steve_S
November 17, 2004
Buying or Selling a Developed Web Site: Catch The Crooks With The WayBackMachine
A critical factor in the actual sales price of a developed site is the number of years this developed web site has been on line. This data also affects the "goodwill" factor and ads a level of comfort and an audit trail to the deal.
I don't even consider this data until we reach the 2 year mark and it's value continues to influence and increase as time marches on. Thus a site which has been online for say 5 years provides a greater level of comfort and value based on 5 years than a site which has been on line only 2 years. Natch, I'm assuming that all other factors in the deal are the same in this ballpark example.
Let me explain:
A significant number of deals are fraud and or half truths. Sometimes an honest seller has lost data and can't prove what they are claiming.
The solution to auditing the deal, catching the crooks, and documenting your sales deal lies in the WayBackMachine.
Take a look at Google, circa 1998
Note: the fraudsters and half truth crowd can not manipulate this data so it becomes a critical issue.
The other benefit to both parties in a deal for a site which has been online for 2 or more years is that a lot important issues like revenue, source of traffic, "organic growth" and "brand" become less of a concern. For example, consider the difference in real value and risk with the following actual cases and the inherent danger and then compare this to a 5 year old site which you have verified via the WayBackMachine:
A developed web site online for 1 year or less which is over-optimized for the SE.
Manipulated PR. Manipulated ODP listings.
A short track record of revenue
Traffic is fraudulent and generated via bots
Back links can and often are manipulated.
Absolutely ZERO "organic" growth
You told me your site was 4 years old. HA! NOT!
Sometimes I use the WayBackMachine data to "test" the seller. I have already done my private eye stuff and can track the site in question back a number of years and see that it changed hands or maybe it's changed focus. I already know this data so I politely ask the seller about the history of his site and carefully examine not only what they say but how how they say it.
Along with catching lies and half truths, this testing techniques can sometimes be a deal breaker or raise new red flags which cause me to even more cautious when we get to income verification which is best left to another post
In conclusion, all parties should use the WayBackMachine. Even if you are just purchasing a name only deal. I also use it for all affiliate programs and merchants who are newbies.
Posted by Steve_S
November 15, 2004
TheftWare - What Is It?
TheftWare has several definitions and implications depending on who you are. We urge you to tell your friends and associates about this issue and this page. These hijack technologies effect every site on the Web. Including the largest properties such as Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Google, and others. (This article was originally published in 2001)
A Story To Help You Understand The Issue
"Mom and Pop have a business... say a small hotel in central NY state. They rent a server. They buy the services of a web site designer to put together a site that talks about what a cozy hotel they are right next to all the skiing, etc. and encourage people to make reservations with them.
They pay money to looksmart, msn, yahoo, etc to get the link to their website, (their own on-line advertisement bought and paid for), linked with the appropriate directories.
Essentially they have bought and paid for an online advertisement just as they might buy a TV commercial, radio commercial, a yellow pages ad, an ad in a newspaper, a brochure, etc.
Along comes "Smart tags", "toptext", and other forms of software. They sell keywords like "hotel" and "skiing" to the top bidder.
They then give away their software so that mom and pop's bought and paid for advertisement now has the ability to take mom and pop's "paid for" traffic away from their bought and paid for "ad". Because now we can, with this wonderful software, (and without mom and pop's permission,) use mom and pop's own property to encourage people to stay at some other (the highest bidder's) hotel and ski some other place (the highest bidder's) that may not even be close to mom and pop's hotel.
Mom and Pop not only have their website "stolen" (that IS the term used when someone take's someone else's property without permission) but, what's worse...
THEY ARE PAYING TO HAVE IT STOLEN FROM THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOW PAYING FOR THE HOSTING, DESIGN AND MARKETING OF AN AD THAT PROMOTES THEIR COMPETITION.
The content of their ad has been changed by an outside source using mom and pop's own "ad" (i.e Website) as the vehicle to move their own potential customers elsewhere.
There is absolutely no justification, legally, ethically or morally for this type of theft.
THAT is the issue with this sort of technology. THAT is the essence of the idea that needs to be communicated.
It does NOT matter if I have downloaded TOP TEXT as a matter of choice.
It does NOT MATTER that we have the technology to do this stuff.
Basically, If someone overwrote mom and pop's radio ad there would be lawsuit and damages. If someone overwrote mom and pop's TV commercial there would be lawsuit and damages. If someone did the same thing to mom and pop's yellowpages ad there would be lawsuits and damages.
I would suspect that if mom and pop were aware of it in these terms there will be some very large class action suits initiated and some very large damages paid by any and all companies using their technologies to subvert the advertising mom and pop paid for. I would also suggest that perhaps this may be the only way to stop this."
Bill Hall, CEO
VisitorsNetwork LLC
Publisher/Webmaster/Site Owners
Technology which defaces and alters the content of your Website for financial gain. These procedures do not obtain you're prior written consent, do not notify you of these actions, and do not share any of their revenue with you. In some cases they insert "Adult and or Gambling" links in your "PG" site which you would never permit. These actions compromises your visitor relationship and your reputation. Click here for resources to protect your site.
Merchants
Technology which steals your customers and dilutes your revenue. In some cases it may also alter your paid advertising on other sites. This technology does not obtain your prior written consent, does not notify you of these actions, and does not share any of the revenue with you. Click here for resources to protect your site.
Surfer/Consumer
Technology installed on your computer which lacks adequate disclosure and often is not easy to remove. This technology produces instability in your operating system and compromises your privacy. Your Web surfing is stealing money from other sites. I know with absolute certainty that a significant number of you have no knowledge of these actions. Click here to learn about resources which will remove these programs from your system using several different methods. Click here for instructions on removing eZula and TopText.
Posted by Steve_S
Contextual Advertising aka TheftWare
Contextual Advertising aka TheftWare and it's negative financial and moral implications is a very serious issue which effects all Merchants and Publishers. TheftWare technology used by KaZaA, eZula, Gator, and Surf+ must be eliminated. (This article was originally published in 2001)
Their will be others who will follow, but stopping all of these unscrupulous players will send a strong message to the other defacers and hijackers that we won't tolerate these actions. We must fight in a moral, ethical, and legal manner. Read our daily news and stay informed.
Our first targets are KaZaA, eZula, Gator, and any company and or individual which profits from this relationship with respect to their TopText technology and all similar technologies. These TheftWare products deface and alter the content of Websites (including Merchants) for financial gain. These procedures do not obtain the prior written consent of the Website owner, do not notify the Website owner of these actions, and do not share any of their revenue with the site owners. In some cases, they alter the contents of a PG site with Adult and or Gambling links which the owner of the site would never permit. We find all of these actions morally reprehensible.
What can I do?
Get off the couch and take the time to fully and completely understand this issue. It effects all Merchants as well as all Publishers. Don't believe me? Visit our StopScum Screen Captures Forum and carefully examine the images. A significant portion of both camps don't understand this issue. Both Publishers and Merchants must work together to defeat this issue. With over 7000 keywords for sale and TheftWare all around us, your site will (not may) be effected.
Start fighting today with effective solutions that produce immediate results and inflict financial damage. The issue will be litigated but that may take years and the enemy knows this. Tell your visitors, post screen captures, raise this issue on your favorite Forum, write and contact your local media, contact your host, lodge complaints with regulators and other third parties which may be associated or affected by this issue.
Do not engage in unethical and or illegal actions to advance the fight.
Posted by Steve_S
November 14, 2004
Welcome - Site Re-Launch
We are in the process of revising this site with additional content, an exspanded focus, and a new desgin. Please bare with us. Thank you.
Posted by Steve_S