Adult Friend Finder position statement - GoFuckYourself.com

Xenophage · 10-13-2006, 09:47 PM

AdultFriendFinder from time to time as a small part of its advertising budget places ad buys with companies which some people might call ?adware?. Adware is software that is installed on a user?s computer with notice and consent by the user. In some instances such adware will use contextual ads - for example it may scan web pages for references to certain keywords and then pop up relevant ads from its advertisers. Typical keywords for AdultFriendFinder may include ?dating? and ?friend?. One of the motivating factors in AdultFriendFinder placing such adware ads is to effectively compete in the online dating marketplace - namely if AdultFriendFinder does not place such ads our competitors will make deals with the adware companies to place such ads to our detriment.

It has come to our attention that some affiliates are unhappy about some uncommon and unintended side effects of adware advertising ? in some instances the adware will scan a web page and pop up an ?in context? AdultFriendFinder ad in a browser window next to an affiliate?s ad for AdultFriendFinder in another browser window. This scenario certainly makes us uncomfortable and creates a catch-22 for us ? if we stop buying the contextual adware ads our competitors? sites will pop up and we may lose sales and if we keep buying adware ads we may find from time to time our ads will pop up near our affiliate?s ads for our sites.

While it is perfectly legal for us to place ads with internet software providers like adware companies, specialized browser providers, and search engines that place our ads near our affiliates ads (for example this happens often with keyword buys on search engines) this notion of the adware ad ?collisions? that has recently been raised does make us feel somewhat uncomfortable ? in other words we find ourselves sympathetic with those who have not been happy with this bizarre result.

So we decided to look further into the adware issue. While we are at least partially at the mercy of the programmatic techniques of the given adware companies we are already exploring and experimenting with technology solutions to try to figure out ways to reduce the number of ?adware collisions?. Our primary method of tracking affiliate traffic is not by using cookies (as has been wrongly suggested on some board postings) but rather by coded URLs ? this may have to change. Suffice it to say that for now we appreciate the comments that have been made on the boards to date by our affiliates (yes even the adverse ones) and we will attempt to address this unforeseen consequence of adware ad buys in the near future. If AdultFriendFinder affiliates have any comments or proposed solutions you may e-mail me at lars at legendarylars.com

tony286 · 10-13-2006, 09:49 PM

some people might call “adware” Thats too funny lol

European Lee · 10-13-2006, 09:50 PM

Okay, so what exactly are you doing about it?

Regards,

Lee

squishypimp · 10-13-2006, 09:51 PM

sig spot.

SleazyDream · 10-13-2006, 09:52 PM

it's not cool to support companies that steal from me.

jact · 10-13-2006, 09:53 PM

Good to see a response to the topic, though I'm not sure it'll be a popular one.

SleazyDream · 10-13-2006, 09:55 PM

a few years ago - it was perfectly legal to own slaves.

was that right?

sandman! · 10-13-2006, 09:55 PM

kind of what i expected in a response.

Xenophage · 10-13-2006, 09:57 PM

http://www.gfy.com/fucking-around-and-business-discussion/663524-hey-lars-cams-com-sexsearch-stealing.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by will76

I clicked a google ad word for "cams.com" and as soon as the cams page came up a SexSearch page poped right over it.

I wonder if anyone on GFY paid google for that spot. I wonder how much they pay per a click and if they know that if any of the more then 20 million zango infected users click their google ad spot they have little to no chance of getting the sale, nor do you lars.

Gotta love this spyware shit. So are you guys for it or against it, or is it ok for SexSearch to bid on "cams.com" on zango and steal your traffic and waste you or your affiliate's google ad words money ????

CLICK TO MAKE PICTURE BIGGER!

please note the key word: kw=camsdotcom

NoWhErE · 10-13-2006, 09:58 PM

The fact that you would choose to support adware makes me sick... thats all I can say. I don't care wether you have to use it to compete or not, the fact that you choose to support such shady tactics shows the kind of business ethic you have.

