Guide to Affiliate Compliance: Techniques, Signs, & Strategies To Combat Affiliate Fraud

The Affiliate Marketing Program has the potential to bring a great value to companies, but some competent scammers can quickly and significantly reduce their profitability. The technical sophistication of the misused affiliate scheme often exceeds the mutual knowledge of marketing staff, allowing for marketing fraud.

This guide aims to provide a wide range of information on the mechanism of affiliate fraud so that marketing staff can deepen their understanding of affiliate fraud, impact on companies, and how to prevent and prevent them. We hope that this guide will be a step in reducing the overall usage of affiliates by having a no n-ethical affiliate to manipulate the system by deepening the understanding of marketing staff.

BRANDVERITY provides tools for marketing staff and affiliate managers to detect brands and trademark unauthorized use online. With two services, Poachmark and Affiliate Watch List, provide effective management tools for client affiliate programs, detect affiliate unauthorized use for affiliate search policy, and create an unauthorized affiliate continuous update list. 。 Please contact us if you have any questions or if you are interested in the partnership with Brandence.

What Is Affiliate Policy Monitoring?

Affiliate policy monitoring or affiliate program monitoring is to actively monitor and analyze the activities of affiliate partners. The purpose of affiliate monitoring is to protect the brand's reputation and integrity, and to confirm that all affiliate partners are complying with rules.

Guide to Affiliate Compliance

• At the beginning
• Search advertising policy violation
• Forced click and cookies
• Malware and adware
• Typeface
• Marketing incentive
• Prevention and exclusion
• Resource list

Violations of Paid Search Policy

One of the most common forms of affiliate fraud is caused by a violation of a paid search policy of a company, and often occurs in a trademark offer. Most service contracts have stated that companies cannot bid for affiliates for trademark search keywords. Of course, no n-ethical affiliates continue to do so, developing more sophisticated ways to hide such violations from marketing. The following section describes the various methods that affiliate hides illegal ads from marketing, and effective methods against these tactics.

Reverse IP-Geo-Targeting and Day-Parting

Reverse IP Geo Turgating and Daily Zoning are the most commonly used and very simple affiliate techniques to avoid the detection of paid violations. Simply put, affiliates set to post ads in places or times when the merchant does not track. For example, the GAP headquarters is located in San Francisco. GAP affiliates can be set to display ads only in cities other than San Francisco, all cities except California, or ads between 2:00 am and 4 am. In other words, if GAP employees and affiliate managers are looking for a "vacant coupon" from California's office, the ads are not displayed and all affiliates seem to have followed the terms of use. However, if a consumer who searches from a computer in California or Nevada at 3:00 am always enter "Vacancy Coupon", a website that provides discounts through affiliate links will be displayed in the search results.

There are several ways to detect the reversal of IP geo targeting. The general method is to browse with another IP address using a proxy server. Google translation and Yahoo Babelfis h-like services can easily perform this process, although they are fragile. Some services provide proxy server and VPN connections so that ads can be viewed from various IP addresses.

It is also possible to change Google search queries to simulate various sites and trigger ads from those places. Modifiers often used in Google search strings are GL (country), GR (region), and GCS (city).

Miami: & amp; amp; gl = us & amp; gl = US-fl & amp; gcs = Miami New York: & amp; amp; amp; gl = us & amp; gl = us-ny & amp; ; Gcs = new +YORK

If you add these strings at the end of the Google search that you have already executed, you can search as if you were in that place. If your company uses an automatic tracking system, it is important to make sure that the reversio targeting IP is bypassed.

Warning!

• Affiliate is much higher than average conversion rate
• Affiliates with a high percentage of empty introductions in network reports
• Affiliates whose orders increase rapidly or irregularly

Disposable URLs and Front Websites

The more cunning that is more cunning than hiding a trademark from a marketing person through IP geo targeting and deduction, is a new URL hijack method developed by the URL hijacker to minimize detection. Even if marketing representatives are more careful to pursue brands, they are looking for ways to make it harder to find who they are. If you succeed in hiding affiliate IDs when you buy a searc h-linked ad, the marketing staff will not be able to identify the affiliate you purchased the ad.

The technique for this continues to evolve, but a clear "best practices" have appeared among more sophisticated hijackers. Using disposable URLs and "front" sites, affiliates who abuse them will hide their identity from marketers and affiliate managers.

In short, this technique includes an advertisement that purchases a hijacked URL in the destination URL that will be destroyed later. When consumers access the single youth URL, the affiliate checks several and passes to the "Transfer" web page. This site effectively scrutinizes the refiner before sending consumers to an affiliate link. Such a series of events may make it difficult to associate the data that looks like a search engine and the data that looks like a merchant or affiliate manager.

Disposable URLs

Disclosure of advertising destinations is quite easy, so affiliate requires a way to keep fraudulent ads from a legitimate affiliate property. The disposable URL fulfills this function. It is common for URL shortcuts and raw IP addresses to be used as disposable URLs, but the general common is that newly registered domain addresses and collective subdomains play this role.

In particular, the bulk subset is incredibly cheap, so hijackers can use, change, and discard these sites quickly and frequently. For example, the sub domain of the co. cc domain can be freely registered with fake registration information. At such a hig h-level rate, it is difficult to associate a new abuse and past abuse. By the time the trader returns to the site to find out who the trading partner is, the link has been invalidated. In addition, hijackers often register these URLs with names that cannot be easily identified with legitimate affiliate properties, and they make personal information or both.

Visitor Checks and the CSS History Hack

When a visitor lands on a single-use domain, the affiliate performs several checks to determine whether or not to display the affiliate link. This checking process is essential to the survival of affiliate fraud, since if the link does not display, the affiliate program will halt the visit.

Such checks can range from simple procedures such as examining the visitor's URL references and IP address to much more complex hacks of the visitor's browser history. One of the more complex hacks that affiliates perform on the visitor's browser is the CSS history hack, which exploits a common hole in web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, that exposes information about previously visited websites. Simply put, web browsers treat links that have been visited differently from those that have not. By looking at which sites a visitor has visited, an affiliate can determine with a fair degree of accuracy whether the visitor is a merchant, an affiliate, or a representative of the network. Sites frequently searched by affiliate hijackers include:

• https://www. brandverity. com/account/login/
• https://cli. linksynergy. com/cli/common/login. php
• https://nyms. linksynergy. com/owa (host exchange for LinkShare employees)
• https://www. google. com/ads/affiliatenetwork/
• https://adcenter. microsoft.

