Originally Posted by Robbie (Post 16611951)

But if it was just "crack whore confessions" then that is traffic that he already ranks number one on Google for and represents signups that he would already have gotten.

No need for the surfer to search through pages and pages...he's number one for his own site name.

Originally Posted by BVF (Post 16612368)

Don't let this become another curious cash thread. Pay him and it will go away

Originally Posted by lazycash (Post 16612222)

How can you possibly say for sure that those who clicked on Shoehorn's paid links and bought memberships would have done so had his links been non existant?

Originally Posted by Dirty D (Post 16612188)

That is not in our TOS either... lol


If it is not in the TOS you can cheat... Everyone knows that.

Originally Posted by Dirty D (Post 16611965)

Exactly.

Send us additional traffic and sales - you get paid.

We have been paying for 10+ years.
Nothing has changed.

Originally Posted by lazycash (Post 16612382)

Unfortunately it appears its heading in that direction, this thread has already cost him far more than $350. I'm more alarmed that someone running a program in 2009 is just now becoming aware of 2002 marketing techniques.

Originally Posted by WiredGuy (Post 16612388)

This is a touchy subject as its mostly up to the individual program to decide if they want to blacklist affiliates who buy traffic on their own site names. Generally though, it should be in your terms of service if you don't want this. Don't forget this affiliate did bear a cost to buying those hits and sending them to your site.

If I could suggest a middle ground compromise:
Update your ToS to not allow this type of bidding on any PPC search engine for exact spellings of your domains and pay the affiliate at the very least his cost to acquire the traffic upon showing you an invoice from Google.

WG

Originally Posted by marketsmart (Post 16612420)

its not a touchy subject.. in mainstream most affiliate companies have this clearly written in their terms.. you may not bid on certain terms on ppc..

the compromise is to re write his tos and pay the guy his money..

any other offer is one made of shit.... bull shit.... :2 cents:

Originally Posted by marketsmart (Post 16611784)

would you rather see him bid on your name and send traffic somewhere else?

also, lets see your affiliate terms that state this is against your TOS...

Originally Posted by Dirty D (Post 16612459)

We have paid affiliates for valid SEO and SEM forever.

Anyone that supports this lame attempt at marketing and lying about traffic sources should seek another program for sure.

Originally Posted by WiredGuy (Post 16612388)

This is a touchy subject as its mostly up to the individual program to decide if they want to blacklist affiliates who buy traffic on their own site names...

WG

Originally Posted by Mutt (Post 16611903)

i allow it and encourage it - they do the work for me, they spend the money on the campaign. there is NOTHING to say that the sales he sent you through his PPC traffic using the site's keywords would have turned into type-in sales. porn mostly is an impluse purchase, his PPC ad caught their attention and you got a sale.

i know some site owners hate when affiliates use their names/trademarks to outrank them in the serps and to run PPC ads but my answer to them is - don't run an affiliate program, if your attitude/viewpoint is that affiliates are your competitors then simply don't have an open affiliate program.

Originally Posted by Dirty D (Post 16612459)

We have paid affiliates for valid SEO and SEM forever.

Anyone that supports this lame attempt at marketing and lying about traffic sources should seek another program for sure.

Originally Posted by Dirty D (Post 16612455)

The email contains both a lie and a threat.

Originally Posted by Agent 488 (Post 16612509)

this is what happens when you hire curious toy boy to consult on affiliate management.

Originally Posted by Dirty D (Post 16612484)

No blacklisting, instead we tryed to work with him.
Tried to find sales that occured from any other method.
I offered $100 PPS for 30 days to reward Shoehorn for sending some VALID SEM sales.

VALID SEM = Anything but the exact spelling of the domain name

Originally Posted by Agent 488 (Post 16612509)

this is what happens when you hire curious toy boy to consult on affiliate management.

Originally Posted by BradM (Post 16612518)

That guy works for D? Wow, the plot thickens

Originally Posted by Deej (Post 16612527)

This is Bullshit that dosnt need to be thrown around in this thread.

Originally Posted by Agent 488 (Post 16612532)

it's an obvious joke.

Originally Posted by Dirty D (Post 16612580)

CrackWhoreConfessions.com is converting at 1:315 overall today

Glad no one is siphoning off the typeins.
It has never been allowed.

There are over 5,000 affiliates and NONE are buying the domain names only.

Payouts were sent like clockwork to everyone. Epassporte and Checks :)

Originally Posted by PornMD (Post 16612592)

http://www.nametrader.com/pay.png

Sorry, but what he was doing wasn't illegal or against Google's TOS or your TOS. You can't not pay him and say after the fact that he broke one of your invisible rules. How the hell is he supposed to know he can't do it if it's not in your terms of service. Newsflash: In both adult and mainstream, there are superaffiliates doing that and making ridiculous money from it, and 99% of the programs they're doing it with are more than happy for it. Not that you have to be, but if it's not in your TOS, how can you possibly justify not paying him for breaking a "rule" that was nowhere to be seen on your site?