GooSearch · 10-13-2006, 09:58 PM

can't blame him,,, when i worked doing traffic for several big name sex toy comapnies .. we used 180 solutions at the time.. they requested competition urls and search strings.. i found when they got the deep pockets the companies just bid over everyone to keep on top...my 2cents

Xenophage · 10-13-2006, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoWhErE

The fact that you would choose to support adware makes me sick... thats all I can say. I don't care wether you have to use it to compete or not, the fact that you choose to support such shady tactics shows the kind of business ethic you have.

I would not say support I would more say forced into read this

Quote:

Originally Posted by will76

I clicked a google ad word for "cams.com" and as soon as the cams page came up a SexSearch page poped right over it.

I wonder if anyone on GFY paid google for that spot. I wonder how much they pay per a click and if they know that if any of the more then 20 million zango infected users click their google ad spot they have little to no chance of getting the sale, nor do you lars.

Gotta love this spyware shit. So are you guys for it or against it, or is it ok for SexSearch to bid on "cams.com" on zango and steal your traffic and waste you or your affiliate's google ad words money ????

CLICK TO MAKE PICTURE BIGGER!

please note the key word: kw=camsdotcom

will76 · 10-13-2006, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

http://www.gfy.com/fucking-around-and-business-discussion/663524-hey-lars-cams-com-sexsearch-stealing.html

Damn and I was hoping you were going to link to this one:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DatingGold

DatingGold has been a little quiet about this issue in the past, however we would like to state that we do not in any way knowingly purchase or allow inhouse or affiliate traffic that comes from Zango, Spyware or similar sources.

If you do find anyone promoting us in this manner, please do contact us.

We have had the "opportunity" to work with Zango after seeing them at AdTech, however upon reviewing where their traffic comes from, we thought that would be highly unethical to ourselves, affiliates and other sponsors.

We do not feel this is a proper way to run a business, we feel that the only parties who will gain from this kind of marketing is the Network ie. Zango, the Search Engine ie. Google and the Sponsor.

We believe that our affiliates and ourselves work to hard to generate traffic to just turn around and steal it. We also do not feel that this way of doing business is legitimate and we believe there will be liability involved.

My best example of what is happening is the following:

You go to a Chevrolet dealer to buy a truck. Before you get to the door a guy jumps right in front of you and says "Hi I'm Ford, come with me", he grabs your arm and starts pulling you away until you hit him on the X.

This would never happen in the real world because it's pretty much illegal. It shouldn't be happening online.

We encourage affiliates to make better deisions about what kind of companies they want to work. We think companies that allow this kind of marketing have reduced their integrity and are just out to make a quick buck, with total disregard for their affiliates or competitors.

If you have any information that may help us stop this, please contact us.

NoWhErE · 10-13-2006, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

I would not say support I would more say forced into read this

Thats the beauty of life: you always have a choice.

You made the choice to support adware.

jact · 10-13-2006, 10:02 PM

So if I outbid you for your domains on Zango, you'd be cool with that?

GrouchyAdmin · 10-13-2006, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

I would not say support I would more say forced into read this

This way, the problem can be brought 'back in house' before someone else uses those shady tactics to steal from your affiliates. Uhhhhh... right?

GonZo · 10-13-2006, 10:04 PM

Which one of you is forcing Lars to support adware?

BV · 10-13-2006, 10:05 PM

Lars,

With all the money you make why even spend a small part of your advertising budget on adware? I don't understand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

AdultFriendFinder from time to time as a small part of its advertising budget places ad buys with companies which some people might call ?adware?. Adware is software that is installed on a user?s computer with notice and consent by the user. In some instances such adware will use contextual ads - for example it may scan web pages for references to certain keywords and then pop up relevant ads from its advertisers. Typical keywords for AdultFriendFinder may include ?dating? and ?friend?. One of the motivating factors in AdultFriendFinder placing such adware ads is to effectively compete in the online dating marketplace - namely if AdultFriendFinder does not place such ads our competitors will make deals with the adware companies to place such ads to our detriment.