If a user visits one of these links, or fails any other checks the affiliate performs, the user is immediately sent to the merchant's affiliate site without a cookie. If not, they are taken to the next stage of the process, the "front-end" website.

Although CSS history is closed in the latest versions of most major browsers, unethical affiliates are constantly developing new techniques to detect visitors who should hide their links.

“Front” Websites

The "front" site often looks like a completely legitimate site, such as a blog site, a review site, or a more general coupon site. This site is used for the affiliate program, but it has many other purposes. Its primary purpose is to look like a site that converts visitors. This site must act as a concrete representative of the affiliate's purported business model, showing potential affiliate managers how the affiliate will make money and promote the merchant's brand. This aspect is important, both in terms of convincing merchants to include the affiliate in the program in the first place, and in terms of appearing legitimate when merchants or network representatives visit at a later date.

More importantly, a second, less detailed set of checks, similar to those performed with disposable URLs, is performed on visitors from this site. The purpose of this set of checks is simply to determine whether visitors should be automatically redirected. If all visitors were automatically redirected, the site would not look as authentic to a suspicious affiliate manager. If these checks are passed, the user is automatically redirected to the affiliate link.

Auto-Redirects

The automatic redirection process flushes the user's referral system before sending them to the merchant. By flushing user traffic in this way, the affiliate successfully hides the fact that the user originally arrived via search advertising. This traffic is interpreted as pure affiliate value-add, since the data sent to the marketer or affiliate manager only indicates that the user came from the "front" site.

There are legitimate reasons to redirect users via affiliate sites, for example if an affiliate wants to keep private the search keywords used to buy traffic, or if they want to conduct their own ad tracking. This means that when monitoring affiliate traffic, it is important to distinguish between proper and improper redirects. Proper redirects usually take the form of server-side 301 and 302 redirects, which are the redirection methods recommended by the W3C. None of these techniques result in "referral flushing".

Incorrect redirects, on the other hand, are usually done via Javascript, meta tags, or frames. While it can be used by non-skilled webmasters who fail to code the proper redirects, it is most often used by affiliates intending to launder users.

With this series of steps, just looking at the site "from the front" does not know the source of the actual traffic or the affiliate fraud. All traffic from the site to the merchant appears legally.

URLs and front pages are common methods for rodeling referrals, but there are also services for affiliates to hide search keywords and traffic guidance. Sites like Referer. US and Hiderefer. org are for affiliate users, making it very easy to hide their bad habits from marketers.

Trademark Bidding and BrandVerity

If you ask an external company to monitor an affiliate program, Brandence provides a series of services designed to deal with such search pouching. The affiliate tracking list contains more than 300 affiliate identifiers, which helps you to identify unauthorized affiliates and apply affiliate applications. Poachmark Pool data gives you insight into the experience of another marketing person in a specific affiliate. In terms of continuous surveillance, Poachmark uses these techniques to find an affiliate, belong, and communicate. BRANDVERITY has made a consistent effort to maintain the cutting edge of affiliate poaching techniques, and conveys this knowledge on a daily basis to make the most of the affiliate programs.

Forced Clicks and "Cookie-Stuffing"

While many affiliate fraud appear in bran d-offered and paid search violations, other types of unauthorized use is also actively performed among affiliates. The forced click, which is also known as a cookie packed, is particularly known as an illegal affiliate to get a commission. The next section describes what cookies are packed, how it affects the merchant or other affiliates, and various means for detection and prevention. < SPAN> With this series of steps, just looking at the site "from the front" does not know the source of actual traffic or affiliate fraud. All traffic from the site to the merchant appears legally.

What is Cookie-Stuffing?

URLs and front pages are common methods for rodeling referrals, but there are also services for affiliates to hide search keywords and traffic guidance. Sites like Referer. US and Hiderefer. org are for affiliate users, making it very easy to hide their bad habits from marketers.

eBay vs DigitalPoint, USA vs Shawn D. Hogan

If you ask an external company to monitor an affiliate program, Brandence provides a series of services designed to deal with such search pouching. The affiliate tracking list contains more than 300 affiliate identifiers, which helps you to identify unauthorized affiliates and apply affiliate applications. Poachmark Pool data gives you insight into the experience of another marketing person in a specific affiliate. In terms of continuous surveillance, Poachmark uses these techniques to find an affiliate, belong, and communicate. BRANDVERITY has made a consistent effort to maintain the cutting edge of affiliate poaching techniques, and conveys this knowledge on a daily basis to make the most of the affiliate programs.

While many affiliate fraud appear in bran d-offered and paid search violations, other types of unauthorized use is also actively performed among affiliates. The forced click, which is also known as a cookie packed, is particularly known as an illegal affiliate to get a commission. The next section describes what cookies are packed, how it affects the merchant or other affiliates, and various means for detection and prevention. With this series of steps, just looking at the site "from the front" does not know the source of the actual traffic or the affiliate fraud. All traffic from the site to the merchant appears legally.

URLs and front pages are common methods for rodeling referrals, but there are also services for affiliates to hide search keywords and traffic guidance. Sites like Referer. US and Hiderefer. org are for affiliate users, making it very easy to hide their bad habits from marketers.

If you ask an external company to monitor an affiliate program, Brandence provides a series of services designed to deal with such search pouching. The affiliate tracking list contains more than 300 affiliate identifiers, which helps you to identify unauthorized affiliates and apply affiliate applications. Poachmark Pool data gives you insight into the experience of another marketing person in a specific affiliate. In terms of continuous surveillance, Poachmark uses these techniques to find an affiliate, belong, and communicate. BRANDVERITY has made a consistent effort to maintain the cutting edge of affiliate poaching techniques, and conveys this knowledge on a daily basis to make the most of the affiliate programs.

