StopScum

What is a Bounty?

Lets look at an example from The Dish Network:

"b. We will refuse all applications or signups from affiliates which we believe participate in spyware, adware or parasiteware techniques for driving traffic. We reserve the right to research and investigate affiliates and their activities and, at our own discretion, determine whether or not these practices are in place. Affiliates found in violation of this policy will be immediately terminated from the program and will forfeit all commissions. We encourage affiliates to report suspicions of such relationships and upon receipt of sufficient proof, as judged by i-DISH.com, we reserve the right to assign an amount equal to the unpaid monies earned by the offending affiliate (or a part thereof) to the reporting affiliate as a bounty. Violation of these policies may be reported to affiliates@idishnetwork.com"

Source (Section 3-b): http://www.idishnetwork.com/myaff-agreement.php

Please read it again and take special note of the "tone" of this paragraph, the use of the word "encourage" and the short statement about driving traffic. No secrets in this paragraph. We already know what you may try and we are even aggressive enough to state it.

My Bounty Procedure.

A given Network's primary responsibility is to aggressively monitor and catch abusers. A Bounty is not meant to replace this obligation. It's purpose is to augment and enhance abuse control. The goal is to create a virtual army of both Publishers and Advertisers who will be financially rewarded if they locate and properly document non compliant activities in the network. Don't kid yourselves, Advertisers network and some are acutely aware of the non compliant activities of not only their competition but other advertisers. Networks should create a secure page (https) which contains a submission Form to report this abuse. Require them to enable a few check boxes which indicate they have read your Bounty FAQ/Help Guide for properly applying for a Bounty along with a crystal clear TOS statement on exactly what will happen to them if they abuse this procedure. Require the Publishers unique affiliate ID and the Advertisers unique ID. Auto respond to this form submission. Investigate them and acknowledge same with a human created email. This Forms page is the only way you will accept Bounty reports.

Expect a few malcontents to abuse this procedure. In these cases just lock them out of the Form submission, warn them once, and if they insist on wasting your valuable time with either Bounty reports which they have previously submitted and or reports that lack evidence, ban them from the Network for the rest of their lives.

What Networks currently deploy a Bounty?

I could not find any other Tier 1 or Tier 2 Networks who presently offer a Bounty. Why? Many Networks are turning a blind eye. Many Networks only rely on a 20 something AM to catch fraud which is tantamount to lip service. Many Networks have a short term view and think that as long as they can continue to abuse their advertisers they will remain viable. Some don't like the implied message that a Bounty offer might send, and others have absolutely no intention of ever trying to effectively control Publisher and or Advertiser abuse.

Editors Note:

This Bounty entry was inspired by an outstanding entry from Ben Edelman titled How Affiliate Programs Fund Spyware. I strongly suggest you carefully read this outstanding research.