Dealing with your content being used to promote other sponsors?
 

Lately, I've been having some trouble with a few affiliates who are snarfing content from SpookyCash hosted galleries or POTDs and using it to promote other sponsors. Of course, I don't want to totally piss off someone who could send the sites in my program a bunch of traffic and joins, but obviously I can't have them using my content to send traffic and joins to someone else.

Anyone have any ideas for how to communicate to an affiliate that this is unacceptable in a way which will (a) not make them insanely upset, (b) get them to stop abusing SpookyCash content, and (c) potentially get them to promote SpookyCash sites properly? Advice would be much appreciated from both sponsors on how they deal with this and affiliate webmasters on how they would want to be approached.

pay less per sign up when they do that ,

no seriously just call the police and explain the situation

Send 1 nice e-mail telling that what he's doing is unacceptable and inviting him to promote your great sites instead.

If he doesn't reply send him a not so polite e-mail.

I've noticed a marked increase in "stolen" content as well the last few months... I take a zero tolerance stance. I ban those submitters and I typically report them to the sponsor they've stolen the content from... I've notice that they typically clean up their act when caught.. after all, they're all about making money like everyone else and they need the traffic in order to make the sales. The other thing I've noticed is that they seem to target the smaller sponsors (typically revshare), stealing their content to then promote the bigger sponsors (PPS).

I routinely ban people who submit galleries that use stolen sponsor content to promote the wrong sponsors.

I used to alert a few of my favorite sponsors in my niche, but I've stopped. My contact at the sponsor (one of the biggest in the BDSM business) said, in effect "He left our URL on the pics, so I don't care that he's flying some other sponsor's banner instead of ours."

Fuck me, I don't understand that. But I stopped bothering that guy with stolen content reports. I still ban the thieving fuckers though -- I figure if they'll steal content, they'll eventually graduate to redirecting and installing spyware.

i have seen this happen tons on the boards, and some programs owners let us know when it happens

I have never seen one sponsor go lightly on someone using their content, it has always been a instant cut off and deactivation of the account, no questions asked

but if the person is sending you shitloads of traffic, and has one gallery that is using your content with links to someone elses program, it could be an honest mistake

I would say "if they could" send a lot of joins to your program then send he/she/it a nice email and if they don't reply report them all over the place.

Personally, I hate seeing sponsor's content used and another sponsor added within the gallery. I really think all the penis enhancer program owners should really contract out a porn site to join if their ads are placed in a gallery.

Don?t know you situation :)

Seeing a lot of that recently and I have also been given a similar response from a couple sponsors.

Thanks so much for all the feedback so far, everyone. I'm thrilled to pay affiliates for joins they send me. I'm just frustrated by affiliates who like my content but use it to promote other sponsors. It dilutes my content, potentially damages my brand, and just isn't very ethical. Just not right on their part. Some of the people doing this may not even be affiliates of SpookyCash, but they all could be. I'm not sure threatening to cut off my checks to them would do a lick of good, as they are already choosing to use my content to try to make money from another sponsor. I guess maybe I am being too nice. I just have this notion that there is some way to express what doing the right thing would entail which would convince people to do the right thing.