While many affiliate frauds appear in bran d-offs and paid search violations, other types of unauthorized use is also actively performed among affiliates. The forced click, which is also known as a cookie packed, is particularly known as an illegal affiliate to get a commission. The next section describes what cookies are packed, how it affects the merchant or other affiliates, and various means for detection and prevention.

Forced Clicks at an Affiliate Site

The standard affiliate marketing model works by using cookies to track how the user has reached the merchant website. For most systems, if the user visits an affiliate website, clicks affiliate links, and then purchases from an affiliate, merchant pays a commission to the affiliate. Each time the affiliate link is clicked by the user, the cookies are dropped on the user's system, and the merchant will know where the user came from and which affiliates worth a commission. Most programs have a 3 0-day return period, and affiliates can receive credit for sales even if they return to merchant within a certain number of days. However, some affiliates have succeeded in deceiving the merchant's tracking system, despite the fact that the user has not clicked the link, and believing that the user has clicked the link. Affiliates can obtain credit from the user without necessarily advertising or increasing the traffic by incorporating cookies into the system without being clicked or clicked. Masu.

Banner Ads

One of the most famous examples of sophisticated cookies is related to Shawn Hogan, the owner of digital signage. Both EBAY and the federal government accused Hogan that Hogan was packed with cookies when EBAY was affiliate, and claimed that this act was not only no n-ethical but illegal.

The original lawsuit was a civil lawsuit on August 25, 2008 by Ebey for Mr. Hogan, the other two defendants and all the companies. The company claims that Hogan and other defendants have made fraud, intimidation, and unauthorized access to servers at Ebey to execute cookies from 2003 to mi d-2007. They argue that this scheme is involved in hidden forced clicks by affiliate links, and defendants have actively hid the act from Ebey and denied misconduct when asked about suspicious acts. I'm doing it. All documents about this civil lawsuit are Justia's Ebay V Digital Point Solutions et al.

Image Cookie-Stuffing

However, on June 24, 2010, Hogan and another civil defendant were charged with the FBI cyber criminal investigation and accused of telegraph fraud and criminal mischief by a large jury in California. Ta. Hogan was charged with 10 telegraph fraud. This indictment is closely overlapped with a civil pipeline, but has expanded some important details. He argued that he had been a cookie tough, the number one affiliate of Ebey, and had a commission of about $ 15. 5 million from Ebey. He and other affiliates argue that they have forced hidden clicks not only on their own sites but also on other sites that are not related to their own organizations. Furthermore, from EBAY, this act is applied to the user's computer only once, and to use a reverse geographical target so that the computer near the EBAY headquarters does not pack cookies once, so that it looks the same as the actual traffic. He said he was hiding. Click here for the full text of the prosecution.

Affiliates, networks, and traders have a wide range of legal impacts and large numbers. One is that if the federal government wins, cookies will shift from violation of civil contract to violation of federal law. In U. S. V. Hogan, the legal standards for telegraph fraud were created for transmitting cookies between states and international, rather than being created to receive money or supplies through telegraph. If the two defendants are guilty (currently both defendants are released by handing out $ 100. 000 bail and passport), the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison, fines 250. $ 250 or twice the total profit or loss. In addition to fines, thre e-year surveillance release, civil lawsuit results and lawyer fees, special assessments of $ 100 per case are charged.

Warning!

• The lawsuit has been reported in the affiliate world, and the insights of Kelly Stevens discuss the potential impact of this lawsuit in a wider affiliate field. Hogan himself refuted through a blog, explaining the various cookie cutter techniques he used, and claiming innocence. Of course, both lawsuits are estimated to be guilty until they are guilty of the jury. < SPAN> However, on June 24, 2010, Civil Litigation was charged with Hogan and another civil defendant, as a result of the FBI cyber criminal investigation, in California's large jury and criminal mischief. It was pending. Hogan was charged with 10 telegraph fraud. This indictment is closely overlapped with a civil pipeline, but has expanded some important details. He argued that he had been a cookie tough, the number one affiliate of Ebey, and had a commission of about $ 15. 5 million from Ebey. He and other affiliates argue that they have forced hidden clicks not only on their own sites but also on other sites that are not related to their own organizations. Furthermore, from EBAY, this act is applied to the user's computer only once, and to use a reverse geographical target so that the computer near the EBAY headquarters does not pack cookies once, so that it looks the same as the actual traffic. He said he was hiding. Click here for the full text of the prosecution.
• Affiliates, networks, and traders have a wide range of legal impacts and large numbers. One is that if the federal government wins, cookies will shift from violation of civil contract to violation of federal law. In U. S. V. Hogan, the legal standards for telegraph fraud were created for transmitting cookies between states and international, rather than being created to receive money or supplies through telegraph. If the two defendants are guilty (currently both defendants are released by handing out $ 100. 000 bail and passport), the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison, fines 250. $ 250 or twice the total profit or loss. In addition to fines, thre e-year surveillance release, civil lawsuit results and lawyer fees, special assessments of $ 100 per case are charged.
• The lawsuit has been reported in the affiliate world, and the insights of Kelly Stevens discuss the potential impact of this lawsuit in a wider affiliate field. Hogan himself refuted through a blog, explaining the various cookie cutter techniques he used, and claiming innocence. Of course, both lawsuits are estimated to be guilty until they are guilty of the jury. However, on June 24, 2010, Hogan and another civil defendant were charged with the FBI cyber criminal investigation and accused of telegraph fraud and criminal mischief by a large jury in California. Ta. Hogan was charged with 10 telegraph fraud. This indictment is closely overlapped with a civil pipeline, but has expanded some important details. He argued that he had been a cookie tough, the number one affiliate of Ebey, and had a commission of about $ 15. 5 million from Ebey. He and other affiliates argue that they have forced hidden clicks not only on their own sites but also on other sites that are not related to their own organizations. Furthermore, from EBAY, this act is applied to the user's computer only once, and to use a reverse geographical target so that the computer near the EBAY headquarters does not pack cookies once, so that it looks the same as the actual traffic. He said he was hiding. Click here for the full text of the prosecution.
• Affiliates, networks, and traders have a wide range of legal impacts and large numbers. One is that if the federal government wins, cookies will shift from violation of civil contract to violation of federal law. In U. S. V. Hogan, the legal standards for telegraph fraud were created for transmitting cookies between states and international, rather than being created to receive money or supplies through telegraph. If the two defendants are guilty (currently both defendants are released by handing out $ 100. 000 bail and passport), the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison, fines 250. $ 250 or twice the total profit or loss. In addition to fines, thre e-year surveillance release, civil lawsuit results and lawyer fees, special assessments of $ 100 per case are charged.
• The lawsuit has been reported in the affiliate world, and the insights of Kelly Stevens discuss the potential impact of this lawsuit in a wider affiliate field. Hogan himself refuted through a blog, explaining the various cookie cutter techniques he used, and claiming innocence. Of course, both lawsuits are estimated to be guilty until they are guilty of the jury.

