Arguably, what is worse in both cases than the activity in question, is that these and other activities like them are carried out with the knowledge of most of the webmaster community and deemed acceptable by many in the industry. That acceptance gives a green light, not only to the current scam-of-the-month, but to the next one and the one after that.

No such activities are sustainable for long, they all run their course and we move on. But our business environment becomes tougher each time, whether because we get visited with new legislation, stricter rules from someone like Visa, or simply because we burn out another army of potentially long-term customers.

Hoping to see the day when cowboys of every flavor are relegated to the fringes of this business instead of being planted firmly at its core, is not abstract idealism. It is because each and every one, from the sponsors who run a scam, to individual affiliates who support such sponsors, to all those who are not directly involved but stay silent, cost us money. We collectively pay for years for the extra profits that relatively few enjoy for a short while.