Resources for Affiliates and Affiliate Merchants
Ben Edelman

This pages indexes my published research, as well as selected unpublished research, on matters pertaining to Internet marketing, especially via affiliate networks. Request periodic email updates.

Spyware / Adware / Stealware Generally

An Overview of Software Downloads: Spyware, Adware, Stealware & Thiefware (presentation) - installation methods, effects on affiliate commissions, effects on brand

Methods and Effects of Spyware - installation methods, privacy effects, economic motivations

Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West - overall susceptibility to fraud, typical methods, defensive strategies

Intermediary liability, legal disputes, and accountability

Affiliate Fraud Litigation Index - publicly-available documents and case summaries for disputes between merchants and affiliates

Measuring and Managing Online Affiliate Fraud and Information and Incentives in Online Affiliate Marketing - large-sample crawler-based analysis of affiliate fraud; prevalence of fraud in affiliate programs overseen by a variety of management structures

Intermediaries' Role in the Spyware Mess - summary of intermediaries' role in ad placement, payment, and tracking; methodology for analysis; results as to 180solutions

Cookies, privacy, and measurement accuracy

Cookies Detected by Anti-Spyware Programs: The Current Status and introduction - hands-on tests of leading anti-spyware programs, to determine what cookies they detect

How Spyware-Driven Forced Visits Inflate Web Site Traffic Counts - forced visits inflating traffic statistics and measured site popularity

Deterring fraud

Delaying Payment to Deter Online Advertising Fraud - how optimal choice of delay can protect advertisers when fraud is hard to detect and when advertisers are unable to reclaim unwarranted commissions they have already paid out

Merchants & networks suffering from fraud - selected specific examples

Affiliate Fraud - Information Lookup (self-service testing tool)

Twenty Oft-Found Commission Junction and LinkShare Affiliate Violations ("top 10 list" as of December 2012)

Auditing Spyware Advertising Fraud: Wasted Spending at VistaPrint

Hydra Media's Pop-Up Problem -- Ten Examples

Spyware Still Cheating Merchants and Legitimate Affiliates (Blockbuster, Netflix)

Aspira Networks Charging Merchants for Traffic That's Otherwise Free (GoDaddy, Home Depot, Travelocity)

Product / Perpetrator

Research

Web Sites

Affiliate cookie-stuffing

Twenty Oft-Found Commission Junction and LinkShare Affiliate Violations

Cookie-Stuffing Targeting Major Affiliate Merchants - cookies set without a bona fide click from affiliate site to merchant site

CPA Advertising Fraud: Forced Clicks and Invisible Windows

Hack-Based Cookie-Stuffing by Bannertracker-script (targeting Amazon)

Large-Scale Cookie-Stuffing at Eshop600.co.uk (targeting 26 merchants on 4 networks)

Additional cookie-stuffing testing and analysis, including automated testing (available on request)

General-Purpose "Adware" Programs

180solutions / Zango / n-CASE / MetricsDirect / ePipo

Twenty Oft-Found Commission Junction and LinkShare Affiliate Violations

The Effect of 180solutions on Affiliate Commissions and Merchants (advertisement triggering, affiliate forced clicks)

Spyware Still Cheating Merchants and Legitimate Affiliates

How Affiliate Programs Fund Spyware

180solutions Installation Methods (installation methods, license agreement)

180 Talks a Big Talk, but Doesn't Deliver (evaluating recent claims of reform)

Who Profits from Security Holes? (installation through security holes)

Intermediaries' Role in the Spyware Mess (which ad networks and affiliate networks place many ads with 180)

Current and past advertisers and targeting (available on request)

Affiliate IDs currently and previously observed using 180solutions (examples; hundreds available on request)

Viraltube Toolbar Twenty Oft-Found Commission Junction and LinkShare Affiliate Violations

Vomba / WhenU / MediaTraffic / XXXtoolbar / Slotchbar

Installation methods

Current and past advertisers and targeting (available on request)

Affiliate IDs currently and previously observed using 180solutions (examples; hundreds available on request)

Claria / Gator / GAIN

Documentation of Gator Advertisements and Targeting (which ads cover which sites)

Dell's Spyware Puzzle (unauthorized affiliate ads running on Claria)

Methods and Effects of Spyware (pages 4- 6) (privacy effects)

Gator's EULA Gone Bad, Claria License Agreement Is Fifty Six Pages Long, Claria's Practices Don't Meet Its Lawyers' Claims, Comparison of Unwanted Software Installed by P2P Programs (installation methods, license agreement)

Current and past advertisers and targeting (available on request)

Direct Revenue / ABetterInternet / many more

How Affiliate Programs Fund Spyware

Comparison of Unwanted Software Installed by P2P Programs (installation methods, license agreement)

Direct Revenue Deletes Competitors from Users' Disks (business practices, litigation)

Current advertisers and targeting (available on request)

Installation methods (including through security holes), privacy effects, removal methods (public reporting; more available on request)

Targeting merchants with hidden popunders of their own affiliate links (cookie-stuffing) (available on request)

Affiliate IDs currently and previously observed using Direct Revenue (examples; many more available on request)

Selling traffic to "loyalty" sites CoolSavings and MyPoints.

eXact Advertising / BullsEye / CashBack by BargainBuddy

Who Profits from Security Holes? (installation through security holes)

Advertisers Supporting eXact Advertising (advertisement triggering, affiliate forced clicks)

How Affiliate Programs Fund Spyware

Installation methods, removal methods (public reporting; more available on request)

Affiliate IDs currently and previously observed using eXact Advertising (examples; many more available on request)

Other programs (various)

Spyware Still Cheating Merchants and Legitimate Affiliates

How Affiliate Programs Fund Spyware

Testing - by request including automated testing

"Cash-Back" / Loyalty Programs

eXact Advertising / CashBack by BargainBuddy

See above

Shop At Home Select

Installation methods (including through security holes) (public reporting: 1, 2, 3)

Analysis of compliance with applicable network rules - forcing clicks in apparent violation of network rules

All TopMoxie-based programs
(including Ebates, iGive, SchoolPop, TopRebates, Upromise)

Analysis of compliance with applicable network rules - overwriting other affiliates' commissions (available on request)

Privacy effects, security effects (available on request)

Ebates Moe Money Maker

Installation practices: Video: Ebates Installed through Security Holes

E2give

Installation methods (including through security holes) (available on request)

Analysis of compliance with applicable network rules - overwriting other affiliates' commissions (available on request)

TopRebates / WebRebates

Installation methods (including through security holes) (public reporting: 1, 2; more available on request)

CoolSavings

Buying traffic from Direct Revenue, targeting "partner" merchants.

MyPoints

Buying traffic from Direct Revenue, targeting "partner" merchants.

Loyalty programs generally Affiliate Summit slides 27-32 re installation practices, operations, and possible approaches for concerned merchants.

Typosquatting

Specific examples

Twenty Oft-Found Commission Junction and LinkShare Affiliate Violations

Measuring the Perpetrators and Funders of Typosquatting

ISP Redirecting Organic Traffic

Specific examples

Aspira Networks Charging Merchants for Traffic That's Otherwise Free

 

Last Updated: May 27, 2014. Sign up for notification of major updates and related work.