Countering Cookie-Stuffing

A common method used by Force Clicks Partners is to use JavaScript on the front page. When a visitor arrives at the site, the site forces the user's browser to load the affiliate link. By simply visiting the site, a cookie is loaded onto the user's computer and all subsequent purchases from the associated merchant are credited to the affiliate. This method often involves the presence of an invisible IFRAME on the website that contains the affiliate link. The affiliate page is loaded in an IFRAME and the cookie is automatically dropped on the user's system. WordPress plugins such as CPA Redirector, Cookiefire and Cookie Chip Cookie also make it very easy for affiliates to force clicks from WordPress pages. Even if the user never clicks on the ad, the affiliate can earn commissions on products the user purchases from the merchant for several days. Sophisticated affiliate fraudsters are developing new ways to hide this type of click fraud from merchants and affiliate managers through a variety of obfuscation techniques. The act of loading an affiliate link into a banner ad brings another level of complexity to the act of cookie stuffing. In this scenario, an affiliate loads an affiliate link and drops a cookie into the user's browser via a banner ad. This type of cookie stuffing allows the affiliate to earn a commission based on nothing other than the user's physical browsing.

When using this method, the affiliate can earn a commission without the user ever clicking on a link or browsing the site. The merchant belongs to the affiliate in violation of the terms of service, but even worse, the merchant doesn't receive any advertising or promotion at all. Any sales that occur happen anyway, since the banner ad doesn't even have to be that merchant's. The affiliate isn't interfering in a legal way.

Stuffing cookies into images makes it even easier (and potentially cheaper) for an affiliate to drop cookies without the user's knowledge. In this model, the affiliate uses the affiliate link as the source of an image file, and then places that image file on their website. Your browser will follow the link and, even though it cannot load the image, will act by reading the cookies sent through the link. This link may appear as a harmless image icon, or more clever scammers can set it to display the image as blank.

Malware and Adware

This technique is very effective on affiliate sites, but the real benefits for abusing affiliates are that you can drop cookies on a lot of free traffic. The online discussion forum provides a major opportunity to force click by using these image files for electronic signatures. By embedding these affiliate links in the signature, anyone who has seen the posted posted by affiliates will drop an affiliate cookie on the browser. Affiliates can not only forced users to links and their sites, but also allow clicks without paying the advertising space. This technique also works in forums such as MySpace profile, ebay auction, and craigslist ads. Malicious affiliates can create pages with an images of affiliate links on these sites, and every time they browse their profile, auctions, and ads, cookies are imposed on the user's browser. And, as described earlier, the purchase made on the target merchant's website during the "number of returns" will be paid to the affiliate that did the fraud.

What is Malware/Adware?

Partner with a conversion rate considerably lower than average

Empty or redundant HTTP Referrer header

“Pop-Ups, Pop-Unders and Hidden Windows”?

The time from click to purchase is long

Apparently operated statistics

A cookie click is displayed even though you haven't clicked anything

Warning!

• There are several different ways to judge whether affiliates with a suspicious appearance actually are filling cookies. One simple way is to delete cookies from the browser, visit suspicious sites, and see which cookies have been rejected. If you have a click cookie, you haven't clicked anything, so the cookies are packed. If you are going to investigate this kind of survey, learn the difference between "Impression of cookies" and "cookies".
• Another method is to use ad d-on type HTTP viewers and full packet scanners to monitor whether the redirect sent by the site contains affiliate links. Frequently used are HTTPWATCH, IEWATCH, EFFETECH, ENDACE, and Wireshark. Of course, it is better to use a proxy, as affiliates may be filled with cookies only for specific IP addresses.
• It is difficult to accurately identify how affiliates are encountering a cookie storm, and you usually need to check the source code. Some monitoring can be performed automatically with software, but it is also recommended that at least some members of the Affiliate Marketing Management team have a powerful technical background. Abusive affiliates are stealing the eyes of marketing staff and still adapting and improving that method.

Countering Malware and Adware

The way unauthorized affiliates create illegal clicks is not just we b-based cookies. Unethical affiliates have been using malware and adware to induces traffic, stolen from the merchant and other affiliates, and have been setting cookies for many years. This section describes how malware and adware work, and verify how to contribute to erroneous clicks and other affiliate contracts.

Cookie Fraud Consultants

• Malware and adware include programs such as spyware, po p-ups, and pop under. In many cases, these programs are installed on the user's computer without the full knowledge and intention of the user.

Typosquatting

Malware and adware work in various ways to induce traffic to affiliates, often disadvantageous to merchant and other sincere affiliates. This software can be more directly targeted by tracking users and providing affiliates with detailed information on user online activities. Using the information you have obtained about user search and purchase, this software can launch a variety of advertisements and browser windows, send cookies, and steal from merchant or other affiliates.

What is Typosquatting?

Po p-up advertisements are generally designed to recognize that the users have moved to the website and display advertisements from competitors. In many cases, these ads are covered by most of the user's screen, and from an advertiser's point of view, we expect to choose to purchase from competitors, not the first site navigated by the user. < SPAN> It is difficult to accurately identify how affiliates are in a cookie storm, and you usually need to check the source code. Some monitoring can be performed automatically with software, but it is also recommended that at least some members of the Affiliate Marketing Management team have a powerful technical background. Abusive affiliates are stealing the eyes of marketing staff and still adapting and improving that method.