It has come to our attention that some affiliates are unhappy about some uncommon and unintended side effects of adware advertising ? in some instances the adware will scan a web page and pop up an ?in context? AdultFriendFinder ad in a browser window next to an affiliate?s ad for AdultFriendFinder in another browser window. This scenario certainly makes us uncomfortable and creates a catch-22 for us ? if we stop buying the contextual adware ads our competitors? sites will pop up and we may lose sales and if we keep buying adware ads we may find from time to time our ads will pop up near our affiliate?s ads for our sites.

While it is perfectly legal for us to place ads with internet software providers like adware companies, specialized browser providers, and search engines that place our ads near our affiliates ads (for example this happens often with keyword buys on search engines) this notion of the adware ad ?collisions? that has recently been raised does make us feel somewhat uncomfortable ? in other words we find ourselves sympathetic with those who have not been happy with this bizarre result.

So we decided to look further into the adware issue. While we are at least partially at the mercy of the programmatic techniques of the given adware companies we are already exploring and experimenting with technology solutions to try to figure out ways to reduce the number of ?adware collisions?. Our primary method of tracking affiliate traffic is not by using cookies (as has been wrongly suggested on some board postings) but rather by coded URLs ? this may have to change. Suffice it to say that for now we appreciate the comments that have been made on the boards to date by our affiliates (yes even the adverse ones) and we will attempt to address this unforeseen consequence of adware ad buys in the near future. If AdultFriendFinder affiliates have any comments or proposed solutions you may e-mail me at lars at legendarylars.com

TDF · 10-13-2006, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SleazyDream

a few years ago - it was perfectly legal to own slaves.

was that right?

yes! I'll get a rope!

x582 · 10-13-2006, 10:06 PM

Lars,

I understand your point of view here. You are buying traffic from many sources and it makes sense that you would target your own keywords. What you have to understand is that the "adware traffic source" will always collide with your "affiliate traffic source". You are doing one to the detriment of the other.

Why? Because it is your affiliate pages that will in 99% of the situation trigger your adware campaign thus "stealing" sales from your affiliates.

Pleasurepays · 10-13-2006, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GonZo

Which one of you is forcing Lars to support adware?

i was expecting the "rogue employee" defense

will76 · 10-13-2006, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GooSearch

can't blame him,,, when i worked doing traffic for several big name sex toy comapnies .. we used 180 solutions at the time.. they requested competition urls and search strings.. i found when they got the deep pockets the companies just bid over everyone to keep on top...my 2cents

I wouldn't care if company A was stealing from company B, if they didn't have any affiliates.

But when A & B get into a pissing war, the affiliates are the ones that lose. Not fair to the people who make the money.

Hell personally, when a company has THOUSANDS of affiliates why are they even advertising in the first place, why are they competiting with their affiliates. I could understand if a company had a couple hundred affiliates. I know if I had a company that made millions and had thousands of affiliates I wouldn;t be buying an ads myself. Where can that company advertise that his affiliates are already not advertising? Everywhere they buy ads they are competiting with their affiliates. It's not like they dont make a ton of off all the branding that affiliates are doing for them or all the type in traffic they get. I am not just talking about AFF either, all big companies. It would piss me off if i go to buy ad words and the COMPANY has the spot above me, god knows they have more of a profit margin to work with and advertising budget then i do. That seems more like a major conflict of interest as well.

I am not picking on AFF, is there any sponsors here that do over a million in afiliate sales a month that doesn't advertise for themselves ?

poisson · 10-13-2006, 10:09 PM

I just spent 200$ on them.

The first and the last time.

*Just dont worth it.

tony286 · 10-13-2006, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GonZo

Which one of you is forcing Lars to support adware?

Your a trip lol looking forward to hangin with you tomorrow night.

GonZo · 10-13-2006, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pleasurepays

i was expecting the "rogue employee" defense

I hoping to hear more on how the "database" burped again.

x582 · 10-13-2006, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by will76

I wouldn't care if company A was stealing from company B, if they didn't have any affiliates.

