New Software Quietly Diverts Sales Commissions
After conducting a detailed analysis of the software, [Erik Peterson] concluded that the TopMoxie program was intricately designed to substitute its affiliate identification code for that of other sites as transactions were made. He said that the program remained on the computer even if the user removed the original LimeWire music sharing software. “I don’t buy their explanation,” he said. “What kind of accident is that?”
Mr. Petersen also pointed to a statement made in an online forum where the technology was discussed, in which a LimeWire developer characterized accusations that the software diverts money as “pretty accurate,” but said, “While I agree that this is really a bit of a scam, it is a way for us to pay salaries while not adversely affecting our users.”
I was just reviewing my Amazon Affiliate statements (I’ve made $5.15 so far, thanks), and discovered a link to this story. Apparently, some companies have decided their business model is to route sales commissions from affiliates like me to themselves. You might come here, read about something I liked, clickthrough to it at Amazon, and the commission goes to one of these other companies who had nothing to do with the transaction. They just worm their way in through some “shopping software” but removing it doesn’t solve the problem: the diversions continue.
Gee, when I was a kid we called that stealing. Oh, they say the purchaser is told their commission will go to their new friend, rather than the person who brought them to Amazon. But at that point what’s the buyer’s option? Can they reset the affiliate code? They can only not buy the item they came for if they want to be fair to the referring site. Maybe that is the right thing to do . . . . .
Obviously, I think it’s wrong for them to do this; most of the clients already are ad-ware, generating pop-up banners that associate with the websites you’re visiting.
On the other hand, I spotted a clever angle on this in the new Opera 5.0 beta. They’ve added a shopping search bar at the top of the browser window, and the default search is at amazon, with an “opera-20″ affiliate code.
Everybody wants to grab that dime. The Opera toolbar thing isn’t a problem, in my eyes, but the tactics of TopMoxie and its ilk (there are at least 3 offenders) are immoral.
I was just discussing this the other day with the guy at work who manages our affiliates. He had started to see traffic from the scumware.
(I’ve made $5.15 so far, thanks)
Last time you mentioned this it was more like $0.43. Are you getting commissions for all my purchases now, since I’m not using any other referrer? (If so, lucky you! I spend too much on Amazon. :-)