Pay-Per-click Advertisements

The way unauthorized affiliates create illegal clicks is not just we b-based cookies. Unethical affiliates have been using malware and adware to induces traffic, stolen from the merchant and other affiliates, and have been setting cookies for many years. This section describes how malware and adware work, and verify how to contribute to erroneous clicks and other affiliate contracts.

Cookie-Stuffing, Redirection, and Affiliate Links

Malware and adware include programs such as spyware, po p-ups, and pop under. In many cases, these programs are installed on the user's computer without the full knowledge and intention of the user.

Redirections to Competitors

Malware and adware work in various ways to induce traffic to affiliates, often disadvantageous to merchant and other sincere affiliates. This software can be more directly targeted by tracking users and providing affiliates with detailed information on user online activities. Using the information you have obtained about user search and purchase, this software can launch a variety of advertisements and browser windows, send cookies, and steal from merchant or other affiliates.

Legal Ramifications of Typosquatting

Po p-up advertisements are generally designed to recognize that the users have moved to the website and display advertisements from competitors. In many cases, these ads are covered by most of the user's screen, and from an advertiser's point of view, we expect to choose to purchase from competitors, not the first site navigated by the user. It is difficult to accurately identify how affiliates are encountering a cookie storm, and you usually need to check the source code. Some monitoring can be performed automatically with software, but it is also recommended that at least some members of the Affiliate Marketing Management team have a powerful technical background. Abusive affiliates are stealing the eyes of marketing staff and still adapting and improving that method.

Countering Typosquatting

The way unauthorized affiliates create illegal clicks is not just we b-based cookies. Unethical affiliates have been using malware and adware to induces traffic, stolen from the merchant and other affiliates, and have been setting cookies for many years. This section describes how malware and adware work, and verify how to contribute to erroneous clicks and other affiliate contracts.

Malware and adware include programs such as spyware, po p-ups, and pop under. In many cases, these programs are installed on the user's computer without the full knowledge and intention of the user.

Malware and adware work in various ways to induce traffic to affiliates, often disadvantageous to merchant and other sincere affiliates. This software can be more directly targeted by tracking users and providing affiliates with detailed information on user online activities. Using the information you have obtained about user search and purchase, this software can launch a variety of advertisements and browser windows, send cookies, and steal from merchant or other affiliates.

Warning!

• Po p-up advertisements are generally designed to recognize that the users have moved to the website and display advertisements from competitors. In many cases, these ads are covered by most of the user's screen, and from an advertiser's point of view, we expect to choose to purchase from competitors instead of the first site navigated by the user.

ISP Error Pages, Paxfire and Sendori

However, abusive affiliates can still use pop-up ads to earn affiliate revenue. Instead of opening a competitor's ad, the adware opens a window for a site that the user already had active, only this time it opens it via an affiliate link. For example, if the user goes to Samplesite. com, the pop-up will again display Samplesite. com, but this time it will load an affiliate cookie in the user's browser. This type of abuse can appear at any point while the user is browsing a website, but it often targets URLs used in the purchasing process. Again, the merchant ends up paying a commission for customers who had already reached the site without the affiliate's assistance.

Such pop-ups can be very noticeable or they can be barely visible. By opening a window off the screen or making it so small that it is almost invisible, the user can pull off the same trick as described above. Instead of displaying a double window, they open one in the background and trigger the affiliate link to make it look to the merchant like the affiliate led the sale.

Transactions with missing HTTP referral headers

Incentive Marketing

Abnormal conversion rates (high or low)

Affiliates sending traffic in the middle of a user session

1. Discovering clear evidence of malware or adware is very difficult and requires a healthy amount of technical sophistication. The best approach for most organizations is to work with a consultant who runs their own malware lab. Another technique for dealing with malware is to maintain high standards for the affiliates you accept into your program.
2. Various consultants also offer these services for a fee. Ben Edelman has created a sophisticated lab that monitors a wide range of malware programs for affiliate abuse. Kelly Stevens also offers a service that highlights affiliates who find malware. More information about both consultants and their services can be found in the resources section at the end of this book.
3. Another way of affiliate trying to steal commissions from merchant is Typo Kwatting. Typ o-katting has a variety of forms, but it always includes the domain name that is very similar to the merchant's trademark domain and use that domain to make a profit from the traffic intended by Mart After. This section focuses on how the member stores pay unnecessary fees, especially how the affiliate member stores use these domain names. It also explains how to deal with these abuse.
4. Typ o-kutting is a subset of the domain parking business, purchasing a domain name that shifts only several characters from the domain name of a large company. For example, the domain name that can be purchased for the purpose of entering the website www. sample. com is wwwsample. com, sampl. com, Sanple. com, etc. This idea is based on the idea that users who quickly enter the URL field will often get a mistake in the word spell and reach the Typo Wattter domain instead of the domain of the merchant. These types of users are particularly likely to be conversion. Because they are searching for a merchant and may buy it, but simply being washed into the wrong web address. Affiliate high jackers can turn such users into a highly profitable customer under the burden of merchant.

Toolbars and Couponware

The most common use of standard domains is to display paper click ads. Many of these sites are affiliated with major advertising platforms such as Google AdSense for Domains, selling advertisers to advertisers and collecting payments to their ads. Typically, the top advertisements on the Typosquatted site are the merchant's brand, the top advertisement of www. sampl. com, is from www. sample. com. In many cases, the advertisement of competitors is displayed under the domain advertisement where the spell is wrong. If [BassStbuy. jpg and/ or HomeDepo. jpg] users click on an advertisement on the site that would have been navigated, the regular marketing staff would advertise the traffic that was actually physically instructed. You will pay both the platform and the wrong domain owner.

Building a Policy for Incentive Marketing

While typosquatters like the ones mentioned above are not usually part of affiliate programs, affiliates find various ways to take money from merchants by using the shredded domains. One common and fairly simple technique is for affiliates to place 301 redirects to the target area of ​​the standard domain. During the redirect, they set a cookie in the user's browser and claim credit for a sale that should have already been made. This technique makes the merchant pay a commission for a sale that arrived organically. It also allows the affiliate to appear to have a particularly high conversion rate, since many people who were directed via the link likely went to the merchant's site with the intention of buying from that merchant.