But when A & B get into a pissing war, the affiliates are the ones that lose. Not fair to the people who make the money.

Hell personally, when a company has THOUSANDS of affiliates why are they even advertising in the first place, why are they competiting with their affiliates. I could understand if a company had a couple hundred affiliates. I know if I had a company that made millions and had thousands of affiliates I wouldn;t be buying an ads myself. Where can that company advertise that his affiliates are already not advertising? Everywhere they buy ads they are competiting with their affiliates. It's not like they dont make a ton of off all the branding that affiliates are doing for them or all the type in traffic they get. I am not just talking about AFF either, all big companies. It would piss me off if i go to buy ad words and the COMPANY has the spot above me, god knows they have more of a profit margin to work with and advertising budget then i do. That seems more like a major conflict of interest as well.

I am not picking on AFF, is there any sponsors here that do over a million in afiliate sales a month that doesn't advertise for themselves ?

The problem is not with AFF buying traffic and advertising their services themselves, every company do that - they'd be idiot not to.

The problem is that the adware campaigns are triggerd in 99% of the cases by pages made by their affiliates - thus "stealing" traffic.

tony286 · 10-13-2006, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BV

Lars,

With all the money you make why even spend a small part of your advertising budget on adware? I don't understand.

I would guess its alot cheaper than paying a affiliate in the long run, affiliates are expensive.

GonZo · 10-13-2006, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tony404

Your a trip lol looking forward to hangin with you tomorrow night.

Im trying to help Lars out here. He says he was forced so I want to know whos doing it and why.

FREE LEGENDARY LARS!!!

TheDoc · 10-13-2006, 10:19 PM

Hey Lars..
My opinions aside..

It appears to me you have been informed of what is really going on by other people, and that information is full of bullshit.

I would gladly educated on what the real problem is and why it is illegal for your company to be involved with forced adware installs, just drop me an ICQ.

GrouchyAdmin · 10-13-2006, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GonZo

FREE LEGENDARY LARS!!!

* With an equal or greater purchase. Not a stackable coupon. Cash value 1/10th of 1c, except where stolen.

pocketkangaroo · 10-13-2006, 10:20 PM

So basically you are buying your affiliates traffic from these guys for cheap? Real classy move. You guys sure care about your affiliates.

poisson · 10-13-2006, 10:23 PM

Yeah! what i heard from all the other threads is that the cookie bought in adwords got updated to a zango ad. that suck for sure.

AFF and/or cams.com is making a statement about buying ads on a network that provide a disfontion on an internet maketing.

The smartest thing to do right now is to get a way for our cookies to remain a certain periods, there is threads about that.

imo

Damian_Maxcash · 10-13-2006, 10:24 PM

Im sitting on the fence with this one - but I would like to hear some ideas from people how Lars can solve his problem....

AFF is the biggest dating site on the net and he wants to keep it that way.

How can he do that if he cant use the same tools as his competition?

Xenophage · 10-13-2006, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poisson

Yeah! what i heard from all the other threads is that the cookie bought in adwords got updated to a zango ad. that suck for sure.

AFF and/or cams.com is making a statement about buying ads on a network that provide a disfontion on an internet maketing.

The smartest thing to do right now is to get a way for our cookies to remain a certain periods, there is threads about that.

imo

Read it again we use URL tracking not Cookies

Pleasurepays · 10-13-2006, 10:26 PM

in the interest of affiliates, honesty and integrity could you please provide a list all the "adware" companies you support so webmasters can make sure they are not affected?

Pete-KT · 10-13-2006, 10:26 PM

nice to hear a reply lars, knew it would eventually be said by you, good work

Xenophage · 10-13-2006, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damian2001

Im sitting on the fence with this one - but I would like to hear some ideas from people how Lars can solve his problem....

AFF is the biggest dating site on the net and he wants to keep it that way.

