[Jay Hofkamp]

We have a redirect problem. I had a customer tell me she typed in "buycostumes.com" (our company) and she was redirected to Etoys.com. We're a merchant with CJ and have Ebates as a publisher and up until last week shopathomeselect.com too. Is there anyway to trace/identify the problem?

[Trust]

This is just a guess. Maybe since SAHS is no longer a publisher with you, they're going to redirect to someone who still is. And since you partnered with them and still with Ebates, this is the kind of crap you end up with. You partnered with these type of publishers and now you're getting a taste of it. Clean your program up.

[Jay Hofkamp]

We are a large online costume company and I was told from a customer she typed our URL in the browser and was redirected to a large "E" toy site. We're a merchant on Commission J with E Bates as a publisher and until last week, shop at home select.

We need help trying to trace the problem. Can anyone help?

[Jay Hofkamp]

Opps sorry, didn't mean to spam the board.

[Jay Hofkamp]

I hate to say it but we weren't aware of the problems with these publishers. We are reviewing all of our Loyalty publishers or anyone known of using parasites.

[UncleScooter]

Sleep with dogs....get fleas.
You think that these partners you mention are a good thing?
Load their software on your computer and do a purchase through your PPC links and watch what happens. You will have an even bigger problem!
This is hilarious!!!!

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

Jay,

email sent.

[Greg Rice]

Jay,

Your customer's PC is infested with parasites as is your program. It seems you have a double infestation issue. Now you know one reason we call them parasites, they're feeding off other people's websites and traffic. About all you can do for that customer is to inform them their computer is infected and maybe point them to some helpful resources to clean it up. It sounds like you know what to do about your program. Best of luck.

BTW, other people may experience just the opposite of what your customer is experiencing. They may try to go to one of your competitors and end up on your site if your parasites are hard at work.

[Kellie aka Ms. B]

Confirmed and documented: SAHS

Could have been any number of folks, but under the current circumstances SAHS did seem the most likely. This is not happening with all of their prior CJ Merchants. Rather interesting who they aren't doing it to. Guess I'll be phoning LS tomorrow.

Marc, get a clue. Ask Grosshandler how Merchants feel about this one. Not a good thing at all.

Jay...see???? This is exactly how affiliates feel when they have their traffic redirected to some other affiliate. Isn't fun is it?

[Donuts]

For those of you worried about secret decoder rings...

Robert Grosshandler is the CEO and founder of iGive.com - a site that says they donate a slice of aff commissions earned (and I use "earned" very loosely here) to charity. These funds are "earned" via the parasitic download application called Top Moxie.

And here's where Kellie showed how they really do things over there at iGive:
http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=54113

[UncleScooter]

I'll bet this time next month Buycostumes.com still has eBates and/or other parasites in their program. Some people never learn. This instance was SAHS, but they all do the very same thing.
Loyalty sites = taking advantage of the very merchants they masquerade to be promoting.
It is just that simple.

Jay,
Load the Moe Money Maker on your computer and do some test shopping from your PPC links and natural search links. Be sure and complete the transactions. You will be amazed that they are all of a sudden affiliate transactions. But...of course...removing the Moe Money Maker from your computer when your testing is over will be very tedious. It is made to be installed, not removed.

[Ebudae]

Jay, as one of your loyal affiliates, I would REALLY apprechiate it if you would drop the theives/parasites from your program.

Not only do they steal from you but from us too.

[Rexanne]

What Ebudae said. :-)

[Rhea]

What Ebudae and Rexanne said goes for me, too.

[Herb ԿԬ]

this is potentially one reason why buycostumes doesn't convert for me.

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

Originally Posted by UncleScooter

I'll bet this time next month Buycostumes.com still has eBates and/or other parasites in their program. Some people never learn.

FWIW - Jay never responded to my email asking for his number so I could help him.

[ReallyBigGuy]

Tough time of the year with halloween just around the corner.

I agree with Ebudae too. You really need to look who's in your program and drop the parasites.

[kmacbc]

Originally Posted by Greg Rice

Your customer's PC is infested with parasites as is your program.

How would you go about "un-infesting" the Buycostumes program? Is simply getting rid of programs like SAHS, Ebates, etc... going to do the trick?

I've spoken with CJ and Ebates is 100% in line with rules/regulations in terms of redirection. SAHS was given warnings and didn't comply in time. I don't want to be naive if this is a bunch of hoc.

[kmacbc]

Originally Posted by UncleScooter

I'll bet this time next month Buycostumes.com still has eBates and/or other parasites in their program. Some people never learn. This instance was SAHS, but they all do the very same thing.
Loyalty sites = taking advantage of the very merchants they masquerade to be promoting. It is just that simple.