Finally, typosquatters can target merchants using standard domains in order to redirect them to competitors' websites. Some standard domains for popular sites automatically redirect users to another, sometimes less popular, site that offers a similar service. Again, users who type in a domain name, despite the spelling, often intend to buy. If the redirection takes you to a different site that is not too different, you may end up buying from that merchant instead of the one you were originally trying to visit.

In addition to the basic economic impact of traders, it also has the legal effect of accepting invaders to affiliate programs. Based on the wording of the Unified Domain Name Conflict Conflict Control policy (UDRP), if the domain with standardized marketers wants to file a petition later that it infringes its trademark, the imprint has a legitimate business profit in the domain. You have to prove that you are not. Some cases over Type Soctings and Cyber ​​Clearing are claims that they are legal business by allowing subsidiaries that use typewater in affiliate programs, such as Skype Limited V Benjamin Decraenee. Some suggest that you can justify. According to the panel, the fact that this case is explicitly accepted that the announcer will be part of an affiliate program that puts hyperlinks on the announcer website, as in this case, according to this panel. The plaintiffs may probably have been considered the right of the plaintiff in the domain name by accepting the applicant as an affiliate. " Skype v. Decraene). A trademark registered marketing staff has permitted Typosquatter to use this domain name as an affiliate of the program (even if you do not know that).

Countering Incentivized Marketing

Typ o-kutting and its effects begin with prevention. By sel f-reporting domain name spell mistakes, marketing representatives can prevent Type Hijacker in advance. By purchasing a variety of domain names similar to the brand and setting these sites to the correct site, you may not have to pay a lot of expenses for unnecessary paper clicking and affiliate marketing.

In addition, UDRP is similar to the trademark so that the domain is confused by some users, 2) the trademark owner does not have a legitimate profit in its name, 3) its name. If you can prove that it is used with malicious intent, we also provide a process to collect the domain quickly. Of course, a lawsuit on such a route can be a difficult process that requires a lawyer, so there are several domain recovery programs on ALIAS Encore and Citizenhawk.

Both companies can actually participate in your affiliate program. Instead of collecting your domain and collecting the fron t-end commission, you will receive fees from all sales that have passed the page for a certain period (often, one or two years).

In the IBCI Law Group IBCI domain search tool, find out if your domain has typography data.

FTC Endorsement Regulations and Complaints

Typosquatting close relatives are an increasingly implemented electromatics generation scheme. Many ISPs stop requests for 404 error pages or no n-existing domains and redirect customers to other sites. The more common is to display a page filled with an advertisement that can be found in a parked domain.

Recently, PAXFIRE, an ISP partner that manages the revenue system, has begun to search for users and insert affiliate links. Users make a search request to Google under brand name such as "Amazon". Paxfire and its ISP partner block this request and send users directly to the Amazon website via affiliate links. They have introduced this program in hundreds of affiliate programs that straddle many networks.

The Legacy Learning Case

Sendori is a domain revenue generated platform that advertisers can bid to visitors. Instead of bidding on a standardized domain name display ad, the advertiser will bid directly to the visitors. For example, the tinyprint. com domain is part of the Sendori ad network. The successful advertiser sends visitors to any URL they have selected. Of course, some affiliates of tinyprints. com bid this traffic and provide routing through Sendori's affiliate links. Affiliates not only use Sendori, but also participate in many affiliate programs. In some cases, Sendori may send direct traffic through affiliate links. Sendori is increasingly collaborating with ISP and also provides debugging systems.

Unlike the above methods prohibited by almost all affiliate programs, incentive marketing is recognized under certain service conditions. Insentive marketing has evolved significantly and can take various forms. Even if your program is generally permitted, you may have a specific incentive marketing that is prohibited.

Prevention and Elimination of Affiliate Abuse

Insentive marketing is widely used for various marketing activities. These activities include the following:

Terms of Service Agreement

Royalty program and refund program. Sites such as UPROMISE, FATWALLET, and EBATES provide cashback for purchases via affiliate links. Similarly, United Airlines and other airlines have returned the miles of the products purchased through affiliate links.

• Social game offer. Many social games have opportunities for users to improve their ability and achievements in the game by completing the offer in exchange for points and status. For example, a firm building user can add coins and cash to your account by creating a blockbuster DVD rental trial account.
• "Free" promotion. "Free iPod" and similar programs. Consumers are given the opportunity to receive the iPod for free. To do so, it is necessary to answer the questionnaire, apply for a trial version (such as blockbuster), and apply for a car contract.
• Information provision. Some affiliates have a system that pays users simply to complete affiliate offer. This special approach is usually banned in programs and networks, but is often used.
• Tool lines and vouchers are often used in incentive schemes. This kind of program, which is usually presented to customers as a way to save money, promises donations to customers, cashback, and sometimes donations to charity on almost all online shopping sites. When a customer downloads the software, the toolbar is displayed on the browser, and the toolbar is always launched when the program accesses a site with affiliate links. The toolbar automatically sets cookies and tells member stores that affiliates have promoted sales. In addition, some coupons are displayed on the site of the merchant that has set cookies to indicate that it has been sold via an affiliate instead of a search. In short, these types of advertising tools and coupon reminder software can redirect market traffic through affiliate links, and merchant can pay commissions for free sales.
• Insentive marketing can be worth or destroy to affiliate programs. Advertisers should carefully consider the chain of value added by affiliate incentive marketing. Royalty sites can bring new customers to member stores, and you can simply diver their existing customers through affiliate links.
• Users who ask for an estimate of car insurance to increase the status in social games may be more likely or lower than a general user who requests an estimate. Some sophisticated affiliate advertisers understand these indicators well and set different commission levels depending on the traffic source.
• Toolbars and coupons related to the incentive program can cause problems itself. In the past, the toolbar has been confirmed in the past to replace existing affiliate cookies, automatically insert their own cookies, and take actions that are not clearly identified by affiliates.
• Above all, be familiar with that technique and take into account your program impact. If you choose to cooperate with the I n-Centive Marketter, make sure you understand how they sell your services and what tools are using. Of course, there is no guarantee that some affiliates will not execute the technique even if they prohibit techniques.