How can he do that if he cant use the same tools as his competition?

Thank you Solutions are good lots of drama but no real solutions

Smokeythebear came up with some pretty good ideas

GonZo · 10-13-2006, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

Read it again we use URL tracking not Cookies

Lars --

Who is forcing you to do this?

Jace · 10-13-2006, 10:30 PM

Free Legendary Lars!

Pete-KT · 10-13-2006, 10:32 PM

Lars got a minute to talk about some traffic trades?

Xenophage · 10-13-2006, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GonZo

Lars --

Who is forcing you to do this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by will76

I clicked a google ad word for "cams.com" and as soon as the cams page came up a SexSearch page poped right over it.

I wonder if anyone on GFY paid google for that spot. I wonder how much they pay per a click and if they know that if any of the more then 20 million zango infected users click their google ad spot they have little to no chance of getting the sale, nor do you lars.

Gotta love this spyware shit. So are you guys for it or against it, or is it ok for SexSearch to bid on "cams.com" on zango and steal your traffic and waste you or your affiliate's google ad words money ????

CLICK TO MAKE PICTURE BIGGER!

please note the key word: kw=camsdotcom

too short

fris · 10-13-2006, 10:33 PM

zango is the devil

poisson · 10-13-2006, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

Read it again we use URL tracking not Cookies

That's why i tried to make a distinction uppon the cases. Buying ads on Zango is a marketing move and i've done it. Overwriting a cookie with a spyware is another.

The issue still remain for other programs.

I-friend do a part of their marketing by promising lifetime cookies. If an affiliate or I-friends itself overwrite a cookie using a spyware that sucks.

But as quoted, Cams.com and/or AFF.com use URL tracking, not cookies.

GonZo · 10-13-2006, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

too short

Damn Im going to have to call Andy Dunn to decipher this one.
Name some names!

Im not Legendary and I cant figure out the treasure map.
We are all behind you. Im holding a FREE LEGENDARY LARS breakfast benefit tomorrow evening in Atlanta!

Help us fight the enemy that is holding you down!

Xenophage · 10-13-2006, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GonZo

Damn Im going to have to call Andy Dunn to decipher this one.
Name some names!

Im not Legendary and I cant figure out the treasure map.
We are all behind you. Im holding a FREE LEGENDARY LARS breakfast benefit tomorrow evening in Atlanta!

Help us fight the enemy that is holding you down!

hahahahah nice

Missie · 10-13-2006, 10:39 PM

You know Lars, many companies have sued Gator/Claria and WhenU for popping competitor ads on their sites and either won their case or it was settled out of court.

See the part on legislation at the bottom of this page:

http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/

Missie

will76 · 10-13-2006, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by x582

The problem is not with AFF buying traffic and advertising their services themselves, every company do that - they'd be idiot not to.

The problem is that the adware campaigns are triggerd in 99% of the cases by pages made by their affiliates - thus "stealing" traffic.

trust me i know what is going on here, I was going off on a tangent with that post, possibly one that should have been for it's own thread.

Yes when AFF wins the bid for their keywords they will likely be taking traffic that would have either been from themselves or their affiliates. Like you said who else would be gettign credit for the sale when an aff domain is in someone's brower. Either the affiliate sending them or the company if it was from their ads or type in traffic. NOW If AFF does not win the bid on those keywords then sex search will take all the traffic and AFF and it's affiliates will make $0.00 money from that traffic.

So do you take the high road, let Sex Search take your traffic and don't play the adware game, or do you out bid them and well you know what you are doing to you know who when that happens....

