GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - Shady practices by KAZAA and others like it.

RSCPaul · 09-27-2002, 11:01 AM

Hi ya all, I'm new to the board but been a lurker for a long time.

Anyhow here is something interesting that I've found on the ARS board posted by one of the webmasters.

" This is from NY Times"
When you install Kazaa, Morpheus, or 20 or so other programs, they also install an affiliate code swapping program. It runs in the background, and when a URL request is made to the Internet, it checks if the URL's site has an affiliate program, and if so, swaps in its own referral code in place of the existing one. Tiger Direct and Amazon are mentioned in the article, although I'd be amazed if they weren't doing the same with porn sites. Has anyone heard of this being done in the porn biz?

Amazon's terms and conditions forbid the practice, and so they drop the accounts when they spot them. Tiger Direct cut them off just out of principal. But presumably they can change referral codes on the fly, so it's just a cat-and-mouse game, and in any case they're not going to restore the commissions to the original referrers. To further complicate things, the affiliate-swapping program isn't deleted when you remove the original program that installed it."

New Software Quietly Diverts Sales Commissions
If you want to read the complete article then use arslogin for login and password or create your own.

If this is true than no wonder some of us see decline in sales while the sponsors don't notice anything, basically they get their sales one way or another, just the middleman (affiliates referral code) changes. I hope most reputable sponsors don't allow this practice and will terminate such accounts, but there is always others that won't care who gets the credit as long as they get the sales.

Let's not turn this into a sponsor bashing thread please, I'm not sure if any of the adult sponsors are aware of this and if they are taking any steps to prevent such dishonest practices or if they just dont care.

Any thoughts?

09-27-2002, 11:01 AM
RSCPaul Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Toronto Posts: 92	Affiliates SUs not credited due to Shady practices by KAZAA and others. Hi ya all, I'm new to the board but been a lurker for a long time. Anyhow here is something interesting that I've found on the ARS board posted by one of the webmasters. " This is from NY Times" When you install Kazaa, Morpheus, or 20 or so other programs, they also install an affiliate code swapping program. It runs in the background, and when a URL request is made to the Internet, it checks if the URL's site has an affiliate program, and if so, swaps in its own referral code in place of the existing one. Tiger Direct and Amazon are mentioned in the article, although I'd be amazed if they weren't doing the same with porn sites. Has anyone heard of this being done in the porn biz? Amazon's terms and conditions forbid the practice, and so they drop the accounts when they spot them. Tiger Direct cut them off just out of principal. But presumably they can change referral codes on the fly, so it's just a cat-and-mouse game, and in any case they're not going to restore the commissions to the original referrers. To further complicate things, the affiliate-swapping program isn't deleted when you remove the original program that installed it." New Software Quietly Diverts Sales Commissions If you want to read the complete article then use arslogin for login and password or create your own. If this is true than no wonder some of us see decline in sales while the sponsors don't notice anything, basically they get their sales one way or another, just the middleman (affiliates referral code) changes. I hope most reputable sponsors don't allow this practice and will terminate such accounts, but there is always others that won't care who gets the credit as long as they get the sales. Let's not turn this into a sponsor bashing thread please, I'm not sure if any of the adult sponsors are aware of this and if they are taking any steps to prevent such dishonest practices or if they just dont care. Any thoughts? Last edited by RSCPaul; 09-27-2002 at 11:50 AM..