Build a strong relationship with the customer service team. If you have any problems, you will first hear customer service. You may be complaining that the iPod is out of reach, or hearing social games and reporting aggressive emails (spam) from a third party who has not opt ​​-in.

Payment Delays

If an affiliate offers toolbar or other downloads, get used to the software (ideally in a virtual environment) or contact other affiliate managers in a forum like Abestweb or Affiliation Summit Forum. Understand experience. Also, searching on the web gives a lot of information about the software and the possibility of causing problems.

Approving Affiliate Applications

The most important thing is to link the main indicators to individual affiliates. These indicators are deeper than the commission paid, and you need to track the ultimate value that each affiliate has contributed. This allows you to identify the problem before the problem affiliate has a significant adverse effect on the service. < SPAN> Users who ask for an estimate of car insurance to increase status in social games may be more likely or lower than a general user who requests an estimate. Some sophisticated affiliate advertisers understand these indicators well and set different commission levels depending on the traffic source.

Toolbars and coupons related to the incentive program can cause problems itself. In the past, the toolbar has been confirmed in the past to replace existing affiliate cookies, automatically insert their own cookies, and take actions that are not clearly identified by affiliates.

Above all, be familiar with that technique and take into account your program impact. If you choose to cooperate with the I n-Centive Marketter, make sure you understand how they sell your services and what tools are using. Of course, there is no guarantee that some affiliates will not execute the technique even if they prohibit techniques.

Build a strong relationship with the customer service team. If you have any problems, you will first hear customer service. You may be complaining that the iPod is out of reach, or hearing social games and reporting aggressive emails (spam) from a third party who has not opt ​​-in.

If an affiliate offers toolbar or other downloads, get used to the software (ideally in a virtual environment) or contact other affiliate managers in a forum like Abestweb or Affiliation Summit Forum. Understand experience. Also, searching on the web gives a lot of information about the software and the possibility of causing problems.

The most important thing is to link the main indicators to individual affiliates. These indicators are deeper than the commission paid, and you need to track the ultimate value that each affiliate has contributed. This allows you to identify the problem before the problem affiliate has a significant adverse effect on the service. Users who ask for an estimate of car insurance to increase the status in social games may be more likely or lower than a general user who requests an estimate. Some sophisticated affiliate advertisers understand these indicators well and set different commission levels depending on the traffic source.

Reviewing Affiliate Statistics

Toolbars and coupons related to the incentive program can cause problems itself. In the past, the toolbar has been confirmed in the past to replace existing affiliate cookies, automatically insert their own cookies, and take actions that are not clearly identified by affiliates.

Above all, be familiar with that technique and take into account your program impact. If you choose to cooperate with the I n-Centive Marketter, make sure you understand how they sell your services and what tools are using. Of course, there is no guarantee that some affiliates will not execute the technique even if they prohibit techniques.

Build a strong relationship with the customer service team. If you have any problems, you will first hear customer service. You may be complaining that the iPod is out of reach, or hearing social games and reporting aggressive emails (spam) from a third party who has not opt ​​-in.

Adding New Networks

If an affiliate offers toolbar or other downloads, get used to the software (ideally in a virtual environment) or contact other affiliate managers in a forum like Abestweb or Affiliation Summit Forum. Understand experience. Also, searching on the web gives a lot of information about the software and the possibility of causing problems.

The most important thing is to link the main indicators to individual affiliates. These indicators are deeper than the commission paid, and you need to track the ultimate value that each affiliate has contributed. This allows you to identify the problem before the problem affiliate has a significant adverse effect on the service.

In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission updated his approval guide to further reflect the changing Internet marketing fields. The main subject of updates is to use social media and blogs as a platform for paid recommendations, and it is clear that bloggers who recommend products must disclose them if they receive financial interests. I did. In the unlikely event that this is neglected and the violation becomes the FTC knows, it is the advertiser, not the recommender. The renewal of this regulation has a clear meaning for marketing operators who operate affiliate programs.

Internal Programs

Marketing representatives are advertisements that are likely to believe that consumers express their opinions, beliefs, beliefs, knowledge, or experience, and their en d-seminars. You will be responsible for the false or unfounded claims made through the disclosure of important connections in between). Therefore, the advertiser explains to the network members what can be said about the product, regularly monitor what people are talking about, and effectively follow up suspicious acts. , We are responsible for creating affiliate education and monitoring programs. FTC states that if a marketing person has such a program, one fraudulent blogger will be forced to take over the marketing person. The latest guides for advertising and testimony use and the FTC FTC FIQ section include very useful information on disclosure requirements, compliance and compliance violations. < SPAN> In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission updated the approval guide to further reflect the changing Internet marketing fields. The main subject of updates is to use social media and blogs as a platform for paid recommendations, and it is clear that bloggers who recommend products must disclose them if they receive financial interests. I did. In the unlikely event that this is neglected and the violation becomes the FTC knows, it is the advertiser, not the recommender. The renewal of this regulation has a clear meaning for marketing operators who operate affiliate programs.

Marketing representatives are advertisements that are likely to believe that consumers express their opinions, beliefs, beliefs, knowledge, or experience, and their en d-seminars. You will be responsible for the false or unfounded claims made through the disclosure of important connections in between). Therefore, the advertiser explains to the network members what can be said about the product, regularly monitor what people are talking about, and effectively follow up suspicious acts. , We are responsible for creating affiliate education and monitoring programs. FTC states that if a marketing person has such a program, one fraudulent blogger will be forced to take over the marketing person. The latest guides for advertising and testimony use and the FTC FTC FIQ section include very useful information on disclosure requirements, compliance and compliance violations. In 2009, the Federal Trade Commission updated his approval guide to further reflect the changing Internet marketing fields. The main subject of updates is to use social media and blogs as a platform for paid recommendations, and it is clear that bloggers who recommend products must disclose them if they receive financial interests. I did. In the unlikely event that this is neglected and the violation becomes the FTC knows, it is the advertiser, not the recommender. The renewal of this regulation has a clear meaning for marketing operators who operate affiliate programs.