"Almost" seems like extortion***, you have to bid against your comeptition for your name sake. Is AFF trademarked ???? ( ***i am not accusing anyone of extortion)

ONE SOLUTION WOULD BE FOR AFF TO BID ON ONLY THEIR KEYWORDS AND THEN NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THE SALES THEMSELF. Tell ZANGO you want to pop up a blank referral page, or a pop under blank page, or work out some programming where you are protecting your key words but you still allow your affiliates to make the sales.

lazycash · 10-13-2006, 10:39 PM

If your adware advertising represents such a small part of your overall advertising spending, why is it such a dilemma if you take a stance and remove it? Look at the big picture, if you take a hardline stance against questionable adware/spyware, you will gain a new group of affiliates that simply won't work with your competitors. I realize you hate to give other companies any competitive edge in that form of advertising, but the benefit gained in traffic from new affiliates as well as company goodwill would most likely far supersede any sales from adware/spyware.

Stand up, take a stance and call out your competition rather than going with the flow and hoping to fly under the radar.

GonZo · 10-13-2006, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLars

hahahahah nice

Oh Im serious Lars. I have much respect for your purple pimp hat!

Dont worry Ill be posting a thread on my board too so that we can all help fight the opression and FREE LEGENDARY LARS!!!

And in light of recent posts in this thread we will be taking additional donations to buy Pete some nice hankies so he can clean up his nose too!

FREE LEGENDARY LARS .... CLEAN UP PETE-KT!!!

minusonebit · 10-13-2006, 10:42 PM

Ah, this thread is a great read.

Good job, Lars. You just added your program onto my personal blacklist of programs that I'll never fly an ad for as long as I'm around. There is no legit reason for supporting spam, adware, spyware or any of this other crap, and certainly no excuse for buying your affiliate's traffic on the cheap through the back door. And yeah, its legal. All kinds of unethical things are legal, dosent mean they should be done.

Sometimes, I wonder if there is any money at all left in this whole affiliate/program model. It seems like anymore the affiliate does all the work and the program does everything they can to fuck the affiliate out of thier megar earnings (shaving, slow payments, bankruptcy, the shit described here) and at the end of the day you have done one helluva lot of work to earn a few peanuts.

10-13-2006, 09:47 PM	#1
Xenophage Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 12,122	Adult Friend Finder position statement AdultFriendFinder from time to time as a small part of its advertising budget places ad buys with companies which some people might call ?adware?. Adware is software that is installed on a user?s computer with notice and consent by the user. In some instances such adware will use contextual ads - for example it may scan web pages for references to certain keywords and then pop up relevant ads from its advertisers. Typical keywords for AdultFriendFinder may include ?dating? and ?friend?. One of the motivating factors in AdultFriendFinder placing such adware ads is to effectively compete in the online dating marketplace - namely if AdultFriendFinder does not place such ads our competitors will make deals with the adware companies to place such ads to our detriment. It has come to our attention that some affiliates are unhappy about some uncommon and unintended side effects of adware advertising ? in some instances the adware will scan a web page and pop up an ?in context? AdultFriendFinder ad in a browser window next to an affiliate?s ad for AdultFriendFinder in another browser window. This scenario certainly makes us uncomfortable and creates a catch-22 for us ? if we stop buying the contextual adware ads our competitors? sites will pop up and we may lose sales and if we keep buying adware ads we may find from time to time our ads will pop up near our affiliate?s ads for our sites. While it is perfectly legal for us to place ads with internet software providers like adware companies, specialized browser providers, and search engines that place our ads near our affiliates ads (for example this happens often with keyword buys on search engines) this notion of the adware ad ?collisions? that has recently been raised does make us feel somewhat uncomfortable ? in other words we find ourselves sympathetic with those who have not been happy with this bizarre result. So we decided to look further into the adware issue. While we are at least partially at the mercy of the programmatic techniques of the given adware companies we are already exploring and experimenting with technology solutions to try to figure out ways to reduce the number of ?adware collisions?. Our primary method of tracking affiliate traffic is not by using cookies (as has been wrongly suggested on some board postings) but rather by coded URLs ? this may have to change. Suffice it to say that for now we appreciate the comments that have been made on the boards to date by our affiliates (yes even the adverse ones) and we will attempt to address this unforeseen consequence of adware ad buys in the near future. If AdultFriendFinder affiliates have any comments or proposed solutions you may e-mail me at lars at legendarylars.com