As the affiliate manager for BuyCostumes.com, I/we looked into other "parasite" programs and CJ assured me that they did fall in line with their policies regarding redirection. Are there loopholes I should know about? I don't mean to sound ignorant, but I'm a bit green when it comes to this redirection issue. If you have any links to places/articles that will educate me, I'm curious to do some more digging. Thanks.

[Trust]

The networks don't have your best interests at heart.

http://forum.abestweb.com/showpost.p...1&postcount=39

[Donuts]

Ask CJ to explain how they add value and tell them you want to tape record the conversation. Ask them to tell you where in the buying process that customer is likely to be when the ebates software triggers to claim the sale. Ask them how ebates affects the return day sales of your traffic producing affiliates.

It's more than a bunch of hoc, it's hoc-too-y.

Guzendheit.

[ecomcity]

Originally Posted by kmacbc

As the affiliate manager for BuyCostumes.com, I/we looked into other "parasite" programs and CJ assured me that they did fall in line with their policies regarding redirection. Are there loopholes I should know about? I don't mean to sound ignorant, but I'm a bit green when it comes to this redirection issue. If you have any links to places/articles that will educate me, I'm curious to do some more digging. Thanks.

you've been slimed and bamboozled by your own greed for years Jay. Stupid merchants, and their AM pimps, are a dime a dozen and at this point there is nothing your parasite infested program can do to recover. You willing to reimburse all the stolen commissions and forced cookie overwrites these BHO partnerships performed on the legit affiliate's traffic?? Those same legit affiliates made zilch from legitimately sending targeted traffic to your site as you lunched and threw kudos at the elite BHO thieves getting those big buycostumes.com commission checks. The real value-add affiliates were smart enough to leave your program a long time ago.

I suggest you join up and give your story to www.stopbadware.org and read up on how the Adwhores played you for a dupe..... It's all over Google News so keeping a lid on it is way too late. Is that why these are your first posts at ABW?

Setting Guidelines... http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124481,00.asp
The coalition also plans to publish a set of guidelines defining what exactly it means by "badware," and to test software against these guidelines and to publish the results of these tests on the Web. "It's putting the providers of this software on notice that we're going to be paying attention," Palfrey says.

Though the computer industry has been taking steps to crack down on unwanted software with initiatives like the Anti-Spyware Coalition, Palfrey believes that there is room for what he calls a "collaborative and complimentary" effort that covers a broader range of software, and is more focused on the consumer experience. "We mean to fill what we see as a gap in the fight against spyware," he says. "Nothing has worked yet. The problem is not getting any better."

Palfrey declines to provide more details on how the StopBadware.org project will be funded, but says that it is a "multiyear and multimillion dollar effort." Consumer Reports WebWatch will serve as an advisor to the project, but the "Web credibility" research project will not be paid for this service, Palfrey says."

[Greg Rice]

Originally Posted by kmacbc

How would you go about "un-infesting" the Buycostumes program? Is simply getting rid of programs like SAHS, Ebates, etc... going to do the trick?

I've spoken with CJ and Ebates is 100% in line with rules/regulations in terms of redirection. SAHS was given warnings and didn't comply in time. I don't want to be naive if this is a bunch of hoc.

If your company is really serious about cleaning house, try contacting Kellie (she posted in this thread) and she can help you get started. I think Andy may still have some room left for his affiliate manager seminar, Kellie is presenting there, and you can learn more than most AMs will ever know. Here's his link http://www.andyrodriguez.com/Affilia...-Miami-05.html

I think any program can be cleaned up if the desire is there.

[Kellie aka Ms. B]

kmacbc,

They probably are within CJ's guidelines. CJ's guidelines being they can automatically redirect your own traffic (direct type-ins, natural SERPs, email click thrus, your own PPCSE listings, etc) was well as some affiliate traffic (affiliate's who link to you using server-side redirects without appending the afsrc=1 parameter). CJ allows for these types of redirects.

The above would be your loophole. CJ allows within it's policy certain parasitic activity. The bulk of it being your own traffic that you would normally not have to pay affiliate commissions and hence CJ fees on. The above can also have the secondary effect of negating your return days with your other honest, hard-working affiliates.

[ecomcity]

Originally Posted by Kellie aka Ms. B

kmacbc,

They probably are within CJ's guidelines. CJ's guidelines being they can automatically redirect your own traffic (direct type-ins, natural SERPs, email click thrus, your own PPCSE listings, etc) was well as some affiliate traffic (affiliate's who link to you using server-side redirects without appending the afsrc=1 parameter). CJ allows for these types of redirects.

The above would be your loophole. CJ allows within it's policy certain parasitic activity. The bulk of it being your own traffic that you would normally not have to pay affiliate commissions and hence CJ fees on. The above can also have the secondary effect of negating your return days with your other honest, hard-working affiliates.

Good to see your Mikizem decoder ring still works Ms.B. Great concise post on the harm even the best BHO brings to the table.