What to Do If You Find Abusive Affiliates

Marketing representatives are advertisements that are likely to believe that consumers express their opinions, beliefs, beliefs, knowledge, or experience, and their en d-seminars. You will be responsible for the false or unfounded claims made through the disclosure of important connections in between). Therefore, the advertiser explains to the network members what can be said about the product, regularly monitor what people are talking about, and effectively follow up suspicious acts. , We are responsible for creating affiliate education and monitoring programs. FTC states that if a marketing person has such a program, one fraudulent blogger will be forced to take over the marketing person. The latest guides for advertising and testimony use and the FTC FTC FIQ section include very useful information on disclosure requirements, compliance and compliance violations.

Affiliate Marketing Resource Lists

Legacy learning cases have been the largest FTC complaint about affiliate marketing since the latest guide was announced in 2009. According to the complaint, Legacy Learning sold a "Learning and Guitar" program, a way to learn guitars at home using DVDs and teaching materials through an affiliate program, and the company has recruited the affiliate "Review". These affiliates have supported the program through articles, blogs, and editing materials, including affiliate links for purchasing systems. These affiliates earned a lot of commissions and produced about $ 5 million in learning and master sales. Legacy Larning does not disclose that affiliates are receiving rewards for each sales, but instead, the affiliate is impressive that these online recommendations reflect the opinions of consumer media and "independent reviewers". For forgiving, FTC charged with a misunderstanding advertisement.

Affiliate Compliance Resources

Ben Edelman

FTC and Legacy Learning reconciled in June 2011. As part of the reconciliation, legacy learning paid $ 250. 000 to the FTC and monitored the top 50 affiliate markers and 50 random extractions each month. With this monitoring, the legacy learning marketing person will disclose the relationship with the company and confirm that it will not be expressed as an independent reviewer or general consumer. Legacy learning must submit these monthly reports to the FTC. Affiliates that violate these Terms must be immediately deleted.

Kellie Stevens and AffiliateFairPlay

We have mentioned how to deal with the specific types of unauthorized use of affiliates, but there are some general procedures to take to prevent and eliminate poachers from affiliate programs. 。 This section describes the creation of a service contract, approves affiliate, confirming affiliate statistics, and continuous comprehensive affiliate monitoring.

Adam Riemer

The most important thing is a clear and thorough service contract. This document sets parameters for affiliates and plays a role as a legal document that describes the marketing methods and means that are considered legal for your company or brand. The terms of the contract must be in plain English, and you must overlook what techniques are allowed and not allowed in your program. In the unlikely event that the contract is violated, the conditions are specified and it must be clearly violated. Affiliate contracts have many elements we consider:

BrandVerity Blog

Mandy using negative keywords in the PPC campaign. If you do not allow a brand bidding in a search ad, it is also obliged to include a brand term as a negative keyword in the affiliate campaign. This will prevent search engines from matching search for your company's brand and affiliate ads, and if you find an affiliate advertisement that contains your brand terms, you will be able to fulfill a clear explanation.

Affiliate Marketing Resources

Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins

Prevents the use of TM terms in domain names, subdomains, usernames, etc. If affiliates allow all types of Internet naming systems to use your trademark, you may lose your right to your name.

Affiliate Marketing Blog by Geno Prussakov

Directly deal with the Insentive Marketing Program. Examine various forms of incentive marketing, specify which form is allowed and which form is not allowed.

Clickz

Obligation to disclose information. Affiliates, especially affiliates writing your products and services, must disclose your relationship with you.

FeedFront

The content of the prohibited website. If you have any content that you do not want to advertise your brand, such as adult content or hate content, please specify the contract.

IndustryPace

You need an email compliant with Can-Spam. If you allow affiliates to email for affiliate links, all emails must be conformed to Can-Spam.

Performance Marketing Association

Payment delays and holds are possible. The contract must also give the right to delay payment to affiliates. Affiliate fraud is often found through data tracking, but it can take several weeks to verify fraud. By delaying payments, you can investigate the possibility of fraud, collect the necessary data, and reject or cancel payments.

Performance Marketing Insider

Including the phrase that is harmful to the brand. The general phrase that can be applied to future abuse techniques will protect you from an affiliate pouching that evolves every day. A general approach to this wording is a clause that prohibits campaigns that are considered harmful to the merchant brand.

ReveNews

Of course, such a contract clause minimizes the risk of affiliate fraud, but does not prevent fraud. Comprehensive misalignment programs include a detailed affiliate application screening, regular communication with affiliates, and monitoring of illegal use.

Sarah Bundy

Ben Edelman's paper "Preventing Online Advertising Fraud Thuce Optimal Late Payment" offers more advantageous and more economical evidence. I'm doing it. His research has revealed how payment delays can punish unauthorized affiliates and give an affiliate that creates ethical and affiliates.

Conferences and Forums

Abestweb Affiliate Manager’s Only Forum

A powerful front door may be one of the most effective ways to prevent fraudulent affiliates. In many affiliate networks, merchant can "sel f-approval". However, the network also has an "automatic application" tool for affiliates, so using automatic approval will almost guarantee that unauthorized affiliates will enter your program. Many affiliates apply automatically to all programs and automatically become affiliates.

Affiliate Management Days

The best way to exploit affiliates from the beginning is to interview all affiliates who have applied for your program. Many affiliates who try to deceive you will not want to speak over the phone, or reply to the email. The more you anonymous, the more likely you are to continue illegal, so you can significantly reduce affiliates to exploit from the beginning.

Affiliate Summit

However, it may take time to interview with all applicants, especially because many affiliates do not ultimately increase sales in your company, so it may not be the best way. Some companies get in touch as soon as affiliates increase their first sales to save time. In many cases, you send e-mails or calls to bless your first sale and talk about how to promote the brand and how to promote sales. Ask them to understand how they are promoting their business. Affiliates who can't get in touch, avoid calls, or reply to emails may be something suspicious.