10-13-2006, 09:50 PM	#3
European Lee Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Daytona Beach Posts: 7,133	Okay, so what exactly are you doing about it? Regards, Lee __________________ YOUR TRAFFIC IS SAFE WITH US - CONDOM CASH PUTTING THE GAY ADULT INDUSTRY ON YOUR PC!! AFFORDABLE 2257 COMPLIANT GAY + BI CONTENT

10-13-2006, 09:51 PM	#4
squishypimp PostMaster General Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 10,781	sig spot. __________________ Signature For Sale

10-13-2006, 09:52 PM	#5
SleazyDream I'm here for SPORT Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phone # (401) 285-0696 Posts: 41,470	it's not cool to support companies that steal from me. __________________ This dog, is dog, a dog, good dog, way dog, to dog, keep dog, an dog, idiot dog, busy dog, for dog, 20 dog, seconds dog! Now read without the word dog.

10-13-2006, 09:53 PM	#6
jact Confirmed User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Oakville, Canada Posts: 9,134	Good to see a response to the topic, though I'm not sure it'll be a popular one. __________________ Free agent

10-13-2006, 09:49 PM	#2
tony286 lurker Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: atlanta Posts: 57,021	some people might call “adware” Thats too funny lol

10-13-2006, 09:55 PM	#7
SleazyDream I'm here for SPORT Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phone # (401) 285-0696 Posts: 41,470	a few years ago - it was perfectly legal to own slaves. was that right? __________________ This dog, is dog, a dog, good dog, way dog, to dog, keep dog, an dog, idiot dog, busy dog, for dog, 20 dog, seconds dog! Now read without the word dog.

10-13-2006, 09:55 PM	#8
sandman! Icq: 14420613 Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: chicago Posts: 15,432	kind of what i expected in a response. __________________ Need WebHosting ? Email me for some great deals [email protected]

10-13-2006, 09:58 PM	#10
NoWhErE Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 10,205	The fact that you would choose to support adware makes me sick... thats all I can say. I don't care wether you have to use it to compete or not, the fact that you choose to support such shady tactics shows the kind of business ethic you have. __________________ skype: lordofthecameltoe

10-13-2006, 09:58 PM	#11
GooSearch Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: FLA Posts: 2,538	can't blame him,,, when i worked doing traffic for several big name sex toy comapnies .. we used 180 solutions at the time.. they requested competition urls and search strings.. i found when they got the deep pockets the companies just bid over everyone to keep on top...my 2cents __________________ GooSearch Real Text Ads Without The Drama Coming Back Bigger and Better Then Ever

10-13-2006, 10:02 PM	#15
jact Confirmed User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Oakville, Canada Posts: 9,134	So if I outbid you for your domains on Zango, you'd be cool with that? __________________ Free agent

10-13-2006, 10:04 PM	#17
GonZo Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Atlanta,Ga. Posts: 3,180	Which one of you is forcing Lars to support adware? __________________ Assclown Bob Rice wants to BANG your credit card! "I am putting the bastards of this world on notice; greed and corruption will always be met with "a voice made of ink and rage." All the information above is my personal opinion.

10-13-2006, 10:06 PM	#20
x582 Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: heh? Posts: 609	Lars, I understand your point of view here. You are buying traffic from many sources and it makes sense that you would target your own keywords. What you have to understand is that the "adware traffic source" will always collide with your "affiliate traffic source". You are doing one to the detriment of the other. Why? Because it is your affiliate pages that will in 99% of the situation trigger your adware campaign thus "stealing" sales from your affiliates.

10-13-2006, 10:09 PM	#23
poisson Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sea Posts: 6,474	I just spent 200$ on them. The first and the last time. *Just dont worth it. __________________

10-13-2006, 10:19 PM	#29
TheDoc Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Currently Incognito Posts: 13,827	Hey Lars.. My opinions aside.. It appears to me you have been informed of what is really going on by other people, and that information is full of bullshit. I would gladly educated on what the real problem is and why it is illegal for your company to be involved with forced adware installs, just drop me an ICQ. __________________ ~TheDoc - ICQ7765825 It's all disambiguation

10-13-2006, 10:20 PM	#31
pocketkangaroo Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 8,452	So basically you are buying your affiliates traffic from these guys for cheap? Real classy move. You guys sure care about your affiliates.

10-13-2006, 10:23 PM	#32
poisson Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sea Posts: 6,474	Yeah! what i heard from all the other threads is that the cookie bought in adwords got updated to a zango ad. that suck for sure. AFF and/or cams.com is making a statement about buying ads on a network that provide a disfontion on an internet maketing. The smartest thing to do right now is to get a way for our cookies to remain a certain periods, there is threads about that. imo __________________

10-13-2006, 10:24 PM	#33
Damian_Maxcash So Fucking Banned Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: MaxCash.com Posts: 12,745	Im sitting on the fence with this one - but I would like to hear some ideas from people how Lars can solve his problem.... AFF is the biggest dating site on the net and he wants to keep it that way. How can he do that if he cant use the same tools as his competition?

10-13-2006, 10:26 PM	#35
Pleasurepays BANNED - SUPPORTING TUBES Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I live in a pile of boogers Posts: 11,913	in the interest of affiliates, honesty and integrity could you please provide a list all the "adware" companies you support so webmasters can make sure they are not affected?

10-13-2006, 10:26 PM	#36
Pete-KT Workin With The Devil Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 51,532	nice to hear a reply lars, knew it would eventually be said by you, good work

10-13-2006, 10:30 PM	#39
Jace FBOP Class Of 2013 Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: bumfuck, ky Posts: 35,562	Free Legendary Lars!

10-13-2006, 10:32 PM	#40
Pete-KT Workin With The Devil Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: West Bloomfield, MI Posts: 51,532	Lars got a minute to talk about some traffic trades?

10-13-2006, 10:33 PM	#42
fris Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 55,233	zango is the devil __________________ Since 1999: 69 Adult Industry awards for Best Hosting Company and professional excellence. WP Stuff

10-13-2006, 10:39 PM	#46
Missie Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 372	You know Lars, many companies have sued Gator/Claria and WhenU for popping competitor ads on their sites and either won their case or it was settled out of court. See the part on legislation at the bottom of this page: http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/ Missie __________________ Looking for a clean sponsor that won't steal from you?check them out here!

10-13-2006, 10:39 PM	#48
lazycash Troll Patrol Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Local Socal Posts: 15,214	If your adware advertising represents such a small part of your overall advertising spending, why is it such a dilemma if you take a stance and remove it? Look at the big picture, if you take a hardline stance against questionable adware/spyware, you will gain a new group of affiliates that simply won't work with your competitors. I realize you hate to give other companies any competitive edge in that form of advertising, but the benefit gained in traffic from new affiliates as well as company goodwill would most likely far supersede any sales from adware/spyware. Stand up, take a stance and call out your competition rather than going with the flow and hoping to fly under the radar. __________________ "WTF, on google you can find the answer to every question in human history, EXCEPT how to convert cams.. Its crazy..." VenusBlogger

10-13-2006, 10:42 PM	#50
minusonebit So Fucking Banned Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: [email protected] Posts: 7,391	Ah, this thread is a great read. Good job, Lars. You just added your program onto my personal blacklist of programs that I'll never fly an ad for as long as I'm around. There is no legit reason for supporting spam, adware, spyware or any of this other crap, and certainly no excuse for buying your affiliate's traffic on the cheap through the back door. And yeah, its legal. All kinds of unethical things are legal, dosent mean they should be done. Sometimes, I wonder if there is any money at all left in this whole affiliate/program model. It seems like anymore the affiliate does all the work and the program does everything they can to fuck the affiliate out of thier megar earnings (shaving, slow payments, bankruptcy, the shit described here) and at the end of the day you have done one helluva lot of work to earn a few peanuts.